MacKenzie's Lady Read online

  "That's a rough time to lose a parent," she murmured sympathetically.

  "Yeah, I suppose it is. We didn't get along very well, but I guess he did the best he could by me."

  Holly swallowed the last bite of salmon and looked at him thoughtfully. The product of a loving family, she was still close to her parents and her brother, not to mention the assorted aunts, uncles and grandparents that went along with them. It was difficult for her to conceive of being without close family.

  "What did you do after he died? Were you in college then?"

  "Yeah. I finished school and then joined the marines. Seemed like a great way to see the world." His mouth twisted ruefully on the words.

  "When did you decide you wanted to be a cop?"

  "That didn't come until later." He shifted restlessly and lifted a hand to signal for the waitress. "How about dessert? This place is famous for their chocolate mousse pie."

  Holly hesitated for only a moment. "I'll regret it in the morning but I can't resist it tonight."

  The pie was justly famous and she savored it down to the last tiny bite. Mac grinned at her empty plate. "I guess I don't have to ask whether or not you enjoyed it."

  "Just as much as you did." Holly cocked her head at his equally clean dish. She sat back in her chair, replete.

  That feeling of completion lasted almost all the way home. It was only when he stopped the car outside her apartment building that tension coiled inside her. If he kissed her now in the warmth and intimacy of the car, she would have a hard time holding on to her equanimity.

  The car had barely rolled to a stop before she was opening the door. Mac arched one brow as he left the car at a more leisurely pace. He didn't ask why she was in such a hurry.

  Holly kept up a stream of meaningless chatter all the way to her apartment door. The moment the words left her mouth, they were forgotten. They were just a convenient means of filling up the silence with something safe.

  She stopped outside the door and turned to look at him. "I'd ask you in for a drink but Maryann is working a late-afternoon shift right now and she probably just went to bed. I had a wonderful time. The meal was wonderful and the restaurant was won—"

  He put his fingers over her mouth. "I know. The restaurant was wonderful, too," he said with such gentle amusement that she couldn't be offended. His hand slid from her mouth to cup the back of her neck.

  "I didn't mean to babble. It's just that..."

  "It seems like a little too much, too soon," Mac finished for her.

  "Yes." The word was little more than a sigh. She leaned her cheek against his wrist, feeling the rough brush of hair. Her eyes half closed. "When I'm with you, I forget all the good, practical rules I've laid down for myself," she admitted.

  His thumb stroked the tender skin behind her ear, his eyes intent on her face. "It's the same for me. I won't push it, Holly. I think we could have something important together. It's worth waiting for."

  She let her hands rest on his chest. "I don't know if I'm glad to hear you say that or sorry. There's a part of me that would love for you to sweep me off my feet."

  Mac groaned, tugging her up onto her toes as his head dipped. "Don't say things like that. You make it hard to be a nice guy."

  "You don't kiss like a nice guy," she murmured a few minutes later, her voice dreamy.

  "Maybe I should practice some more."

  Holly laughed and put her fingers against his lips. "I think you've had more than enough practice."

  She eased out of his arms and he let her go without protest, watching as she unlocked the door. "I'll call you tomorrow." It was half a question and Holly nodded.

  "I'd like that."

  He bent and dropped a hard kiss on her mouth, a promise for the future. "Sleep tight."

  Holly eased the door shut behind her, listening to his quiet footsteps until they faded into silence. A silly smile curved her wide mouth. He was going to call tomorrow. And that was just the beginning.

  Mac did call the next day. In fact, for the next month not a single day went by that Holly did not either see him or talk to him. March and April were cool and unusually damp for Southern California, but as far as she was concerned, the weather had never been more exquisite, her students had never been more cooperative and her life had never been more perfect.

  Even Baby was in a good mood. It was almost as if the little Fiat felt that it had done its part by giving Mac an opening that first night and now there was no need to throw tantrums. All through the rains of March and the drizzle of April, Baby purred. For Holly it was just one more item to add to her list of good things that had happened since Mac came into her life.

