Spin the Bottle (12 page)

She didn’t have the same problem though. Not one flicker of emotion showed on her Botox-filled face, but it was certainly present in her voice. “What? Is
the
Mackenzie Harris too good for me? Too busy getting into Lillian McDermott’s pants?”

Before he could form a reply, the woman spun on her skyscraper high heel and charged through the milling partiers crowding the hall. Shit. Lilli was right. They couldn’t deal with them until they cleared the house. And that wasn’t happening anytime soon. Mac huffed out a breath and turned towards his room. A change of clothes and a few minutes to think were in order, and he wouldn’t find either of those out here with the who’s who of Australian celebrity-dom.

Heading in the opposite direction to the bottle blonde, Mac strode along the hall. Eyes focused on his door, he ignored the blaring music and those around him and tried to come up with a way to empty the house without setting it on fire. Brushing past a couple pressed against the wall involved in a hot-and-heavy make-out session, he was reminded of Lilli. He’d had her like that more than once tonight and he planned to do it again. Soon. His cock stirred, and he recalled his lack of underwear with a painful jolt. Reaching out, the knob twisted in his hand and he cringed at having left his room unlocked.

A quick glance around showed nothing out of place, but you never could tell, so Mac checked his briefcase. The combination tumblers were still locked tight and his phone was in his… Shit! Patting down each pocket, he confirmed the worst. He’d left the damn thing in Lilli’s room. It was probably on the floor where he’d tossed his jeans after stripping out of them. The thought brought back vivid images of Lilli. Naked. Against him. Under him. His cock filled and pressed against the cool metal teeth of his zipper, causing pleasure and pain to meld.

Grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, Mac reined in his wayward hormones and started to formulate a plan. He snatched up the bedside phone and hit speed-dial one. The line rang once before connecting.

“Mr. Harris.”

“Put a team together.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, and bring me a car.” Mac undid his jeans and pushed them down his hips with one hand. “I’ll be taking Lilli off-site so you’ll be in charge.”

“I’ll have it under control within the hour,” Lucas said and hung up.

Mac smiled. He wasn’t sure how Cassandra Moreland and her team would take McDermott Security taking over, but it was the least of his worries. The big problem was convincing Lilli to leave. Dropping the phone in its cradle, he stepped out of his jeans and headed for the shower for the second time tonight. Determined to get back downstairs before Lilli, Mac was in and out in less than two minutes. He pulled a clean pair of jeans from a drawer, tossed them towards the bed and quickly searched out a shirt and underwear, which reminded him that his phone wasn’t the only thing he’d left in Lilli’s room.

Grabbing a backpack from his cupboard, Mac tossed in a couple of sweat pants and shirts before getting dressed. He popped the locks on his briefcase, retrieved his wallet and tucked it in his back pocket. He relocked and stowed his bag, then, shouldering the backpack, he strode from the room and made sure the lock engaged as he left. When he reached Lilli’s room, he tried the door but found it locked so he continued on downstairs. The place appeared more crowded, if that was possible, and the noise was still at a dull roar. But he could bear it now knowing he’d be out of here before the hour was up.

After stashing his backpack in the closet under the stairs, ready for a fast getaway, Mac surveyed the mass of gyrating bodies and found the man he was looking for. Head and shoulders above everyone else, Lucas Wilhelm sent out obvious keep-clear vibes without lifting a finger, fluttering an eyelid or uttering a word. Mac pushed through the crowd until he arrived at Lucas’s side.

“That was quick,” Mac said.

Lucas smiled. “I was down the road. My men are on their way.” He raised his hand, a set of keys dangling from his fingers. “It’s the Explorer double parked out front.”

“Have you seen Lilli?”

“No, I was here two minutes after you called and she hasn’t come downstairs yet.”

“How do you know…never mind. Just tell me there aren’t cameras in the bedrooms.”

Lucas arched one eyebrow. “Am I going to need to assign a bodyguard to protect you from Mr. McDermott?”

Mac laughed. “No. Lachlan might not like it, but he’ll have to learn to accept it.”

