Chapter Six
Mackenzie
I was in Jason’s office for the day, working on a few projects he had assigned me. It wasn’t exactly what I had originally planned to do with my time, but since I’d been caught thieving, there wasn’t much I could do about it. True to his word, however, Jason had not asked me to do any brainless tasks or assigned me any lowly grunt work. For that, he earned the privilege of not having his eyes scratched out.
He even allowed me to sit at his desk while I worked at the computer looking up information on some art pieces he was searching for. Although I’d never admit it to him, I actually found the work intriguing since I had stolen more than a few art pieces in my day. I was clicking through a series of links when Jason walked in with a cup of coffee in his hand. I looked up with an arched brow.
“See, I can get coffee for myself. And look, I even brought you one. Now isn’t the shoe on the other foot?”
I snorted. “Yeah, it must be thrilling trying to get a coffee for yourself for the first time in your life. Did it give you an adrenaline rush?” The most adorable surprised look appeared on his face—genuine shock. “Oh come on, don’t look at me that way,” I chided. “You said you had a butler and he lived with you. I doubt you were getting your own coffee during that time. That may have been why he stole from you.”
“Excuse me? Are you actually defending the man who betrayed me and embezzled my money?”
“No, but do you think he would have done the same thing if he hadn’t been retrieving coffee and wiping your bottom for fifteen years?”
Jason laughed. “I assure you I wipe my own ass, but thanks for that mental picture.”
“I’m just saying that it’s really easy to see how people could get sick of waiting on someone hand and foot. You’re not that special, you know.”
“Duly noted.”
Just then, a man entered Jason’s office. I recognized him as the person who had escorted the butler and his wife out the night before.
“Brett, my man, how are you doing?” Jeff greeted him warmly.
“Great, how are you? Welcome home.”
They shook hands in a way that suggested they were long-time friends.
“So no issue with last night? They left quietly?”
Brett laughed. “Well, the wifey—Susan, isn’t it?—she was so pissed off that I showed up and made sure they left without taking anything. She bitched about it the whole time. I was honestly so glad to get rid of them. How did you stand living with her?”
Jason shrugged. “They put on a good show, I guess. Thanks a lot for taking care of things for me.”
“Anytime, man. The last thing I would want is for you to get cleaned out.”
I snorted, and both men turned to me. Once Brett realized I was there, his smile widened. There was amusement written all over Jason’s face.
“Ah, yes…Brett, meet my new assistant, Mackenzie.”
Brett quickly came over and held out a hand. I stood up and shook it, noticing that his gaze never left mine. He was a strong, sturdy type and certainly very handsome.
“The pleasure’s all mine, love. I’m Brett, an old friend of Jason’s.”
And an accent. I did like that. “I wouldn’t readily admit that you’re his friend if I were you.”
Brett burst out laughing. “And the girl has wit. Wherever did you find this gorgeous and capable creature?”
“Let’s just say she fell into my lap last night, and I got lucky enough to contract her as my assistant. She’s very skilled and knows how to get a job done.”
I smiled sweetly at Jason.
“Well, aren’t you a lucky guy,” Brett said. “Not to make you uncomfortable or anything, Mackenzie, but I sure wish I had an assistant that looked like you. Mine looked like Attila the Hun.”
I laughed. The guy was funny, and that was an important trait for me in a man. I immediately liked Brett. He was a funny guy and seemed to be fairly easygoing. He wasn’t nearly as pompous and arrogant as Jason. When he joked with me, he gave me a light and happy feeling, and I could easily see myself spending the day talking to him about just about anything. I was a fairly good judge of character, and I could tell that Brett was a good and loyal man. There was a feeling of safety that came with being around Brett.
I got the opposite feeling when it came to Jason, whether that was because I almost just burgled his home, I wasn’t sure. But he made me feel constantly on edge and very self-conscious, not exactly the way I enjoyed feeling around a man. I wasn’t at all impressed that I was stuck working for the man, but I hoped it would be short-term. I had a plan, after all, and I hoped to execute it soon.
“So what brings you here?” Jason asked his friend.
“Well, you ditched me for drinks, and I came to see why. I guess the reason is obvious.”
Jason laughed. “No, no…in fact, Mackenzie hates me.”
“It’s true,” I added.
Brett laughed with us. “You should cut the guy some slack. It’s not every day that you find out that your Man Friday has ripped you off for a million dollars.”
Jason smirked. “You’d be surprised Brett.”
I laughed and went back to work looking through art pieces.
I watched the two of them razz each other and Jason laughing without a care in the world. Since I’d met him, I hadn’t seen him laughing much, for obvious reasons. But with his best friend, he opened up and completely relaxed. It was nice to see him that way, and it revealed a new side of him to me. A side I rather liked.