Eraser Crimson (10 page)

“That’s a bit rich coming from you!”

“Mackenzie, I explained-”

She jumped up against him and pinched his lips together so he couldn’t talk.  She gave him a wicked smile.  “I know, I know, I understand.  But, Nate, you need to understand something too – I’m used to being on my own and you’re … frustratingly overbearing.”  He tried to speak but she clamped down on his lips to stop him.  “I needed some thinking time, and a bit of girly advice, surprisingly, and I’ve decided … I’m done fighting this.”  She removed her hand to finally let him speak.

“Really?”  His beaming smile caused Mackenzie’s heart rate to spike. “So if I ask you to pack your things and move into my apartment you’d say yes?”  He wrapped his arms around her waist.

“No, that’s taking things a little too far.”

“Well, it was worth a try.”  He chuckled.  “What brought this on?”

“I had a good chat with Andrea and she made me see sense.  I want to see where this thing between us can go.”

He looked around the apartment before letting her go and stepping toward a bouquet of daffodils.  “I’ll be right back,” he said, picking up the vase, leaving the apartment and a confused Mackenzie behind.

He held the flowers in one hand and knocked on Andrea’s door with the other.

“Hi?” the blonde said when she opened the door, a confused look on her face.

“These are for you.  Thank you, Andrea.  Whatever you said to her, I appreciate it,” he said, passing the flowers to her.

“Um, okay, sure, thanks.”

He turned in time to catch the beautiful laugh leaving Mackenzie’s lips.  He strode back to her and scooped her up into his arms.

Mackenzie squealed as her legs wrapped around his waist.  She looked over at Andrea who was grinning wildly.

“Oh. My. God!” Andrea silently mouthed giving her a thumbs up behind Nate’s back before he kicked the door shut.

“Make me a sandwich woman!” Nate bellowed as he dropped Mackenzie to her feet in the center of the kitchen.  He placed a hard kiss on her lips then gave her a wicked grin.  “Then I’ll take you to work.”

Valentine’s Day.  It had been s
uch a busy night and Mackenzie was relieved to be finishing soon.  She could hardly wait for the next ten minutes to pass.  She watched the last clients filter out the door and another man enter, this one she recognized, Simon.  He was carrying a long white box which he silently passed to her.  She placed it on top of the hardwood bar and lifted the lid to expose the most exquisite, long-stemmed, deep pink, gloriosa flower, encased in white tissue paper.  There was a gold envelope beside it.  She slid a small card from the envelope and read the perfectly impeccable writing.

Oh yes, she couldn’t wait to finish work!  She laughed to herself.  She loved her man’s wicked mind – a romantic gesture with her favorite flower and a dirty note to boot.  Life couldn’t get much better.

It had been seven days since Nate first ‘made love’ to her and it had been one hell of a week!  Mackenzie felt liberated.  She was a whole new woman.  Being with Nate had opened her up to a new way of enjoying life and there was no going back.  She couldn’t return to her former mundane existence, the person she once was no longer existed.  The old Mackenzie had been erased.  Nate had given her life and without him she didn’t know what would become of her.  She needed him, now more than ever.  He was her drug and she was hooked.

Of course, he was still ‘Sir’ in the bedroom sometimes, but outside of that he was so fun, honest, genuine and caring.  Things were getting serious.  There wasn’t a day that went by where they didn’t have at least one meal together (and at least one sexual encounter of either the ‘love’ or ‘Sir’ kind).  And her idea of not spending every night in the same bed as him had gone completely out the window.  Mackenzie was intoxicated with the possibility of love with this man.  Instead of feeling anxious about it, he’d made her feel so safe and secure that she could only feel happiness.

He lifted the blindfold from her eyes and smiled at the look of wonder on her face.  She really couldn’t hide it from him, her jade eyes conveyed that he was winning and she would soon get her brain to catch up – she was his.  In his heart he knew, there was no going back from this.

He scooped her up from the ottoman and gently placed her on the bed.  She was still quivering from her last orgasm and he was still breathless from his.

“Good night, papillon,” he whispered as she curved her body into his side.  He ran the tip of his finger over her back in a figure eight pattern and sighed contentedly.

Things had changed between them this past week.  What had started as a battle of wills between the two of them had melded into a beautiful relationship.  Mackenzie had not argued when he’d requested Simon drive her to and from work, and she’d been more than willing to cater to all of his other needs as well.  They’d shared long conversations with plenty of laughter.  They’d run together every morning and alternated between apartments all week, except the weekend; they’d spent that at the mansion.  And then there was the phenomenal sex – whether it be hard and fast, or slow and delicious, he couldn’t get enough of her.

