Some Like It Charming (A Temporary Engagement) (3 page)

His mother gave Mackenzie one last worried glance and then turned away.

Ethan watched them walk to the stands with a big smile on his face. A real smile, nothing charming about it.

He said, “I don’t think my mother likes you.”

“She looks like she’s worried I’m going to hurt you.”

He chuckled. “She’s always been a little protective.”

She looked up at him. He was at least six feet of hard, wily male. On the list of people who needed protecting, he was last.

“But my grandma really took to you. I’m pretty sure she’s betting on you.”

“She seems intelligent.”

He grinned. “We’ll see.”

The softball game was the main event and the players ate quickly. Everyone else wandered around talking, eating, and waiting for the show to start.

Mackenzie didn’t know what they expected. Oh, she liked to talk a good game, and she hoped she won so she could rub a certain someone’s face in it, but the teams were pretty well evenly matched. It would probably come down to luck.

Most of the time she would bet on her luck, but Ethan was a golden boy and had been since the day he was born. If anybody’s luck was better than hers it would be his.

And as soon as she saw him squat behind the plate she knew she was in trouble. Of course he was catcher. The one position where he could talk and screw her team’s concentration.

She got a little hopeful when his mother became concerned about his lack of gear.

“It’s just a friendly game of slow-pitch, Mother. I don’t need it.” He smiled at his mother, charmingly, and Mackenzie wondered how that could possibly still work on her. She had to be immune by now.

And then Mackenzie laughed under breath when Christine O’Connor looked right at her and said, “As long as it’s a friendly game.”

Ethan looked at Mackenzie and his grin was anything but friendly. She should have brought someone to watch her back as well.

Mackenzie turned to her team and gave them one piece of advice. “Don’t listen to anything that man says when you’re at bat.”

Bases were loaded when Mackenzie went up to bat. She loved softball, started playing on a league in middle school, made varsity in high school, and had been throwing the ball around with her grandfather since she was old enough to stand. She joined the city league every summer and spent an occasional weeknight at the batting cages. She was good and she loved it. And having Ethan O’Connor that close to her made her palms sweat.

But she was going to beat him anyway.

He squatted behind the plate. “My God, that field looks beautiful. They’re just waiting for you to send them all in. Are you that good, Wyatt?”

She stepped into the box without looking at him.

The first ball came sailing past her face and she tapped her cleats with the bat. “I guess we’ll see if your pitcher ever gets it over the plate.”

“He’s just playing with you. Seeing if you’ll bite.”

“I do. Hard. Maybe your mom was right and you should go find something soft to wrap your important bits with.”

“You better hope she didn’t hear you. It’s not wise to threaten a woman’s only child.”

Mackenzie nicked the ball, fouling it out in right field.

Ethan tsked. “Mm. Too bad. That would have been good if you’d actually hit it.”

She fought to keep her laugh back but she was afraid he knew how funny he was. She said, “You just love being catcher, don’t you? Get to talk all you want and no one can shut you up.”

He squatted, holding his glove out, and she stepped back in the box. He said, “It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures.”

“It’s not going to be too much fun when I’m sliding in getting you all dusty.”

Another ball thrown in a little too high and she shook her head at the pitcher. “What, am I an amateur here?”

Ethan threw the ball back with a laugh. “I’ve only got one thing to say before you hit that homer you’re waiting for. You slide into me with your cleats up and I’ll paint your backside red.”

“I’m sure the paparazzi would love a picture of that.”

“They won’t be invited–”

Mackenzie hit the ball, felt the sweet spot, and knew it was going to be a long run for the outfielder. If there’d been a fence, it would have been over it. But she ran the bases and headed home anyway. She heard Ethan cuss when she ran across the plate. And she couldn’t help but notice that his grandmother was very excited, and his mother wasn’t.

Mackenzie grinned at Ethan. “Sorry I didn’t get the chance to slide. Maybe next time.”

“Hell.”

