“Are you two going to stand out there all day, or are you going to come in?” Levi breaks into the moment.
Mackenzie blinks, then shakes her head before looking at him.
“Glad to see you up and about, man.” I shake his hand and he gives me a one-arm hug.
“Thanks, man.”
“How are you feeling?” I ask when he steps back and runs his good hand through his hair.
“All right. Ready to get out of this place. I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“Oh, stop being an angry bear,” Fawn says as she comes toward us down the hall.
I see how he turns to look at her, his gaze turning soft.
“I’m not angry.”
“You’ve been growling at everyone since we woke up,” she tells him, tucking herself into his good side and resting her hand on his stomach.
“I woke up with both of our moms hovering over us. That’s not exactly my favorite way to start the day,” he huffs.
Mackenzie and Fawn laugh.
“I know, but they are just trying to help. What are you doing up anyway? You are supposed to be in bed.”
“I needed to get out of the room for a minute. Plus, you were gone a long time. I thought that you were just going to the gift shop,” he tells her.
She shakes her head.
“I was gone ten minutes tops. Now come on. It’s time to go back to bed. The doctor said to take it easy.”
She ushers him back around and through the door toward the bed. The moms are in there at a small table, playing cards with Libby.
After saying a quick hello to everyone, I head to the bed. Fawn is helping Levi get back in.
“I can’t stay long. Someone needs to do a shit ton of paperwork, and since my partner decided he’d take a paid vacation, I got stuck with it,” I joke.
Levi grins. “Thanks for that, man.”
“No problem.” I pat his good shoulder lightly. “If you need anything, just send a text.”
“I might need you to help me escape,” he says quietly.
Fawn narrows her eyes at him, and he shrugs while giving her a smile.
“Like I said, just send a text.” I look at Mackenzie. “Walk me out?”
“Sure.”
When we reach my truck, I make out with her for ten minutes before I head back to the station.
Feeling Mackenzie’s warm breath brush across my neck, I tighten my fingers around her hip with one hand and sift my fingers through her soft hair with the other. She fell asleep twenty minutes ago, sprawled out on top of me on the couch wearing one of my T-shirts and a pair of my boxers. We had just eaten half a pizza and watched Die Hard and Die Hard 2.
When I had asked her what she wanted to watch, she told me she loves action movies. I honestly expected her to tell me that she loved romantic comedies or dramas—the types of movies that make me fall asleep halfway through. Once again, she surprised me.
Just like she surprised me on our first date by not wanting to eat at the restaurant I had chosen for us. Most women I’ve dated would rather pick at a forty-dollar salad than eat a twenty-dollar pizza covered in meat and cheese. Then again, I’m learning quickly that she isn’t like most women I’ve known—she’s better. She’s exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for. I love that she has no problem devouring a pizza without apology and looking sexy doing it, and that in bed she gives as good as she gets. I like that she’s comfortable in her own skin. That she doesn’t feel a need to hide herself under makeup. I appreciate that she’s strong and independent, but that she can be vulnerable at times.
I know without a doubt she was made just for me. Now I just need to convince her that I was made for her, too.
Chapter 7
GIRL CODE
MAC
Lifting my head and seeing Edward walk through my office door, I smile and push my chair away from my desk. “Hey, you.” I stand and walk around my desk to greet him with a hug. “What are you doing here?” I let him go and take a step back.
“I came to check on you. I haven’t seen you in a while. What’s been going on?”
“Work. You know how it is.” I shrug and take a seat on the edge of my desk while he sits in one of the chairs across from me.
“Just work?” he asks curiously.
“Well . . . when I’m not working, I’m spending time with Wesley,” I say.
He tips his head to the side. “Is Wesley the big guy I saw the last time I was here?” He raises his arms away from his body like he has too many muscles.
“Yeah.” I smile.
He rubs his hand down his jaw. “He seemed a little intense,” he says.
My stomach tingles as I remember the way his intensity feels whenever it’s directed at me.
“He’s a cop.” I use that as explanation, and he nods. “So did you just come by to check on me?”
“Actually, I wanted to see if you had time to give me a massage. Bonnie and I are heading to her parents’ for Christmas, and I’ve been stressed.”
“Why? I thought you got along with her family.”
“I do get along with them, but . . .” He pulls a box out of his pocket and flips the top open. “Carrying this thing around is making me anxious.”
“You’re asking Bonnie to marry you!”
“That’s the plan.” He snaps the box closed and shoves it back in his pocket.
“I’m happy for you. The ring is beautiful. She’s going to freak when she sees it.” I stand and give him another hug. “I wish I had time to help you out today, but I have clients back-to-back. Everyone wants to come in before they go away for Christmas. You should have called me,” I tell him as the buzzer next to my door goes off, letting me know that my next client has already arrived.
“I should have.” He moves his neck side to side, cracking it, then pulls out his phone as it rings. “One second.” He looks at the screen before he puts it to his ear to answer. “Hey, baby.”
Thinking that it’s Bonnie, I smile at him.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you there. But remember—you can’t call me next week since I’ll be with Bonnie at her parents’ house,” he says.
That smile slides right off my face, and nausea turns my stomach. I fight the urge to kick him in his balls or pick up my stapler and toss it at his stupid, fat, cheating head.
“All right. I’m just gonna say bye to my friend, then I’ll be over that way. Yeah, see you soon.” He ends the call and puts the phone in the inside pocket of his jacket just as my next client, Dorothy, comes into my office.
Giving her a smile, I look back at Edward.
He leans down to kiss my cheek. “We’ll talk after the holiday.”
“Sure.” Swallowing down bile, I watch him go. I wonder how the hell I didn’t see it before, how the hell I didn’t notice that he is a complete man whore and a huge dick.
Pushing thoughts of him away, I lead Dorothy down the hall and into the massage room. I instruct her to get undressed and onto the table, then tell her that I’ll be back in a few minutes.
After I leave, I rush to my desk and pick up my cell. I group text Libby and Fawn.
Edward just stopped by my office. He showed me the ring he is going to use to propose to his girlfriend, then he went to go meet a woman that I’m pretty sure he is cheating on Bonnie with.
Fawn: Shut up.
Libby: Oh my god you so dodged a bullet.
Fawn: His poor girlfriend.
Me: I know, I feel like I should warn her.
Libby: Don’t do it. She will find out on her own. He won’t be able to hide it forever.
Fawn: I would want to know if Levi was cheating on me. I think you should tell her. It’s girl code.
Me: I’ll have to think about it.
Libby: I swear you two never listen to me. Whatever . . . I have to work. We will talk over Christmas shopping.
Me: