Chasing the Dragon

by T. K. Leigh

  “I’m with you.”

  The corners of his lips turned up slightly and there was a spark about him that wasn’t present yesterday. “I like the sound of that, Miss Delano.”

  He pulled me closer and I tilted my head to peer into his striking eyes, needing the connection I felt at that moment. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced, all because of a well-placed hand, a sinfully sexy voice, eyes that made me want to melt, and arms that felt like home.

  “Who would have thought that the Mackenzie whose lips I couldn’t stop seeing in my dreams last night would turn out to be Mackenzie Delano, proprietor of South Padre’s hottest new spot?”

  “How did−”

  “Shhh,” he said once more. “You think too much. Just enjoy the moment because it’s over once the band plays the final note to this melody.”

  I snapped my mouth shut, a strange awareness of loss washing over me at the prospect of this complete stranger walking away from me once the song came to an end, wondering if I would ever see him again.

  “You’re a lovely dancer, Miss Delano,” he commented.

  “Thank you,” I answered, unsure of whether to say anything further. He seemed to be in complete control of the dance, of his words…and of mine. And, for the first time, I was okay with someone else calling the shots.

  “You have a dancer’s body. I’m confident you’ve bewitched quite a few men with the way you can seamlessly navigate the dance floor.” He leaned toward me and whispered, “I must confess… You’ve bewitched me.”

  His voice was sweet as it crooned in my ear, and I was left a silent, blubbering mute, the sincerity in his declaration sparking a renewed sense of longing I had ignored for years. My breathing grew ragged, and I was unable to formulate any response. I simply lost myself in the moment of our dance, wanting his sensual words to ring in the recesses of my mind for all eternity. I wished I could have recorded his voice murmuring those endearing words to me so I could replay them over and over again when I needed to feel something I didn’t think I would ever feel again.

  He molded my frame to his, our bodies swaying to the classic tune, and began to sing along with the band. I imagined he was singing to me, and me alone. His voice was deep and guttural, but sweet as he leaned toward my neck and crooned the last verse into my ear. I closed my eyes, losing myself in his warmth, his voice, his everything.

  All too soon, the final note rang out, silence encompassing the room, but we continued to sway to the music in our heads, our rhythm perfectly in tune to each other. A loud drum kick echoed, startling me, and I opened my eyes, almost expecting it all to be a dream. But it wasn’t, and I was met with my mysterious stranger’s strong face. Time stood still as we simply stared at each other, neither one of us moving. I licked my dry lips, nerves causing my breathing to grow more intense and labored.

  He grabbed my hand and brought it to his soft lips, placing a kiss on it. The contact caused a rush of adrenaline to run through me. Before I could ask his name, he was gone, leaving me stunned and alone once more.

  Mackenzie

  “WAKE UP, GIRLFRIEND!” A chipper voice exclaimed the following morning. Normally, I would have been surprised to hear any sound coming from my bed, aside from my cat’s purring, but I had grown accustomed to Brayden’s somewhat impromptu visits.

  “Brayden!” I leaped across the bed and hugged him to me before pulling back to gaze into his crystal blue eyes that were full of zeal, regardless of the early hour. “What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be getting in until this afternoon!”

  “I know. I went to the airport last night to see if I could get on a red-eye instead of wait until this morning. I may have sweet-talked the agent at the ticket counter. Shhh…” He raised his finger to his mouth, playfully winking. “Don’t tell James.”

  “I won’t.” I pinched his side.

  “I was hoping to get home in time to put all the finishing touches on tonight’s celebration, so it all worked out quite nicely. Huge party planned, by the way. In the meantime, I want a complete play-by-play of last night.” He lowered himself and lay on his side, propping his head in his hand.

  I grabbed a blanket off the end of the bed, trying to cover up my exposed body. I lived alone and slept in what was comfortable…which happened to be a pair of boy shorts and a tight black tank top.

