by Megan Bryce
She was in the middle of screwing the air vent cover back on and she got up to look through the peephole. She stared glumly at his mother.
Mackenzie opened the door slowly. “He’s not here.”
“I know. I’ve come to speak to you.”
Mackenzie stepped back, letting her in reluctantly.
Christine walked in, stopping when she saw the vent cover and screwdriver. She turned to look at Mackenzie with one eyebrow raised.
“I was just. . . hiding chocolate.” Christine simply stared at her, waiting, and Mackenzie said with an embarrassed shrug, “He thinks it’s fun to find them.”
Christine clutched her purse and said, “I want you to leave.”
Mackenzie nodded. “I know. But Ethan and I have an agreement. I will leave when it runs up.”
Christine opened her purse and pulled out a check. “I want you to leave now.”
Mackenzie glanced at it, noting just how many zeros could fit on one small check. Her eyebrows raised involuntarily.
“Have you paid all his girlfriends to leave?”
“I’ve never needed to before.”
Mackenzie shook her head. “That’s nowhere near half his fortune.”
Christine blanched. “He told you about that?”
Christine looked at the check, then put it back in her purse and closed it with a snap. “I’ll never get you to leave, will I?”
“No.” Mackenzie let her worry about that for a few seconds, then said, “But I will anyway.” In one week and three days. But who was counting.
“I don’t believe you.”
“He paid me a million dollars to be his fiancé for six weeks. I’ll be gone in a little over a week.”
Mackenzie could see the sneer start on Christine’s face so she said, “He offered me three percent of O’Connor Capital. I talked him into the money.”
Christine’s sneer froze on her face. “He offered you a part of the company? Why would he do that?”
“I guess he wanted to prove to me he was sincere.”
“He couldn’t give you a share without. . . Ellen.”
Mackenzie nearly laughed.
Christine said, “And you’ll leave when this ends?”
Mackenzie nodded. Christine didn’t look like she believed her.
Christine said, “My son is fascinated by you. Challenged by you. And you are not what he needs. He needs a woman who will put him first. Who would forgive him if he falters. He doesn’t need a woman who would destroy everything his family built if he hurt her.”
Mackenzie looked at her, thinking. Surprised that this was why Christine didn’t like her.
“Well. I think you underestimate your son. I don’t think he has ever faltered, will ever falter. But you’re right that if he ever hurt me I would destroy him. Probably gut him and leave him on the floor bleeding.”
His mother grabbed her pearls, her face going white.
And Mackenzie said, “But he could only hurt me if I loved him. If he loved me. We don’t.”
“Then why are you sleeping with him? Is that part of your agreement? Is that what the million dollars is for?”
Mackenzie jerked her head back as if she’d been slapped. Then took a deep breath.
Christine held up her hand to stop Mackenzie from saying anything. “I think you’re a liar. I simply can’t decide if you’re lying to him, to me, or to yourself.”
Christine turned to leave and Mackenzie bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood.
Christine closed the front door softly behind her and Mackenzie picked up the screwdriver and threw it across the room.
Nine
When Ethan came home, Mackenzie was pacing around the living room. He walked in and she nearly shouted, “Here’s why I’m sleeping with you. Because I like it.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“And because I can.”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“And it’s not for your goddamn money.”
“That’s not really what I’m paying you for. That’s illegal.” She stopped her pacing and looked at him. He said, “Besides, I think you should be paying me.”
Her mouth fell open, and then she snapped it shut. “You’re not that good, O’Connor.”
He smiled slightly and took a step forward, sensing the danger was over. “No?”
“I’ve had better.”
He shook his head. “No, you haven’t.”
She sniffed and put her nose in the air. “How do you know?”
He took another step closer, reaching for her hand. “Because I’ve never had better. And I’ve had more experience than you.”
“Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s always like that for whoever I’m with.”
The thought made him a little light-headed. “Is it?”
She didn’t answer him and he started breathing again. He nodded to the new hole in the wall. “Redecorating? Or did I interrupt you hiding your stash?” He pulled her toward him. “I’m not going to be able to find it in the walls.”
“I threw the screwdriver after your mother paid me a visit.”
He murmured, “The screwdriver. Should have got rid of that as well.”
He’d known his mother had visited; the doorman had informed him on the way in. Ethan had tipped him handsomely for the heads-up.
Mackenzie said, “Why don’t you get rid of your mother? Send her on a cruise for the next week.”
“I don’t really mind you two fighting. There are some side effects that work in my favor.”
“I mind.”
“You’re just trying to get out of dinner.”
She blew out a breath. “I’m not going to dinner with that woman ever again.”
“I’ll let you bring the screwdriver.”
She pursed her lips and scowled at him. “Don’t make me laugh. I’m mad.”
“No. You were mad. Now you’re a little bit horny. And wanting to get back at my mother.”
“Oh, is that what I am?”