Ethan hit a double at his turn to bat, and when he finally made it to third base, he said, “Why am I not surprised you’re on third.”

“I guess it’s the same reason I wasn’t surprised you were catcher.”

“Each to his own strengths. I like to play with people’s minds, you like to play with people’s balls.”

She blinked and turned to stare at him. For a second he just grinned at her, and then he figured out what he’d said and tipped his head to the sky and cracked out a laugh. She glared at him and when he saw her expression, he bent double, laughing uncontrollably. All the players turned to them, most of them concerned he’d hurt himself since he was clutching his stomach and couldn’t breathe.

“Is he okay?”

“Ethan, you okay?”

Mackenzie crossed her arms. “I think he’s choking on something. Maybe his foot.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his mother stand up, a worried look on her face. Mackenzie looked at her and shook her head. She said loudly, “He’s fine. He just thinks he’s hilarious.”

Ethan gave a thumbs-up sign but could not stop laughing, and everyone wanted to be let in on the joke.

There was no way in hell Mackenzie was going to repeat what he’d said, but shortstop gave a little snigger, and she closed her eyes. No one was ever going to forget this game.

“Oh God, Mackenzie. I’m sorry. I meant you liked to be in on all the plays.”

His apology left a little something to be desired since he was still laughing so hard he couldn’t stand up straight. And she could hear barks of laughter round the bases and bleachers.

He glanced up at her face and bit back another howl of laughter. He stepped off the base and hugged her. His arms wrapped around her, trapping her crossed arms in front of her, and he lifted her off the ground.

He said, “Aw, honey. I’m sorry. I’ve got to start thinking before I open my mouth.”

“Put me down, you idiot.”

“Not until you accept my apology.”

“Oh, I accept it. My lawyer, however, is going to have a field day with this.”

He set her down, grinning at her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked her toward the pitcher’s mound.

“I am going to kill you, Ethan.”

He kept an iron grip on her shoulders and spoke loud enough that most of the players and crowd could hear him.

The laughter stopped slowly and everyone watched with cheery faces.

“I just want to apologize to Mackenzie and everyone here. Almost everybody knows that she and I have had an ongoing battle of wits since she started working for O’Connor Capital and we like to have fun with each other. We were just razzing each other at what positions we like to play and what I
meant
to say was she likes to be in on all the plays, and third base is a great position because a lot of balls get hit there.”

The crowd chuckled and Mackenzie said, “You’re not making this better.”

“And I want to let everyone, and especially my mother, know that even though she looks like she’s going to kill me, she has already accepted my apology–” Mackenzie snorted, “–and is going to make me lose so bad that I won’t be able to show my face in the L.A. office for a year.”

Everyone laughed again and Mackenzie muttered, “I’d prefer two years.”

“So, Stacy and Dan, wipe those worried expressions off your legal faces– she’s not going to sue me. And let’s go back to playing some ball.”

He chuckled again and walked her back to third with his arm still around her.

She said, “I’m really starting to sympathize with your ex-girlfriends. The society column seems a little tame to me.”

“But listen to how much fun they’re having. Isn’t it worth it?”

“I’m charging you a thousand dollars every time someone says balls to me in the next month. And you’d better pay me out of your own pocket, not the company’s.”

He turned them around and watched everyone laughing and having a good time. “I guess it’ll be worth it.”

Then he looked down at her and found her still frowning. He took his arm off her shoulder and patted her butt.

She elbowed him in the side. “Do you have a death wish, O’Connor!”

“It’s just so hard to get you all riled up and I want to keep you that way as long as possible.”

“You keep your hands to yourself or you’ll find yourself flat on the ground. And if you even use the word balls I’m going to deck you.”

He laughed, hard. “God, Mackenzie. This is turning out to be a great day. Who would have thought.”

If anyone had told Ethan this morning that today would turn out this good, he would have told them they needed to fix their crystal ball. But he’d forgotten that wherever Mackenzie Wyatt was he was bound to have a good time. She cracked him up. She stood there with no expression on her face, but he knew she was laughing inside. He also knew he really would get a bill from her if anybody said balls to her. He just hoped it wouldn’t cost him too much.

