Driven to Distraction & Winging It

by Tina Wainscott

  “Ask Mackenzie,” Alec said with smile. “The last thing I remember we were running down the beach together this morning side by side.”

  Mackenzie felt like grabbing one of his crutches and whacking Alec over the head. Glancing back at John she said, “Alec was crazy enough to jog barefoot on the beach. I just happened to be there to witness his idiocy.”

  “Not a smart thing to do, old boy,” John confirmed, prompting Mackenzie to send Alec a satisfied smile. But, at least I can stop worrying about deserting him now, Mackenzie thought as she looked him up and down. Not only was he managing fairly well on his crutches, but he had also managed to get dressed by himself. Or had Gail performed that service before Alec asked her to leave?

  “I admit it was a stupid thing to do,” Alec agreed, “but I was hoping I could talk Mackenzie into helping me change my bandage.”

  “Sorry, but we were just leaving,” Mackenzie spoke up. “John’s taking me to dinner.”

  “Then could I at least get my coat and hat before you leave?”

  Mackenzie blushed. She stepped back inside the door and grabbed his things from the table, but when she started to hand them over, she realized Alec had no way to take them. “I’ll just put these inside on your sofa,” Mackenzie said, walking toward his open doorway, but when she walked back out into the hall, she heard the amusement in Angie’s voice when she asked, “And you were jogging in your flight uniform and cap, Alec? How original.”

  Alec grinned. “No. I’m afraid I left my coat and hat at Mackenzie’s last night when I stayed over.”

  If looks could inflict pain, Alec Southerland would have screamed like a girl at that very moment.

  “You did what?” John spoke up, immediately turning to Mackenzie for an explanation.

  Mackenzie glared at Alec again before she said, “Alec did stay over, but it was totally innocent.”

  When John frowned, Alec nodded, “She’s right. Totally innocent. She was upset about her parents, and…”

  “See, you were upset about your parents,” Angie said with a pout. “I knew it.”

  “Okay,” Mackenzie said, throwing her hands up in the air. “I admit it. I was upset about my parents. Alec stayed over. He cut his foot this morning and I took him to the emergency room. Then I got a migraine from hell, which is why I refused to answer my phone. Now! That should answer everyone’s questions, and I’d really like to go to dinner. John?”

  “Wait,” Alec said, then turned and wobbled back across the hall. When he returned, he maneuvered past Mackenzie and laid a key on the table by her door. “That’s a spare key to my front door,” he said as if she were too stupid to figure that out. “When you get back, I’d sure appreciate it if you would look at my bandage, Mackenzie. Just let yourself in,” he added with a wink. “I’m finding out these crutches aren’t the easiest way to get around.”

  Mackenzie didn’t even bother to answer. Instead she grabbed her purse from the table and pulled her door shut. “Ready?” Mackenzie asked John, prompting Angie to say, “And what about me? I was so upset thinking something had happened to you, John stopped by the office and picked me up. Do you mind if I tag along, too, Mackie? I’m a little hungry myself.”

  “Me, too,” Alec chimed in. “My cupboard’s so bare, Old Mother Hubbard would probably agree to adopt me herself.”

  “Then maybe you should call Gail,” Mackenzie couldn’t resist saying. “I’m sure she’d run back over with some of her famous Chinese takeout.”

  “Who’s Gail?” Angie wanted to know and John, being the nice guy that John really was, said, “Look, since everybody’s hungry, why don’t we all just go out together and get something to eat?”

  Alec’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Hey, thanks, John. If your date doesn’t object, I’ll sure take you up on that offer.”

  “Count me in,” Angie said, and everyone looked at Mackenzie, waiting for her answer.

  Okay. She could either appear to be the Wicked Witch of the West? Or, Mackenzie decided, she could accept the fact that Alec obviously didn’t intend to let her have the evening alone with John. Of course, that meant she’d also have to postpone her talk with John until she got rid of Alec and Angie and John brought her back home. And then, she’d have to wait until she got rid of John, before she could check Alec’s stupid bandage and tell Alec face-to-face that things would never work out between them. And if she could possibly manage to keep all of that straight, then what damn difference did it make if they all went out to eat together?

