After some time, she opens the door, and though her shoulders are squared, giving off the impression she’s unaffected, she’s not. I can tell by the anxious look in her eyes and the sheepish set of her features. A part of her feels bad for leaving me hanging, and I’m sure the other part of her feels justice is served for bailing on me.
“Did your clock suddenly stop working?” I ask, working to keep the smile from spreading across my face. I don’t know what it is about Mackenzie that I find so amusing. She plays a good game, trying to stand strong, but little does she know, I can see through it. I can see through her and past all those walls she’s tried to build. I want to peel her back, layer by layer until she’s stripped down bare to her core.
She clears her throat, her gaze dropping down submissively to her feet for only a second before darting back up. “No. Actually, I decided going out for dinner tonight wasn’t what I really wanted.”
The smile I’ve been fighting breaks free. It spreads across my face slowly, like a puppeteer gently tugging on the strings with finesse.
I tsk. “Such a shame. I had plans for you, dirty girl.”
She rolls her eyes, her own smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Oh, I’m sure you did.”
“Can I come in? Or is that not what you want either?”
Her slender throat works a nervous swallow. Without words, she takes a hearty step back, widening the door for me to enter. With my grin still in place, I step inside, taking in the familiar layout of the suite. I worked tirelessly on the design and layout of each floor, working with a designer on every painstaking detail.
Mackenzie leads us into the entertainment area that’s outside the bedroom and purposely takes the chaise opposite of the couch I’m lowering myself onto.
“So, mind telling me the real reason you didn’t show up?”
Her eyes flash to mine. “I told you already. I just … I just didn’t feel like going out.”
Resting my forearms on my knees, I lean forward, challenging her. “I call bullshit.”
Mackenzie rolls her eyes. “You don’t even know me. How can you call bullshit?”
“Oh, I think I do. I think you were scared. That’s why you didn’t show up. You were angry and scared.”
Her lips press together in a thin line. “Why the hell would I be angry and scared?”
I lean back on the couch, confident grin in place. “That’s easy. You’re angry because of the other night, which I don’t fault you for. And you’re scared of this,” I say, gesturing back and forth between us. “You’re scared of how easy it is for you to give yourself over to me. For whatever reason, you’re scared of letting go.”
Mackenzie quickly darts her gaze down to her lap, telling me I’m right. She licks her lips, her hands fidgeting in her lap as she likely tries to find an excuse, some kind of rebuttal.
“Can you blame me?” she utters quietly, glancing up at me through her lashes.
I feel the effects of it pierce me in the center of my chest. I shake my head, raking my fingers through my hair. Her hazel eyes are a startling honey in this lighting with bright flecks of emerald brightening them. If a look could have a color, this one would be a muted shade of redwoods in the forest. An affair of golden honey and midnight green. It’d be so easy to get lost in her right here, right now. She makes it easy. That’s just the pull Mackenzie has—the power she wields.
“No, I don’t blame you. But there’s an explanation for what you saw the other night. The woman who walked in on us was my former assistant.” Her lips purse, and I immediately know where her thoughts are headed. “I’ve never slept with her, if that’s what you’re thinking. That’s not why she was there so late. I let her go for being unprofessional, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that she’d show up to my penthouse to ask for something as insignificant as my friend’s number. That was all that was.”
She nods slowly as if she’s processing the information. Her eyes shutter, growing guarded as she asks her next question.
“And what about the others? All the women I’ve seen you pictured with over the last few weeks. Was that nothing, too?”
My brow quirks. “What is it you’re asking, Mackenzie? Are you asking if I fucked anyone while you went back to New York?” I shrug. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. I had no idea I’d ever see you again.”
She doesn’t like that answer. A raging inferno brews in her hazel eyes. It causes the green and honey to brighten as if they’re entities of their own.
“How many of those women did you fuck without a condom?”
That’s an easy answer. I lean back, getting comfortable.
“None.”
Her brows dip, and the rest of her face scrunches into a questioning frown. She doesn’t believe me.
“Bullshit.”
“Want the truth? You’re the only woman I’ve fucked raw. I never fuck without a condom. Ever. But with you, it’s different. You consume me to the point where I don’t think rationally when I’m near you.”
Surprise alights her features, leaving her slack jawed. I have to fight the urge to reach across this coffee table and pull her into my arms. I have a bad habit of not keeping my dick in my pants when I’m near her.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and with a sigh, I pull it out, glancing at the screen. It’s Marcus again, which means more bad news.
Fucking joy.
Hitting ignore, I push upright and circle the coffee table, stopping just before I reach Mackenzie. She looks up at me, all doe-eyed and innocent, and it does something to me, something that fucks with my head.
“The truth is, there is no one else. There’s no competition. No nothing.” I drop to my haunches, leveling our gazes. “Tomorrow at four, what do you say?”
She continues staring up at me, searching my eyes for answers to her inner questions. With a slow nod, she concedes. My mouth quirks into a crooked grin.
“Dress comfortably and meet me in the lobby.” Leaning forward, I slide my hand around the back of her neck, taking her lips with mine. She gasps into my mouth, and I flick my tongue inside hers, tasting her, getting lured into her song once again. When I pull back, her eyes are heavy, and her chest is heaving. “Try not to leave me hanging this time. I don’t know if my poor ego can handle it.”
Her face splits into a beautiful grin that’s a shot to the heart. I feel the effects of it pressing down on my chest.
Not wanting to linger, I leave her suite and pull my phone out, dialing Marcus back.
“What is it?” I sigh.
“There’s a problem. Meet us at the club.”
I grit my teeth together.
Son of a fucking bitch.
It turns out, wearing whatever you want isn’t as easy as it sounds. I’ve been standing amid the mess of clothes on the floor for far too long, trying to decide on what to wear tonight.
After our encounter in the gym, then leaving him hanging on the night of our dinner, I need tonight to work in my favor more than ever. That’s the issue about being near Baz. One second I feel like I have everything all figured out, but with one look, one smirk from him, it has the capacity to change things.