Some Like It Charming (A Temporary Engagement) (10 page)

He handed her the Twix. “Here. We can stop and get more if that doesn’t do the trick.”

He reached into his suit pocket and handed her a cellphone. “And here. Welcome to the twenty-first century.”

Mackenzie stared at it glumly. “Great. Just what I’ve always wanted.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know how you’ve done all your sales without a cellphone.”

“I sit at my desk and don’t do anything else until the day is done. It’s too easy to allow distractions to intrude when I have a cellphone.”

“I won’t argue with the results. But what about your personal life?”

“Personal is for after work. I like to keep things separate.”

“I’ve noticed.”

She flung her hand out, waving it towards Ethan and the limo. “Look what happens when I don’t. I play one little softball game and I get pictures of me splashed on the front of the National Enquirer and then fake engaged to my boss. Talk about mixing business with personal.”

“I thought you were going to say mixing business with pleasure.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”

Ethan laughed. “It was a good game of softball. Almost makes everything that’s come after it worthwhile.”

She huffed in annoyance. “I didn’t even win. It wasn’t worth it at all.”

“Maybe next time. Now you know to wear short shorts.”

“Or maybe glue your mouth shut.”

“How about we compromise and say both?”

“I might wear some short shorts if it would glue your mouth shut.”

He looked down at her legs, her toes peeking out of her shoes. He could think of something better than glue to keep his mouth occupied. And he was wondering how he was going to talk her into it when he looked back up and met her eyes.

She fidgeted in her seat and turned to look out the window again. He watched her ignore him and then smiled. He’d expected a smack-down. A fidget was more than he’d ever gotten from Mackenzie before. Maybe getting her out of her element would work in his favor, and he was definitely one to push his luck. Especially where the unflappable Mackenzie was concerned.

The limo pulled up to the restaurant and satisfaction filled Ethan when he saw the sidewalk lined with cameras. Pictures of his new fiancé would be everywhere by tomorrow.

Mackenzie jumped when a movie star and his wife walked by and Ethan said, “If you want pictures taken in L.A., this is where you eat. Oscar campaigns, rumors of a breakup that need defending, rumors of an engagement you need to confirm.” He smiled at her. “Come here, give them some pictures, and they leave you alone the rest of the time. Usually.”

“You live in a strange world.”

“I’ve learned to work around it. Now show me your
happily engaged
face.”

She looked at him.

He said, “Come on, you’re supposed to be happy. After five long years, we’ll finally be together.”

“You wore me down, remember? You’re supposed to be happy. I’m supposed to be horrified by all this attention.”

“You’ve certainly got that look down. But you can’t go out scowling like that. Everybody wants to see us happy.”

Mackenzie looked skeptical. “Just who is everybody? And why do we care what they want?”

“Everybody is
everybody
. And I care because if I wake up to one more quote from an ex maligning my bedroom technique I will have to go into hiding with my mother and grandma. I’d rather go into hiding with you.” He glanced at her attempt at a smile. “Just barely. Now, smile.”

“I am.”

“That is not a smile. That look will send my mother running.”

Mackenzie let out a puff of air and tried again. “There. Is this better?”

He looked at her dubiously. “I know I’ve seen you smile before. This is just baring your teeth.”

Ethan pulled out his wallet and took out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to her and she gingerly opened it. “See, you were smiling here.”

“Why do you have a copy of the National Enquirer in your wallet?”

“Look at us, Mackenzie. Just look.”

“I would really rather not.”

He scooted over to sit next to her. “This is what people want to see. Whatever ‘it’ is, we’ve got it. I’m getting hot and bothered just looking at the pictures.”

“Stop it.” She thrust the paper back at him.

Ethan took the paper, holding on to her hand. “You know what I’ve never done before? Kissed my fiancé.”

Mackenzie reared back in alarm. “Yes, you have. Right before you announced to the world I was engaged to you. And then right after we signed the pre-nup.”

He stroked her hand and murmured, “Oh, yes. How did I forget those? Maybe because neither was a real kiss.”

“There won’t be any real kisses. This is all fake, remember?”

“It’s not
all
fake.” He looked into her eyes. “Here’s the deal. You can come out of the car with me, smiling. Or you can kiss me.”

“I’m smiling!”

He shook his head. “Sadly, that is not a smile.”

Ethan hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him, and she flattened her hands against his chest. She said, “This was not in any part of our agreement.”

“I don’t know why we didn’t address it then. I tried, if you’ll remember.”

“There was nothing to address, then or now.”

His lips touched hers and she jerked her head back.

He slid his hand up her back and into her hair, and he held her head still as his lips touched hers again. His tongue tickled the seam of her lips and she kept them firmly shut. He looked at her through lidded eyes and found her looking back at him. He trailed kisses across her cheek to her ear.

He whispered, “You look beautiful. But I liked your hair brown.”

Mackenzie whispered back, “It’s your mother’s fault.”

“Try not to listen to my mother, would you?”

“I could probably do that.”

“Good. Now can we stop talking about her?”

Mackenzie leaned back slightly. “You’re the one who brought her up.”

“I did? My mistake.”

She laughed and he took advantage of her open mouth. She tasted like chocolate and smelled like woman. It was kryptonite to his self-control and when she stopped fighting and let his tongue enter her mouth, he forgot where they were.

She mumbled against his lips. “This is a bad idea.”

“The worst I’ve ever had.”

She sighed slightly and leaned into him. “As long as you realize that.”

“Oh, I do. I really, really do.”

Mackenzie gave a breathy chuckle and Ethan gripped her thigh, pulling her leg over his hip until she was nearly straddling him and her dress was riding dangerously high.

He circled the back of her thighs with his hands, his fingers grazing the apex of her legs.

