by Paige Tyler
Mac smiled. “As a matter of fact, I am.”
* * *
Gage heard two men come up behind him as he watched Mackenzie Stone walk back to her car. He didn’t have to turn around to know it was Mike and Xander. And he didn’t have to look at them to pick up on their disapproval.
“You know she was playing you the whole time, right?” Xander said. “She’s not here because she thinks we’re taking steroids. Her heart was beating too fast when she said it. She was lying.”
Gage didn’t answer. Instead he watched Mackenzie bend over to move something around in the backseat of the car. Damn, she had an amazing ass. He could stand there and gaze at it all day. As she straightened and closed the back door, he admitted her butt wasn’t her only amazing asset—she was supermodel beautiful with long, shiny hair, curves in all the right places, and a killer smile that could make a man do stupid things. He was going to have to be extra careful around her. Mackenzie might not look it, but she was dangerous. And it wasn’t only because Xander had been right about her lying to him.
He dragged himself away from the picture of female perfection on the other side of the fence, and turned to look at Xander. “How’d it go with IA?”
He might have been occupied with Mackenzie all day, but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten his senior squad leader was downtown getting grilled, or that Xander hadn’t come back until thirty minutes ago. While Gage was worried about a reporter like Mackenzie Stone finding out the entire SWAT team was made up of werewolves, IA was the bigger threat. They had details on every arrest the team had made and raid they’d done. If anyone was going to connect the dots, it’d be Internal Affairs.
“It went fine,” Xander said. “They just asked me to go over my story again and again. Usually that’d mean they were looking to catch me in a lie, but they didn’t act as if I did anything wrong or say anything to make me think they were suspicious about something.”
“Tell him about the lawyer,” Mike said.
Gage frowned. “They had a lawyer there?”
“Yeah. That was definitely weird,” Xander said. “They had a city lawyer there listening to everything I said. He even asked for clarification a few times. IA didn’t say I could go until he gave the okay.”
Gage didn’t like the sound of that. “IA didn’t say why he was there?”
Xander shook his head. “Not a thing. But since they didn’t say anything to make me think I’m in trouble, I’m not going to worry about it. I am damn worried about that reporter, though.”
“I know she was lying. But I expected that.” It didn’t mean Gage liked it, though. “Whether she lied or not doesn’t change anything. I’ll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t discover anything that can cause a problem.”
Mike’s face looked skeptical. “You think you can honestly keep her snooping under control? She seems like a handful, if you ask me.”
Understatement there. “I think so.”
“You think so?” Xander repeated. “Not exactly the confident answer I was looking for.”
“Confidence can be a bad thing when you’re dealing with a woman like Mackenzie Stone,” Gage said. “She’s not only smart, she’s persistent. And she has better instincts than any person I’ve met. She might not have a clue we’re werewolves, but she knows there’s something going on.”
Mike frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Because her heart sped up like crazy when she was looking at the night vision goggles in the armory.”
“The NVGs?” Mike looked as confused as Gage felt. “Why would she care about those?”
Gage shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s part of the reason I asked her out to dinner. I have to figure out what she knows—or thinks she knows. And to do that, I need to get her somewhere she’ll relax and lower her guard. I have to get the upper hand in this situation, and fast.”
“Uh-huh.” That knowing grin from earlier was back on Mike’s face. “And what’s the other part?”
“Other part?”
“Yeah. You said finding out what she knows was only part of the reason you asked her out to dinner. Any chance the other part might have something to do with how hard you were staring at Ms. Stone’s very fine ass?”
Gage opened his mouth to deny it, but it’d be useless. Werewolves knew when one of their own found a woman attractive. They could sense it like they sensed everything else. Mike had picked up on it the moment he’d seen Gage and Mackenzie together.
“Okay, I admit Mackenzie is attractive. And that might have something to do with asking her out to dinner,” he added when Mike lifted a brow. “What? You don’t think I can have a good time with her and still take care of the Pack?”
“We’d like to think you can, but we’d have to be blind not to see the effect she has on you,” Xander said.
Gage clenched his jaw. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Xander looked to Mike for help, but he just shrugged. “I mean that it seems like she might be The One for you, is all.”
The One, capital T capital O. Gage snorted. “You know I don’t believe in that crap. Mackenzie smells great. Doesn’t mean she has some psychic ability to control my mind.”
“Maybe not,” Mike agreed with a laugh. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t control the rest of you.”
“Funny,” Gage chuckled. “Maybe you get a hard-on anytime you’re around a woman who showers more than once a week, but my standards are a little higher.”
It was Mike’s turn to snort. “You mean like a beautiful face, long silky hair, an awesome ass, and legs up to there? Because I couldn’t help but notice that Ms. Stone has that going on, too.”
Gage growled and stepped toward Mike before he even realized what he was doing. Just the thought that his squad leader had been checking out Mackenzie’s ass bothered him way more than it should have. Fortunately, Xander quickly stepped between them.
“Look, Gage, we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with her being The One, if that’s what she is,” Xander said. “The problem is that she’s a reporter who wouldn’t waste a second telling the whole world if she discovered our secret.”
