Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“My wife is a nut. She means well, but she’s a nut.” Aiden shakes his head. Grinning at his comment, I take another pull from my beer. “I’m going to head on over to Fawn’s place and see if they need any help.” He stands, and I stand along with him.
“I’ll join you.”
Smiling, he pats my shoulder before leading the way across the hall. Most everyone has already gathered around the table when we get there, so I take a seat next to Levi—and directly across from Mackenzie, who is doing her best to avoid looking at me. While I study her, my hand clenches into a fist. I have to work to keep myself from touching her. To keep myself from forcing her to look at me. To make her acknowledge that there is something between us.
“You good, man?” Levi questions.
I pull my eyes from Mackenzie to look at him. “Yeah.”
“Good.”
He nudges my shoulder with his before leaning over to Fawn, who is sitting next to him. He whispers something in her ear that makes her smile. Pulling my eyes from them, I look at Mackenzie and find her eyes already on me. There are a million emotions playing behind her gaze. The moment is broken when her little sister takes a seat next to her and says something that makes her laugh. Seeing her smile, I know I want to see that smile again—only directed at me.
Parking down the block from Mackenzie’s office four days later, I get out and pay the meter before heading toward the building. When I looked up Soothe Your Soul, the name of her practice, I found out that it was actually in an apartment building with a few other small businesses—all located on the first floor.
The rest of Thanksgiving dinner was interesting, to say the least. Levi’s sister-in-law kept bringing up his ex, which in turn pissed everyone off. Fawn, who I could tell was hurt by the conversation, got up in the middle of dinner. She took her sisters with her, and they didn’t come back for a long time. So long that I wondered if they’d come back at all. When they did return, Fawn wasn’t with them, so Levi left in search of her. After he left, I decided that I would head home, too.
I swear I saw disappointment in Mackenzie’s eyes when I told her and her family goodbye, but I knew not to get my hopes up. That doesn’t mean they weren’t. The need to see her again has been clawing at my gut since then.
I press the button next to the nameplate for her office, and the door buzzes. The lock clicks. I pull the door open and look around to see if there is a camera that will announce to her who has arrived. I don’t see one—and that bothers me more than it probably should. The idea of her being alone and just letting anyone inside causes the caveman who’s taken residence in me since meeting her to rear his ugly head.
Until I met her, I had never experienced possessiveness before. I had never understood the need to claim someone, to mark or brand them. Yet that is exactly what I want to do with her.
When I reach her office, I find the door open. She’s sitting at her desk with her hair up in a ponytail, and her face is makeup-free. She has a Chinese-takeout container in front of her, and her eyes are on the computer. She looks beautiful. More beautiful than the night I met her, when she was dressed up and wearing makeup.
“Hey,” I say.
Her head whirls around, and her eyes widen when she hears my voice.
“You . . . you’re here.”
“I was in the neighborhood.” I shrug, knowing she’ll catch on to the fact that I’m using the same lame excuse she did when I found her outside my door attempting to leave me a note. “Do you have any openings?”
For a long moment, she does nothing but stare at me like she can’t believe that I’m standing in front of her.
“Mackenzie?” I take a step toward her, and she blinks.
“You . . .” She wiggles her head, causing her ponytail to move from side to side and to slide along her neck. “You want a massage?”
“Your mom suggested it might help me,” I remind her.
She rolls her eyes as her lips lift into a small smile. “My mom is insane.”
“A little,” I agree. I ask my question again. “Do you have any time available today?”
She nibbles her bottom lip, studying me before answering. “My next client isn’t scheduled to be here for another hour and a half.”
“I’m sure we can make that work,” I reply, feeling satisfaction when her eyes flash with desire and her nipples pebble under the thin top she has on.