With one notable exception.
As if picking up her thoughts, Dee added, “Especially the new guy, Nick. He is H-O-T.”
Mack tensed at the easy way his name rolled off her tongue. Detective Benning was the only exception to her no-tingle rule, and Dee’s mention brought forth flash images of her latest taboo fantasy. Something about the man made it hard to look at him as just a client. Maybe it was his kind eyes. Maybe it was his smile. Maybe it was the sense that there was so much more to discover beneath the disciplined, professional exterior.
“What do you know about him?” Dee fished.
“Nothing,” Mack answered, which wasn’t exactly true. She knew he was a detective and a danger to her sense of propriety.
“I’m going to Google him.”
Mack squirmed uncomfortably. She was a huge proponent of privacy and hated the thought of Dee or anyone else cyberstalking someone who was looking to start over. Especially him. In their first brief encounter, Mack had seen glimpses of shadows in the detective’s clear eyes. She’d bet her favorite Sig that Nick Benning had seen his share of ugliness. Maybe because she had been there, done that, and recognized the look.
“Dee, I don’t think his prior personal life is any of your business.”
“Anything I find will be a matter of public record. Besides, he’s got this strong, silent, mysterious vibe going on. That is so sexy, don’t you think?”
Mack could feel Delilah’s eyes boring into her. Did Dee suspect that Mack harbored a hidden crush for her newest client? No, there was no way she could have. Mack’s private thoughts were like Vegas: what happened there, stayed there.
“I suppose,” Mack said non-committedly.
Dee looked at her as if she’d grown three heads, then her eyes grew wide. “Wait... you’re not...” Dee lowered her voice to a hushed whisper, “... you know, are you?”
“No, I don’t know. What the hell are you talking about?”
“You like girls, don’t you?”
Mack stared at her in disbelief. Just because she was capable of controlling her baser impulses around every fit Tom, Dick, and Harry didn’t mean she was walking the rainbow runway. “No, Dee. I’m not a lesbian.”
“Are you sure? Because, it would be totally cool if you were.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m just saying...”
“I’m not gay.”
“... because you were in the Marines, and you live with a gay guy.”
“I am not gay. I have slept with — do sleep with — men, not women.”
“And you like it?” Dee asked with wide eyes.
Mack clenched her teeth so hard she was in danger of snapping a few molars. “Yes.”
“Oh. Okay.” She still didn’t look convinced, but Mack had had more than enough of the conversation. Thankfully, Jay glided in through the door in that moment, unwittingly saving Dee from wearing Mack’s hands as a choker necklace.
“Hello, ladies,” he sang. “How was little sis’s first official week as a working girl?”
“Exhausting,” Dee moaned dramatically, “but scenic. Did you give Tish my resume?”
Mack’s mood instantly brightened. Tish was Jay’s agent, a sharp, former runway model. Both Jay and Mack adored her; her passion for healthy, happy models over starved, miserable ones sent a lot of clients Mack’s way. If Tish thought Dee had potential, Mack wouldn’t feel obligated to keep Dee at Seize. It would be a win-win for everyone.
“I did,” Jay told her. “Tish said to expect a call in a week or so, maybe earlier to come in for some test photos.”
Exhaustion temporarily forgotten, Dee squealed, popping up off the couch and wrapping her arms around him. “Awesome, Jay. You are the best.”
“I’ve been telling Mack that forever,” he winked over Dee’s shoulder.
Mack once again said a silent prayer of thanks for her housemate. He was the sweetest, most likable man she’d ever met. Not only was he being very cool about having Dee stay with them, he actually seemed to get along with her. That made the man a bona fide saint in Mack’s eyes.
“Ussie!” Jay yelled suddenly, grabbing Mack around the shoulders and pulling her in close with him and Dee. Wearing a goofy smile, he stooped down, stuck out his tongue, made rock horns with the hand looped around her neck, and snapped a picture of the three of them on his latest and greatest i-gadget.
“Did you just call me a hussy?” Mack asked.
“No. I said ussss-eeee,” he clarified, drawing the word out.
“What the hell is that?”
Dee gave Jay a sympathetic look and skipped off to get a shower. He turned the rectangular device around and showed Mack the picture. Jay, as always, looked stunning. Dee looked professionally Photoshopped. In contrast, Mack looked like she just rolled out of bed after a three-day bender. “It’s like a selfie, but with all of us. Hence the term, ussie.”
Mack snatched the phone from his hand and stared at him. “You’re shitting me, right?”
He made a big X over his chest. “I shit you not. Haven’t you ever taken one before? You know, with your unit or something?”
Brows creased in concentration, Mack thumbed the phone surface. “Sure. Every time we drove into a war-ravaged village we all gathered round the starving kids and snapped a pic for the folks back home.”
“You don’t have to be so sarcastic.”
“Sarcasm is a sign of great intelligence.”
He shook his head. “Do you have that embroidered on a pillow or something?”
“No.” There was no way she was going to tell him that she did, in fact, have it printed on a T-shirt, a parting gift from her last team. Nor would she ever admit that they almost talked her into getting it tattooed on her rear end. Thank God she went with the Celtic cross and Trinity knot instead. “And don’t dis sarcasm. It’s not illegal or socially frowned upon like, say, beating the crap out of people.”