  The only dark spot on her horizon was Maryann's pessimistic attitude.

  "You're moving too fast, Holly. You're asking to get burned. What do you really know about Mac?"

  Holly suppressed the urge to scream and continued to run the iron gently over the emerald silk blouse she was going to wear that evening. Maryann was genuinely concerned and

  Holly appreciated that but she was tired of hearing all the dire warnings.

  "I know that he's tremendously nice; he's sexy; he likes me; he's sexy; I like him; he's sexy; he hasn't pushed me; he's—"

  "I know, I know: He's sexy!" Maryann was sitting cross-legged on Holly's bed, stabbing a half-eaten banana in the air for emphasis. "That's precisely my point. You're so caught up in how sexy he is. That could be blinding you to all sorts of faults."

  "Like what?" Holly turned the blouse and began pressing the back. Maryann really was sweet, if overprotective. She spoke as if she were six years older than Holly instead of six months.

  "Anything." The banana waved wildly. "What if he gets mean when he drinks?''

  "He almost never drinks."

  "Maybe he hates dogs."

  "I'm not too fond of dogs myself."

  "Maybe he has a secret wife and six kids hidden somewhere."

  "He's never been married."

  Maryann pounced. "How do you know?"

  "He told me." There was no arguing with that simple statement.

  "What about his job? Being a cop is hardly in the same category as sitting at a desk all day. What if he gets hurt or..." She trailed off, biting her lip. "I'm sorry, Holly. That was hitting below the belt."

  Holly shook her head, forcing a smile. "It's not something that I can ignore. I won't say it doesn't bother me but I'm not going to dwell on the bad possibilities. Remember to whom you're talking." Her smile widened. "This is the woman who was voted 'Most Likely to Believe the World Is Perfect.' I count on you to blow a little fresh air on my fantasies once in a while but I'm still going to look on the bright side.

  "Now what other hideous faults do you perceive in Mac? Is he a chocoholic? A secret needlepoint fanatic?"

  Maryann accepted her lead, keeping her tone stern but staying away from potentially hurtful subjects.

  "He could be a closet pervert for ail you know." The banana punctuated the end of the sentence.

  "Is that someone who has a thing for closets?" Holly threw her exasperated friend a grin. "You don't have a single concrete thing to say against him and you and I both know it."

  "And you can't tell me a single concrete fact to support your theory that he's perfect."

  "I don't think he's perfect." Holly slid a hanger into the blouse and laid it across the ironing board to carefully button the neck. "I'm not an idiot, Maryann. I'm being cautious. But for the first time I've met someone I can imagine spending the rest of my life with. I'm not going to throw that away just because he doesn't come with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

  "I still think you're risking an awful lot of hurt but you always have been pigheaded. Just remember that I'm going to say 'I told you so' if he turns out to be an ax murderer."

  "If he turns out to be an ax murderer, then I suspect you'll be saying that at my funeral, which should make it doubly satisfying for you."

  "You're impossible!" Maryann gestured
one time too many with the banana. This time the abused fruit popped out of its skin with the force of her exasperation. The two women watched as the soft fruit sailed through the air and landed with a squishy splat...right on Holly's newly ironed blouse.

  Holly stared at the mess for a moment before lifting her gaze to Maryann. The other woman looked from the ruined blouse to the empty banana skin still clutched in her fingers and then up at her friend. She shrugged weakly. "They just don't make bananas like they used to."

  ❧

  It would have made Maryann feel better if she had known that her words were not falling on totally deaf ears. Though Holly easily dismissed any thought of Mac's having a wife and children, she could not quite so easily set aside his job. That was real and right in front of her any time she chose to look.

  So far she had been dealing with it by not looking, but sooner or later she was going to have to face the issue. Could she cope with loving a cop? Maybe it was too late to be asking that question. Wasn't she already in love with him?

