The Other Side of Us (Harlequin Superromance)

by Sarah Mayberry

  Mackenzie was contemplating the shoes, a faintly wistful expression on her face. She selected a pair of deep purple suede shoes with a wicked-looking heel, her hands smoothing over the leather almost reverently.

  “Can’t wear any of these anymore.”

  He scanned the shoes again and realized they all sported varying degrees of high heels.

  “Maybe that will change,” he said, because he understood that women were funny about shoes. It was a thing, and he didn’t fully get it, but he knew enough to tread carefully.

  “Nope. My orthopedic surgeon told me that if I wanted to end up in a wheelchair by fifty, wearing high heels was a surefire way to get there. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t yanking my chain.” She put the shoe back, giving it one last pat. “Which means these guys are all going to have to find new homes.”

  He moved to her side and slipped his arm around her shoulders. She gave him a faint smile.

  “Guess we should start looking for that file, huh?”

  “There’s no rush.” They’d already agreed to stay the night in the city. The dogs were keeping each other company back in Flinders, ably assisted by two big, juicy bones and a local dog walker who had agreed to look in on them a few times. There was no schedule to adhere to. Not today, at least, although a part of him was constantly aware that his stay in Flinders was drawing to a close. The freelancer covering his workload at the studio was contracted till the end of July, which meant he had only ten more days before he was due home. He could push to extend the contract, of course, but Rex wouldn’t be happy, and Oliver wouldn’t blame him. He’d been covering email and bouncing things back and forth with Rex, but there was no denying that his partner had made a huge concession, allowing him this downtime to get his shit together.

  All of which meant his time with Mackenzie was drawing to a close. Something neither of them had addressed, even obliquely.

  “You know, you don’t have to actually help with the search. You could head into the city, check out the sights, leave me to it while I burrow through my boxes.”

  It was a genuine offer, but he wasn’t about to take her up on it. He’d rather be with her, sorting through files, than wandering around the city on his own.

  “This may shock you, but I have been to Melbourne before,” he said.

  “It does shock me. Most Sydney-siders never bother. Which is why they remain safe in the delusion that Sydney is the better city.”

  He grinned. The Melbourne-Sydney rivalry had been alive and well for centuries, and he wasn’t about to fall down in his duty to do his bit to preserve it.

  “You’re so right. A handful of rattly old tramcars and some graffiti-covered laneways are more than a match for Sydney Harbor, the bridge and the Opera House.”

  They continued to trade playful insults while they searched through the boxes in the study. When they had no success there, they descended to the parking garage and began a systematic search of the storage locker.

  Two hours later, they were both dusty and hungry and speeding rapidly toward being done with searching—and the research still had yet to be located. Oliver was about to suggest they stop for a break when Mackenzie swore and pushed the box she was looking through away from herself.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “No. Why on earth did I keep all this stuff? When will I ever need the scripts from a show that isn’t even on air anymore? Or a contract from ten years ago? Or my dental X-rays from 2005?”

  She looked very cute, sitting there with dust on her cheek, frustration pleating her forehead.

  “I think we have to face the fact you’re an administrative hoarder. It happens. It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.

  She made a rude noise but her mouth kicked up at the corner. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”

  “I don’t think, I know.”

  The strident ring of a phone interrupted whatever response she was about to make and they both reached for their hip pockets at the same time.

  “Me,” Mackenzie said as she slipped her phone from her jeans. Her smiled faltered as she checked the caller I.D.

  “Who is it?”

  “My boss. My ex-boss, I mean.”

  Only yesterday he and Mackenzie had been discussing the fact that even though she knew beyond a doubt that her role had been handed to someone else, she had yet to hear the news from the powers that be at Eureka Productions. A fairly typical scenario in television, Mackenzie had told him. Now, apparently, her boss had found time in his busy schedule to destroy Mackenzie’s hopes. Big of him.

  “Hi, Gordon.” She answered the call, crossing an arm over her body, bracing herself for what she knew she was about to hear.

  Oliver moved closer, resting a hand on her shoulder. He could hear someone talking, but couldn’t distinguish the words.

  “Thanks, but I’d already heard the news,” Mackenzie said crisply.

  He smiled faintly, understanding that she wasn’t letting her boss off the hook easily. Oliver squeezed Mackenzie’s shoulder. Good on her for giving the bastard a hard time, even if it wasn’t going to change the outcome.

  More talk came down the line. Mackenzie shifted her weight impatiently.

  “I understand that, Gordon, but I’m won’t pretend I’m not disappointed. You know how much I put into that show. I wouldn’t even have been on that road if I hadn’t been driving to a location shoot.”

  Gordon spoke again and Mackenzie’s body tensed beneath Oliver’s hand. She glanced at him, surprise in her eyes.

  What? he mouthed.

  “That’s very generous of you,” Mackenzie said slowly. “You’re aware I wouldn’t be able to start for at least another three months, right? And I’d need time to build up my stamina to work a full schedule again.”

