Mack shifted nervously, her eyes scanning the room as she sipped the glass of white wine Kent had procured for her. A lot of people she recognized from the gym. It was both odd and interesting to see them all dressed up. Her eye automatically sought out Nick Benning, looking especially hot in a traditional black tux. A pang went through her. He appeared to be alone. A couple of times, she could have sworn she felt his eyes on her, but each time she faced him, his attention was elsewhere.
Not for the first time, she wondered if she had said or done something wrong. She’d had such a good feeling after their coffee shop date, but now he seemed determined to avoid her, and her pride wouldn’t allow her to walk up to him and ask. Nick had no problem approaching her before, which meant that he should have been able to do so now — assuming he wanted to.
Unless, of course, he was keeping his distance because she was here with Kent. Was it possible that he was jealous? It was a heady, wishful thought, but he had nothing to be jealous of. Kent was nice and he was handsome, but Mack felt none of the tingles she had around Nick. They were simply here as friendly acquaintances, nothing more.
More importantly, if Nick had asked her to go to the ball — or for coffee or some Netflix, for that matter — she wouldn’t be there with Kent.
“Would you like to get some fresh air?” Kent asked, his hand lightly resting on her lower back. The innocuous contact felt strange, but since his hand wasn’t wandering any farther south, she didn’t want to make a big deal over it.
“Yes, please,” she said honestly.
“You look stunning tonight, Mack,” he complimented as he led her out into the cool evening air. It felt wonderful after the heat of the crowded room and she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs. The local florist had gone all out with her donation, filling the landscaped patio with dozens of fragrant potted gardenias and freshly cut pine boughs.
“Thanks,” she said, feeling the blush rise in her cheeks. Had any man ever called her stunning before?
He shifted his weight as though he was experiencing a slight case of the awkwards, too, and Mack couldn’t help but feel flattered by that. She’d made men nervous before, but for totally different reasons. Never because someone thought she looked stunning.
“I mean,” he said, waving his hand, “who knew you were hiding all that?”
Mack’s blush deepened. Her first covert foray into Victoria’s Secret was proving to be well worth it. The barely-there thong did make her butt look amazing through the clingy material, and the lacy push-up bra accentuated full breasts that were normally smushed and flattened by her preferred athletic sportswear.
How would a confident, desirable woman respond to something like that? Mack tried to imagine what Dee would say. “Glad you like it,” she murmured.
Apparently, he did, because seconds later, he was pressing her against the red brick wall and trying to snake her internal plumbing by sticking his tongue down her throat. Caught off guard, her hand-to-hand training kicked in automatically, and a moment later, he was wheezing on the ground in the fetal position, clutching his family jewels.
“What the fuck?!” he ground out around the moan.
Mortified, Mack dropped to her knees and reached out for him. “Oh, crap. I am so sorry. It was instinct. I panicked.”
“Get away from me!” He recoiled from her touch. Another apology was on her lips when his eyes glanced toward the open patio doors. “You win!”
Mack turned around to see Dee smiling broadly. Some of Kent’s friends crowded around, looking uncomfortable. She looked back to her date, who no longer looked anything like a gentleman. “This was a game?”
Kent didn’t meet her eyes. He didn’t have to.
“More like a challenge,” Dee said smugly, looking at her nails before smirking at Mack triumphantly.
“A challenge,” Mack repeated softly. “What kind of challenge?”
“Yes. Kent fashions himself as somewhat of a ladies’ man. So much, in fact, that he could even convert those who, shall we say, don’t swing that way? I simply suggested he put his money where his mouth is.” She grinned wickedly. “Looks like I won.”
Mack rose slowly to her feet. It all made perfect sense now. How could she have been so stupid? Dee hadn’t changed. She was still the cruel, evil creature she’d always been, lashing out when she didn’t get her way. Even worse, this wasn’t the first time Dee had tried something like this. Back in high school though, Mack had been smart enough not to accept the quarterback’s invitation to the spring dance.
Mack summoned her courage and her dignity and looked down at Kent, who was still clutching his family jewels and irrationally, felt a stab of pity for him.
“What did you win? A night between Delilah’s legs? The joke’s on you, pal. She gives that shit away for free.”
“Jesus, Mack,” he wheezed. “It was all in fun, you know?”
“Yeah. It’s been a real blast. Excuse me,” she said politely. The wall of men blocking the doorway parted. She paused, fighting the urge to wipe that smug smirk off of Dee’s face and said quietly, “Find another place to live.”
The flash in Delilah’s eyes was satisfying. Even more satisfying, in a few hours, when Dee tried to return to the house and found her bags packed and on the porch, and the security codes changed, the reality of her situation would sink in.
Her father wanted Princess Dee to learn responsibility? Well, Dee had just been placed in the accelerated program.
Mack kept her eyes forward and her head held high as she crossed the dance floor toward the main entrance. Judging by the number of curious eyes turned her way as she made her way across the floor, Dee’s “challenge” hadn’t been a secret.
Mack refused to acknowledge any of them. Once outside the hotel, she pulled off her heels and rapped on the window of the town’s only cab. As she slipped into the back seat, she thought she heard someone calling her name.