  She stopped, the mascara brush suspended halfway to her eye. Was she in love with Mac? She stared blankly at her reflection for a moment before shaking her head. No. It was too soon. She wasn't going to be in love with him yet. And if she was by some bizarre mistake already in love with him, she didn't have to face it yet. She would just put it out of her mind for now.

  Maybe it was time Maryann got to know Mac. Then she'd see for herself how nice he was and she'd stop predicting disaster. She finished stroking mascara on her lashes and then smiled at her reflection. Yes, that was definitely the thing to do. Maybe she would invite Mac to dinner and Maryann could get to know him a little. Of course, she'd have to browbeat Maryann into showing up but Maryann owed her one after throwing that banana on her best blouse.

  ❧

  "Hurry up, Maryann. They're supposed to be here in ten minutes and you aren't even dressed yet."

  Maryann gave her friend a sour look. "This is a stupid idea," she said flatly. "It's a stupid idea and it's your stupid idea. I'm going along with it, but don't expect me to smile while I do it."

  "It's not a stupid idea," Holly defended. She handed Maryann a simple black dress that made the most of her friend's pale skin and richly colored hair. "This is called killing two birds with one stone."

  "Not to mention ruining a good friendship."

  Holly went on as if nothing had been said. "Ken wanted to have dinner with us and I wanted you to meet Mac. This way, you get to meet Mac and Ken..."

  "Oh, boy, I can hardly contain my excitement."

  "I get to see Mac..."

  "It's been at least a whole day since you did that."

  "...and we both get a nice dinner in pleasant company."

  "That remains to be seen."

  "Stop grousing. You haven't been out on a date since Jason left and it's about time you stopped mooning around, thinking about him."

  "I have not been thinking about that shifty little weasel." Maryann turned to glare at Holly. "I've been busy at the hospital. You know that."

  Holly moved until she could reach the back of Maryann's dress again and began to zip it. "All I know is that I had to threaten you with dismemberment to get you to agree to a simple double date. What's the big deal? Nobody's asking you to fall in love with Ken, just to go out with him. He's nice, he's fun, he's attractive. What more could you ask for on a casual date?"

  "The whole thing is ridiculous. Everybody knows that people always hate each other when their friends force them into blind dates. Blind dates—even the term is ghastly. It's going to be a disaster. I can feel it."

  "Now who's being stupid? Of course it's not going to be a disaster. We're going to have a lot of fun and you'll be sorry you made such a production out of the whole thing."

  Perhaps it was inevitable that everything would go wrong. If Maryann's pessimistic attitude wasn't a clue, then the weather should have been. During the afternoon clouds had gathered and by evening it was raining, not a light drizzle, but a heavy downpour that looked as if it was settling in for a long stay.

  Holly's umbrella was not to be found and Maryann's had developed a hole that allowed the rain to trickle icily down the neck of whoever was lucky enough to be standing under it. Mac and Ken were late, and when they showed up, Mac presented them with the news that his car refused to run, so they had used Ken's. That wouldn't have been a problem except that the manufacturer's idea of a back seat did not allow for passengers with legs.

  Maryann rolled her eyes before climbing into the back seat. The short drive to the restaurant was easily filled with idle chatter about the weather, but the atmosphere between Ken and his "date" could not have been any cooler if he had been the wolf who had just eaten her grandmother.

  As Mac helped her out of the car, Holly wondered if she should come down with an attack of acute appendicitis. Something told her that the evening had already reached its high point and it was only going to get worse. After all Holly's talk about what a wonderful, warm person Maryann was, what a great sense of humor she had, Mac had to wonder if this was an android sent to take the real Maryann's place.

  Maryann and Ken walked ahead of them, their icy silence doing little to dispel Holly's already chilled mood. She glanced at Mac, almost afraid to see his expression. He caught her look and grinned, rolling his eyes comically.

  "I should have warned you that Ken hates blind dates. He met his ex-wife on a blind date and he's never quite gotten over it."

  "Maryann isn't exactly being a model of sweetness and light," Holly admitted.