  She listened intently, her gaze focused on the wall.

  “Well. That’s a very attractive offer. I’ve got to admit, you’ve caught me on the hop a little. I thought you were going to fob me off with a game show.”

  There was a new light in Mackenzie’s eyes as she wound up the call, promising to get an answer to Gordon in the next few days. She bit her lip as she slipped the phone into her pocket.

  “They offered you something else?” Oliver guessed.

  “Yeah. A new drama series they’re developing. A one hour. They just got the green light from the network.” She seemed a little dazed.

  “One hour is good, yes?”

  “One hour is the next step. What I was hoping for after I’d paid my dues long enough on Time and Again.”

  “So this is a good thing?”

  “I guess.” She didn’t looked thrilled or excited, though. She looked...confused.

  “You don’t want it?” Now he was confused. This opportunity seemed perfect for her—or at least the Mackenzie who lived in that stark apartment upstairs.

  She sat on the nearest box, her expression troubled. “If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have leaped at this opportunity and held on with both hands.”

  He suddenly understood why she was torn. Over the past week, she’d dusted off her old dreams and reinvested in them. She’d written up ideas and phoned industry friends and put out feelers. She was excited about her Mary De Garis project.

  “You don’t want to give Mary up?”

  She pulled a face. “That’s stupid, though, right? I mean, Gordon is offering me a gold-plated opportunity. I’d be an idiot to walk away from it. He even said that they know it will take a while for me to get up to speed, but they’re happy to do whatever it takes because they want me on this project.”

  “Pretty flattering.”

  She laughed, the sound incredulous. “I cannot tell you what I would have done to hear him say those words twelve months ago.”

  “Could you do both? Mary on the side, this other thing during the week?”

  She thought about it for a moment. “Before the accident, yes. No question. Not now, though. I’d struggle with managing full-time work on its own,
to be honest. Even if a one-hour drama is less demanding than a soap, it will still get crazy at times.” She glanced at her hands where they rested in her lap. “How strange that I even have to think about it.”

  “You don’t have to decide now. He’s given you a few days, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, use them. Weigh the pros and cons.”

  Her eyes wrinkled slightly at the corners as she considered him. “You’re being wise again.”

  “I have my moments.”

  He dusted his hands on the seat of his jeans and glanced around. “You want to take a break and come back to this or keep plowing on?”

  She checked her watch. “Shall we go another half hour then find somewhere to grab lunch?”

  “Sure.”

  He returned to the box he’d been working with, once again flicking through its contents. He’d become so habituated to flicking past things he almost missed the envelope tucked in between two dog-eared folders.

  “This disc we’re looking for...would it be with an envelope full of pictures of a woman with scary eyebrows?”

  Mackenzie was on her knees pawing through another box, but her head snapped up. “That’s Mary. You found her!”

  She came to his side and inspected the portrait he was holding. The woman in it was very young, her face soft, her hair escaping from it’s neat updo.

  “Those eyebrows aren’t scary. They just haven’t been airbrushed or plucked because Dr. De Garis had better things to do with her time.” Mackenzie beamed at him. “Thank you.”

  She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She smelled good, and he encouraged her onto his lap. They kissed long and lazily, enjoying each other. Then Mackenzie shifted against him and instantly kissing wasn’t enough. He slid his hand onto her breast, teasing her nipple with his thumb.

  “Don’t start something you don’t plan to finish, Oliver,” she murmured against his mouth.

  He pinched her nipple firmly enough to make her squirm.

  “Sorry, did you say something?”

  She retaliated by sliding a hand between their bodies, stroking him through his jeans. He let her taunt him for a few minutes before lifting her bodily off his lap.

  “Let’s go check out your view again,” he said.

  They kissed in the lift going up, and when they entered Mackenzie’s apartment she started to strip as she made her way to the bedroom. Her top, her jeans, her socks and shoes, until she was wearing nothing but silky dark green panties and a balconette bra as she entered her bedroom.

  “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he said, unable to take his eyes off the rounded curves of her backside.

  She didn’t say a word, simply gave him a Cleopatra smile before unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it off his shoulders. She tackled his belt next, then pushed his jeans down his hips. His erection sprang free, and she sank to her knees to push his jeans the rest of the way down. She looked up at him, a wicked, knowing glint in her eye, and he barely had a chance to appreciate the picture she presented before she pressed a kiss to his belly and inhaled audibly.

  “You smell so damn good.”

  She pulled back, focusing on his erection. He grew harder as she licked her lips, running her fingers through the springy hair at the base of his shaft. She was enjoying teasing him, and he was enjoying being teased.

  She wrapped her fingers around his shaft and guided him into her mouth, teasing his head with her tongue before taking all of him. Sensation assailed him—heat and moisture, the knowing flick of her tongue, the firm grip of her hand.

  She drew back, licking the length of him.

  “You taste good, too. Like clean skin and hot man.”

