Tipping Point (24 page)

“Mackenzie, will you marry me?”

“Hell, yes.”

“You’re such a romantic, honey.” Neil slid the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit. Mackenzie wasn’t surprised. Everything about Neil was a perfect fit for her.

“You started the ‘hell yes’ thing, but you’re right. I’m not particularly romantic, except in the sense that I’m willing to make a really big jump with you. Then again, you sure get me feeling all mushy a lot of the time. Like when we were dancing to all those old songs. I thought that part of me was dead and buried. Now it’s awake and walking around as a zombie.”

“Your zombie free on Monday?”

“The zombie
is
available, now that you ask, except for the little thing with the police. We’ll be lucky if we’re able to do it even then. Hopefully everything holds out for a little while.”

“I think it will, honey. Just enough for us to get married. Somehow we seem to have had everything fall into place. Maybe other people would think the timing sucked, but I don’t feel that way. To me it’s like everything lined up just so we’d be together at exactly the right moment.”

“Well, cowboy, you certainly know how to make a zombie heart go pitty-pat, don’t you?” Neil chuckled at her, and then leaned down to give her a searing kiss.

“How’s the zombie heart doing now?”

“Mm. Wow! I think you might be the cure for zombification or something.” Mac patted her chest.

“Yup, definitely a cure. Okay, now that we’ve got all the mushy shit taken care of, and resolved whatever issue there may have been regarding Ian, I really do have to get some research done. He might be blasé about his situation right now, but he isn’t interested in dying either. He just has a tendency to believe I exaggerate, or I’ve been listening to too much left-wing media or something.”

“Okay, send me the recording. Speaking of which, why the hell did you record your call?”

“It’s just the app I have on my phone. I have it set to automatically record calls. Sometimes there are details I might need later, and I won’t know that until I’m in the middle of the call. Usually I delete the recordings later, if there’s nothing I need on them.

“This coming from someone who’s a paranoid prepper? I mean, you’re more cautious than I am. I’d think you’d be the last person to record calls.”

“I’m not a seditionist or anything, though there was a time when Harper was still prime minister that I seriously considered some activity on that front. As it is, even if my calls could be recovered without my permission, I’ve got nothing to fear. Not only am I careful about what I say on the phone, but my phone is encrypted. They can’t force you to give them the codes to decrypt your phone if you’re not crossing the border. Even there the legislation is being challenged.”

“My faith in you is restored.”

“Hardy-har-har,” she drawled sarcastically. She unlocked her phone and texted him the mp3 recording.

“Okay, go play now. I’ve got a chemist to find.”

“God, I love you.” He kissed the top of her head, and left her with a bemused expression on her face, taking his phone into the open area of the building.

She shook her head and turned to her laptop to begin her search. Hours later Mac was hanging her head when Neil came back in to see how she was doing. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she hadn’t gotten anywhere at all. She stretched her neck and back to try and back the headache off, but it only caused a piercing pain to shoot through her left occipital nerve. She winced and stood, feeling a sense of relief when his arms wound around her.

“There’s no way I can get him the long-acting insulin. It’s manufactured in Germany, for fuck’s sake. It’s repackaged and shipped all over the world under different names, but it’s all made in one place from what I can tell.

“There’s a company in Calgary that’s working on insulin from safflowers, but that’s nowhere near being on the market. It’s apparently great stuff, but it has to go through all the approval shit. Granted, I don’t think Ian would be that picky about approval from Health Canada or the FDA if there’s no other insulin available to him, but there’s no way I’m going to make it to Calgary and then get it down to him.

“Insulin production from bacteria appears to require a reactor, because it deals with replacement of DNA stuff that I can’t even begin to understand at this point because I’m pretty sure I’m permanently cross-eyed.

“So, it’s back to finding a chemist, or whatever, who can make it the old-fashioned way. They’re going to think I’m nuts if I call them and ask, ‘Could you make insulin from animal pancreas if it was the end of the world as we know it?’ I have to figure out something to tell them, so that it seems like it’s a theoretical deal.”