And God knew he shouldn’t have patted her behind but it was right there, and when would he ever get the chance again? He hoped she was joking about that lawsuit because any lawyer could chew him up and spit him out for the remarks and touching. Not to mention the continued jokes from everybody else. She could probably retire a wealthy woman if she had a mind to.

And he’d never have as much fun coming to L.A. if she left.

She eyed him warily as she walked up to bat and he couldn’t help his chuckle. He asked over his shoulder, “Hey, Ref. You got any money on this game?”

Mackenzie glanced at Anderson, an accountant from the fourth floor, and said, “Of course not. That would go against rule number one for referees. Thou shalt not upset the players by placing money on a game you’re refereeing.”

Anderson crouched down and said, “I would never do anything to make either you or Mackenzie mad at me. Especially when there are balls flying around everywhere. A man could get hurt.”

Mackenzie stepped into the box. “That was the easiest thousand I ever made. Got any more balls jokes?”

The pitcher lobbed the ball way outside, into Ethan’s waiting hand, and Anderson yelled as loud as he could, “Ball one!”

The crowd hooted and laughed and Ethan smiled. Mackenzie pointed at the ball with her bat. “You have got to be kidding.”

He threw it back to the pitcher. “Honey, the bases are loaded again. You know I can’t let you hit that ball.”

“So you’re just going to walk me? There’s a man on third who’ll score.”

“Better one than four.”

Ball two came sailing way outside and Ethan didn’t even bother to crouch.

“Ball two!”

A few people in the crowd booed and Mackenzie was pretty sure one of them was Ethan’s grandmother.

Mackenzie said, “I might strike out.”

“You couldn’t strike out if you tried. That first hit was a thing of beauty.”

Mackenzie smiled. “Thank you. You do know that this little escapade is going to cost you four thousand dollars, right? Anderson is having a little too much fun yelling ball.”

“He’s just doing his job, you can’t charge me for that.”

Anderson yelled in a sing-song voice, “Baaaaaaaaaalllllll three,” and Mackenzie raised an eyebrow.

She said, “That one’s going to cost you two thousand.”

Ball four came sailing over her head and Ethan had to jump to catch it.

Mackenzie lightly threw her bat toward the dugout, gave Ethan a disgusted look, and took her base. He could hear his grandmother complaining loudly but a man had to do what a man had to do. He wasn’t letting Miss Home Run near the ball again. He smiled at the glare Mackenzie gave him when the next batter struck out and the teams switched.

When he slid into third, he said, “I was sure you were going to walk me but I guess you don’t believe in playing dirty.”

“I thought about it, but then realized there wasn’t any point. You’re not that much of a threat.”

He wiped dirt from his sweats. “I’m on third base.”

“And that’s as far as you’re getting.”

Shortstop sniggered, and Mackenzie whipped her head around to glare at Ethan.

He chuckled. “I never realized how many sexual innuendos can be made with a game of softball.”

“If I lose after this, you better find someone else to fill my position. And I hope she keeps carrot sticks in her drawer and kisses your ass.”

“That would be a novelty.”

The batter hit the ball straight to Mackenzie, who caught it midair and then tagged Ethan out before he could make it back to base.

“Jeez, Mackenzie. Good thing I’m meaner than you or I don’t think I’d be winning today.”

“You won’t be winning today. Your grandmother is counting on me.”

But he
was
meaner than her, and he’d had years of practice charming resistance out of men and women alike. The women were distracted, the men laughing too hard (and Mackenzie knew they were laughing about her even if she couldn’t hear what Ethan was saying), and the only person immune to him never got close enough to the ball to hit it. She got one more run in, sliding and spraying dust everywhere and getting wiped down by Ethan to a lot of whistles and catcalls– and a glare by one unhappy mother. But in the end, she wasn’t a match against him and his mouth and her team lost by two.