Ethan nodded. “All that energy needs to go somewhere. I’d prefer it go into my bed and not my walls.”
She shook her head. “I’ve wised up. I’m not getting into your bed again because of your mother.”
“So when I get you into bed tonight, it will be because you want to be there?”
She cocked her head. “I can admit that. You’re pretty good in bed.”
It was the first he was hearing about it, but he kissed her lightly. “Be sure and let the Enquirer know that in your exit interview.”
She laughed, missing the droop in his face, in his body. She said, “That won’t help keep women away from you. Isn’t that what you’re paying me for?”
“I’ve honestly forgotten what I’m paying you for. I thought it was the sex.”
She groaned. “That’s what your mother thinks.”
“And we’re back to my mother.” He pulled her toward the door and took a large manila envelope out of his briefcase. “Let’s move away from her and on to your intrusive relations.”
She sucked in a breath. “Has he been bothering you?” She looked at the lacerations on his hand. “Did you hit him?”
“Haven’t heard a peep from him. I had him looked into.” He looked at his hand, wiggling his fingers slowly, and grimaced. “And my hand met with an unfortunate accident this morning at the gym.”
She grabbed his hand, pulling it up and inspecting it. “What happened?”
“Just a deal gone bad. I got angry.”
“Not WestCon? Does that mean I can buy some now?”
He glared at her. “Not WestCon, and no you can’t buy any.”
“Then what could have possibly made you so angry? You’re a lover, not a fighter.”
“Was that an insult?”
“No. It was. . . the truth. You wouldn’t ever hit anybody. I didn’t even think you would imagine hitting somebody.”
He smiled coldly. Remembering how he’d imagined beating her father’s face into a pulp.
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He said, “I will admit it’s never happened before.”
“Maybe you do need a vacation. Violence isn’t like you. You might love someone to death to get your way, but you wouldn’t get violent.” She pursed her lips. “You’re not mature enough to realize you can’t always have what you want.”
She was right. He wasn’t that mature. At all. He smiled at her, charmingly, and she narrowed her eyes.
He said, “It was just a moment, I won’t do it again.”
He could see she was going to want to know all about the deal gone bad so he said, “It was probably just low blood sugar. You should hide some chocolate in my gym bag.” He slid the envelope between them. “Here’s what my investigator found out about your father.”
She took a step back. “I don’t want to know.”
He nodded but said, “He’s left New York. And he wasn’t lying about your sister.”
“He left New York?”
She took the envelope from him. Took out a couple of large pictures of her father and a dark-haired, extremely pregnant woman. She was holding a little girl’s hand and scowling up at Luke’s face. He looked amused, and Ethan’s hand clenched into a fist.
Mackenzie murmured, “Pregnant. He didn’t mention that.”
Ethan breathed in through his nose. He would be the voice of reason if it killed him. “Maybe he didn’t want to throw it at you all at once.”
Mackenzie snorted. “He just didn’t think it would get me where he wants me to go.”
She looked at the little girl with honey-colored hair and tawny eyes, and whispered, “Shit.”
He’d had the same reaction. The little girl looked like a miniature Mackenzie.
He said, “These were taken in Spain.”
She looked up in surprise. “Spain?”
He nodded. “That’s where they’ve lived for the last five years. A little village on the coast.”
She looked down again at the little girl, clearly worried that Luke Holden had another daughter.
Ethan said, “She has her mother.”
Mackenzie nodded, running a finger along the scowl on the woman’s face. “Luke said his wife didn’t believe a word he said. Maybe her daughter won’t believe him either.” She put the pictures back in the envelope. “I’m not going to bite. Whatever game he’s playing, I don’t care.”
“You think he’s trying to get something from you? By leaving you alone?”
She dropped the envelope back into Ethan’s briefcase. “I don’t know. But he usually is. It’s not the risk.”
“What if it is? He’s your family. What if he’s ready for a daughter?”
She looked at him as if she couldn’t believe he’d said that. He couldn’t believe it himself.
“Are you trying to reconcile me to my father?”
“No. I’m trying to make you happy.”
Mackenzie smiled at him and he realized it was the truth. Ethan wanted her happy, even if that meant throwing her towards a man who had nearly destroyed her.
She said, “I tell you, it’s a disease.”
“He’s your father. Your sister. Are you really telling me you don’t want that?”
“I’d rather have no family than him.”
Ethan shook his head and she said, “It’s not a coincidence that he found me after I got engaged to you. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to think he’d ever get anything from me, but if he can get back in my good graces, he can get access to a lot of people who just might be.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes at her. “I assume you are not referring to me.”
“He might even get you.” She shook her head. “You don’t understand what he’s like. He’ll strip everything from you and you’ll thank him when he’s done.”
He looked down his nose at her. “He wouldn’t get me.”
She conceded. “Probably not. It was more a hope that he’d go after your mother.”
“She must have really pissed you off.”
Her face clouded over. “She thinks I’m some money-grubbing whore.”