Neil began rubbing her back and neck, obviously having noticed her previous attempts to ease her own discomfort. She whimpered at his touch, and couldn’t help marveling at how much better it felt when someone else did the massaging. It didn’t matter what body part it was.

“So, cowboy, how was
your
evening?” Neil gave a soft laugh.

“Not bad, though I missed you. Finally couldn’t take it anymore and had to come see your gorgeous face.”

“You zombie-seducer you. What did you get up to while I was melting my brains and turning myself into even more of a zombie? I suppose that’s why they feel the need to eat brains.”

“Well, I spent some time with the
young ‘uns
, swimming and then just hanging out and looking at the stars. They’re beautiful tonight, by the way. Then I had some fun with the goats.”

“Oh,
really
? Hmm. You know that sexual intercourse with livestock counts as cheating in my book, right? Will you really be able to restrain yourself after we’re married? It would totally suck to have to divorce you, and then be denied because the world has fallen apart.”

“Ah, the goats were just foreplay, honey. You’re the main event.” Mac turned around and covered him with her hand.

“Yeah? Well, this better be just for me. You start getting hard-ons like this for the goats I’m either going to have to get rid of them or you, and I need the goats.”

“Don’t you worry, honey. This is all for you.” He grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands behind her back, pulling her forward against him. Then he pressed her upwards slightly, so that her mons was ground against his erection. His mouth pressed against her ear.

“Every...single...inch.” Her strangled moan was muffled by his mouth. Suddenly her headache was gone, and she desperately wanted to get her hands on him.

*     *     *

“How?” She whispered the question.

“How what, honey?” His voice was rough as he panted.

“How do you do that to me? How do we have this...whatever it is?”

“You mean the insane chemistry that makes me want you every time I so much as look at you? That?”

“Yeah, that ol’ thing.” She could feel his chest move as he laughed.

“I don’t know how, specifically, but I know it has a lot to do with the way I feel about you, and the way I know you feel about me. We wouldn’t have this chemistry, if we didn’t have that other stuff. Sure, people feel lust for one another, even without love, but it just never gets this potent when it’s only physical.

“A lot of people don’t think men get anything more from sex when there’s love, but it’s not true at all. Even when I want you so much it hurts, I still want to cherish and protect you. Maybe it’s the tug-o-war between those two extremes that makes it so intense.” He kissed her brow, and stroked her damp hair back from her forehead.

“I like to consider myself a sane man, but you’ve made me throw all caution to the wind and propose marriage in just over two days. And the truth is I just don’t care if it’s insane or not. I guess you must be feeling something similar, because you tossed out your own caution to be with me.

“Honestly, I never believed in love at first sight. In a way I still don’t, because I feel you have to know someone to be able to love them, but I
knew
you at first sight. The love was a natural result of that. Loving you was just that easy. Maybe that’s the answer. Knowing.”

“You’ve got a real way with words, cowboy. I think you’re right. I haven’t believed in love at first sight for many years, but I did know you. Right from the first moment I looked into your twinkling green eyes.” Neil snorted.

“Twinkling? You’re making me sound like Santa Claus, for Christ’s sake.”

“Well, I can only be grateful that Christmas didn’t come early, and managed to wait its turn.” A shout of laughter nearly deafened her.

“A gentleman allows a lady to go first. It’s just how it’s done. Sometimes even first, second and third.”

“Third? I don’t think we’ve hit that one yet, but certainly second.”

“Well, I do love a challenge as you might have noticed.” The reminder had a quick arrow of lust pierce her belly.

“I double-dog dare ya.”

*     *     *

Much later, a very contented smile on her face, Mac was reflecting on Neil’s inability to refuse a challenge.
That could certainly be useful in the bedroom
, she thought. She figured the words, ‘I bet ya can’t...,’ would be some of her favourites in the years ahead. Her smile turned wicked.

“Oh no. I’m done for at least another ten minutes. You’ll just have to wait.”

“What did
I
do?”

“I see that sexy look on your face. I need recovery time. Besides, we need to tell our kids we’re getting married before you forget you’re wearing a ring and someone sees it.”

