Justice for Mackenzie (4 page)

After what seemed like the longest week in the history of her life, Mackenzie sat on her couch with a cup of double-dark hot chocolate, watching one of her favorite movies of all time,
Ever After
. The acting wasn’t the best, and the accents were horrendous, but since it was a version of
Cinderella
, Mackenzie loved it.

Laine was supposed to have come over to watch movies with her, but she had a date. Mackenzie and Laine had made a deal a long time ago that if they had plans and one of them got asked out, they’d go on the date, with no hard feelings. Of course, they’d made the pact when they were in middle school, and certainly didn’t have to honor it all these years later, but since they were both still hoping their prince was out there, the pact was still in force today.

Mackenzie’s cell phone rang, startling her, and when she jerked, of course the drink she’d been holding spilled all over herself. Cursing and wiping the hot drink off her pants, Mackenzie reached over and swiped the small screen to answer the phone without looking at the number, figuring it was Laine calling to dish about her date.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is this Mackenzie Morgan?”

“Yeah, who is this?”

“My name is Daxton Chambers. I’m a Texas Ranger and was calling to follow up with you after your traffic infraction earlier this week.”

Mackenzie’s blood ran cold.
Oh my God. Was she in trouble? Was she supposed to get a ticket after all? Was she not supposed to drive away when she did? She didn’t know the protocol when you’d been given a warning...Wait, she
was
given a warning, wasn’t she? Fuck.

She did what she usually did when she was nervous, she talked—fast. “I’m so sorry. Was I not supposed to leave when I did? I thought it was a warning. I didn’t mean to break any laws. Shit. Do I have to turn myself in somewhere or something? I really didn’t mean to be speeding, I’d had a horrible day, and that was just the icing on the cake. Seriously, Officer, I swear I’m not like that usually.”

“Ma’am—”

Mackenzie kept talking. “I didn’t think there was a fine with a warning, but I admit I didn’t really look at the paper that closely. I was too relieved I didn’t get an actual ticket and I just stuffed it into my bag and forgot about it. I’d look at it now, but it was in my purse and my stupid nail polish busted open inside my purse and it got all over it and I had to throw it away. Hell, I had to throw away the whole purse because the lining was completely ruined, but I swear—”

“Ma’am.” The Ranger’s voice was stronger now.

“Seriously, it was my own fault. I don’t know why I had the stupid nail polish in there in the first place. I’m extremely clumsy and I thought I’d bring it with me and do my nails at lunch, which is stupid, because my nails just break anyway, the polish wouldn’t really do any good, but I thought that maybe I’d make the effort because my mom and brothers have been on me to try harder with my appearance—”

“Mackenzie, shush for a second.”

Mackenzie closed her eyes, mortified. Jesus. She’d been going on and on, but she was so nervous. This guy must think she was a complete idiot. “Sorry,” she whispered, waiting to hear what he wanted.

Mackenzie waited, but the line was silent. She felt sick. “Hello?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were really going to be quiet and let me talk.” His voice was low, rumbly, and full of humor.

“Um…”

He continued, and Mackenzie could tell he was completely amused with her. At least he was amused and not pissed.

“You’re not in trouble, and it
was
just a warning. I was there that night when Officer Rockwell pulled you over. I don’t know if you remember me, but I met you briefly at the charity event a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to check in with you and make sure you were all right after getting pulled over.”

Mackenzie was stunned into silence, and that was highly unusual for her. Was this really the guy she’d met and lusted over? It couldn’t be. There was no way he wanted to check to make sure she was all right. Something else had to be going on. “You wanted to check to make sure I was all right?” She couldn’t help the question.

“Yeah.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because I was worried about you.”

“You were worried about me.”

The man chuckled on the other end of the line. “You gonna repeat everything I say, Mackenzie? Yeah, I was worried about you, but more than that, I wanted to call because I remembered you from the charity event.”

Mackenzie didn’t really know what to say. This was just so odd. “You said you were a Texas Ranger? You’re not a Highway Patrol officer, right? Why were you there, too?”

“Officer Rockwell and I were on our way to dinner when you zipped by. We made the stop, then continued on to the restaurant.”