“She said that?”
“She implied it.” Mackenzie thought about it. “She looks at me like she thinks that.”
“I think you’re seeing what’s not there.”
She pointed her finger at him. “You know she doesn’t like me.”
“You’re not imagining that. But I think it’s because she’s scared of you. For me. Physically.” He looked at the hole in the wall. “I don’t know why.”
“Yeah, she does think that. I told her I would gut you and leave you bleeding on the floor.”
He tried not to think what his mother’s reaction had been to that. “Why would you say that? She doesn’t get your sense of humor.”
Ethan loosened his tie and she followed him into the bedroom, saying, “She brought up a hypothetical situation. I wasn’t joking.”
“I hesitate to ask.”
“If you faltered.” Mackenzie laughed. “If this was real, you and me, and you cheated on me. If I loved you and you betrayed me.”
He stopped unbuttoning his shirt. “I wouldn’t.”
And he realized, he really wouldn’t. Wasn’t even a little worried about it, because he could never do that to her. Could never bear to see her look at him like she’d looked at her father. He couldn’t even imagine looking at another woman, but if he ever did he knew she would do exactly as she’d told his mother.
She said, “That’s what I told her. I don’t think she needs to worry about it. But she thinks you need a woman who would forgive you, just in case.”
He turned around and looked at her. “You told my mother I would never cheat on you?”
Mackenzie said, “Not me. But, you know. . . the one.”
He took a big step towards her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. Long and slow. He pulled back and said, “How come you don’t doubt me? Women throw themselves at me every day. I have ample opportunity.”
She blinked. “Because. . . you wouldn’t.”
“Go on.” He couldn’t help the smile blooming on his face.
“You know you wouldn’t.”
“I don’t know that.”
“Have you ever faltered on any of your girlfriends?”
He didn’t have to think about it, of course he hadn’t, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to. He’d feared that want.
She said, “And why haven’t you? You’ve probably had women throwing themselves at you since you were eighteen.”
“Sixteen.”
She rolled her eyes, but undid the last button of his shirt and slid her arms inside. “Okay, sixteen. Why haven’t you ever taken advantage of your many opportunities?”
“Because that would hurt someone I cared about.”
“And that’s not the kind of person you are. You’re the kind of person who makes people happy.”
“If that really mattered I would still be with my very first girlfriend.”
She shook her head. “No. My guess is that you break things off when you start feeling the itch. Because you know it hurts less and for a shorter amount of time to break things off cleanly.”
“Maybe that’s why I was afraid of marriage. Afraid to find my devotion fading without being able to get out of it.”
He smiled at her, his hands still cupping her face. He’d known that if he’d just found that one, right woman his fears of marriage would seem silly. Powerless.
He’d been right. He’d just never expected that when he found her, she would want nothing to do with him. Never expected to find that she might like him just fine, but hated everything that made him him.
Hated his money, hated his family, hated his charming face.
He’d been looking for a woman who could see past all that since he was sixteen.
The woman he’d been looking for for nearly two decades said, “I’ve already said you’ve got issues. It’s like you’ve never heard the word divorce before.”
“It’s like budge
ting. Just because I’ve heard the word before doesn’t mean I believe in it.”
She smiled up at him and started to undo his belt. He grinned at her and she said, “I’ve had a bad day. I thought we could stay in tonight.”
“What about dinner?”
“I thought I already got out of that.”
“You’re just going to let my mother win?”
She unzipped his pants. “I don’t think this is your mother winning.”
He backed her towards the bed. “I could tell them you came down with something.”
She smiled evilly. “Tell them I have to repair the hole I put in your wall.”
“You don’t want my mother dropping by again. And she’d come running if I told her that.”
She laughed. “Maybe I could just torture your mother for the next week. I might just make it then.”
He pulled her shirt over her head. “Or we could extend this for a few more weeks and really torture her.”
She said, “You can’t afford to pay me overtime.”
He popped the button on her jeans. “Oh, I probably could.”
“No. We already agreed on six weeks.”
“But if you’re not going back to work, there’s no rush. You can spend a million dollars just as easily in New York as you can in Los Angeles. And you still haven’t got that half out of me yet.”
“I really thought I was going to, too.”
“So stick around. Stop trying to do nothing, come to work with me, and stay a little bit longer.”
He sat on the bed and pulled her down on to his lap.
She shook her head and he said, “Stay. I like living with you.”
“Why?”
He squeezed her butt. “Guess.”
“Oh, please. You don’t need to live with a woman to sleep with her.”
“It’s nice knowing you’ll be here when I get home. We don’t have to coordinate.”
“It’s a scheduling issue?”
He rolled his eyes up to his head. “A scheduling issue. You do that on purpose. Kill all my moves just for the fun of it.”
She pointed to her backside. “You sneaked a butt squeeze past me. I didn’t see that one coming in time.”
“You saw it coming.”
She pinched his nipple and said, “Did you see that coming?”