Her breath whooshed out and he doubled down, one hand moving up to cup her butt and pull her even closer. He slid his other fingers lightly up and down.

She murmured, “I’m pretty sure this counts as sexual harassment.”

“Absolutely. Be sure and tell the judge that you like to be on top.”

Mackenzie leaned against him heavily, her mouth fighting his for dominance. He bit her lip, then sucked lightly, easing the sting.

Her hands fisted in his hair, pulling slightly, and he grinned against her mouth.

He gripped her hips, pushing her down onto his lap, rubbing his erection against her, and her breath caught. Ethan’s fingers tightened, digging into her flesh, and then moved north.

His hands roamed higher and higher, searching for the top of her panties, until her dress was pushed to her waist. He tore his mouth from hers and looked down at what his fingers had been trying to tell his brain. He wasn’t getting into this woman’s underpants.

He growled, “Goddamn Spanx.”

He thought about trying to rip the offending garment off but even in his lust-induced haze he realized the futility of that. He looked around wildly. His keys? Could he hack it off with his keys?

Mackenzie dropped her head onto his shoulder and whispered, “Ethan.”

He damn near exploded right then.

He tipped his head back and took a deep breath. Then another.

She tried to climb off him and he wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her to him while he breathed. In and out.

A paparazzo sidled up to the limo and tried to look through the window, and Ethan remembered where they were and what they were supposed to be doing.

Ethan ran his hand down her arm and tangled her fingers with his own.

After a moment spent getting himself back under control, he pulled back and looked at her critically. He pulled her dress back down, swiped a thumb under her lips and wiped away the remnants of her lipstick, then nodded, satisfied.

He said, “Okay, forget the smile. Looking dazed and ruffled will work just fine.”

And he opened the door and pulled her out into the flashing cameras.

Mackenzie sat in her car with Cassandra, watching the circus that was now her street. Cassandra whistled. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Run them all over?”

“Could work, but then you’d go to jail. You probably would have to give Mr. O’Connor his million back for nonperformance. You need some bodyguards.”

“Dinner last night was supposed to make them all go away and leave me alone.”

“I’d say it didn’t work.”

Mackenzie blew her breath out. “What if we went through my neighbor’s yard and snuck in the back door?”

“Might work.”

“Or we go in pedal to the metal, horn blaring, and see how many don’t get out of the way in time.”

“I vote sneaking in the back.”

“Yeah.” Mackenzie reversed the car. “This might not work, but I don’t think they can come onto the property. Right? Trespassing, right?”

“This could end with a picture of you climbing the fence in tomorrow’s papers.”

“God. Do you know how much I hate Ethan Howell O’Connor at this moment?”

Cassandra looked at her out of the corner of her eye. “Mm-hm.”

They parked in front of her neighbor’s house, sneaked through the gate and headed for the back fence.

Cassandra looked around. “They don’t have a dog, right?”

“Pretty sure.”

“Oh, you’re a riot.”

They stopped at the fence and looked up. Cassandra said, “If this doesn’t work, we are calling Ethan and telling him to send some bodyguards. Deal?”

Mackenzie clenched her teeth. “I am not calling him. So you’d better get yourself over this fence.”

Mackenzie jumped, grabbing the top and pulling with all her might, her feet trying to run up the side of the fence.

Cassandra yelled, “Stop flailing and I’ll push you over!”

She gave an almighty push and Mackenzie went over the top and landed with a thud.

A shout rang out from the front and Cassandra yelled again. “Go, go, go! Don’t stop! Zigzag!”

Mackenzie raced to the back door, her key in her hand, and flung open the door. She looked behind her to find no Cassandra and slammed and locked the door.

She leaned against it, laughing. Then groaned. She was a thirty-year-old woman, for God’s sake. And this was her house!

A loud ringing made her jump. It took her a second to realize it was her new cellphone.

She answered and Cassandra said, “I can’t get over the fence. I’m going to try the front. Watch for me, will you?”

“They’re going to eat you alive.”

“We’ll see. Just be ready for me.”

“Okay.”

Cassandra said, “You know, you’ll have to thank Ethan for the cellphone. It’s handy being able to just call you up.”

“Oh, yeah. When you need to sneak into your own home, it’s necessary to have a cellphone on you. Makes life so much easier.”

“It really does.”

“You could have just called my home phone.”

“Huh.” Cassandra hung up and Mackenzie nervously walked to the front room. She peaked between the blinds to find cameras pointed and clicking on her house. She knew,
knew
, they couldn’t see her, but she stepped back anyway.

A few minutes later a knock sounded and she let Cassandra in, making sure no part of her could be photographed.

Mackenzie locked the door. “You just waltzed up the front path?”

“I waved. They didn’t take too many pictures of me. I guess pictures of Ethan O’Connor’s fiancé’s best friend don’t pay all that well.”

“I hate you.”

“As much as you hate Ethan, hm?”

“Just about.”

“So, not at all.”

Mackenzie looked at her in surprise. “What do you mean, not at all?”

“I’ve seen the pictures. There’s not a lot of hate going on between you two.”

“Okay, I was playing softball against a worthy opponent. Of course I was having a good time.”

Cassandra laughed at her. “Good one. But I was talking about last night’s pictures.”

Mackenzie checked again that the door was bolted, then headed for the bedroom. “Ugh. They’re out already?”

“Yep. They got some good ones.”

“I don’t want to know. Did you purposefully look for them?”

“Of course I did. I wanted to see how it went. Plus, I like looking at him. I spent all last night looking him up on the computer. I can’t decide if he looks better in real life or in pictures.” Cassandra pretended to shiver, then said, “He definitely smells better. You’re going to have to find out what cologne he was wearing last night so I can spray some on my pillow. It made my insides go all mushy and my dreams go naughty.”