by Susan Stoker
Mackenzie knew it was stupid, knew she was being stupid. Her brother was right, it didn’t really matter if a man left his shoes in the closet, or on the bathroom floor. But now that she was used to doing things the way she thought they should be done, it was hard to stop. Hell, her mom had told her often enough that she’d been an extremely stubborn child, now she was a stubborn adult.
But she was a romantic. Always had been. As a kid, she’d made her mom buy her every Disney movie and she’d watched them over and over. Cinderella, Snow White…it didn’t matter. As long as the fairy princess ended up with the prince, Mackenzie had loved it. It’d probably skewed her thinking.
Mackenzie turned her mind from her family—as well-meaning as they were, they still depressed her—and back to the incident on her way home.
She’d been horrified when she’d been pulled over. Mackenzie was a good girl, never had even a parking ticket before, so being pulled over was not a fun experience. She’d been speeding because she wanted nothing more than to get home and into some comfy clothes and relax.
The police officer had actually been very nice, all things considered. He’d taken her license and registration and she’d felt humiliated waiting for him to come back and give her a ticket. Of course she’d babbled on and on to him. She even saw him laughing with the man who’d been in the car with him.
Mackenzie had glanced into her rear-view mirror and watched as the officer and whoever the man was sitting next to him laughed with each other. She’d felt the blush rise on her face, hoping they weren’t laughing at her. But the other man was definitely good-looking. Mackenzie had always had a thing about men in uniform. There was just something about seeing a crisp shirt, a pressed pair of pants, a badge, and all the accoutrements that came with whatever the man’s profession was, that pushed her buttons.
She had no idea how tall the man in the passenger seat was, but he had dark hair and a nice smile. Mackenzie shook her head. Sad that that was all it took to get her interested.
Suddenly Mack sat up straight on the sofa and said out loud to her empty apartment, “Holy shit!”
The man in the car had been the Ranger she’d lusted after at the charity event!
At least she thought it was the same man. She couldn’t be sure, but she remembered how she’d talked about the event the other night with the officer outside her car and he’d mentioned he’d been there. If he was there, the man sitting next to him in his car most likely was too. It probably really was the man she’d briefly spoken to at the charity event.
She buried her face in her hands. How freaking humiliating. Great. Just great. This was all she needed on top of everything else that had happened today. Mackenzie had spilled her entire lunch in her lap when she’d misjudged the table and put her plate down too close to the edge. She’d always been a klutz and was constantly spilling and breaking things, as well as tripping over her own feet.
All in all, it’d been a shitty day and she hadn’t been able to stop the tears from falling while she’d waited for the officer to come back with the ticket she knew she deserved. He’d been very nice to her. Mackenzie didn’t have any excuses for speeding; she’d just wanted to get home and wasn’t watching how fast she was driving.
Getting a warning instead of a ticket had been one of the only good things about the day. Mackenzie took a deep breath. Thank goodness today was finally over. She got up off her couch and headed into her bedroom, not bothering to check the mail she’d picked up.
She stripped off her shirt, threw it into the laundry hamper and took off her bra, just dropping it on the floor where she stood. Her pants came next, along with her panties. Mackenzie walked naked into her bathroom, where she got ready for bed. It was early, but she didn’t care.
Mackenzie had always preferred to sleep naked. She had expensive fifteen hundred thread count sheets that felt smooth and silky next to her body. Mackenzie once had a boyfriend who chided her for her penchant to sleep without anything on, telling her she didn’t have the type of body that looked good naked and she’d be sexier if she covered it up with a nightie. She’d dumped his ass the next day. Fuck him.
Mackenzie knew she wasn’t beautiful, and that was okay. She wasn’t a troll, she had great legs, but she was too short to ever be considered classically pretty. She liked to eat, she liked her sweets and loved pasta and hated to work out as well. She’d never be stick thin, and that was perfectly all right with her. Rather than wishing to be thin, Mackenzie always wished to be taller instead. It was tiring always looking at people’s chests or necks instead of being able to look them in the eye. Not to mention the way men would try to look down any shirt she wore. Jerks. Mackenzie had also hated wearing heels, she was way too clumsy to pull off a sophisticated look in them, so she was stuck at her five feet four.