  “Whatever,” Mackenzie finally said with a sigh, then started down the hallway with everyone else.

  To her surprise, Alec managed to swing right along beside them, never breaking his stride.

  “How long will you have to stay on those crutches?” John asked when they reached the back door leading out to the parking lot.

  “Maybe you should answer that question, Mackenzie,” Alec said, glancing in her direction. “I’m afraid I wasn’t real clear on those details when we left the emergency room this morning.”

  You’re going to be on crutches much longer than you think if you don’t shut up, Mackenzie thought to herself, but she waited until John opened the door for everyone before she looked at John and said, “I guess how long he uses the crutches depends on Alec, John. Some men are big babies. Some men aren’t.”

  John smiled at her comment but Mackenzie increased her step when Alec looked as if he might whack her with his crutch this time. She then headed for the lower end of the parking lot and John’s SUV. Alec calling out her name, however, brought her to an abrupt halt.

  “What now?” Mackenzie said when she wheeled back around to face him.

  “Sorry, but I don’t think I can get in and out of John’s Suburban,” Alec said holding up a crutch. “And since the Jag’s too small for all of us, maybe you should drive.”

  “Alec’s right. I don’t think he could get in the Suburban even with all of us helping him,” Angie said as she looked down at Alec’s bandaged foot. “You don’t really mind driving, do you Mackie?”

  Mackenzie pulled out her keys and stomped back in the direction of her Mercedes. Though John didn’t seem to mind crawling in the back seat with Angie, Mackenzie sent Alec a she-devil glare when he slid into the front passenger’s seat beside her.

  “Is the Crab Shack okay with you, Your Majesty, or would you like to pick another place to eat?” Mackenzie wanted to know.

  “I love the Crab Shack,” Alec told her with one of his famous smiles. “And dinner’s on me. I insist.”

  “If that’s supposed to cheer me up, it doesn’t,” Mackenzie let him know real quick.

  “Hey, cut it out, you two,” Angie spoke up from the back seat. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you two were an old married couple.”

  “Not in this lifetime,” Mackenzie declared, backing out of her parking space.

  “Wanna bet?” she thought she heard Alec say, but when she looked over in his direction, he was staring out the passenger’s side window with a totally innocent look on his movie-star quality face.

  SURPRISINGLY, SHE AND Alec both kept quiet during the meal, leaving it up to John and Angie to carry on the conversation. But then one of John’s clients beckoned to him from across the restaurant, and Angie picked that particular moment to excuse herself for the powder room. And that meant, of course, Mackenzie was left alone at the table with him.

  “Enjoying your date?” Alec asked as he raised one eyebrow a bit.

  “What do you think?” Mackenzie tossed back, but Alec startled her when he suddenly reached across the table and covered her hand with his own.

  “Listen, Mackenzie,” Alec said so seriously Mackenzie froze in place. “I thought we made a deal. No more games, remember?”

  “Alec,” she began, but he quickly cut her off.

  “You still don’t get it, do you?” Alec demanded and squeezed her hand a little tighter. “I’m stark-raving mad about you, Mackenzie. Give me a chance
to prove you can trust me.”

  Her heart flip-flopped as she tried to ease her hand from beneath Alec’s searing touch, but he wouldn’t let go. “I’m sorry, Alec, but I don’t think I could survive it,” she tried to explain. “I’d only end up making us both miserable. I would always be waiting for Gail or someone like her to show up. And your patience would grow thin, trying to deal with all of my crazy insecurities.”

  “Look, I already know all about your dear-old-mom complex,” Alec said innocently. “We can work through it together. Just promise you won’t lump me in with all those losers your mother always warned you about, Mackenzie. Give me a chance. Let me prove our relationship won’t be anything like the relationship your parents had.”

  If Alec had reached out and slapped her, Mackenzie couldn’t have been more shocked. Dear-old-mom complex? her stunned mind repeated. Well, there was no doubt about who had originally coined that phrase!

