Eraser Platinum (2 page)

Nate was pacing Mackenzie’s small apartment.  It was after one in the morning and he had no idea where she was.  He’d finally dragged himself in the door twenty minutes ago expecting to see her. 
Where the fuck is she?
  He tugged on his hair and groaned in frustration.  He’d knocked on Andrea’s door but she wasn’t home either.  Nate only hoped the two of them were together somewhere. 
If anyone can talk sense into Mackenzie it’s Andrea. 

A memory of Mackenzie flashed before his eyes.  She looked petrified this morning when he almost left her tied to the bed.  If she hadn’t said ‘eraser’ he knew the consequences would have been dire, far less favorable to this current predicament. 
Fuck!  I almost left her like that!
  Nate shuddered at the thought.

He heard footsteps and the jiggling of keys out in the hall and yanked open the door.

“Hey Nathaniel!”

“Is Mackenzie with you?”

Andrea turned her head from side to side with a smile on her face.  “Nope.  It doesn’t look like it,” she joked.  “Why?”

“ARGH!”

Immediately Andrea’s face dropped.  “What’s wrong?” she asked, taking a step toward him.  She stilled when Nate’s hands flew through the air.

“She’s fucking gone!  Have you seen her?”  He knew he looked like a crazy man and the look of bewilderment on Andrea’s face confirmed it.

“No, I haven’t seen her today at all.  What do you mean
gone
?”

“I asked her to …” he started to say, but thought the better of it.  “We had a fight.  I walked out and when I returned she was gone.”

“She probably hasn’t gone far.  How long ago did you leave?”

“About nine o’clock.”

“Oh.”  Andrea looked at her watch.  “It’s only been a few-”

“This morning.  Nine o’clock this morning.” 
Fuck!  What did I do?

“Oh shit.”  Andrea’s face took on a look of compassion as she stepped closer to him.  “Do you think she’s been gone all this time?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, have you tried calling her?”

“No.”

“Don’t you think that would be a good place to start?”

“
I
sure do.”  Andrea and Nate both turned to see Mackenzie climb the last of the stairs.  “I think calling me would have been a fantastic idea,” she said bitterly.

He stormed up to her, grabbing hold of her forearm.   “
Mackenzie!
  Where the fuck have you been?”  The irate tone in Nate’s voice made a mad Mackenzie turn furious. 

“Where the fuck have
I
been?  Are you serious?” she fumed, pulling her arm from his grasp.

“It’s after one a.m.!”

“Exactly!  Where have
you
been, Nate?  Why haven’t you returned my calls?  I’ve been trying to talk to you all day.  And now you stand here and have the audacity to speak to me like that?”

“It’s the middle of the fucking night, Mackenzie!” he shouted.

“Stop yelling at me!”  Mackenzie pushed past him but halted when Andrea held her arm out in front of her.

“You two
both
need to calm down and take it inside,” she said in a soft and soothing voice.

Nate shouldered past them, knocking into Mackenzie on his way back to the apartment.  Mackenzie scowled at his back and Andrea gave the top of her arm a consoling rub.  Mackenzie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get her anger under control.  She reopened them to Andrea’s sympathetically smiling face.

“No Henry tonight?” she asked.

“Nope, not tonight.  I’ve got a big job booked tomorrow, wedding,” she said with a shrug.

“Yeah?”  Mackenzie’s eyes flicked in the direction of her open apartment door, she couldn’t see Nate from where they were situated.  “Whereabouts?” she asked absentmindedly.

“Mackenzie, go talk to him.  Shooting the breeze with me isn’t going to fix anything.”

Mackenzie let out a frustrated sigh.

Andrea laughed and shook her head.  “He sure is a passionate one.  Go sort him out will ya?”  She gave Mackenzie a shove down the hall.  “I’m going to bed.”

Mackenzie watched Andrea enter her apartment and shut the door but she was reluctant to move from her spot in the hallway.  He may be back, but he was so furious with her she didn’t know how to handle him.  She heard a crash from her apartment and rushed forward to see Nate righting a glass of scotch on her coffee table.  A small puddle of the liquid remained on the wooden top. 

“Where have you been?”  He glared at her and her anger came flooding back.

“Why didn’t you return my calls?” she retaliated.  She dumped her bag on the floor and removed her jacket, hanging it on the coat rack by the door.  “You stormed out of here this morning and I’ve been trying to reach you all day!”

“Answer the question!” he bellowed.

“If you had answered your fucking phone you would already know the answer to your question!”

He rounded the coffee table and came to stand in front of her.  His stance was rigid and his face full of anger.  His tie was gone, the top buttons of his shirt undone, his sleeves rolled up, exposing the forearms she loved to stare at.  It was sinful for him to look so hot when she was furious with him.

“I didn’t want to speak to you over the phone,” he said.

“So you ignored my calls.  A bit childish don’t you think?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Where have you been, Mackenzie?”  His lips pressed into a tight line.

“Where have
you
been?” she countered.

“I asked first.”  He stepped closer, so close that she could feel the heat from his body.

“You are a fucking child!  I was at work, Nate!”  She took a step backwards.  “If you had answered your phone you would have fucking known that!”

“So the first chance you get, you go running to Alex?” he asked bitterly.

Mackenzie stared at him for a moment, letting his words sink in before she slapped him hard across the face.  “How dare you!” she screamed.  “You know I don’t see him as anything more than a friend!”