The whole idea was ridiculous. But Xander hadn’t been a werewolf as long as he and Mike had. He was still young enough to believe the urban legend that every werewolf had a single mate out there, and that once he found her, everything would be right with the world. That was bullshit made up by some desperate young werewolves as a way to make themselves feel better about the fact that they could never make things work with a human woman.
“She’s not The One.” Gage forced himself not to sound too bitter. For all he knew, Xander was one of those werewolves who hoped and prayed for the legend to be true. “And even if she was, it wouldn’t matter. Protecting the Pack is my first priority.”
“Even if she stumbles on our secret?” Mike asked.
That was a question Gage didn’t know how to answer. When he’d convinced Mike, Xander, and the others to come to Dallas and join a team where they wouldn’t have to hide their identities from each other, he promised to keep their secret. And for eight years, he’d been true to his word. The minute they thought he couldn’t, they’d be gone. He couldn’t let that happen, not after all he’d been through to get them to where they were now.
“She won’t,” he finally said.
“But if she does?” Xander insisted.
Gage met his squad leader’s gaze. “Then I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect the Pack.”
Chapter 4
Mac was still giddy as she stepped out of the elevator and weaved her way through the newsroom to her desk. Today had gone better than she could have imagined. Not only had she learned enough to know there was definitely something shady going on at the SWAT compound, but she was also pretty sure Gage Dixon was attracted to her. Even though he was supposed to b
e the focus of her investigation, that thrilled the hell out of her. If she was lucky, she might be able to get her story and still stay on Gage’s good side. Right. Like Gage was going to forget she’d exposed whoever was using drugs and gotten them suspended…or worse. But a girl could dream. At least for tonight.
She sat down at her desk and grabbed a half-eaten bag of pita chips she’d stashed in her top drawer the previous day. She hadn’t realized she was starving until she’d left the compound. There was absolutely no way she could make it to dinner without eating. She hadn’t gotten more than a handful of the salty, but supposedly healthy, chips in her mouth when Zak sauntered over.
“Hey, you’re back.” He perched on one corner of her desk. “Ted wants to talk to you.”
Mac nodded and shoved another handful of chips into her mouth.
“So, how’d things go with SWAT?” Zak asked, completely disregarding the fact she was busy with a mouthful of food.
She got enough down to answer. “They went great. I mean, I haven’t learned anything definitive yet, but I discovered enough to certainly pique my curiosity, for sure.”
Zak’s mouth quirked. “You are talking about the story, right?”
“Very funny. Yes, I was talking about the story. What the heck did you think I meant?”
He reached into the bag to steal some of her chips. “Well, I know you have a thing for muscular men in uniform.”
Mac gave him an indignant look. “I do not!”
“Right.” He snorted. “So, what’d you learn?”
Mac told him about the bloody bandages and her suspicions about the night vision goggles. She left out the part about having a date with the SWAT commander. Zak was her best friend in the world and the older brother she’d never had, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Okay,” he said as he grabbed some more chips. “What aren’t you telling me?”
She stifled the urge to groan. He should have been a journalist instead of a photographer with that nose of his. He could smell a lie a mile away. But if she told him about having dinner with Gage, he’d only disapprove. Not of flirting with Gage to get a story. She’d done that before. He wouldn’t even have an issue with her being attracted to Gage. That had happened a time or two as well. The thing that’d bother Zak was this crazy idea of hers that she could have her cake and eat it, too.
“You can’t work both sides of the fence,” he had said more than once. “Figure out what you want and go after it, but don’t be greedy. If you do, you’ll end up getting hurt. Or hurting someone you end up caring about.”
Even though she thought he was being melodramatic, she’d always backed off. Not from going after a story she wanted, but from getting involved with whomever she was investigating. The story was always more important. But this time was different. She couldn’t forget about that crazy reaction she’d had when her arm had brushed Gage’s.
She popped another chip in her mouth. “Nothing. That’s the whole enchilada.”
Zak regarded her doubtfully. “Sure, whatever you say, Mac. But promise me you’ll be careful. If you’re right and these SWAT guys are crooked, you need to be careful. There are a lot of scary people in this town who piss in their boots at the idea of the DPD SWAT coming through their front door. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t,” she promised. “Now, stop worrying. I’m going to go see Ted. Don’t eat all my pita chips while I’m gone.”
Ted Simms had been her editor since she’d started working at the newspaper. A big man with a serious twang and more awards than Mac could even name, Ted could be a teddy bear one minute and a grizzly the next, but she wouldn’t want to work for anyone else.
He looked up from his computer when she walked in, his bushy brows coming together over his reading glasses. “Where the hell have you been all day?”
She flopped down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “I told Zak to tell you I’d be out at the SWAT compound.”
“For five hours?”
“Four, actually.” But who was counting? “I got the guided tour. And starting tomorrow, I’ve been given a free pass to spend the next few days with them.” She grinned. “No one has ever gotten this kind of access, Ted. No one!”