He took a step back. “Sometimes you really scare me, Mack.”
She grinned wickedly. “You should be scared.”
“I’m terrified. Really. Now get that face over here so we can take a totally natural and unstaged picture since you just deleted the last one. You can post it on your Facebook profile so it looks like you have an actual life.”
“I don’t have a Facebook account.”
He gaped at her. “You’re killing me, Mack,” he said, shaking his head. “I swear to God. Everyone over the age of twenty has, at the very minimum, accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.”
She blinked, her face blank. Chrissy, her honeymooning receptionist, handled all the social media stuff for Seize, and Mack had never really felt compelled to put her personal life out on the internet.
Jay muttered something unintelligible. She managed to pick up the words ‘antisocial’ and ‘cavewoman’ in there somewhere before he got that all-too-familiar look of determination on his face. “Baby girl, we are going to set you up. Where is your laptop?”
Like she was going to tell him. The man couldn’t go fifteen minutes without texting, tweeting, snapping or Liking something. Mack didn’t have the patience for sitting still for more than a minute at a time, let alone spending hours in front of a computer reading about other people’s lives (although she did appreciate the occasional cute baby animal pics that Jay instant messaged her).
“I’ve got a better idea,” her eyes suddenly lighting up.
He eyed her warily. “I’m seriously afraid to ask.”
“Let’s rusticate.”
“Is that legal?”
“Fidiot. Rusticate means to unplug for a couple of days. Take a vacation from everything digital. No email, no computers, no cell phones.” No Delilah or tingle-inducing mysterious detectives.
His expression was one of absolute horror. “You are insane.”
“Am not. Come on, Jay. Next weekend. We’ll hike the gorge, set up camp by the lake, cook over a fire, sleep under the stars. It’ll be great.”
�
��No way. I have a life, you know.”
Mack sighed, deflated. “Yeah. Good point.” She hadn’t really expected him to go for it, but it had been worth a shot. She had yet to meet someone who shared her love of nature, of going off into the woods for a quick spiritual reboot instead of partying or hanging out. She spent every day surrounded by people, running a business, putting on a mask for everyone else. Was it so bad that she found solace in quiet time away from all that?
Jay looked at her with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Mack. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
“Yeah, you did,” she said, forcing a weak smile, “but it’s okay. It is what it is.”
“You are so freaking awesome!” he said, exasperated. “Why are you so afraid to let anyone see that?”
“You know,” she said, rising up on her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek. “That’s good enough for me.”
“Mack, I know you don’t like to hear this, but —”
She reached up and put her finger on his lips. “Then don’t say it, Jay, please. I’m heading over to Seize. Don’t wait up.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but, smart man that he was, he didn’t.
Chapter Nine
~ Nick ~
Nick sat in the parking lot of Seize, second-guessing his motives. He could say that he wanted to talk to Mack about possibly getting involved with her teen center, since many adult drug problems had their roots in those formative years. It would be the truth.
Or he could just admit he wanted to see Mack again.
He couldn’t help it. Something about her had piqued his interest, kept her popping up in his thoughts despite everything else he had going on.
Complicated, that’s what she was. Hard to read. Friendly, but distant. Confident, yet wary. Sexy, yet down-to-earth. Even more intriguing: beneath all that beauty and strength, was a woman with a lot of secrets, he’d bet his shield on it.
Nick grabbed his workout bag out of the back seat and locked up his car. Still questioning the wisdom of his actions, Nick couldn’t deny the frisson of pleasure he felt at the sight of Mack at the front desk, eyes narrowed, cheeks colored. Just like the first time he’d seen her, her shoulders were tense and she was muttering to herself.
“Fucking unbelievable. I mean, how hard is it? Answer the phone. Press a few keys...”
Sensing his presence, Mack cut off her barely audible tirade and glanced up. Her eyes flashed with heat, sparking his own before her expression went oddly neutral. “Detective Benning.”
“Nick,” he corrected, trying to hide his grin. “Problems?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“I don’t doubt it. Do you have a few minutes? There’s something I’d like to speak with you about.”
She studied him carefully, her guard back in place. “Sure. Hey Toni, can you cover the front desk for a few?”
An attractive woman nodded and waved goodbye to a group of middle-aged women in track suits and yoga pants on their way out. “Good job, ladies. Rest up. Next time we’re going to incorporate some piloxing into our routine.” She laughed at the resulting groans and stepped over, offering him a friendly smile. “New guy, right?”
“Right.”
“Toni, Nick Benning. Nick, Toni Carminetti, body sculptor extraordinaire.”
The woman’s eyes twinkled. “Always glad to see a member of Covendale’s finest at Seize.” She turned to the computer, her brows drawing together at whatever she saw on the screen. “Oh my. What happened there?”
“Dee happened,” Mack said on an exhale. “Do me a favor, will you? When Bill’s done with his workout, can you ask him to take a look at this?”
“On it, boss.”
“Thanks, Toni.” She waved to Nick, inviting him to follow her into her office. “So... what did you want to talk to me about? Are you having any problems or issues?”