“Oh my God,” Mackenzie whispered, disconcerted. “He was off duty and had to stop me? And, you were on the way to dinner?”

Dax was enjoying the hell out of his conversation with Mackenzie. She was incredibly entertaining and just as interesting as she was that night he’d met her. Besides that, he’d never had a conversation like this with a woman before. She zipped from one topic to another without seeming to breathe. “Yeah, I was there.”

“Okay, that’s it. I’m never driving again. I’m going to throw my license away and become a hermit who never leaves my house.”

Dax chuckled. “I don’t think I’d go that far. But you want to answer my original question now? Everything okay?”

Mackenzie huffed out a breath and leaned back against the couch, one hand holding the phone to her ear and the other still holding the cup of cocoa in her hand. “I’m fine.”

“You’re fine.” His words weren’t stated as a question, but Mackenzie could tell they were a question nevertheless.

“What was your name again?”

“Daxton Chambers.”

“Well, Daxton Chambers, I don’t know if you are really who you say you are, but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt here. If you must know, I’d had a really crappy day when I was pulled over. I know, everyone has crappy days, but that was a
really
crappy day. To top off a crappy day at work, where I spilled my lunch and didn’t have any chance to get anything to eat to replace it, and where I got yelled at by my horrible boss for something stupid, I had just spent two hours at my mom’s house where I was told I was basically a dried-up old maid and it was all my fault because I’m too picky and I chase every guy away. So yeah, when I got pulled over, I can’t say I was in a happy place. But the day ended with a warning instead of a ticket, so my felon-free life is still squeaky clean and I’ve moved on.”

Mackenzie forced herself to stop talking. She was such a dork.

“In case you’re wondering, I’m not easily chased away.”

“Shit!” At his surprising words, Mackenzie had spilled her mug of hot chocolate—again—and it was now seeping into the cushions of her couch as well as dripping off onto the floor. “Shit. Shit. Shit! Hang on. Fuck.” Mackenzie threw the phone down and frantically looked around for something to mop up the drink. Seeing nothing, she sighed and whipped off the T-shirt she was wearing. It was already stained with who-the-hell-knew-what, so she might as well use it as a towel. She held it to the couch, trying to clean up the bulk of the mess. She kneeled on the floor and tried to mop up the liquid on the couch as well as what was dripping over the side.

Mackenzie reached over with her free hand and brought her phone back up to her ear. “Hello? Are you still there?”

“What happened? Are you hurt?” Dax’s voice was hard and urgent.

“Sorry! No, I’m fine. I spilled my drink. That’s all. I told you I was clumsy.”

Dax relaxed back against the counter where he’d been standing. For a second, he was afraid Mackenzie had been hurt and he’d have to call 911 for her. He grinned. “I gotta say, this has to be one of the most fascinating phone calls I’ve ever had with a woman.”

“Oh Lord.” Mackenzie rested her head on the cushion in front of her. The couch muffled her voice when she mumbled, “I’m seriously never leaving the house again.”

“I hope that’s not true, since I’m coming over tomorrow night to pick you up and take you to dinner.”

Dax waited for a response, but didn’t get one. He knew Mackenzie hadn’t hung up because he could still hear her breathing on the other end of the phone. He hadn’t been this interested in a woman since…well, in a really long time. Mackenzie was cute as hell and he knew she wasn’t even trying to be. That was what drew him in the most.

“Mackenzie? You still there?”

“Yeah, but I think I’m having hallucinations. Maybe the cocoa was bad or something.”

“You’re not hallucinating and I don’t think hot chocolate
goes
bad. I’m coming over tomorrow night. I’ll be there around six to take you out to dinner. It’ll be casual, so don’t wear anything fancy.”

“I don’t think I own anything fancy. I’d just ruin it anyway; I’d probably drop my fork in my lap or something and mess it up.”

Dax noticed Mackenzie hadn’t tried to get out of the date. He smiled again. “Good. You gonna be there tomorrow at six when I get there?”

“I don’t think this is how it works.”

“How what works?”

“I don’t think you can just tell me you’re coming to get me and you’re taking me out to eat.”

“Why not?”

