Moira Rogers - Crux

Mackenzie laughed. It seemed like it had been forever since she’d laughed as easily as she had in the last few days. “It’s brilliant, if you ask me. You can never have too many hot men owing you favors.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” Nick tilted her head. “I heard you made quite an impression on Derek Gabriel.”

Uh-oh. Mackenzie shook her head. “He was just trying to annoy his friend. Penny, I think?”

Nick shrugged, but her cheeks colored. “Hey, Gabriel’s not bad, either. If you like him, you should go out with him.”

Well, that answered the question of how Nick felt about Derek. After the past month, it seemed almost surreal to be sharing coffee with another woman and talking about men, but something about it felt normal , too. “I’m not really in a place where I should be going out with people.” Don’t you forget that, Mackenzie Brooks.

“You may feel differently after a couple of weeks.” The look in Nick’s dark eyes was sharp and assessing. “I’ve got to get downstairs and do some inventory. Can you come down around two?”

“Sure. Thanks, Nick. For everything.”

Nick took her mug to the sink to rinse it. “You’re welcome, Mackenzie. See you in a bit.” She crossed the room to the door and smiled before stepping through. The door closed behind her with a soft click, leaving Mackenzie alone with her thoughts.

She finished her coffee and rinsed her cup before giving in to curiosity and peering into the bag Nick had left on the counter. Several bottles sat inside, along with a new toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste. She pulled them out one at a time, admiring Nick’s expensive taste in shampoo and conditioner. The body wash was labeled “Summer Rain” and smelled fresh and wonderful. There was even a tiny container of bubble bath.

She lifted out a pink loofah and imagined taking her first bath in over a month. Not a quick shower in a dingy hotel room but a real bath, with hot water and privacy and no bugs crawling over the floor or strangers banging on the walls.

She gathered the toiletries and wandered back to the bathroom. It was bright and clean, and it looked like heaven. After closing the door, Mackenzie turned on the tub and resolved that, if nothing else, she was going to spend the rest of the morning in mindless luxury.

Maybe, if she was lucky, she could drift back to sleep and dream of Jackson Holt and his beautiful eyes again.

Jackson stared at the etched silver letters on the picture window and sighed. He’d arrived early, even though Nick had told him Mackenzie wouldn’t be down until two o’clock, and had even pondered circling the corner and climbing the staircase to the apartment above.

He was losing his mind.

He glanced down the street in both directions, squinting in the afternoon light. Alec and Kat hadn’t called yet, and they were nowhere in sight. With another small sigh, he pushed open the door.

Mackenzie must have been early, because she stood behind the bar, humming absently and wiping it with a white cloth. Her hair was up again, and she was dressed more formally than Nick, in a blue button-up shirt tailored to skim her curves. When the bell above the door rang, she looked his way.

She smiled, the expression far friendlier than the one she’d given him the day before. “Hey, Jackson.”

He grinned as he approached the bar and eased onto a stool. “Mackenzie. You seem like you’re breathing a little easier already.”

“I am,” she admitted, folding the towel neatly on the counter. “Can I get you something?”

“Whatever soft drink’s handy.” He grabbed a handful of pretzels from a nearby bowl. “I’m working. My partner and our assistant will be here in a bit, actually. I’d like for you to meet them.”

She poured his soda, and when she turned back her easy smile had vanished, replaced by the tense, brittle one from the previous day. “Oh yeah? You guys have a big case or something?”

“Not really. We’re finishing one up now, but everything else we’ve got going on is pretty small-time.” He took the glass she offered. “They just want to meet Nick’s new hire.”

For a moment he thought she was going to take him at his word, but her lips flattened into a hard line. “If that’s all it is, I’m happy to meet them. And I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate everything you did for me last night, Jackson. I do. But—” She hesitated, and the weary exhaustion in her eyes made his chest ache with sympathy. “I’m not a great person to get tangled up with right now. I don’t want people who are trying to help me to end up hurt.”

He leaned closer. “Mackenzie, if you’re in trouble, we can help. You don’t have to worry about us getting hurt, either. That’s what—” The bell above the door rang again, and Jackson shut his mouth as Mackenzie turned to the new arrivals with a smile pasted on her face.

“Shit!” It was Alec’s voice, and Jackson turned just in time to see his partner catch Kat as she staggered. Her face had blanched, and her wide blue eyes fastened on Mackenzie with something akin to shock. Jackson had seen the expression before—whenever Kat opened herself to the emotions around her and found herself overwhelmed.

“Dammit.” He shot off the stool. When he reached Kat, he wrapped his hands around her upper arms and tried to catch her gaze. “Kat? Hey, Kat, come on. Snap out of it, okay?”

She blinked. “I lost it,” she whispered in a shaky voice. “She’s so scared …”

He raised a hand to her face and kept her gaze locked with his. “Yeah, I know. But it’s okay, Kat. We’ll fix it.”

She closed her eyes. As soon as she did, Alec swung her up in his arms and nodded past Jackson.

Mackenzie had come to the edge of the bar, her face tight and her fingers clenched around the edge. “Is there anything I can do? Should I call someone?”

Alec answered before Jackson could. “I don’t suppose you could find Nicole for us? Tell her Kat’s out here and she’s feeling a bit light-headed.”

Mackenzie’s gaze slid back to Jackson. “Of course. She should be in the back.”

After she hurried away, Jackson looked back to Alec and groaned. “Oh, don’t start with me. Not right now.” He moved toward a booth and shoved the table to one side, making plenty of room for Alec to place Kat on one of the dark vinyl benches.

Alec settled her and crouched next to the bench. “Kat. Hey, look at me, kiddo.”

The young woman’s eyes opened slowly. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I just wasn’t expecting—” She swallowed. “Jesus Christ, Jackson. If I was as scared as she is, I’d be hiding under my damn bed, whimpering. It’s not just that, she’s—” She shook her head and made a vague gesture, her frustration at being unable to express herself evident in her tight tone. “God. It’s like she’s dying, bit by bit. Someone ripped her up inside.”

Jackson fought the anger rising within him. If some bastard was after Mackenzie and he got his hands him… “I should have warned you. I’d planned on it, I just…”

He’d just been distracted.

She hissed in a sudden breath. “Jackson, please—”

Alec rose, crowding Jackson and forcing him away from the bench. “Lock it down,” he whispered fiercely. “I get that you’re pissed, but Kat can’t handle it right now.”

“I got it.” He averted his eyes and tried to focus, tried to tamp down the rage and irritation. After a moment, his emotions eased. “I’m fine.” He shot Alec a bland look. “You want to back up off of me now?”

His partner studied his face and nodded shortly. “If someone’s chasing her, we don’t want to attract any attention by going through official channels. I’ll take Kat back to the office and she can work a little of her computer mojo while you convince the girl to let us help her.”