The leggy blonde who’d been skulking around came to mind, but he kept his mouth shut. “Just the opposite, actually. This place is great.”
“Glad to hear it,” Mack said. Was he imagining it, or did she seem relieved?
“I wanted to speak with you about this safe zone you’ve created for teens.”
Her eyes opened wide. “Oh?”
“It’s great that you give them a place to go, positive things to do.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’d like to help.”
“What did you have in mind?”
Wholly inappropriate ideas popped into his mind, ideas that had nothing whatsoever to do with the teen program and everything to do with the woman asking. He confined his response to the topic at hand. “Adolescence is a turbulent time for kids. It’s when they’re at their most vulnerable. They’re still trying to figure everything out and not all of them have someone to help them with the answers. I’ve found that getting involved at this stage builds a positive relationship between kids and law enforcement and encourages trust and open communication.”
Her shoulders tensed and the corners of her mouth dipped southward. “You want to use my kids for information?”
“What? No!” He shook his head vehemently. “I want them to know they have someone they can go to when they have questions or problems. This is a rough age for them, Mack. Peer pressure, lots of changes.”
“And you think they’re going to open up to a cop?” she asked doubtfully.
“A cop, no. But someone they know? Someone they can trust? Yes, maybe. Hopefully.”
The tense lines on her face softened. “They’re good kids, Detective.”
“I don’t doubt it. And I’d like to keep it that way.”
Mack sat back, her expression thoughtful, but her eyes were as sharp as ever. At that moment, they were focused on him, gauging his sincerity. “This is important to you?”
He met her gaze with one of his own. “Very.”
“Why?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why is it so important to you?”
He carefully weighed his answer. There were a lot of reasons he could give her, but she wanted truth. She really cared about these kids, he realized, his respect for her continuing to grow with each tick of the clock.
“Because I’ve chosen to make Covendale my home. Because I’ve seen enough young lives ruined by drugs, alcohol, and violence. Because I believe I can make a difference, not just on the clock, but off of it as well.”
“This is about more than the job for you,” she said softly.
She had no idea. “Yes. Many years ago, I... lost someone important to me.”
He waited, holding her gaze. Eventually she nodded. “All right, Detective. How about we do something on a trial basis and see how it goes?”
“Perfect. I can come by a couple of times a week, hang out, get to know them.”
Her lips quirked, as if she found the idea amusing. “They’re teens and pre-teens. They’re naturally suspicious of anyone over twenty-one.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to convince them — and you — to trust me.”
Chapter Ten
~ Mack ~
Mack hung back, watching the detective as he executed a jump shot. Poetry in motion, she thought, quietly enjoying the way he moved, the ripple of muscles from his broad shoulders all the way down to his impressive quads and well-toned calves.
He’d coaxed some of the boys into a pick-up game, taunting them good-naturedly about age and experience trumping youth and agility. The teens were wary but seemed to be responding well to him.
She wasn’t entirely surprised. Nick Benning was a very lickable – uh, likeable – guy.
He had a friendly, approachable manner, but came across as strong and capable too. When Jesse, one of the older teens, challenged him with some attitude, Nick had firmly established himself as the one in charge without embarrassing the kid. That took some skill, and Mack was dutifully impressed.
Not for the first time, she wondered what Nick’s deal was. He projected an air of quiet, capab
le authority that she found as attractive as his athletic physique, but there was something more there, too. Something in his eyes that suggested he’d seen his share of tragedy, something that attested to a deeper appreciation for life than most. That kind of thing left an intangible mark. She’d seen it plenty of times in her fellow Marines and in those who had faced a big challenge and come out on the other side, intact but essentially changed.
Mack supposed it was only to be expected. Nick was a cop, and if he’d worked in a big city like Chicago, he must have seen his share of bad things. Or maybe it had something to do with the reference he’d made to losing someone.
Though she’d been tempted, Mack refused to stoop to Dee’s level of Googling him. Whatever it was that had marked him, it was his business and none of hers.
Unless, for some unfathomable reason, he decided to share it with her.
And why, a little voice deep in her psyche wanted to know, would he ever want to do that?
The obvious answer: he wouldn’t.
Mack gave herself a mental shake, reminding herself that Nick was a client. Her interest had to remain strictly professional. Which also meant she probably shouldn’t be gawking at him as she was.
Satisfied that Nick had things under control, she wrangled her sudden thirst and quietly slipped away. As nice as the view had been, she had other things to take care of. Like trying to prevent a harassment suit because her man-hungry stepsister couldn’t keep her hands to herself.
“Dee!” she barked, rounding the corner to see her stepsister about to invade the personal space of Harrison Kennedy, one of Mack’s favorite people. The chief loan officer at Covendale Fidelity Bank and Trust, he’d been instrumental in helping her turn Seize from a dream into a reality. As a result, he had a lifetime free membership and her infinite gratitude.
Harrison sent her a thankful look and made a smooth getaway. Dee, on the other hand, scowled and hissed, “Now what? God, Mack, you are such a cock block!”
Seizing Mack: A Contemporary Love Story (Covendale Book 3) Page 5
