Justice for Mackenzie (7 page)

“Okay, so if we’re getting to know each other, tell me about your family.”

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. “You would start off there, wouldn’t you? Okay, but don’t blame me if you decide to ditch me at the nearest street corner when I’m done.”

Dax could hear the laughter in her voice and merely shook his head at her and gestured for her to continue.

“So, you know I have two brothers, Mark and Matthew—”

“Wait.”

Surprised at Daxton’s interruption, Mackenzie halted immediately. “What? What’s wrong?”

“You have two brothers named Mark and Matthew? And your last name is Morgan…and your name is Mackenzie?”

Seeing where Daxton was going, Mackenzie laughed. “Yeah, apparently my parents thought it was trendy to have the M theme carry on throughout all their kids.”

“Do their names start with M as well?”

“Of course.” Mackenzie chuckled at the incredulous look on Daxton’s face. “Myra and Milton Morgan. So anyway. I’m the middle kid. Matthew is forty and Mark is thirty-five. I’m sure we were a handful, being so close in age. We’re all pretty close. My dad died three years ago of a heart attack. It was sudden, and we miss him a lot, but we’re doing okay. I get together with my mom and brothers at least every other week. They love me a lot, but don’t really understand me. I’m stubborn and they think I’m way too picky. My mom wants me to get married and hurry up and squeeze out a gazillion grandbabies for her.”

“Are your brothers married?”

“Yup, and they each have three kids. You’d think the six grandkids she already has would be enough for my mom, but nope. She wants more. I really like my sisters-in-law, who, by the way, don’t have names that start with M. Salena and Kathy are great, but we aren’t that close.”

“What doesn’t your family understand about you?”

Mackenzie tried to get her thoughts together to try to explain what she meant without sounding like a complete loser or headcase.

“And don’t hold back now. Seriously, tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking I want you to like me, Daxton, I don’t want to chase you away on our first date.”

Dax took his right hand off the steering wheel, placed it on Mack’s knee, and squeezed briefly. “Mack, I already like you. I go through my day talking to people who are only telling me lies. When they get caught in one lie, they tell another to try to get out of it. I have to dig and dig to try to find out the simplest things. You have no idea how refreshing it is to me that you don’t play any games…at all. You lay it all out there. At this point, nothing you can say now will make me not want to see you again. Okay?”

“Even if I said I had the hots for my brothers’ wives?”

“Okay, maybe that.” Dax smiled at Mack again and put his hand back on the steering wheel, even though he wanted to keep it on her knee, and waited for her to continue.

“I’m picky. I like things done a certain way and I’m stubborn. I think when I start dating a guy, I wonder about what
he
thinks about
me
, and it freaks me out. Am I chewing too loud? Do my clothes look okay? Should I wear more makeup or less? And you might have noticed I have a bad habit of blabbering on and on about nothing. So after I stress when I wonder what he might be thinking about me, I start to find things wrong with the way
he
does stuff and I call him on it. Incessantly. Until he can’t take it anymore and he leaves.”

Mackenzie decided she’d rather Daxton end this now once Dax knew how she really was, than fall in love with him and have him leave.

“Holy shit.”

The words came out without Mackenzie meaning them to. What had she just thought? Had that been her problem all along? That wasn’t really what she was going to tell him, but now that she thought it, she couldn’t
un
think it.

“What?”

“I…”

“What, Mack? Go on.”

“I think I’ve pushed guys away in the past because I knew it’d hurt less for them to leave me before I fell in love with them and they decided to leave anyway.”

Instead of the censure Mackenzie was sure would be sent her way, Daxton’s voice was level and understanding. “That makes sense. You must have been hurt that way in your past.”

“Are you a mind reader?” Mackenzie asked, only half kidding.

Dax chuckled. “No, sweetie, but I don’t think you’re all that abnormal. Most people want to protect their hearts. It’s never any fun to love someone and have them leave you anyway.”

“Did that happen to you?” Mackenzie asked before she could think about it.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, Daxton. That sucks.”