While most men would have taken their woman to a romantic candlelit dinner and given them
red roses for Valentine’s Day, Nate had waited for his to finish work and then demanded three orgasms from her body while she was bound, gagged and blindfolded.  He smiled into the back of her neck before placing a kiss there.

He couldn’t be fucking happier.

Tom had been bugging him daily, wanting to meet Mackenzie and his mother wasn’t much better, calling him at work, wanting more information.  He wouldn’t be surprised at all if she flew back from London soon, just so they could meet.  It was new to him, this relationship thing and had fast become his family’s new favorite interest, even his dad had weighed in with a few questions of his own.

Not since high school and his early college days had Nate ‘dated’.  Women then had consistently been a disappointment to him, only wanting him for his wealth and status.  He quickly learned it was easier to just have ‘encounters’ instead, thus he began a long line of hook-ups.  He threw himself into study and later into his job.  It wasn’t a decision made on purpose it was just the way it happened.  His career took up most of his time and he’d constantly been satisfied in his sex life with the parade of women that came and went, none of which were introduced to his family, or lasted more than a night or two.  He’d always presumed he’d one day have something more lasting but never actively pursued it until Mackenzie.  No one had caught his attention quite like her.

“I’m so excited for you, Nate,” Carol said, then sighed in his ear.  “I’m relieved too.  I mean, it’s not like your brother will ever give me grandchildren, so this Mackenzie woman gives me hope that I can be somebody’s Nan.”

“I thought you said not to rush these things, Mom.”  Nate chuckled down the phone.

“I don’t mean right away!  But a mother can sense these things and, even though I’m halfway around the world, I can tell just how happy you are.  She’s someone special.”

“You’re right, she is.”

“Of course I am!  I know you’ve always treaded carefully in the past but you need to let that go, be yourself and she will love you.  How could she not?  Now I’ve got to hand you over to your father because he wants a word about something.  Just promise me you won’t guard your heart with her.”

“I promise.”

He was close to his mother and the physical distance didn’t deter that, she could read him, even over the phone.  Carol wasn’t naïve enough to believe that he’d been celibate all these years, far from it, but she’d always ignored that side of his life, his player ways, in the hope that he’d meet the right girl one day.  He was well aware of that.

His mom was wrong on one thing though – he hadn’t been guarded with Mackenzie, not since she had said the words, “I’m done fighting this,” two weeks ago.  Those four words had changed everything for him.  Mackenzie, on the other hand, was still a little guarded but he was slowly breaking down her barriers.

Nate had never felt so vulnerable or strong, and though it was a total contradiction, Mackenzie made him feel both.  He needed to tell her that he loved her.  He also needed to come clean.  He pulled the file that had been weighing heavily on him from his desk drawer.  He was drumming his fingers on the folder, deep in thought, when Stacey knocked on his open door and walked into the office.

“Mackenzie’s here to see you,” she whispered
when she noticed the phone pressed to his ear.  She placed some papers on his desk.

“Five minutes,” he replied
, sliding the folder underneath the paperwork.  Then his dad came on the line to discuss business and Stacey left the office.

“He won’t be too long,” his assistant said before taking a seat behind her desk.

It had almost been a month since that very first night with the mysterious Sir.  In that time so much had changed.  Now she was waiting for Nate, her
boyfriend
, to take her to lunch.  She couldn’t help but feel giddy they’d reached this point.

It was her first time in his office.  She’d only ever seen the building from the outside on a couple of occasions.  But today, Simon had dropped her at the lobby of the building and pointed her to the 19
th
floor where she now sat.  The reception area was open, modern and sleek.  Large windows overlooked the city down below.  Dark polished floors, grey office furniture and pops of bright lime on the white walls made it look sophisticated.  She sunk further down into the large sofa.  Knowing that Nate ran the place was more than a little intimidating.

Mackenzie thought she heard her name spoken and she looked to Nate’s assistant to see a man in a suit with his back to her.  At first glance her heart sped up, she thought it was Nate, but when he looked briefly over his shoulder at her she was disappointed to see that it wasn’t.  The fact that Nate’s assistant was now talking in whispers to him, and they both continued to glance in her direction, made Mackenzie squirm in her seat.  She adjusted her position to look out the window, trying her best to ignore the two that were obviously talking about her.

“Can I help you?” a masculine voice spoke.  Mackenzie looked up to find the man looming over her.  He wore a navy suit, dark hair and dark eyes that twinkled with mischief.  He was gorgeous and … familiar.

“I’m just waiting on Nate.”

“Nate, huh?”  The man stepped closer and held out his hand for her to shake, a crooked grin on his face.  “You must be Mackenzie.”