“That’s not-”

“He wasn’t even there!  How could you think- you know what? 
Screw you!
”

She turned to go to her room but Nate was on her, grabbing her by the waist.  She spun around to push him away, then slapped his face again.  He returned with one of his own.  She was stunned.  Frozen to the spot.  She held a hand to the side of her stinging cheek and gasped.

Her green eyes blinked up at him in shock and all he could think about was fucking her.

“I’d much rather
screw you
, Mackenzie,” he said darkly, closing the gap between them.

He shoved her harshly against the wall and slanted his lips down over hers.  She pushed him in the chest with both hands and he took hold of her fingers, interlacing them with his own before pulling them above her head and pressing them against the wall.  Mackenzie could feel the warmth from Nate’s body clouding her judgement. 
We shouldn’t do this.
  She wanted to struggle, but when he kissed her hungrily her mouth betrayed her mind by kissing him back. 
Oh god! 
Her tongue plunged into his mouth frantically.  He pressed his body closer, pushing his knee between her thighs, lifting her skirt with the movement, until his thigh was touching her center.

She moaned into his mouth and squirmed against him, rubbing on his hard cock.  He let his hand drop and tore open her shirt.  Buttons flew everywhere but his only focus was on her now exposed perfect breasts, encased in her pale pink lacy bra.  He sucked her nipples through her bra, then licked his way up to her throat before burying his head in the crook of her neck.  He needed the comfort of her body.  More than anything in this world Mackenzie had a way of grounding him, calming him.  He’d felt breathless all day.  But now, as he stood with her body heat against him, her heart racing against his own, he felt like he could breathe again.

“Fuck!  I need to be inside you so badly.”

His words were like a wakeup call – cold water dousing the flames.  “No!”  She moved her head to the side, dodging his kiss.  “Stop!”  She shoved him away with both hands.  Her anger gave her extra strength causing Nate to stumble backwards.  “We can’t keep doing this!  It can’t always be about sex.”

Nate opened his mouth to argue but was cut off.

“I’m mad at you for walking out on me!  I won’t just fuck and forget!”  The fury and hurt he saw in her eyes tore at his heart.

“Mackenzie.”  He stepped toward her, wanting to console her, but when his hand reached her shoulder she shrugged him off.  She stormed into the bedroom and he followed.  “Mackenzie please!”

She swung to face him, her anger ebbing slightly at the tiredness she saw on Nate’s face.  She was exhausted, too.  She wanted this day to be over.  She also wanted to scream in frustration. 
Why did things have to get so fucked up?
  She shrugged off her torn shirt and dumped it on the floor.

Nate followed suit.  Removing his own shirt and throwing it on top of Mackenzie’s.  He needed a shower.  He needed to calm down and get some new fucking perspective.  He headed for the bathroom but stopped when her small voice broke through his manic thoughts.

“Where were you all day Nate?” she asked softly, dropping to sit on the side of the bed.

“At the office, like I said.  I needed time to process what happened this morning.”  His eyes roamed her face – he could see past her anger and past his own lust.  He could see that she was vulnerable and she needed his reassurance. 
I love her.  She needs to know how much I love her. 
“I take it back,” he blurted.

“What?”

“The proposal, I take it back,” he said, stepping toward her.  “I want to try that again.  I know I got it all wrong.  This morning, the way I asked you while you were tied to the bed … I acted spontaneously and you deserve better than that.”  He kneeled down beside her, his hands resting on her bare thighs.  He started tracing his favorite pattern as he considered his next words.

“It doesn’t matter how you ask, Nate, the answer will still be the same.”  His finger stopped moving and he looked at her with pain in his eyes.  “I’m sorry about the other night at
Délicieux
.  I shouldn’t have invited Tom to join us.  I didn’t mean to ruin your plans, but I…”  She hated it but she had to be true to herself and honest with him.  “I don’t want to marry you.”

“Let me try this again.”

“No Nate, that’s not what I want.”

“Why Mackenzie?  You know we belong together.”  He scrubbed his hands over his face.  “We could have a long engagement if you’re feeling too rushed. And kids can wait a few years if you’re not ready.  I’m too selfish to start a family yet anyhow, I want you all to myself first.  Marry me.”

“No!  You’re not listening to me!” Mackenzie yelled in frustration.  “I don’t
want
to get married.  I don’t want to have kids.  I don’t want
any
of those things.” She didn’t mean for it to come out so harshly but she’d lost her patience.

He stared at her for a moment before pulling his hands from her legs and standing up.  “
Ever?
” 

“Ever.”  She nodded solemnly.

The reality of the situation was beyond his comprehension.  “Why?  I could give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“You already do, Nate.  I don’t need anything more than what you’re already giving me.”

“You need some time to get used to the idea,” he said, shaking his head. 

“No.  I won’t change my mind.”

“Why?  Explain it to me.”  His voice was strained and it made fresh tears form in Mackenzie’s eyes.  She hated doing this to him.  She wished that he’d never asked.

“I can’t.”

“Well I want marriage and a family.”

“Then … we have a serious problem.”

Mackenzie flopped back on the mattress and stared at the ceiling.  From the corner of her eye she saw Nate walk to the head of the bed and sit down but she couldn’t turn to look at him.  She didn’t want to face him.  The absolute last thing she wanted to admit was that they weren’t meant to be … but … maybe they weren’t.  She sighed and felt the wetness in her eyes get heavier.  She blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears from falling.