Chapter 4
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“I’m so happy you’re here!” Deanna enthused over the music blasting through the speakers.
“Me too!” Mackenzie squeezed her friend tightly before stepping back and noticing the tense expression on Deanna’s face.
It had been a long time since she’d spent any in-person time with her childhood best friend, but over the past six months they’d quickly fallen back into the comfortable rhythm of their old friendship through text and Facetime. There were just some people that no matter how much time had passed, the second you saw each other again you picked up right where you left off. Deanna was one of those people.
Which was why Mackenzie could tell that her friend was nervous about something. She’d had that exact smile on her face at age sixteen when Deanna lied to her aunt and uncle about sleeping over at Mackenzie’s house when they were really going to a party in San Francisco.
“Deanna, you remember Theo.” Mackenzie had introduced the two of them in Vegas.
“Yes, hi. How was the drive?” Deanna asked eagerly with a forced smile plastered on her face.
Mackenzie’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as she responded, “It was great.”
“Mmmhmm.” Theo responded.
Mackenzie shot a look over her shoulder, letting him know that she wasn’t amused. He grinned back at her and winked.
“Awesome!” Deanna clapped her hands before fanning them out around her. “Would you guys like the grand tour?”
“Actually…” The three iced teas that she’d drank during their road trip caught up to her the second she’d stepped out of the car. She handed Theo the releases that needed to be filled out before Gabe showed up in an hour or so. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to film his arrival. “Before we do that and get these signed, it was a long drive, where’s the bathroom?”
Deanna pointed to the hallway across the gym. “Third door on the left. And I’ll turn down the music so we can hear ourselves think.”
“Thanks!” Mackenzie hustled in the direction that Deanna had indicated.
As she rushed down the wide corridor, trying not to cross her legs as she did, Mackenzie couldn’t help but notice that this gym was a step above the ones that she’d spent time in since embarking on this documentary. Over the past year, she’d grown used to the sounds, smells, and swamp-like humidity of MMA training facilities. Most of the buildings that she’d spent time in held a distinct musty scent, had paint chipping off the walls, tears in the bags, and squeaky wooden floors.
This place was different. Brick walls and exposed heating and air ducts in the ceilings gave the space an urban industrial feel and it didn’t have that moldy aroma drifting through the air. It was modern and fresh.
She pushed the door to the ladies room open and saw that it was spotless. No toilet paper on the floor. All of the stalls had their doors hanging on them. She’d only caught a glimpse of the training area and cage, but that was all it took to see that everything was state of the art and the equipment was top-notch.
A sense of relief washed over her. Gabe deserved this. He’d worked hard, sacrificed so much, and overcome great odds to get to where he was. She couldn’t be happier for him to finally be getting the attention and level of support he deserved.
It was an unspoken rule that documentary filmmakers were not supposed to get emotionally attached to their subjects. If they did, it was more likely than not that their personal feelings would color their narrative. Remaining unbiased and detached was the ethical route to take. Theo never seemed to have a problem doing just that. He could turn that switch off and on with ease. Mackenzie had never had that ability.
Each time they started a new project, she promised herself that this time would be different. She swore there would be no tears and no connections. She’d be all business. But this was her and Theo’s fifth film and apparently, five times was not the charm. So far, she wasn’t following through on her promise.
After taking care of business, she washed her hands and looked up in the mirror. She and Theo had flown into California two days ago. They’d spent the weekend in Los Angeles meeting with potential investors, which always involved more than just pitching their film. It meant dinners, drinks, and schmoozing. She hated schmoozing. Thankfully, Theo was a pro, and he thrived on that kind of thing. He hated paperwork and keeping any kind of a schedule and that is where she shined. They balanced each other out making them good partners.
She’d gotten a total of eight hours sleep over the past forty-eight hours, and it showed. There were dark circles under eyes. Her skin was naturally fair but looked especially pale. And her hair was a mess piled on top of her head. She pulled her trusty ChapStick from her jean pocket and applied another coat. That was going to be as good as it got. Thankfully, there was no one here she needed to impress.
As she dried her hands and headed out of the bathroom a yawn claimed her, and she wished that she’d opted for coffee instead of iced tea on the drive. A long day of filming loomed ahead of her and she was running on fumes. Her mind was preoccupied with visions of the king-sized bed that was waiting for her at the B&B that Lucky’s brother owned and where Deanna had booked their rooms.
She was so distracted with her fantasy of pulling the comforter to her chin and falling into a deep sleep that as she passed the locker room she ran smack-dab into a very hot, very well-built, very shirtless man.
“Sorry,” she said as she took a step to the left.
Her attempt to sidestep him failed because at the same time he moved to his right. When her path was blocked, she stepped to the right but apparently, they both had the same instinct because went the same direction. Again, her exit was obstructed. So she tried to juke around him, and once again their movements mirrored each other, and neither of them could move forward.
When their eyes met after their impromptu two-step, they both laughed, and she shook her head.