  Brayden noticed what I was doing and rolled his eyes. “Please, Mack. I’ve seen you naked and I can honestly say it’s done absolutely nothing for me. So, spill it! I can’t wait to hear every little detail. I saw all the photos. They’re on the front page of the paper. And you’re trending on Twitter right now. Okay, maybe not trending on all of Twitter but, amongst our circle of friends, you guys are.”

  “Boo, our circle of friends consists of me, Jenna, and you. Not too hard to be trending between us.” I sank back into my bed, allowing the soft mattress to comfort me once again as the sun brightened the gray walls of my bedroom. It was a serene room, the furniture modern and simple. There wasn’t much clutter on the floor or adorning the walls, aside from a few well-appointed prints and my mother’s portrait. I liked falling asleep each night knowing she was still there looking out for me.

  “Whatever. So tell me…” He stretched out his arm, allowing me to snuggle against his fit chest and torso. I rested my head against the silk of his dress shirt and was surrounded by the warmth I had grown accustomed to whenever Brayden was around. “How was it?”

  “It was…” I searched my brain for a word that could describe how I felt the previous night…and was still feeling the morning after. “It was perfect, Brayden. It was magical. The people… The food… The dresses… It was exactly as I had envisioned it. The second those doors opened, we were immersed in this mind-blowing evening. I felt like I finally had a place. Like I finally knew where I belonged.”

  He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “It sounds amazing. I’m so stinking proud of you girls. I’m still sorry I had to miss it. All I could think about on my flight home was you girls and what shenanigans I missed because of work.” A dramatic scowl crossed his face and I giggled.

  “So…,” he continued, raising an eyebrow. “Shenanigans? Hot men? Drunk girls dancing on the floor, pretending the song was written about them? Body shots?”

  “None of the above. We’re high-class broads now, remember?”

  Brayden scrunched his nose in displeasure. “So does that mean no hot men? If that’s the case, I would mark the party down as a flop.” He winked.

  “I wouldn’t know,” I answered quickly, trying to hide my flushed complexion as I thought of my sensual dance with the mystery man.

  “Whatever, Miss High-And-Mighty. You may be celibate, but you’re not dead.”

  “I’m not celibate!”

  “Girlfriend, if I went as long as you do without getting any, I’d be born again.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him.

  “Virgin. Not Christian,” he clarified.

  I shook my head, laughing.

  “Seriously, Mack. Nothing? You’re not even going to spill the beans about the hottie you met at girls’ night on Friday?”

  I shot up from my position on the bed and glared at him, my mouth wide open. “How did you…?”

  He gave me an evil grin that confirmed my suspicions.

  “Jenna… Of course. She would try to see something that wasn’t there. And it doesn’t matter who he is. Actually, I’m completely clueless about who he is. I’ve never seen him before and, chances are, I’ll never see him again, except…”

  “What? Spill it.”

  “Nothing. He may have been there last night, and we may have shared an amazing and mind-blowing dance with barely any words spoken. But I’m sure it was completely by coincidence that he was there, so it doesn’t matter that his eyes and voice made me want to melt into a puddle at his feet.” My face heated from the memory of our previous encounters.

  “Holy crap!” Brayden exclaimed. “You’ve got a boner for thi
s guy, don’t you?”

  “No,” I replied sheepishly, trying to hide my grin. “I don’t even know him.”

  “Trust me, girlfriend. I’ve had many a boner for a hottie and I didn’t even know their name. Come to think of it, I probably didn’t even hear their voice. What was his like?”

  “His boner?!”

  “No! His voice. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they speak and use their words.”

  “I’m sure he was drunk both times. That’s probably the only reason he was hitting on me. He was wearing bourbon goggles.”

  Brayden narrowed his gaze. “I’m calling bullshit. You’re a smoking hot piece of ass. His attraction to you was not based on consuming too much liquor. If it was, it’s because he’s gay. And if that’s the case, you most certainly need to give me all the details so I can nab this guy for myself!”

  “You have a boyfriend!”

  “It’s okay. He’d understand,” Brayden joked, winking. His anxious eyes remained glued to my every move.