She climbed into her queen-size bed and under her comforter and fleece blanket and snuggled in for the night. Mackenzie didn’t bother picking up her e-reader to finish the romance she’d been reading. She wasn’t in the mood to read about how some lucky woman got her happy ever after with a hunk of a man…even if it was only fiction.
She closed her eyes, trying not to relive the day, and surprisingly fell asleep quickly. She dreamed of a dark-haired policeman backing her against a police car and leaning down to kiss her.
Chapter Four
After what seemed like the longest week in the history of her life, Mackenzie sat on her couch with a cup of double-dark hot chocolate, watching one of her favorite movies of all time, Ever After. The acting wasn’t the best, and the accents were horrendous, but since it was a version of Cinderella, Mackenzie loved it.
Laine was supposed to have come over to watch movies with her, but she had a date. Mackenzie and Laine had made a deal a long time ago that if they had plans and one of them got asked out, they’d go on the date, with no hard feelings. Of course, they’d made the pact when they were in middle school, and certainly didn’t have to honor it all these years later, but since they were both still hoping their prince was out there, the pact was still in force today.
Mackenzie’s cell phone rang, startling her, and when she jerked, of course the drink she’d been holding spilled all over herself. Cursing and wiping the hot drink off her pants, Mackenzie reached over and swiped the small screen to answer the phone without looking at the number, figuring it was Laine calling to dish about her date.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is this Mackenzie Morgan?”
“Yeah, who is this?”
“My name is Daxton Chambers. I’m a Texas Ranger and was calling to follow up with you after your traffic infraction earlier this week.”
Mackenzie’s blood ran cold. Oh my God. Was she in trouble? Was she supposed to get a ticket after all? Was she not supposed to drive away when she did? She didn’t know the protocol when you’d been given a warning...Wait, she was given a warning, wasn’t she? Fuck.
She did what she usually did when she was nervous, she talked—fast. “I’m so sorry. Was I not supposed to leave when I did? I thought it was a warning. I didn’t mean to break any laws. Shit. Do I have to turn myself in somewhere or something? I really didn’t mean to be speeding, I’d had a horrible day, and that was just the icing on the cake. Seriously, Officer, I swear I’m not like that usually.”
“Ma’am—”
Mackenzie kept talking. “I didn’t think there was a fine with a warning, but I admit I didn’t really look at the paper that closely. I was too relieved I didn’t get an actual ticket and I just stuffed it into my bag and forgot about it. I’d look at it now, but it was in my purse and my stupid nail polish busted open inside my purse and it got all over it and I had to throw it away. Hell, I had to throw away the whole purse because the lining was completely ruined, but I swear—”
“Ma’am.” The Ranger’s voice was stronger now.
“Seriously, it was my own fault. I don’t know why I had the stupid nail polish in there in the first place. I
’m extremely clumsy and I thought I’d bring it with me and do my nails at lunch, which is stupid, because my nails just break anyway, the polish wouldn’t really do any good, but I thought that maybe I’d make the effort because my mom and brothers have been on me to try harder with my appearance—”
“Mackenzie, shush for a second.”
Mackenzie closed her eyes, mortified. Jesus. She’d been going on and on, but she was so nervous. This guy must think she was a complete idiot. “Sorry,” she whispered, waiting to hear what he wanted.
Mackenzie waited, but the line was silent. She felt sick. “Hello?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were really going to be quiet and let me talk.” His voice was low, rumbly, and full of humor.
“Um…”
He continued, and Mackenzie could tell he was completely amused with her. At least he was amused and not pissed.