“Hi, I’m Marco.” He lifted his hand, offering it to her.
She shook it. “Mackenzie.”
“You’re new in town,” he stated, his fingers still wrapped around her hand.
She gently tugged her hand away feeling uneasy about how he knew that.
“It’s a very small town,” he answered her silent question
Right. What had Theo called it? Mountain Mayberry.
“What brings you to our little neck of the woods?”
Her lips parted in a friendly grin. “I’m here for work.”
He smiled back, and a prominent dimple appeared on his left cheek that she hadn’t noticed before. Marco had a great smile and a body that could stop traffic and all she felt was a tiny flicker of interest.
She’d been divorced for over two years now and still hadn’t gotten back up on the horse. Over the past year working on this film she’d spent endless hours around sweaty, half-naked men. As much as she enjoyed the eye candy of bare chests and chiseled arms, none of them made her heart race and her stomach do summersaults. But, in fairness, only one man had ever had that effect on her.
Eli Bishop held the prize for being the only man that had ever made Mackenzie drool. And not in the abstract sense. The sunny Saturday that she’d had to wipe the evidence of her attraction away from her chin was forever burned into her memory.
Mackenzie knew better than most people that life could change in an instant. And that day it had. Eli had always been the boy next door and then in a heartbeat he was a young man that awakened feelings in her she’d never known existed. She’d seen him mowing his front lawn on the first day of summer between eighth grade and freshmen year and the sight lit a fire, igniting her teenage hormones and causing her to salivate.
She would never forget that moment.
It was a hot California summer day. She and Kenny were on their way to get ice cream and they’d walked past Eli’s house. Kenny had been so excited to see his friend that he’d run over to Eli and invited him to join them. Eli had jumped at the chance to get a frozen treat in the hundred-degree heat.
During the entire trip, Mackenzie had been unable to speak—which was very unlike her. She’d used all of her brainpower to stop her from drooling over the muscles that he’d sprouted, seemingly overnight. He’d turned from her cute neighbor whose window she’d sneak into when she had bad dreams, to a hottie that rendered her speechless.
A month later they had their first kiss. Six months later they started a secret relationship. And four years later, he shattered her heart into a million pieces.
Marco dipped his head toward her and she blinked as she forced her memories to fade into the background where they belonged. “You know the great thing about small towns?”
“No traffic?” she answered, only semi-sarcastically.
His grin grew even larger. “That and you always run into your neighbors. See you around, neighbor.”
With that promise, Marco headed into the locker room.
Even though she had no interest in doing anything about the flicker of interest she’d felt for the tall, dark stranger, it was still nice to know that she could feel something for someone. For a long time, she wasn’t even sure if that was possible.
She grinned as hope blossomed in her chest that she might not be as damaged as she thought. As she stepped out of the hallway, Mackenzie saw that Theo and Deanna were talking to two men on the other side of the octagon that sat in the middle of the gym. One was Lucky Dorsey, and the other had his back to her.
“It’s so great to meet you,” Theo said to Lucky, his body language showed that he was doing his best to contain his excitement over meeting Lucky. But, the closer she got, the more palpable his enthusiasm was. “I’ve been a fan for a long time.”
“Thanks, good to meet you.” Lucky handled Theo’s enthusiasm like the pro that he was. It was apparent that the fighter was not a stranger to meeting fangirls that came in the form of males in their late twenties.
Kenzie was cataloguing and storing up lines she could use on him the next time he wanted to tease her about Stamos when Deanna’s hand lifted toward the other man. “And this is my cousin, Eli.”
Eli?!
All the thoughts that had been spinning in Mackenzie’s mind stopped. She stood numb, just staring ahead. Her eyes and ears were sending her brain information that she wasn’t able to process.
No.
This isn’t happening.
This is a dream.
This isn’t real.
“Eli, this is Kenzie’s partner, Theo,” Deanna finished the introduction.
“Hi.”
That one syllable sent a wave of sensation rolling over her, causing her to tremble slightly. Eli’s voice had always been deep, and it grew even more so after puberty. As a teen, hearing him speak had been spine-tingling, but as a man, it was downright sinful.
Yep. This was definitely happening.
When it was clear that this wasn’t a dream, she got mad. Angry questions swirled around her head, crashing into each other like bumper cars driven by blindfolded drunks.
Why is Eli here?
Did he know I was coming?!
Is this some sick, cosmic joke?!
When Mackenzie had surrendered to facing her past during her time in this postcard-perfect town she didn’t think it was going to be in such a literal sense. The one part of her past that she’d had no intention of facing was standing just feet away from her.
Real funny, universe.
“Nice to meet you.” Theo straightened and his shoulders rolled back.
Neither men spoke as they stared at one another but they were definitely communicating through their alpha body language. It was clear that they were sizing each other up and Mackenzie knew that this would be a great time to insert herself into the conversation but she was frozen in place.