  Mac looked at the couple ahead of them and then glanced around the parking garage. His fingers tightened around Holly's and he gave her a conspiratorial look. "If we hurry, we could lose ourselves in here. They'd never find us. I can hot-wire a car and we can make our escape."

  Holly sighed. "Too late. They've seen us. Besides, if we let them get into the elevator alone, they'd probably be like the gingham dog and the calico cat and tear each other to pieces. We'd never be able to come back here."

  Both Maryann and Ken turned to look in the direction of the laughter, their expressions making it clear that they didn't find anything amusing. With a sigh Holly released Mac's hand and tucked her arm through Ken's, pulling him into the elevator.

  "Tell me what Mac's really like. All I ever get to see is his good side."

  Ken grinned, the look in his hazel eyes telling her that he was well aware of her motives. "The problem is, Lady, that Mac doesn't have any interesting vices. He's disgustingly wholesome. I've been trying to corrupt him for years."

  The rest of the evening could not be called a success, but it was not the disaster it could have been. Holly made it a point to keep the conversation under control, changing the subject whenever it looked as if Ken and Maryann were going to lunge for each other's throats. Mac for the most part sat back and watched, his eyes dark with lazy amusement.

  It seemed they couldn't agree on anything. Maryann ordered a steak, Ken ordered a vegetarian platter. She accused him of trying to make everyone else feel guilty and he called her a carnivore. It didn't seem to matter what their companions ordered. They argued about every subject that came up. She was a liberal, he was a conservative. She liked classical music, he liked jazz. They couldn't even agree to differ.

  The final cap to the evening was when the waiter bumped Ken's drink and spilled wine all over Maryann's lap. She made all the right noises, saying that, of course, it wasn't his fault, but her frigid tone got across a different message.

  Naturally, the evening came to a grinding halt. Maryann could not sit around in a wet dress. There was a general feeling of relief that the evening was almost over. Mac had other plans.

  He smiled genially as they all rose. "I'm sure you can manage to see Maryann home without our assistance, Ken. I promised Holly a long walk in the rain," he lied calmly. "It was nice meeting you, Maryann. I hope your dress isn't ruined. Holly and I will pick up a cab later. See you tomorrow, Ken."

/>   Holly hesitated when she caught Maryann's frantic expression. It was a look that clearly said she didn't want to be left alone with Ken. But Mac's arm wrapped gently around Holly's shoulder. With an apologetic smile at her roommate, Holly let herself be led away. She waited until the elevator doors had shut behind them before she spoke.

  "I will never, ever arrange a date for anyone again. Nobody told me that it could be so dangerous. What happened?"

  "I think it was a case of hate at first sight. I just hope they don't kill each other before they get home."

  He opened his umbrella and stepped out into the rain, putting one arm around Holly's shoulders to hold her close. "I know a nice little place about a block away where we can stop and have a drink."

  "I feel guilty about abandoning Maryann like that."

  "Ken will get her safely home. He's got some odd habits but attacking women has never been one of them. Besides, they deserve each other after what they put us through."

  She snuggled her head against the hard strength of his arm. "I could use a few minutes of quiet."

  The rain was heavy enough to discourage all but the most determined of pedestrians, and they had the street to themselves. They had gone perhaps half a block when Holly came to a stop. Mac looked down at her questioningly.

  "Do you know what my favorite movie is?"

  He raised his brows. "Is there a reason that we have to stand in the rain while you tell me?"

  "It's Singin' in the Rain."

  He met the mischievous smile in her eyes and shook his head, the beginnings of a smile tilting his thick mustache. "No. I absolutely refuse to dance in the streets like Gene Kelly. I could get arrested."

  She pulled the umbrella away from him, folding it with a snap and leaving them both standing in the downpour. "This is Los Angeles, home of strange things and even stranger people. Nobody will even notice."

  She spun on her toes, her arms thrown out, face tilted to the sky. "After the evening we just spent, I need to rinse away the dust of battle."

  "You go ahead. I'm not going to dance in the street." But he made no move to put up the umbrella.