“Why not what?”

“Why isn’t it how it works?

“I don’t know you.”

“I’m trying to change that.”

Mackenzie tried to get the conversation back on track. “How do you know where I live?”

“Mack, I’m a Ranger. I was in the car when TJ stopped you and ran your information. I know where you live.”

“Are you really a Texas Ranger?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you gonna kidnap and kill me like that psycho has been doing to women around here?”

“No.”

“This is weird.”

“It’s not weird,” Dax put every ounce of sincerity in his voice that he could. “I met you a few weeks ago and thought you were cute. Hell, I haven’t met anyone like you in a long, long time. I watched you walk away from me with regret. I didn’t know your name. I didn’t know anything about you, but I liked what I saw and what I heard, anyway. Then it was as if fate took hold, because there you were…again. What are the odds you’d be on the road you were, speeding, and I’d be on that same road? I’d like to take you out to dinner and get to know you more. Maybe we won’t get along. Maybe we’ll go out once and decide, mutually, that we should be friends, or not at all. Give me a chance, Mackenzie. I’ll be there tomorrow night at six. Will you be there?”

“I’ll be here.”

Every muscle in Dax’s body relaxed. He hadn’t realized how tightly he was holding himself until after Mackenzie had accepted his date. He hadn’t planned on asking her out, but there was no way he could sit there and listen to how incredibly adorable she was, rambling on about nail polish and how clumsy she was and
not
ask her out. TJ was going to give him a rash of shit, but Dax didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to a date.

Most of the time women hit on
him
, simply because of the uniform he wore. It was nice, for once, to be the pursuer instead of the pursued. Mack wasn’t going to know what hit her.

“Good.” Dax lowered his voice. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“But, seriously, don’t get your hopes up, Daxton. I don’t do one-night stands.”

“I don’t recall asking you to sleep with me.”

Mackenzie buried her head even farther into the couch cushion, embarrassed. “Shit. See? I’m totally awkward and shouldn’t really be out with actual people in public. I should be locked away so people can point and laugh at what an honest-to-God dork looks like. What I meant was that I’m not good at relationships. Seriously. You know how old I am, you know my height and weight…I told you what my own family thinks…I’m just…me.”

“And I like ‘just’ you, Mackenzie. At least what I’ve seen and heard so far. We’ll go out and see what happens. I promise I won’t propose tomorrow if you won’t jump my bones in the parking lot. Deal?”

Mackenzie laughed out loud. “I think I can agree to that.”

“Great. Then I’ll see you tomorrow at six.”

“Okay, Daxton. See you then.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Mackenzie clicked off her phone and sat up on her haunches in front of her couch for a moment before leaning over and stuffing her face into one of the cushions and screaming at the top of her lungs.

She sat up with a smile on her face. A date. A real live date. Wow. She couldn’t wait to talk to Laine.

The next afternoon, Dax met TJ for lunch. They were sitting in a local diner that had amazingly good food for a place that looked like a broken-down building.

“You did it? Shit, Dax. I thought you were just messing with me,” TJ said incredulously.

“Well, I wasn’t. And yes, I did call her. I checked, she said she was fine, then I asked her out.”

TJ shook his head and finally smiled at his friend, slyly, testing him. “And if I wanted in there?”

Dax didn’t even flinch. “Too late my friend. You snooze, you lose. You should’ve said something when I asked you for her number. You knew I was gonna call her.”

TJ threw his head back and laughed, then shook his head at Dax. “You’re crazy. Asking out a woman you don’t even know.”

Dax got serious. “I’d changed my mind since we talked that night. I knew it was crazy to ask her out. Seriously. I was just gonna call her up and make sure she was okay, but then she opened her mouth. She was rambling on and on about nail polish and being so…real…that I couldn’t resist. You know how it is, most women try to act serious and proper around us when they think they’re in trouble, then flirt and bat their eyes when they think that will work in their favor. Mackenzie was just so fucking
cute
.”

“Yeah, I remember that from when I pulled her over. But you can’t ask a woman out because she says cute shit, Dax.”

“I’m not explaining it right, but seriously, TJ, admit it. There was something about her that even you noticed.”