She ignored it, refusing to acknowledge the emotions trying to take hold. She’d deal with those later. Right now, she was in full-on mission mode, creating a mental list of things she needed to do. Giving the driver her address, she sank back into the seat and closed her eyes.
The house was dark when she got there, and Mack was glad for it. She hurriedly stripped out of her dress and went into the bathroom. The pretty woman looking back at her with smoky eyes and stained lips was a stranger. Mack scrubbed the make-up from her face vigorously and brushed out the curls that had taken nearly an hour to create, pulling it all back in a tight ponytail.
She looked again and nodded in approval. This was who she was.
Her phone vibrated again; Jay’s name displayed on the screen. She knew it wouldn’t have taken long for word to get back to him; the whole place was probably buzzing, having a good laugh at her expense.
Jay and Marcus had been at the event, too, but she didn’t believe for a minute he had known. He would have found some way to warn her, or better yet, turn the tables. The last thing she wanted was for him – for anyone – to see her when her emotions were running so close to the surface. She needed a few hours to get her shit together before she did that.
Mack grabbed some garbage bags and went to the guest bathroom. One swipe of her arm was all it took to clear the vanity. A couple of armloads and the contents of the guest closet were gone as well. Feeling a bit like the Grinch, she grinned in satisfaction as she tossed bag after bag to the curb.
Then she went back into the house and reset the security codes, firing off a quick text to Jay with the new numbers. She pulled on cargos, thick socks, and a couple pieces of comfortable, wicking base layers and flannel, then packed her rucksack with the efficiency of a seasoned Marine. Within ten minutes of entering the house, she was leaving it again.
She hopped in her Jeep Renegade and drove up to the state game lands before locking it up and proceeding on foot. Only when she paused at the rock outcropping did she pull out her phone and thumb a quick text to Jay. Judging by the number of texts h
e’d send in the last thirty minutes, he was worried.
Jay: Where are you?
Jay: Check in, Marine.
Jay: Seriously, Mack, where TF are you?
Jay: Nice lawn decorations, btw.
She snorted, deleting texts sent by anyone other than him; everyone else could go screw themselves as far as she was concerned.
Mack: I’m okay. Really. Back tomorrow, Sunday at the latest. Namaste.
Then she turned off her phone, slipped it into the bottom of her pack, and continued up the rock face.
Chapter Twenty-Five
~ Nick ~
Nick watched the cab drive away with Mack inside. He’d called out to her as she’d stormed by but she hadn’t even looked his way. Something, or rather someone, had upset her enough to leave, and he had a good idea who that someone was.
He turned on his heel and went back into the venue. It had been hard enough watching Mack arrive on Emerson’s arm. God, she’d looked fantastic. Classy and feminine and so damn sexy that she’d had every set of male eyes on her the moment she’d walked in. Powerful, possessive caveman urges had risen up, making him want to march right over there, toss her over his shoulder, and take her into a utility closet until the only man on her mind was him.
Instead, he’d ordered a double and stepped outside until he could get his inner caveman under control. Now, however, a different urge gripped him. The need to protect and avenge.
Finding out what happened — the gist of it anyway — hadn’t taken long. Rumors were already running rampant, as was the cracking buzz of electricity in the crowd that came with them.
Nick mentally kicked himself for not doing something earlier. His gut had told him that something wasn’t quite right about Emerson’s sudden interest in Mack. Now, as he looked across the room and saw Delilah staring back at him with a smug smile, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it. Delilah was a lot like Eve Sanderson — a spoiled, manipulative, vengeful creature who used others to get what she wanted and apparently, Emerson was her latest tool.
A familiar rage simmered below the surface. No one deserved to be on the receiving end of that kind of malice. Certainly not Mack, who, for as tough as she was on the outside, was a kind, generous, and caring woman on the inside.
He stalked across the room. Judging by the way Emerson was hunched over and pale, he’d taken a shot to the jewels. Good. The guy was on his feet, which meant Nick felt no qualms about hauling back and punching Emerson right in the face.
Emerson dropped like a stone. “What the fuck was that for?” he railed, his hands moving from his groin to his nose.
“Because I can’t hit her,” Nick said, glaring at Delilah. Her eyes flashed. The bitch was actually enjoying the show.
Emerson scowled, then nodded. “Point taken.”
Nick reached out a hand and hauled Emerson to his feet. “What did Mack ever do to you, anyway?”
“Nothing,” Emerson admitted.
“I hope she—” Nick glanced sideways at Delilah, whose lips were now formed into a scowling pout “—was worth it. And that you are going to offer your heartfelt and sincere apologies to Mack the first chance you get.”
Nick left without waiting for a response, pulling out his cell phone and tapping as he went.
He put some of the blame upon himself. He should have asked Mack to the ball, or better yet, just donated the money and taken them out someplace they both would have enjoyed more than this dog and pony pageant. Maybe then she wouldn’t have agreed to go with that douchebag, and she sure as hell wouldn’t have left feeling like anything less than the amazing woman she was.
He’d seen the flyers around town, heard people talking about it, but the thought that Mack might want to attend a formal ball hadn’t occurred to him.
