Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
UNFORGETTABLE
This time, I decide to head into the shop before she goes to lunch.
Maybe I’ll even suggest we have lunch together.
I’m not sure what I’m doing when it comes to MacKenzie.
I’m a little out of my element. I don’t recall ever pursuing a woman.
I’ve always just sat back and let women come to me.
I’m not trying to be arrogant; it’s just a fact.
I’m big and tall thanks to my German heritage, and blond and broad, just like my dad. Women seem to be drawn to my looks.
I haven’t ever been in what you’d call a long-term relationship.
I’ve dated women for a few weeks at most, but basically, I stick to one or two nights.
It’s just easier that way, especially when I was in the military.
But now, looking down the barrel of my fortieth birthday, I realize that I don’t want to be alone anymore.
Well, maybe it’s not due to my birthday.
Maybe it’s because the first time I saw MacKenzie and watched her at that party, I’ve been entranced—fascinated by her humor, her beauty, and her quirkiness.
Stepping into the shop, I see two people: a young man about a decade younger than me and a woman in red.
When I step to my left, I recognize the woman, and my mind is blown.
It’s MacKenzie, but a new and more put-together 2.
0 version. I’m not sure I like it. This one has too much makeup on, and her hair is straight—not curling and twirling around her beautiful face.
This woman is sleek and professional. Where’s my quirky girl?
I step closer to her as I hear the man speak. “Mac, you should come to lunch with me.”
“Oh, Bobby, thanks for asking, but I’ve got to walk the dogs.” She sighs.
“You never want to go to lunch with me,” he says with a whine.
Who is this guy?
“It’s not that I don’t want to go; it’s that my dog-walking job happens during my lunch hour.” She shrugs.
“How ’bout dinner?”
“Maybe sometime, Bobby. I’ve got a lot going on right now.”
I interrupt their awkward exchange by clearing my throat. MacKenzie’s head pops up when she hears me. Her smile is stunning. “Sam,” she says breathlessly.
“Hello, MacKenzie. How’re you today?” I say casually, leaning my hip on the glass case.
I look over at Bob and see a scowl cross his face.
Yep, he’s in his late twenties. He’s wearing a T-shirt with the logo of the toy store here in the mall beneath his dark hoodie.
I give him a chin lift and watch his scowl turn into something more sinister.
“Sam. It’s good to see you. I’ve got the necklace right over here.
” She points to her spot in the case. She ignores Bobby and moves to her left.
I follow her lead and meet her at the counter.
I peer down and see the white gold necklace.
MacKenzie unlocks the case and sets the shimmering chain on the velvet pad.
“Wow, I think it’s even prettier than the other one.” I lift my head and smile at her. “My mom loved hers, by the way.”
Her smile turns shy. “She did? I’m glad.”
“She did. She wanted to know all about you. I didn’t have much to tell her, though.” I smirk. “I’d like to know more.”
“Y-you do?” she stutters.
Before I can respond, I hear someone say, “Fuck,” in an angry voice. We both look over and see Bobby with a face as red as strawberries.
“Bobby?” MacKenzie asks as she moves toward him. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” he shouts as he stomps out of the store.
I see the look of worry on her face. “You know him?” The guy is a little intimidating.
Not to me, but he would be to someone MacKenzie’s size.
He’s not tall, maybe five ten, but he’s bulky like a wrestler; I can’t tell if the bulkiness is because he works out or if it’s just bulk.
I can tell you for sure that I don’t like the looks of him.
“He works in the toy store over there.” She points to her right. “He’s harmless.”
“Harmless?” I’m not so sure of that. “He looked pretty angry.”
“Well, he’s got a little crush on, um, me. He’s harmless,” she repeated.
I’d rather not make her worry, but guys like that aren’t always harmless. Some are downright dangerous.
“Well, I love the necklace. Can you gift wrap it for me?”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.”
But I don’t stand and wait; I follow her into the back room. She looks back at me, startled that I’ve followed her. I stand in the doorway and lean my shoulder on the doorjamb. My body barely fits, but I’ve got enough room to lean and cross my feet.
I watch as she finds a gift box. She sets the necklace on a bed of cotton and then wraps that in tissue.
She places a small gold sticker on the spot the tissue overlaps.
Once the box is together, she wraps it in simple silver paper and a white ribbon.
It’s nothing fancy, but it works. On the bottom of the box, she adds a sticker with the store information, the logo, address, website, and phone number.
“Do you have a business card?”
“I do,” she says, grinning. She walks over to a small locker and pulls out an old brown purse. Digging through, she pulls out a card. Walking up to me holding the card out, she says, “There you go.”
I’m overcome with need—the need to touch her. I wrap my hand around her wrist and pull her toward me gently. I don’t want to scare her off, but I need to kiss her. She lets out a little squeak as I wrap my big hands behind her back and pull her into me.
“Remember when we talked about that kiss?”
She nods. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Y-you can’t?”
“Nope,” I say as I lean down. I slide my lips over hers and feel her shiver in my arms. Pulling her closer to me and slipping my hands into her sleek new hairstyle, I can smell the jasmine in her hair, or is that her scent?
I tilt my head to the left and move hers to my right so I can get into this kiss.
Her little tongue swipes at my mouth, and I open for her without hesitation.
Jesus, this is better than the first kiss.
My dick is throbbing in my pants. I’m sure she can feel it, and I don’t care.
I wrap my hand over her wrists and pull them up so they’re around my neck.
Next, I slide my palms down until I’ve got my palms resting on her lower back.
They’re itching to move lower to that luscious ass, but it’s too soon. I pull back from the kiss. “MacKenzie?”
“Yeah,” she whispers, dazed.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
“Really?” she says, sincerely surprised.
“Really.” I chuckle. “You’re kind of hard to forget.”
“Sam?” she whimpers.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“You’re hard to forget, too.”
“Have dinner with me?”
“Okay.”
I kiss her again, this time more gently.
If I keep going at the same frantic pace as before, we’re going to need to do this thing on the workbench, and my first time with MacKenzie Blue Parker isn’t going to be on a wooden table.
It’s going to be in my big bed. I groan, thinking about her naked and wanton.
“What time are you done here?”
“Five.”
“I’ll be back to pick you up.” I kiss the tiny freckles on the bridge of her nose and pull away from her. MacKenzie’s pink face and lips are swollen from my kiss. She’s fucking beautiful. “See you at five.”
She nods and waves and gives me that gorgeous smile again. I’m the king of the world. As I exit the store, I look right and see the toy store. Bob is inside, but he’s facing me, eyes so intense it gives me a shiver. “What the hell, dude?” I say softly.
I head down the escalator and out the front doors of the mall. Time to plan a date.