“Yeah. I fell head over heels in love with her and had planned the rest of our life all out in my head. I got a promotion and was supposed to move from El Paso to Austin. Stupidly, I accepted the job without consulting with her about it. I know it was a dick thing to do, but I honestly thought she’d be thrilled for me. She knew how hard I’d been working for the promotion, and she even knew I’d flown to Austin to interview. But when I told her I accepted the job, she flatly refused to leave. She grew up in El Paso and all her family was there. Ultimately, she chose them over me.”

“What a moron.”

Dax just shook his head and smiled. Mack never said what he thought she would.

“I mean seriously. To give you up for her family? It’s not like her family would disown her or anything if she moved…wait…would they?”

“No, they wouldn’t have.”

“Right then, so she made you choose between her and your career. Sorry to say, but you made the right choice, Daxton. I know I’ve been a bitch to some of the men I’ve dated, but I never, not once, made them choose between their job and me. Besides, look where you are today. You’re a Ranger! I don’t know anything about anything, but I’ve heard how the newscasters talk about you guys and I don’t live in a hole, I know about Rangers. You’re amazing! There’s no way I’d choose my brothers over you, I mean, seriously. I love them and all, but why would I give up a hot guy and great sex for the rest of my life for my
brothers
? No freaking way! And another thing…”

Mackenzie was on a roll and didn’t even seem to notice how Dax’s body had gotten tight upon hearing her words.

“She couldn’t have loved you. Not really. Not a real true-to-the-marrow-of-your-bones love. If you had that kind of love, there’s no way she would’ve made that decision. Yeah, I get it. El Paso and Austin are far apart, but it’s not like they’re in different countries.”

Mackenzie’s voice softened for the first time since her tirade. “If she truly loved you and knew it was what you wanted and what was best for you, she would’ve moved with you in a heartbeat. It sucks to hear that, I’m sure, but I believe it. Shit, even though you aren’t married, I still think you made the right decision. What if you’d married her and tried to make it work and she pulled the same kind of thing later? You’d be stuck in a job knowing you could’ve had better and would regret not taking the Austin job. That would eat at you and you’d be miserable. So yeah, that sucks, but I think you’re better off.”

Mackenzie looked up at Daxton, startled because the car wasn’t moving anymore. They’d pulled into a parking lot and Daxton had cut off the engine. He was staring at her with a weird look on his face.

“Shit, I overstepped, didn’t I? Dammit, I told you I was like this.”

“No, Mack, you didn’t overstep. You’re right. It
was
probably for the best.”

“I didn’t mean to insinuate that you didn’t love her.”

“I know you didn’t.”

Mackenzie closed her eyes and put her forehead in the palm of her hand. “My family also says I have a tendency to talk too much.”

“You don’t talk too much, Mack. Promise.” Dax leaned over and pulled Mackenzie toward him with one hand behind her neck. He kissed her on the top of the head and leaned back. “Ready for some food?”

“Yes, please. Food sounds good. Anything at this point, other than me going on and on about your love life, sounds good.”

“Come on then. I hope you’ll like this place.” Dax had already thought all the things Mack had said at one time or another, but the fact that’d she’d immediately been able to sum up all the reasons why Kelly and he didn’t end up together was very insightful…especially for them just having met. It boded well for their budding relationship; at least what he hoped was a budding relationship.

Mackenzie looked up and saw they were at a restaurant on the south side of the city she’d never been to before. Mood lightening, embarrassing conversation forgotten, Mack exclaimed, “Oooh, I’ve always wanted to eat here!”

“Good. Today’s your chance.”

Dax exited his side of the car and started to walk around to help Mack out, but she met him before he’d gotten half way around the vehicle.

“I know, I was supposed to wait for you to come open my door, right? I can’t. Sorry, Daxton, but seriously, I don’t get that. I’m just supposed to sit there with my hands in my lap waiting for you? I feel stupid just sitting there like a helpless little woman. I have two hands. I can open the door just fine by myself.”

“It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”

“I know, I
know
, but I still think it’s weird. I mean, I know you’re a gentleman. Hell, the entire embarrassing episode at my apartment told me that.”

“How about we make a deal?”

“What kind of deal?”