  He was beyond speech. It was all he could do to remain standing as she went to town on him, using her hands and lips and tongue to drive him wild. He could feel his climax building, could feel the heat of it in his belly. He wanted to come like this so badly, but he wanted to be inside her, too, giving her as much pleasure as she was giving him.

  Even though it almost killed him, he eased away from her. She looked up at him, slightly dazed, her mouth wet and pink.

  “Get on the bed.”

  He didn’t need to ask twice. She blinked, the dazed look leaving her face, then she stood and shimmied out of her panties and bra. She lay down on the bed and lifted her hips obediently when he slipped a pillow beneath her backside. They’d discovered that the small increase in height made it comfortable for her when he was on top, something he’d been more than happy to exploit to the full. He was all for equal opportunity, but sometimes a man just needed to be in charge.

  Mackenzie watched as he smoothed on a condom, then welcomed him home when he stretched out on top of her.

  As always, the first slide of his body inside hers was transcendent. The rightness of it, the sense of connection. Then the insistent, greedy ache of his arousal required that he start to move, and before long he was lost in the rhythm of it and the tidal pull of desire.

  She came quickly, her breath coming in choppy pants, and even though he was close, he held on, his teeth gritted. He kept stroking into her, then he stroked her with his hand, a counterpoint to the thrust of his hips inside her. She came a second time and finally he let himself go, his face pressed into her neck as his body shuddered into hers.

  Her body was damp with sweat and he paused to lick between her breasts before withdrawing from her. She gave a small shudder, shifting her hips restlessly.

  “Want to hear something funny?” she said as he stood and headed for the bathroom to lose the condom.

  “What?”

  He padded to the bed, stopping in his tracks when he realized that instead of opaque glass he was staring out at the view.

  “I forgot to blank the window,” Mackenzie said.

  “No shit.”

  The glass went opaque as he returned to the bed and Mackenzie gave him a sheepish smile.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of a way you can make it up to me.”

  She smiled drowsily. “Let me guess.” She rolled onto one elbow and lazily smoothed a hand over his chest. Her gaze grew thoughtful and he knew without asking that she was thinking about the call from her boss.

  “How’s that list of pros and cons going?” he asked.

  “I think I’m still freaking out. This little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me what a great opportunity it is and asking how I could possibly not take it. But the new ideas I have for Mary are so clear in my mind, I can practically see how this documentary is going to look.”

  “You want to talk it through?”

  She considered for a beat, then met his gaze. “Not just yet. I need to process a little more. Get past the shock and my first panicky reaction to grab on to what Gordon’s offering, no matter what. Is that okay?” She looked worried, as though she though he would be wounded because she wasn’t discussing it with him.

  “Of course.”

  Her expression softened. “Thanks. For everything. For finding Mary and being so great about searching through all those boxes—”

  “Not to mention for being so awesome in bed.”

  She laughed, her breath warming his chest. “I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned that, like, a million times already. Very remiss of me.”

  He trailed a hand down her side. “Did I mention I’ve already thought of a way you can make that up to me?”

  She allowed him to draw her closer. “I seem to have a lot of making-up scheduled.”

  “I know. Better get started.”

  They fooled around a little, teasing one another. After a few minutes he nuzzled a kiss into her neck, then lifted his head. “Where did you want to go to dinner?”

  “Right. Dinner.” There was an odd note in her voice that caught his attention.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “How would you feel if we didn’t stay the night in the city and we went back to t
he beach instead?”

  “Sure. If that’s what you want.” He wasn’t invested either way, and it would be no hardship to say goodbye to this apartment.

  Her gaze scanned his face, worried. “You really don’t mind? You didn’t have your heart set on a big-city meal and bright lights?”

  “Nope.”

  She looked relieved. “Good. Because I really don’t want to spend the night in this place.” She glanced at him. “Does that sound nuts?”

  She’d surprised him. This was her place, after all. Her primary place of residence. “Why don’t you want to stay?”

  “It just doesn’t feel...right. I can’t explain it any better than that. The coffee, the Coke, the shoes. This carpet, that window. I feel as though they belong to another life. To another me.” She made an embarrassed noise. “That really does sound nuts, doesn’t it?”

  She was frowning and he reached out to smooth her brow.

  “You haven’t lived here for a while, that’s all.”

  “I guess. Although, when I look around, I wonder if I ever lived here. I was always so busy working. Those books out in the living room—I’ve probably read about ten percent of them. I think I’ve used the oven only half-a-dozen times. When I bought this place after the divorce, I thought it would be great for dinner parties, but I was always too snowed at work to host any sort of party.”

  She sounded bemused, and he was reminded, again, of what a profound impact the accident had had on her life.

  “Maybe you can have a dinner party when you move back.” He felt an odd pang as he imagined Mackenzie hosting a party in her fabulous apartment at some unknown future time. It was a million miles away from the world they shared together at the beach.

  “Yeah, maybe.” Her gaze was troubled as she looked at him. She started to say something, then shook her head.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” She shifted to the edge of the bed. “If we leave now, we should be home in time for dinner.”