He should have listened to his instincts. He’d known from the moment he’d first seen her that she was special. That he wanted something more.
The image of her face just as she left the party haunted him as he made his way across town. Mack had been totally blindsided by Kent’s idiocy. The look on her face as she’d crossed that ballroom... Jesus.
Well, one thing was for certain. Emerson’s stunt had just changed his game plan dramatically, and Nick was no longer content to stand on the sidelines and watch.
He was putting himself into the game.
He’d no sooner slipped his phone back into his pocket than it started vibrating. Pulling it out, he held it up to his ear. “Mack, where are you?”
There was a long moment of silence, then a feminine voice came through the tiny speaker. “Is this Nick Benning?”
It had been years, but he would have recognized her voice anywhere. “Liz?”
“Yes! Is it true? You’re really in Covendale?”
“Yeah.”
“Listen, we’re on our way home. Don’t go anywhere until I get there, okay?”
Nick almost smiled at the big sister bossiness in her tone. “I’m not going anywhere, Liz.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
~ Mack ~
One of the reasons Mack moved to Pennsylvania was because she’d fallen in love with the mountains. They weren’t the biggest, or the most well-known, but they were some of the prettiest and least spoiled she’d seen. Being here reminded her of the times she used to go hiking with her father, before his inventions were patented, before he became a self-made multimillionaire.
Life had been so much simpler then. In preparation for their adventures, her mom would make them ham and cheese sandwiches, and her dad would fashion walking sticks out of branches that had fallen from the stoic, centuries old maple trees in their backyard. Then, with their wrapped sandwiches safely tucked into her Nickelodeon-themed lunch box and a couple of juice boxes in her father’s knapsack, they’d go exploring.
They never went very far, she realized much later, but to her younger self, it seemed as if they had. He taught her all about different kinds of trees and plants, what was safe to eat and what to avoid. She learned how to read animal tracks and scat, how to fashion a splint from sticks, how to tell time by looking at the sky and gauge the approach of a storm by watching the trees and listening to the animals.
When they’d find the perfect spot, they’d make a small fire and roast their ham and cheese sandwiches on y-shaped sticks and talk until the sun started going down and it was time to head back home. Her mom would be waiting for them on the back porch, gently rocking back and forth on the swing her dad had put up for her on Mother’s Day...
Those were the things she thought about as she climbed higher and put more distance between her and the rest of the world; that’s where her love for the great outdoors had been born. Away from civilization, that connection to something much larger gave her the focus she needed.
When her lungs were burning and her legs were screaming, she found herself a cozy spot to make camp. She filled her canteen from the nearby stream, gathered some dry kindling, and dug a pit for a small fire. Once she’d ringed the hole with rocks and set up her wood in the shape of a teepee, she lit a tiny blaze and used some pine needles to create a soft base for her sleeping bag. Only then did she pause and allow herself to process the events of the evening.
Tears fell silently for a few minutes, the only ones she would shed. She had gotten nothing less than she deserved, a just punishment for trying to be something she was not. Be true to yourself. Maybe she should have that embroidered on a pillow. Better yet, she should have that tattooed on her body where she could look at it often and remind herself of the wisdom in those four little words. Yeah, when she got back, she was definitely going to pay a visit to the ink shop over in Birch Falls and have Tiny, the local tattoo artist and master inker, sketch something out.
Having made that decision (a plan that involved doing something always helped), she settled back and tried to relax. She took deep, cleansing breaths, filling her lungs with the crisp, clean mountain air. A sense of awe filled her at the sight of the perfect velvety canvas above,
the expanse of deep midnight blue-black serving as a reminder of just how small she and her problems were in the overall scheme of things. She needed this, needed the time and the perspective to heal her bruised heart.
No, that wasn’t quite right, she realized with startling clarity. It was her pride that had been damaged, not her heart, because she really didn’t have feelings for Kent beyond a superficial kind of friendship, one based more in business and convenience. He was an acquaintance, nothing more.
That little epiphany made it a bit easier to take the next breath. Pride wasn’t all that important in the overall scheme of things. She was still Mack, still whole. Her heart was still intact, and that’s what really mattered.
Now if it had been Nick instead of Kent... well, that would have really hurt. But thank God no one knew that, not even Jay, and Mack was going to make damn sure it stayed that way. Her feelings for Nick were her dirty little secret, and if no one knew, then no one could use them against her.
Tonight and maybe tomorrow night, she would recharge under the moon and stars. Then she would head back to town, refreshed and ready to kick some serious ass.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
~ Nick ~
Nick kept running long past his usual five miles. He’d been out early, too many things on his mind to take advantage of the fact that it was a Sunday and he could sleep in. He still had some things he wanted to pull together for his upcoming call with the DEA agent. He was heading over to his sister’s later that afternoon. And Mack was still MIA. Jay had told him that Mack was off rusticating, whatever the hell that meant, and that she’d be back when she was ready.
In the meantime, he was forced to bide his time. He’d already decided that he was going to stop pussyfooting around and let Mack know how he felt. They could take it slow, take it fast, or somewhere in between, as long as they took it together.
Seizing Mack: A Contemporary Love Story (Covendale Book 3) Page 12