“The kind of deal where if I tell you it’s important to me to come around and assist you out of the car so you don’t fall over or when I want to be a gentleman, you’ll agree. And if I don’t bring it up, you can get out on your own and meet me here, in front of the car, just like you did today.”

Mackenzie thought about it for a second and smiled, liking that Daxton thought there’d be times in the future they’d be driving somewhere together. She liked it a lot. “Okay, deal. If it’s important to you, tell me and I’ll wait. Otherwise I’ll do my own thing.”

“Good, let’s go.” Dax took Mackenzie’s hand and laced their fingers together, liking the feel of her hand in his. He had a good hunch about Mackenzie and dinner. He hoped this was the beginning of a long relationship.

The car was silent on the way back to Mackenzie’s apartment after dinner. Dax had a great time, Mackenzie was a hoot, and he couldn’t remember when he’d enjoyed a date more. Granted, he hadn’t been on many dates in the recent past, but he still didn’t think any of them had been as fun as this one had been.

The restaurant was one of Dax’s favorites. It was a cross between a bar and grill and a diner. Around ten each night, the owners stopped serving food and the ambiance changed to more of a bar-type atmosphere.

Dax and Mackenzie had eaten, then sat talking until Mack suggested they play darts. The funniest part was that she’d never thrown a dart before in her life. She was awful at it, but she laughed at herself every time she missed the bull’s-eye by a mile.

And Mackenzie
was
clumsy. She hadn’t been lying. At one point, she’d reached across the table and knocked over his water glass. She’d apologized profusely, but Dax had waved it off. Since the seat on his side of the booth had been wet, it’d given him an excuse to move over to sit next to her, so it had all worked out in his favor anyway.

Then when they were playing darts, she’d dropped one and it barely missed landing on her foot. One throw also went way wide and luckily had bounced off the wall and landed on the floor, instead of about a foot to the left, to the man standing next to the wall drinking a beer. Mackenzie decided she’d had enough darts at that point.

They’d laughed and Mack had giggled as their date continued. She hadn’t been pissed or thrown a hissy fit when a woman, out having drinks with friends, came up to him and gave him her business card and said, “Call me.” Mackenzie had thought it hilarious instead.

It was a refreshing change from the last woman Dax had dated, who’d been pissed when another woman had slipped him her phone number while they were out on a date one night. Even though he hadn’t done anything to encourage the waitress in any way shape or form, his date got upset at
him
and insisted that he must’ve done something to make her think he was into her. It was the last time Dax had asked her out.

Now Dax was taking Mackenzie back to her apartment. He didn’t want the night to end, but it was late and Mack was yawning in the seat next to him. He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. Dax waited until Mackenzie turned to look at him.

“Wait there, I’ll come around.” He paused until Mack smiled and nodded at him.

Dax went around the car, opened the passenger door, and held out his hand. Mack put her hand in his and allowed him to help her up and out. Dax held Mack against him as he shuffled them out of the way so he could shut the door. He could feel her heat through the light jacket she wore.

“Thanks for letting me help you. It’s dark. It makes me feel better to have my hands on you as we head for your apartment. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside.”

Mackenzie smiled as Daxton led her across the parking lot to her door. She’d had a great night. “I almost ditched you, you know,” she told Daxton out of the blue.

Dax smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I was going to call you and let you know I’d changed my mind, but I didn’t have your number, you had it blocked.”

“Yeah, I don’t like my number out there, especially when I’m following leads on cases.”

“I get that. Anyway, then I thought I’d get out of my apartment and wait for six o’clock to pass, then go back home, but I knew that’d be rude and Laine would’ve kicked my butt. So I decided I’d just tell you when you arrived that I didn’t want to go, but I couldn’t do that either. So I took a chance. I’ve only been on one other blind date in my life, and Laine set us up, so I felt pretty safe. The only other time in my life I took a chance that huge was when I moved here to San Antonio. I was living in Houston and got the job offer here. It’s not like I make a ton of money, but I knew it’d bring me closer to my family, so I did it. It scared the hell out of me at first, to have to move and make new friends and stuff, but in the end, it turned out all right. Then luckily Laine decided she missed me too much and she moved here, too.”