“You’re not in trouble, and it was just a warning. I was there that night when Officer Rockwell pulled you over. I don’t know if you remember me, but I met you briefly at the charity event a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to check in with you and make sure you were all right after getting pulled over.”
Mackenzie was stunned into silence, and that was highly unusual for her. Was this really the guy she’d met and lusted over? It couldn’t be. There was no way he wanted to check to make sure she was all right. Something else had to be going on. “You wanted to check to make sure I was all right?” She couldn’t help the question.
“Yeah.”
“Uh, why?”
“Because I was worried about you.”
“You were worried about me.”
The man chuckled on the other end of the line. “You gonna repeat everything I say, Mackenzie? Yeah, I was worried about you, but more than that, I wanted to call because I remembered you from the charity event.”
Mackenzie didn’t really know what to say. This was just so odd. “You said you were a Texas Ranger? You’re not a Highway Patrol officer, right? Why were you there, too?”
“Officer Rockwell and I were on our way to dinner when you zipped by. We made the stop, then continued on to the restaurant.”
“Oh my God,” Mackenzie whispered, disconcerted. “He was off duty and had to stop me? And, you were on the way to dinner?”
Dax was enjoying the hell out of his conversation with Mackenzie. She was incredibly entertaining and just as interesting as she was that night he’d met her. Besides that, he’d never had a conversation like this with a woman before. She zipped from one topic to another without seeming to breathe. “Yeah, I was there.”
“Okay, that’s it. I’m never driving again. I’m going to throw my license away and become a hermit who never leaves my house.”
Dax chuckled. “I don’t think I’d go that far. But you want to answer my original question now? Everything okay?”
Mackenzie huffed out a breath and leaned back against the couch, one hand holding the phone to her ear and the other still holding the cup of cocoa in her hand. “I’m fine.”
“You’re fine.” His words weren’t stated as a question, but Mackenzie could tell they were a question nevertheless.
“What was your name again?”
“Daxton Chambers.”
“Well, Daxton Chambers, I don’t know if you are really who you say you are, but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt here. If you must know, I’d had a really crappy day when I was pulled over. I know, everyone has crappy days, but that was a really crappy day. To top off a crappy day at work, where I spilled my lunch and didn’t have any chance to get anything to eat to replace it, and where I got yelled at by my horrible boss for something stupid, I had just spent two hours at my mom’s house where I was told I was basically a dried-up old maid and it was all my fault because I’m too picky and I chase every guy away. So yeah, when I got pulled over, I can’t say I was in a happy place. But the day ended with a warning instead of a ticket, so my felon-free life is still squeaky clean and I’ve moved on.”
Mackenzie forced herself to stop talking. She was such a dork.
“In case you’re wondering, I’m not easily chased away.”
“Shit!” At his surprising words, Mackenzie had spilled her mug of hot chocolate—again—and it was now seeping into the cushions of her couch as well as dripping off onto the floor. “Shit. Shit. Shit! Hang on. Fuck.” Mackenzie threw the phone down and frantically looked around for something to mop up the drink. Seeing nothing, she sighed and whipped off the T-shirt she was wearing. It was already stained with who-the-hell-knew-what, so she might as well use it as a towel. She held it to the couch, trying to clean up the bulk of the mess. She kneeled on the floor and tried to mop up the liquid on the couch as well as what was dripping over the side.
Mackenzie reached over with her free hand and brought her phone back up to her ear. “Hello? Are you still there?”
“What happened? Are you hurt?” Dax’s voice was hard and urgent.
“Sorry! No, I’m fine. I spilled my drink. That’s all. I told you I was clumsy.”
Dax relaxed back against the counter where he’d been standing. For a second, he was afraid Mackenzie had been hurt and he’d have to call 911 for her. He grinned. “I gotta say, this has to be one of the most fascinating phone calls I’ve ever had with a woman.”
“Oh Lord.” Mackenzie rested her head on the cushion in front of her. The couch muffled her voice when she mumbled, “I’m seriously never leaving the house again.”