  “You’re going to annoy the piss out of me until I give you the details, aren’t you?” I turned my attention away from him and picked up Meatball as he stalked across the bed, curling him up against me.

  “You know me so well. And the answer is yes. So let’s hear it.”

  “Well…,” I started, “it was hot. His voice, I mean. Low, measured, dominating, controlling, with just a hint of amusement. And the way he had absolutely no problem walking away from me after I turned him down on Friday−”

  “Why did you turn him down?” Brayden interrupted.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Don’t put this back on me. I asked you an honest question, Mack. What was going through your head? Do you find him attractive?”

  “Of course, I do,” I exhaled. “And when he walked away from me after I made it clear I was not interested, well… It kind of made me want him more than I expected. There was no groveling. No begging. Nothing. He just got in his car and left. I was definitely playing hard to get, and I think he knew that.”

  “Sounds like you finally met someone who won’t put up with your shit.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Exactly what I said, Mack. You love the chase. You love when guys look at you, when they pine for you. But you refuse to get serious with any of them, coming up with some bullshit excuse that it’s not time yet and you’re still looking for your turtledove. But that’s exactly what it is. An excuse. Tell me the real reason.”

  “That is the real reason, Brayden,” I shot back, my eyes roaming the room and avoiding his.

  “I’ve known you for years, Mackenzie Sophia. That’s not the reason, and we both know it. Jenna can’t see through you like I can.” His expression softened and I could tell he was gauging whether to push the conversation any further. I was hoping he would drop it.

  “Does it have anything to do with what happened freshman year?” he asked, his voice full of compassion and hurt at the same time. I didn’t even know Brayden freshman year, but after he had found out the reason for my somewhat overbearing and controlling tendencies, he reacted as if it had happened to him. That was the moment I knew I would always be okay if I had Brayden by my side, the tears he cried for the scars I would always carry with me warming the ice that had hardened my heart.

  “Bray…”

  “Mack…,” he crooned, pulling my body into his. “I adore you. You know that, right? You’re my soul mate, regardless that I find women well…you know…gross.”

  I giggled.

  “I know you don’t want to admit that all of this is because of Charlie and what happened, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “It shows I’m weak.”

  “No, it doesn’t, you stubborn ass. It just shows you have feelings and a heart that isn’t impenetrable. It shows you know how to love and, because of your feelings for Charlie and what happened between you two, you’re hesitant to put your trust in people. But you’ve learned to trust me−”

  “Because you’re gay,” I interjected quickly.

  “But even if I weren’t, you’d still trust me, wouldn’t you?”

  I pulled back and stared into his brilliant eyes, his normally strong and chiseled face softened with sincerity. I didn’t even have to give his question a moment’s thought. Of all the men I had known in my life, I trusted Brayden above anyone.

  “Of course.”

  “Then you can learn to trust someone else, too, because I will not let you turn into an old maid. Got it?”

  I laughed, swiping at the few tears that had escaped. “Got it, boo.”

  “Good. Now tell me about the dance.”

  “Oh…,” I breathed, feeling an odd tingling on my skin when my mind rewound to the previous night and the way the strange, brooding man had held me as he guided me across the dance floor. “It was decadent. He came out of nowhere and pulled me against his body. I tried to protest, but he wouldn’t let me. Instead, he told me to stop talking. Normally, I’d tell the guy to fuck off, but I was transfixed by him, by the way he moved his body with mine. He told me to keep my eyes on his and I did. The entire dance, I couldn’t look away if I tried. There’s just something that tells me this guy doesn’t play games. You get exactly what you see.”

  “And do you want what you saw?”

  I opened my mouth, unsure of how to respond. Yes, there was something about my mystery man that intrigued me.

  My mystery man? I thought to myself, grinning.

  He certainly wasn’t mine. How could he be if I didn’t even know his name? Still, my body had reacted to him in such a way that I had never experienced before. The truth was, I wanted that dance to last all night long. The emptiness I felt when he walked away from me was unexpected. And I shied away from the unexpected. I had to. I couldn’t control the unexpected.