  “What did you just say?” Mackenzie demanded, and she could tell from the alarmed look on Alec’s face he realized he’d just made a huge mistake.

  “Now, wait a minute, Mackenzie,” Alec stuttered, but she quickly cut him off.

  “How dare you go behind my back and pump my best friend for information about me!” Mackenzie fumed. “And how dare Angie give it to you!”

  “It wasn’t like that,” Alec tried to explain.

  “Oh, really?” Mackenzie seethed. “That’s a laugh. I can practically hear the two of you hashing over the twisted details now. Poor, pitiful Mackenzie, that bitter mother of hers has ruined her for all mankind.”

  When Mackenzie stood up, Alec did his best to stand up with her. “Now dammit, Mackenzie, you’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion, and you know it.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, Alec, but I don’t see it that way,” Mackenzie shouted right back. “In one breath you give me that song and dance about trusting you, and in the next breath you let it slip that you were devious enough to go behind my back and question my best friend about me.”

  “It was a harmless conversation, nothing more,” Alec tried to tell her.

  “And don’t even get me started on that big belly laugh you must have been having when I bared my soul to you in the car. I can’t imagine how you even kept a straight face! If you’re really so damn trustworthy, Alec, why didn’t you speak up then? Why did you let me make a complete fool of myself rambling on about my crazy parents when you already know all about them?”

  “Don’t do this, Mackenzie,” Alec pleaded. “I apologize. I’ll get down on both knees, bandaged foot and all if that’s what you want me to do. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

  Alec reached out and grabbed her arm, but Mackenzie jerked it free. “I’ll tell you what you can do, Alec. You can do us both a big favor and forget about me. I think we’re both smart enough to figure out that it never would have worked out between us anyhow.”

  She expected him to argue, but Alec stared at Mackenzie so intently she shivered when the softness in his eyes disappeared. “If that’s really the way you feel, Mackenzie, then you have my word. I’ll never bother you again.”

  “That’s really the way I feel,” Mackenzie told him before her heart could reach out and snatch back those fatal words.

  Alec shook his head sadly, then lowered himself back down in the chair. And when he refused to even look at her again, Mackenzie knew she couldn’t spend another second standing in that restaurant.

  “Hey, guys. What’s going on now? I could hear you shouting at each other all the way across the restaurant,” Angie said as she hurried back to their table.

  Mackenzie sent Angie a frosty look that made her dark eyes widen with concern. “Nothing’s going on out of the ordinary, Miss Sigmund Freud,” Mackenzie said with a sarcastic little laugh. “As usual, I’m just suffering from my dear-old-mom complex that seems to be your favorite topic of conversation these days.”

  Mackenzie pushed past Angie and headed for the door.

  “Mackie, wait,” Angie called out and Mackenzie paused at the door for a second until she heard Alec say, “You’d better let her go, Angie. Thanks to me, she’s not very happy with either of us right now.”

  Mackenzie pushed through the restaurant door and made it outside to the parking lot before she let herself cry. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure if her tears were from anger, or if they were tears of regret.

  Alec’s last words had sounded so final.

  She should have felt nothing but relief that he’d never bother her again. Instead, a cold fist gripped her heart and made her shiver the same way she had when the expression in Alec’s eyes turned to blue ice.

  She had admitted to Alec that her biggest fear was not being able to survive their relationship.

  But what frightened Mackenzie now was the possibility she wouldn’t be able to survive without him, either.

  7

  MACKENZIE GOT UP early the next morning feeling like a totally new person. And why wouldn’t she? She had finally made some concrete decisions about what she intended to do with the rest of her life.

  She hated to admit it, but the thought of Alec never bothering her again was far more terrifying than an occasional blonde or redhead who might show up unexpectedly now and then. And she also hated to admit it, but Alec had been right about her blowing everything out of proportion.

  She had overreacted.

  But then, no one really liked hearing the truth about themselves, now did they? Especially if they weren’t yet ready to admit some of those truths themselves.