“I hope that’s not true, since I’m coming over tomorrow night to pick you up and take you to dinner.”
Dax waited for a response, but didn’t get one. He knew Mackenzie hadn’t hung up because he could still hear her breathing on the other end of the phone. He hadn’t been this interested in a woman since…well, in a really long time. Mackenzie was cute as hell and he knew she wasn’t even trying to be. That was what drew him in the most.
“Mackenzie? You still there?”
“Yeah, but I think I’m having hallucinations. Maybe the cocoa was bad or something.”
“You’re not hallucinating and I don’t think hot chocolate goes bad. I’m coming over tomorrow night. I’ll be there around six to take you out to dinner. It’ll be casual, so don’t wear anything fancy.”
“I don’t think I own anything fancy. I’d just ruin it anyway; I’d probably drop my fork in my lap or something and mess it up.”
Dax noticed Mackenzie hadn’t tried to get out of the date. He smiled again. “Good. You gonna be there tomorrow at six when I get there?”
“I don’t think this is how it works.”
“How what works?”
“I don’t think you can just tell me you’re coming to get me and you’re taking me out to eat.”
“Why not?”
“Why not what?”
“Why isn’t it how it works?
“I don’t know you.”
“I’m trying to change that.”
Mackenzie tried to get the conversation back on track. “How do you know where I live?”
“Mack, I’m a Ranger. I was in the car when TJ stopped you and ran your information. I know where you live.”
“Are you really a Texas Ranger?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you gonna kidnap and kill me like that psycho has been doing to women around here?”
“No.”
“This is weird.”
“It’s not weird,” Dax put every ounce of sincerity in his voice that he could. “I met you a few weeks ago and thought you were cute. Hell, I haven’t met anyone like you in a long, long time. I watched you walk away from me with regret. I didn’t know your name. I didn’t know anything about you, but I liked what I saw and what I heard, anyway. Then it was as if fate took hold, because there you were…again. What are the odds you’d be on the road you were, speeding, and I’d be on that same road? I’d like to take you out to dinner and get to know
you more. Maybe we won’t get along. Maybe we’ll go out once and decide, mutually, that we should be friends, or not at all. Give me a chance, Mackenzie. I’ll be there tomorrow night at six. Will you be there?”
“I’ll be here.”
Every muscle in Dax’s body relaxed. He hadn’t realized how tightly he was holding himself until after Mackenzie had accepted his date. He hadn’t planned on asking her out, but there was no way he could sit there and listen to how incredibly adorable she was, rambling on about nail polish and how clumsy she was and not ask her out. TJ was going to give him a rash of shit, but Dax didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to a date.
Most of the time women hit on him, simply because of the uniform he wore. It was nice, for once, to be the pursuer instead of the pursued. Mack wasn’t going to know what hit her.
“Good.” Dax lowered his voice. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“But, seriously, don’t get your hopes up, Daxton. I don’t do one-night stands.”
“I don’t recall asking you to sleep with me.”
Mackenzie buried her head even farther into the couch cushion, embarrassed. “Shit. See? I’m totally awkward and shouldn’t really be out with actual people in public. I should be locked away so people can point and laugh at what an honest-to-God dork looks like. What I meant was that I’m not good at relationships. Seriously. You know how old I am, you know my height and weight…I told you what my own family thinks…I’m just…me.”
“And I like ‘just’ you, Mackenzie. At least what I’ve seen and heard so far. We’ll go out and see what happens. I promise I won’t propose tomorrow if you won’t jump my bones in the parking lot. Deal?”
Mackenzie laughed out loud. “I think I can agree to that.”
“Great. Then I’ll see you tomorrow at six.”
“Okay, Daxton. See you then.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Mackenzie clicked off her phone and sat up on her haunches in front of her couch for a moment before leaning over and stuffing her face into one of the cushions and screaming at the top of her lungs.