19. Jake
Jake
Careful what you wish for.
I wanted to see Mackenzie and here she is, all breezy and beautiful. Worse, she’s looking for me to convince her to surrender to her mom’s matchmaking plan.
I want the best for her. I don’t want to muck up her life. But come on. That’s too much, even for me.
She drives, which I’m starting to like.
“I’ll guess you heard about Candace.”
Mackenzie laughs a little, just about the sexiest sound in the world. “Yes, I heard you were a hero. Do you want a reward?”
I do, but I don’t say as much. “Just wanted to be sure you were aware of your influence. It’s a dangerous thing to have that kind of power.”
She snorts. “You just agreed with me so you decided to do something. You’re the one who deserves the credit.”
“I don’t think so. I would have let it go.”
“But instead, you came back to Empire and made it right. You did a good thing, Jake.”
Those words make me feel good. “She really had no clue. I would never have expected it. Thanks for telling me.”
There’s a glow of goodwill in the car as she pulls into the burger place. The parking lot is more than half full, even at a comparatively late hour, and I can see that it’s busy. It’s also not fancy and has very few tables to eat in.
I know this place. We used to come here in high school when someone had a car. I’d forgotten all about it, until this moment. I would have assumed it was closed.
“It’s good,” Mackenzie says, mistaking the reason for my stare.
“I know. I remember. Best burgers in town. Hand cut fries. All the toppings you want. Open really late.”
She smiles. “We’ll get it to go and eat at the townhouse.”
“With wine?”
“Of course.”
It’s the kind of place that makes each order individually, so we order and stand around inside, waiting.
There’s a gruff guy in command of the kitchen and a number of teenagers working all out.
There’s also some laughter and flirting happening, as if arrangements are being made for the rest of the evening after closing.
“Oh my god,” Mackenzie whispers suddenly, then pivots and marches to the ladies’ restroom. I’m surprised that she would have an urgent moment and a bit concerned, then I hear Mike.
“Jake! How did you find this place? I thought it was a local secret.”
“Google is my friend,” I lie. Mike’s with a young girl, who has to be his daughter. “You must be Sierra.”
“You must be my uncle Jake.” She turns to survey the parking lot. “Where’s your car? I heard you have a BMW.”
“It’s in the shop,” I say, which is true. “I have a loaner.”
Mike frowns at the parking lot. “I don’t see it either.” His brows rise. “Hey, but that’s Mackenzie Rhodes’ car. The one with the Rhodes Vineyard logo.”
If people really did get struck by lightning for lying, I’d be a dead man.
“Who?” I ask.
“Mackenzie. Augustine Rhodes’ granddaughter. This is the last place I’d expect to find her.” Mike is now scanning the place for Mackenzie. It doesn’t take long to determine that she’s not there.
“Where is your car?” Sierra asks.
“At the hotel,” I lie again. I remember seeing the Travelodge on our way from the townhouse. I gesture vaguely in that direction. “I decided to walk. Get a stretch.”
“That’s six blocks away,” Mike says just as they call that my order is ready.
Thank God I paid for dinner and it’s my name on the chit.
“You must be hungry,” Sierra says, eying the size of the bag.
I open the top and take out a French fry. “Starving,” I agree. “And I couldn’t decide what to get. Whatever’s left will be good for breakfast.”
Mike laughs at me and confides in Sierra. “Jake always liked leftover pizza at breakfast.”
“That’s different from leftover burgers,” she says with justifiable disdain.
Mackenzie comes out of the ladies’ room then, wiping her hands on a paper towel.
She looks right past us, pulling out her keys, and is visibly startled when Mike calls her.
She pauses to talk to him and Sierra, gives me a cool glance as if we’re strangers.
Mike introduces me and we do the ‘hello how nice’ formalities, then she walks out the door and drives away.
Uh huh. Her own rules left her no other choice.
Maybe she’s going to wait at the end of the block.
“Nice to finally meet you,” I say to Sierra. “We’ll talk,” I say to Mike and head for the door.
“You can’t walk all that way,” Sierra says and I think I might truly dislike this kid. “Your fries will get cold.”
“It’s all right.”
“No, it isn’t. Mike!”
“We’ll give you a ride,” Mike says and all protest is void because they call that his order is up.
I find myself in Mike’s truck, with Sierra between us, one bag of food on her lap and another on mine.
They drop me off at the Travelodge. The only mercy is that the parking lot is so full and so dark that Mike can’t immediately determine that my loaner vehicle is not there.
I wave them off and eat a fry, then get out my phone. Before I can determine whether they even have Uber in Havelock, a burgundy SUV pulls to a halt in front of me. Mackenzie puts down the window on the passenger side.
“Want a ride?” She’s laughing at me but I don’t care.
“Yes!” I get in and she turns back toward the townhouse. “You just want your fries hot.”
“I do.”
I feed her one as she drives, and then another. “That was close,” she says.
“Fast thinking.”
“Good misdirect.”
“I think we should celebrate,” I say as she parks in the driveway at the townhouse.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she says, her smile mischievous. She leans over and I’m expecting a kiss, but instead she steals another fry out of the bag. “The best,” she says, and I’m not sure whether she’s talking about the food or something else.
I don’t actually care.
But later, when I ease inside her and it feels more perfect than anything ever should, I do care. Mackenzie smiles slowly, the smile that steals over her lips and sets my blood on fire, the one that makes her own gaze simmer and sparkle at the same time.
“Hi,” she murmurs, stealing my line along with my breath.
She reaches to kiss the corner of my mouth gently, then brushes her mouth across mine to kiss the other corner.
I could drown in her eyes. I could lose myself in her forever.
I could make love to her every day and night of my life and never get enough.
And in so doing, I would destroy her forever.
I don’t want to mislead her. I don’t want to argue either. I don’t want to smash this beautiful thing we have just so I can resist temptation. She moves beneath me and I could weep at how awesome every bit of this feels.
But this is it. It has to be it.
Tonight, I have to fall asleep afterward. I have to ensure that she goes to her mom’s and falls in love with Mr. Right. I have to get out of the way of Mackenzie’s future happiness. It’s the very best thing I can do for her.
It’s the only way to prove that I love her.