  And maybe that’s why it had always infuriated her when Angie referred to her little idiosyncrasies as her dear-old-mom complex. Mackenzie did have a few issues she needed to work through. She’d even admitted them to Alec herself.

  And ultimately, the truth had set her free.

  Alec hadn’t even blinked an eye when she’d blurted out her fears. In fact, he’d even said they could work through her insecurities together.

  And so, Mackenzie now knew what she had to do.

  First, she would apologize for acting like a spoiled brat at the restaurant. She would then fall on her knees and beg Alec’s forgiveness. She would promise to love him at least one century beyond forever if he’d only give her one more chance. And then she’d tell him if he didn’t make love to her at that very moment, she was going to tie him up, take him hostage and ravage him like he’d never been ravaged before.

  Throwing back the covers, Mackenzie sat on the side of her bed for a moment, making a mental list of what she needed to do to put her new plan into action. After she’d left the restaurant the previous evening she’d headed straight for the office where she’d caught up on everything pressing on her desk. She had then purposely stayed at the office until after ten o’clock, certain by the time she arrived home Angie and John would have come and gone and Alec would have been tucked back under the covers of his sick bed.

  She had been surprised to see John’s big SUV still parked at the lower end of the parking lot when she got home, but assumed that Angie, party animal that she was, had used her persuasive powers to keep the boys out late.

  And with that thought in mind, Mackenzie picked up her bedside phone and left a short message on the office answering machine saying that not only would she not be coming into the office that day, but that she also didn’t intend to answer any calls or her doorbell. “I think trying to run the office alone with a hangover is a just punishment for your Auntie Angie spilling her guts to Alec, don’t you?” Mackenzie asked Marmalade who didn’t even bother to open her eyes.

  Mackenzie left the big cat in her bed, and headed off to take a hot shower. After some heavy-duty primping, she dressed in a sexy pair of short-shorts and a tank top, then strolled into her kitchen to prepare a breakfast fit for a king. The type of breakfast the king, whom Mackenzie assumed was also still asleep directly across the hallway, was sure to be impressed by.

  Her very own specialty. Eggs Benedict.

 
A short time later, and with breakfast tray in hand, Mackenzie grabbed the spare key Alec had given her on the night before and made a determined march across the hall. Slipping quietly inside his condo, she sneaked through his living room, down a small hallway and came to a stop at his closed bedroom door. She started to knock and announce that room service had arrived, but decided the element of surprise would be to her advantage. After all, it only stood to reason that Alec could still be as angry with her this morning as he’d been last night when she’d told him to just forget about her.

  Yet, if she surprised him with breakfast in bed?

  Slowly turning the doorknob, Mackenzie stepped into the darkened room and flipped on the overhead light. “Room service!” she announced softly, then almost dropped her breakfast tray when Angie’s tousled blond head popped out from under the covers on Alec’s big king-size bed.

  “Mackie? What are you doing here?”

  “What am I doing here?” Mackenzie yelled, and just as she was about to walk across the room and murder her ex-best friend, a severely hung-over John Stanley pulled the pillow off his head and saved Mackenzie from the electric chair.

  John looked as surprised to see Mackenzie as Angie did, but neither of them were more surprised than Mackenzie. She briefly wondered if she shouldn’t be embarrassed. After all, she was staring at the man she had been dating because she had sneaked into the bedroom of the man she should have been dating all along. But who was she kidding? The man she hadn’t even had the chance to dump yet was stark naked and in bed with her own best friend!

  “What on earth is going on here?” Mackenzie demanded. “Where’s Alec?”

  John, now flushed a bright red, sat up in the bed and pulled the covers practically up under his chin. Angie, however, leaned over and grabbed her sweater from the floor, and without the least bit of modesty pulled it over her head. They briefly traded looks before Angie said, “I’m sorry you found us like this, Mackie, but John’s not stupid and neither am I. We both know something’s been going on between you and Alec. It was late when John and I took a taxi back here last night to pick up his Suburban, and then we decided since we’d both had a little too much to drink that John probably shouldn’t be driving, and…”