  “Mack… Do you?” Brayden asked again.

  “I don’t have time right now to want what I saw. I know I’ve used that as an excuse in the past, but I really mean it this time. The first six months of owning a restaurant are the toughest as we try to make a name for ourselves. Not to mention, nearly every penny I have is tied up in that place. I can’t lose focus. That’s what I want… A successful business. A relationship will interfere with that.”

  “Whatever you say, Mack,” Brayden sighed. “But a friendship is a relationship, too, and you’ve always made time for us.”

  “That’s completely different.”

  “No, it isn’t, and you know it.” He raised himself from the bed and pulled me up with him. “Listen, I’m heading out so I can put all the finishing touches on your big night. I’ll stop by the restaurant around nine and pick you girls up, okay?”

  “What exactly do you have planned? All this secrecy is killing me.”

  “Oh, nothing big.” He winked. “Let’s just say you better rest up today. I plan on keeping you out until all hours of the night and there isn’t one thing you can say about it. I even hired a limo for us.”

  “Brayden, you didn’t have to do that.”

  “I know. But I wanted to. You and Jenna worked hard. You need a night off with your best friend. Both of you do. See you at nine. Oh, by the way, there was a delivery waiting for you downstairs. The doorman didn’t want to wake you because he figured you’d be sleeping after the late night.”

  Scrunching my eyebrows, I grabbed my silk kimono robe and threw it on, walking toward the vanity to run a brush through my hair.

  “A delivery? What kind of delivery?”

  “Flowers. They’re in the kitchen. See ya later, Mack.” He kissed my temple and bolted from the room. I ran down the hallway and skidded to a stop after rounding the corner to my kitchen.

  “Holy shit,” I exhaled, my eyes soaking in the multiple floral arrangements that now adorned my living and dining areas. Glancing to the island to see yet another bouquet sitting in a vase, I spied a card.

  Dear Mackenzie,

&n
bsp; Many thanks for a dance that has replayed in my mind all night. Congratulations on your new venture and I wish you much success.

  Yours…

  Smiling, I clutched the card against my chest and tried to subdue the butterflies that had begun to swim in my stomach, but it was futile. I fell onto my couch and Meatball soon followed, curling up against me.

  “Next time we see him, boy,” I said, “we’ll simply thank him for the beautiful flowers, then explain we’re not interested.”

  Meatball began to purr as I scratched his head.

  “Because we are absolutely not interested. Not in the slightest.”

  Mackenzie

  ALL MORNING, AS MY eyes continued to wander to the extravagant flowers, I couldn’t stop thinking about my mystery man. Who was he? And why hadn’t he told me his name? Was it for privacy reasons? Or was it to put on a show and make me think about him? If it was because of the latter, mission accomplished, mystery man. It worked. I was curious, intrigued, and perhaps a little horny.

  As I sat in my living room watching HGTV, I came up with hundreds of possible scenarios of who my mystery man was, from serial killer to recluse and everything in between.

  “This is the biggest waste of time!” I huffed, switching off the television, tired of watching happy couples looking to buy the perfect home, complete with a big backyard and white picket fence, in which they would raise their two-and-a-half children. I felt off balance and I knew it was because I slept through my usual Sunday morning yoga class. Needing to return to some sort of normalcy in my life, which had been distressingly absent since first meeting my mystery man, I grabbed my gym bag and dashed out of my condo in the hopes that I would be able to exercise the unease away.

  Within minutes, I pulled into the parking lot of the state-of-the-art fitness center and rushed into the locker room to get ready for my much-needed workout. I changed into a pair of gym shorts and a pink sports bra, tossed the rest of my things into a locker, then ran up the stairs to the open space that held rows of cardio equipment, as well as a rather extensive free weight and machine area. Picking the treadmill I always tried to get, I set the pace low in order for my legs to warm up. Once my muscles began to acclimate, I pushed the speed, getting lost in the driving beat of the music I blared through my earbuds.