She didn’t expect her editor to fist-bump her or anything, but he looked as if he’d just eaten something that didn’t agree with him.
He took off his glasses and set them on the desk. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to spend too much time with those SWAT guys, Mac.”
What the heck? She’d just told him she got a ticket on the fifty-yard line of the biggest game in town, and now he didn’t want her to go?
“Ted, I know you think these SWAT guys are squeaky clean, but I’m telling you they’re up to something,” she said. “I promise I won’t print a word unless it’s Pulitzer-worthy. If this turns out to be a simple case of cops on the take, I’ll drop the whole thing.”
Her editor sighed. “Do you know who was killed during the SWAT raid this morning?”
The sudden change of gear caught her off guard. “What? No, I don’t know who it was. And this may sound terrible, but I saw the video of how the guy was acting—slapping women around and waving his gun everywhere—so I don’t have a problem with him being dead. The SWAT team may be up to something, but they did Dallas a service by killing that thug.”
“That thug was Ryan Hardy.”
“As in the son of Walter Hardy?”
She wasn’t on a first-name basis with many thugs, but she knew Walter—everyone in Dallas knew him.
“Yes.” Ted’s mouth tightened. “His only son. As in the kid the crazy bastard dotes on.”
Now she was the one who felt as if she’d eaten something that didn’t agree with her. “Oh, crap.”
“Yeah—crap. Now do you understand why you need to stay away from this?”
Mac understood all right. She’d made a living out of dealing with some unsavory men, but Walter Hardy had to be at the top of the heap when it came to assholes. Drugs, stolen cars, prostitutes, sex slaves, weapons, murder—if there was an illegal way to make money and hurt people in the process, Hardy was involved in it. And in almost forty years in the business on both sides of the border, no one had ever come close to proving anything. He’d never even been taken in for questioning, much less arrested.
Part of it was because the man was more intelligent than the average criminal. He was Oxford educated and had multiple degrees to go along with a ton of street smarts. On top of that, he was rich beyond belief. And in a city of very rich men, that was saying a lot. He owned more real estate and cargo ships than anyone could count, not to mention that he sat on the board of a dozen major companies. To say he was powerful and connected was putting it mildly. He was definitely a man people didn’t want to mess with.
“Rumor is he believes the federal, state, and local governments conspired to kill his son because they couldn’t get to him. He’s overlooking the fact that his son broke into a bank, shot several cops, then took all those hostages—all on video.” Ted shook his head. “But facts never get in the way for people like Hardy.”
No, they didn’t. “Okay, so Hardy thinks the government is out to get him. What does any of this have to do with my investigation of SWAT?”
“Because while Hardy might not be able to go after some supposed government officials who gave the orders to kill his son, he can go after the people who pulled the trigger. He’s going to make someone pay, Mac, and that someone is SWAT.”
Her editor had good reason to be worried, but as sensible as it was to keep her distance from all things SWAT at the moment, she couldn’t do that. It wasn’t that she was crazy or reckless. She simply knew a good story when she saw one. And this story had just gotten better.
Ted must have figured that out, too, because he sighed. “I’m not going to be able to stop you, am I? Then at least prom
ise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will,” she said. When he lifted a brow, she added, “I promise.”
* * *
Gage knocked on her door exactly on time. No surprise there. He’d probably gotten to her apartment building ten minutes early just so he could drive around and memorize the layout of the neighborhood.
Mac gave her reflection one more look in the bedroom’s full-length mirror, wondering for about the tenth time if she should have worn jeans instead of the little black dress she had on. But somewhere between the fourth and fifth change of clothes, she’d admitted to herself that this date was about more than simply being a means to an end. She liked spending time with Gage. That wasn’t such a bad thing, right?
Of course, if Gage took her to the local pizza place down the street, she was going to regret not wearing something more casual.
Her worries disappeared when she opened the door to discover the SWAT commander hadn’t gone the jeans and T-shirt route, either. Instead, he was wearing a suit that showed off his impressive height and wide shoulders. Damn, he looked good enough to eat.
Gage flashed her a smile. “Hope I’m not too early.”
“You’re perfect.” If he was any more perfect, there’d have to be a warning label on him. “Let me grab my purse.”
When she turned back around, she found Gage eyeing her like she was going to be on tonight’s menu. If any other man undressed her with his eyes like that, she would have been uncomfortable. But the heat from his molten eyes made her warm all over.
“You look beautiful,” he said as they rode down in the elevator.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “I’m just glad I picked the right one. I didn’t realize until I started getting dressed that I never asked where we were going.”
“I made reservations at Chambre Francaise. I hope that’s okay with you?”
Whoa. Mac was so surprised she teetered a little on her high heels as she stepped out of the elevator. Chambre Francaise was one very fancy restaurant, not to mention ungodly expensive. And about as far from the pizza place down the street as you could get and still be on the same planet. It definitely wasn’t the type of place she imagined Gage taking her. He seemed more like a steak-and-potatoes guy. Apparently, looks could be deceiving. She felt bad about the dent having dinner there was going to leave in Gage’s wallet, though.