Hands rising in the universal stop signal, Lucas said, “I don’t want to know.”

“Good. I wasn’t planning to tell you.” Mac saw three men in McDermott Security shirts walk through the front door. “The troops have arrived.”

Lucas chucked. “That’s just the scouts. I’ve got ten coming in.” He glanced at Mac. “Plus the others.”

“Have you seen Lachlan? Last time I saw him was a few hours ago.” Not that Mac had been looking for his friend.

“Mr. McDermott left the premises with a woman earlier in the evening.”

Mac turned to look at Lucas. “He left with Kole?”

“He left with Ms. Winters, yes.” Lucas nodded. “I do believe she was known by the name Kole several years ago.”

“Wow. He actually left with her?”

“Yes. She even let him drive her car.” A smile curled Lucas’s lips. “It was interesting watching Mr. McDermott squeeze himself into that Mini.”

“I’d love to have seen that.” Mac clapped Lucas on the back. “I’m going to throw my bag in the car. If you see Lilli, keep her in sight for me.”

“No problem.”

As Mac headed out the front door, four more of Lucas’s men came across the yard. He recognised all except one, but the familiar insignia of
McDermott Media Corp
blazed brightly over each man’s left breast pocket. Nodding at them en masse, he continued to the black Explorer that all but blocked the street. He clicking the fob, opened the rear door and dropped the backpack inside. With the door closed and the locks engaged, he made his way back to the house and the coming argument with Lilli. Mac wasn’t fool enough to believe getting her to leave her party would be easy, but he did hope for less of a runaround than she’d already given him tonight.

Lillian checked one more time in the mirror. She’d forgone the idea of another dress in favour of calf-length Capri pants in black, a cropped T-shirt in a blue that matched her eyes and a paler blue lace overshirt that tied at the waist. Pleased with the look, Lil scooped Mac’s phone up off the floor and headed back to the party. She hadn’t been missed. Everything remained in full swing. The games in each room had as many spectators as players. Taking a complete lap of the downstairs, she was rounding the corner of the living room into the hall when she spotted Cassie tearing into a large man Lil had never seen before. Her pint-sized friend didn’t seem to be worried about their size difference. She was poking him in the chest to emphasise every word she spoke.

Quickening her pace, Lillian stepped up next them. “Is there a problem?”

The air whooshed from her lungs when the man turned towards her. There, as plain as day on his breast pocket, was the logo for McDermott Security.

“No problem. I was just trying to explain to Ms. Moreland that I’m only doing what I was ordered to do.”

“Where’s Lucas?” Lil demanded.

“Right here,” a familiar voice rumbled behind her.

Lil spun around and came face to chest with Lucas Wilhelm, head of McDermott Security. She always forgot just how tall the man was. Tilting her head back, she met his stony gaze with an icy one of her own. “What are you doing here? And what’s with the men?” She gazed around, noticing even more of his men scattered throughout the house.

“Mr. Harris asked—”

“What?” Her gaze snapped back to Lucas’s, her eyes narrowing. “Mac had no right to call you, Lucas.”

“It is also his house, Ms. McDermott,” Lucas tried to argue.

“And that means he gets to call all the shots?” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Where is he?”

Lillian thought she saw a smile play over Lucas’s mouth as he glanced down at her tapping foot. He returned his gaze to hers. “Last time I saw him, he was in the kitchen filling a thermos with coffee.”

She didn’t have time to think about the absurdity of what Mac had been doing, she was too busy thinking up many varied and painful ways to kill him as she stormed through the house in search of her quarry. Lillian wasn’t surprised to find him in the kitchen leaning against the counter like he didn’t have a care in the world. She’d seen the pose before. It was his lawyer-shark façade. Good thing she wasn’t scared of sharks. Or lawyers.

“How dare you. You had no right. No right at all, Mackenzie Harris.” Heat scorched her cheeks and Lil didn’t want to think about how red they must be. “This is my party and I say who’s invited.”