Deanna broke the heavy silence with what Mackenzie could only assume was her attempt at having the two men find common ground. “Eli and Kenzie were neighbors growing up.”
“Is that right?” Theo asked in a slightly protective big-brother way as he rocked back slightly on his heels and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Mackenzie couldn’t see Eli’s face, but she noticed the bunch of his muscled shoulders beneath the gray T-shirt he wore with the letters HFFD on the back. If she had to guess, she’d say his expression was not a happy one.
Taking a deep breath, Mackenzie knew that as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t run back to the car, drive to the nearest airport, and fly back to New York. So, she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and join the group like the adult she was. She considered herself a fairly sensible and rational woman in nearly every area of her life with one exception.
Eli Bishop.
He brought out a fire in her. Without any effort, he stripped away any pretense, any walls, any protective barriers that she had in place. He’d always had a way of seeing her. If she believed in telepathy, she would swear that he’d had that gift. He always just knew. Knew what she was thinking, what her fears were, what made her happy. She could always be her true self around him, which as a child in a house where she was expected to be a robot with no emotions or reactions was refreshing. It was what had caused her to fall head first in love with him. And that was why his rejection nearly destroyed her.
She rounded the cage and stepped between Theo and Deanna, making extra care not to make eye contact with Eli. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure the entire gym could hear it.
“There you are, I thought you might have gotten lost.” Deanna teased as she reached her arms out like Kenzie was a showcase on The Price is Right. “Lucky, this is Mackenzie Sutton.”
They’d talked several times on Facetime when Deanna would flip the camera on him but this was their first in-person meeting.
“It’s nice to finally meet you face-to-face,” Lucky grinned.
“You, too.” Mackenzie nodded with what she hoped was a smile on her face. Since her face was numb, she couldn’t be sure.
Out of her peripheral vision, she could see Eli, and she could feel the heat of his stare on her. But she ignored it, keeping her gaze bouncing between Lucky, Deanna, and Theo. She knew that she’d need to look at him but she was avoiding it at all costs. She might as well grow a beak and start pecking because she had officially turned into a chicken.
“And you know Eli.” Deanna waved her hand toward her cousin. Her voice might sound cheery to someone that didn’t know her, but Mackenzie could hear the nervousness in it.
Time to suck it up, buttercup.
Striving for an air of professionalism, she squared her shoulders and glanced up at him and just like when she’d seen him in Vegas, her world came to a screeching halt. The first time she’d run into him she’d been in so much shock she hadn’t taken the time to see him. Now that she was, her chest ached from his physical perfection.
His dark hair was shorter than he used to wear it in high school but still held a slight wave. His electric blue eyes were somehow more vibrant than she remembered but they were still surrounded by a thick bed of inky lashes. His square jaw had grown more defined and sprinkled with a sexy scruff that gave his all-American good looks a dangerous edge that he’d never had.
She didn’t just feel a flicker of interest. There was an inferno of desire raging through her and she knew that for her own survival she needed to extinguish that sucker. Smother it. Turn a hose on it. Throw salt on it. Whatever it took.
His gaze held a warmth that she wasn’t expecting as he stared down at her. “Hi, Kenzie.”
“Hi, Eli.” Her words tipped the scale to the strained and shaky side as opposed to robust and confident like she’d been shooting for.
“Eli!” Theo snapped his fingers and flung his arm around Mackenzie whose stomach dropped with fear as to what he was going to say next. “I was wondering why that name sounded familiar.”
No. Don’t do it. She stared up at her friend as she focused all of her energy into communicating her desperation for him to shut up, hoping her eyes would relay her silent plea.
Theo’s smile told her that her wish was not going to be granted today.
“Remember that rat that lived in the alley behind your walk-up in Chelsea? Wasn’t his name Eli?”
Mackenzie’s eyes shot back to Eli. He lifted his left brow and remained silent. Part of her brain was screaming at her to find the nearest hole to crawl in and hide, but another part of her wanted Eli to know she’d named the rodent after him. He might still be able to incite feelings in her traitorous hormones that no other man had, but her heart was still shattered. And over ten years, a marriage, hours of therapy, and all the king’s horses, and all the king’s men hadn’t been able to put her Humpty Dumpty heart back together again.
“You named him that, right?” Theo persisted.
“Yep,” she answered not breaking eye contact with the man that was the vermin’s namesake.
A spark of amusement lit in Eli’s baby blues, but it was instantly extinguished as he addressed the group as a whole, “I was just heading out.” He lifted his bag up on his shoulder and looked first to Mackenzie and then back at Theo. “Nice seeing you and nice meeting you.”
“You, too.” Theo dipped his chin in a single nod.
His light gaze met hers once more as a small grin formed on his lips before he did what he did best…he left. Without running it by her brain, her heart sank like it was a mob informant with cement shoes in the Hudson. She should be happy that he was gone and their interaction brief but with Eli, she never felt what she should feel.