“Good point. What are they all up to anyway? They’re obviously not in the house, because presumably we’d be hearing automatic gun-fire.
Battlefield
or
Black Ops
most likely.”

“Campfire, marshmallows, and guitar. Billy and I both play, and we brought them with us, so he’s probably trying to impress Cameron. Thankfully they weren’t raised as brother and sister, because things could get really weird.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that for now. I guarantee Cam thinks she’s far too old for him at the moment. That might change, but it’ll take time. Poor Billy.”

“You wouldn’t have a problem with it?”

“Nope. She’ll love where she wants, and your son is a good kid. I only care that she’s happy. She’s a natural cynic, though, and it takes a lot to impress her when it comes to guys.”

“So are you. I managed, apparently.”

“Not really. The natural cynic part, I mean. Obviously I was impressed. There’s a lot that’s impressive about you.”

“You’re not a cynic? You sure seem like one on the surface.”

“Oh, I’m a cynic alright. Just not a
natural
one. It took years of dedicated practice, much like it takes with being a true bitch. I had to work at it, and I take pride in what I’ve achieved. I never quite managed to be a slut, though. An unattainable goal for me.”

“You worked to become a cynic, a bitch,
and
a slut. Huh. Two out of three ain’t bad, as Meatloaf would say.”

“You seem to have gotten through my defenses quite handily. Sure you’re not a spy or something? I hear they’re pretty adept at seducing women.”

“I’d be more like the comedic ‘Spies Like Us’ version, than James Bond. Still, I can do the Connery accent pretty well. High class stuff there.” Mackenzie laughed at him.

“Oh, please. You can’t tell me you’ve ever had a hard time seducing women. I’m sure they fell all over themselves trying to get into
your
pants, rather than the other way around.” Neil looked at her incredulously.

“Hardly. I’ve always stepped somewhat wrong-footed when it came to talking to women. You’ve got some kind of magic when it comes to untying my tongue.” Mac snorted.

“Okay, so I’ll add tongue warlock to my resume. Might bring me some interesting clients if I’m ever back in business again.”

“So, what all were you doing for a living? You’ve mentioned a few things.”

“Editing books, web design, online courses with Ian, drop-ship sales, and start-up consulting mostly. All part-time, but I worked a lot and the variety was good for me.”

“You get bored easily? You think that’ll apply to me one day?”

“Not a chance. I don’t get bored with real people, and when I say ‘real people’ I mean people that are
being
real. I hate using such a trendy phrase, but that’s what it boils down to. There are a lot of people who live fake lives. It’s always a mask you’re talking to. They’re pretty easy to spot, though.

“Sadly, real people seem to be few and far between. Until the shit hits the fan anyway, and the true person comes out. And that’s when I start feeling bad for them, which always pisses me off.”

“You’re a total sucker for helping people aren’t you? If only your business associates had known that, eh? They could have pled poverty, and you’d have fixed whatever problem they had.”

“Possibly, but I was pretty astute when it came to people playing me. I had a couple of them try it, but to the best of my knowledge nobody made it work.”

“Was that with your consulting stuff somehow?”

“Yup. Negotiating deals for my clients. However, most of the companies I dealt with were publicly traded, which meant their financial information was readily available online. Maybe they didn’t think I would know how to read a quarterly report, but that was their mistake.”

“Tough as nails, huh? That’s the woman I fell in love with, but then I knew you were also a woman who’d be just as fierce in protecting the people she loves.”

“You’re gonna make me blush, cowboy.”

“Gak!” Neil suddenly lurched forward. Mac folded her arms behind her head and stared at him complacently.

“Ah, the sound of a cold, wet ferret nose. Which one of my boys has come to greet you, I wonder?” Neil reached behind his naked back to pull out Squeaker.

“Jesus, short stuff! You sure know how to startle someone.”

“Be grateful he didn’t want to take a nip. You’d have landed on the floor on the other side of the bed. They’ve got amazingly tiny front teeth that deliver a hell of a pinch when they wanna play with you.”