“This is my house as much as yours, Lilli, and I’m not leaving it unsupervised when we go.”

“Go?”
What the hell?
“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, you are.” Mac turned to the counter behind him and picked up the thermos Lucas must have been referring to. “We’re getting out of here. We need to talk and that requires just you and me, not five hundred people and the latest dance tracks blasting out at sonic boom levels.”

“I told you we’d talk tomorrow and I meant it.”

“No. We’re talking now. It’s well after midnight and the party should be winding down now anyway, so we’ll leave Cassie and her team to finish out the evening with Lucas and his men standing guard.”

Of all the conceited, controlling, arrogant, manipulative…she’d dealt with domineering men in her life, but Mac’s actions topped them. Did he think he had the right to make her decisions for her just because she’d had sex with him? He’d been bossy before, but Lil couldn’t remember one instance where he’d interfered enough to set her teeth on edge like this. Emotions swamped her. And undermining them all was a need to do as he asked. She
wanted
to please him. And that just pissed her off more. Lillian McDermott was a take-charge, independent woman who didn’t answer to anyone, least of all any man sharing her bed.

“I am not leaving this house, and if you think for one second that you can order me around because I let you into my pants, you’re mistaken.” Lillian’s loud outburst ended with tomblike silence. Glancing around, she saw every eye in the room trained on the two of them. Her face flamed hotter, and when she brought her gaze back to Mac’s face he was staring at her with anger flashing in his eyes.

“Now that you’ve broadcast to the world that we’ve had sex, you might think twice about wanting to get out of here before the media descends, because you can bet that sexy little arse of yours that this is hitting the airways as we speak.” He leaned forward, his mouth a whisper from hers. “Personally, I’d rather keep our relationship private, but I guess you always have preferred centre stage.”

Mac stalked off, leaving her in the middle of the kitchen with everyone staring at her. Swallowing back the sting of tears, she took a deep breath and went in the opposite direction to Mac. They both needed to cool off. Okay,
she
needed to calm down. She hadn’t really meant what she’d said or thought. Had she? The tangle of emotions inside her was tied in knots so tight she could barely breathe. Ducking into one of the downstairs powder rooms, Lil ran cold water over her wrists before sitting on the closed toilet lid and dropping her head between her knees.

She had no idea how long she stayed there going over and over all that had happened between her and Mac, but continuous knocking on the door finally forced her to get up to leave the sanctuary. Mac was right. The noise was giving her a headache. Of course, that could also be the questions, answers and recriminations thundering along her brainwaves. Her face appeared a little blotchy, but the light layer of makeup she’d put on after her shower held, and with the amount of alcohol consumed this evening, she doubted anyone would notice. Flicking the lock on the door, she had to jump back when the door flew open and a woman rushed inside.

“Oh God. Hafta pee. Hafta pee.” A pixie-like woman barged all the way in. Unmindful of the person already in the room, the woman raised the toilet lid and her dress at the same time.

Quickly skirting around the door and leaving the busting woman to her business, Lil made her way through the crowd towards the front door. Mac stood with his back to her, Lucas at his side. Her step faltered and she took a moment to catch her breath. Her heart beat double time when he turned in her direction and their gazes connected. Even when she was mad at him, she found him gorgeous. And no matter how he’d gone about it, she did want to go somewhere quiet and be alone with him.

Lil started walking again, her gaze never leaving his. When she reached Mac’s side, she placed her hand in his and turned to Lucas. “Let Cassie finish out the night like we’d planned. She’s good at her job and doesn’t need you or your men interfering, but I’ll be grateful if you stay to keep an eye on things regardless.”

“Sure thing, Ms. McDermott,” Lucas answered. “And Cassie, she’s the short brunette, yes? The one with an attitude?”

“I’m not the only one with an attitude, mister.” Cassie stepped up beside Lillian. “I take it you’re cutting out?”

Lil glanced at Mac. “Yes. I’m done.”

“I know. And about damn time too.” Cassie wrapped her arms around Lillian and gave her a hug. “Ring me next week and we’ll get together for lunch.”