Some Like It Charming

Two


If anyone had told Ethan this morning that today would turn out this good, he would have told them they needed to fix their crystal ball. But he’d forgotten that wherever Mackenzie Wyatt was he was bound to have a good time. She cracked him up. She stood there with no expression on her face, but he knew she was laughing inside. He also knew he really would get a bill from her if anybody said balls to her. He just hoped it wouldn’t cost him too much.

And God knew he shouldn’t have patted her behind but it was right there, and when would he ever get the chance again? He hoped she was joking about that lawsuit because any lawyer could chew him up and spit him out for the remarks and touching. Not to mention the continued jokes from everybody else. She could probably retire a wealthy woman if she had a mind to.

And he’d never have as much fun coming to L.A. if she left.

She eyed him warily as she walked up to bat and he couldn’t help his chuckle. He asked over his shoulder, “Hey, Ref. You got any money on this game?”

Mackenzie glanced at Anderson, an accountant from the fourth floor, and said, “Of course not. That would go against rule number one for referees. Thou shalt not upset the players by placing money on a game you’re refereeing.”

Anderson crouched down and said, “I would never do anything to make either you or Mackenzie mad at me. Especially when there are balls flying around everywhere. A man could get hurt.”

Mackenzie stepped into the box. “That was the easiest thousand I ever made. Got any more balls jokes?”

The pitcher lobbed the ball way outside, into Ethan’s waiting hand, and Anderson yelled as loud as he could, “Ball one!”

The crowd hooted and laughed and Ethan smiled. Mackenzie pointed at the ball with her bat. “You have got to be kidding.”

He threw it back to the pitcher. “Honey, the bases are loaded again. You know I can’t let you hit that ball.”

“So you’re just going to walk me? There’s a man on third who’ll score.”

“Better one than four.”

Ball two came sailing way outside and Ethan didn’t even bother to crouch.

“Ball two!”

A few people in the crowd booed and Mackenzie was pretty sure one of them was Ethan’s grandmother.

Mackenzie said, “I might strike out.”

“You couldn’t strike out if you tried. That first hit was a thing of beauty.”

Mackenzie smiled. “Thank you. You do know that this little escapade is going to cost you four thousand dollars, right? Anderson is having a little too much fun yelling ball.”

“He’s just doing his job, you can’t charge me for that.”

Anderson yelled in a sing-song voice, “Baaaaaaaaaalllllll three,” and Mackenzie raised an eyebrow.

She said, “That one’s going to cost you two thousand.”

Ball four came sailing over her head and Ethan had to jump to catch it.

Mackenzie lightly threw her bat toward the dugout, gave Ethan a disgusted look, and took her base. He could hear his grandmother complaining loudly but a man had to do what a man had to do. He wasn’t letting Miss Home Run near the ball again. He smiled at the glare Mackenzie gave him when the next batter struck out and the teams switched.

When he slid into third, he said, “I was sure you were going to walk me but I guess you don’t believe in playing dirty.”

“I thought about it, but then realized there wasn’t any point. You’re not that much of a threat.”

He wiped dirt from his sweats. “I’m on third base.”

“And that’s as far as you’re getting.”

Shortstop sniggered, and Mackenzie whipped her head around to glare at Ethan.

He chuckled. “I never realized how many sexual innuendos can be made with a game of softball.”

“If I lose after this, you better find someone else to fill my position. And I hope she keeps carrot sticks in her drawer and kisses your ass.”

“That would be a novelty.”

The batter hit the ball straight to Mackenzie, who caught it midair and then tagged Ethan out before he could make it back to base.

“Jeez, Mackenzie. Good thing I’m meaner than you or I don’t think I’d be winning today.”

“You won’t be winning today. Your grandmother is counting on me.”

But he was meaner than her, and he’d had years of practice charming resistance out of men and women alike. The women were distracted, the men laughing too hard (and Mackenzie knew they were laughing about her even if she couldn’t hear what Ethan was saying), and the only person immune to him never got close enough to the ball to hit it. She got one more run in, sliding and spraying dust everywhere and getting wiped down by Ethan to a lot of whistles and catcalls– and a glare by one unhappy mother. But in the end, she wasn’t a match against him and his mouth and her team lost by two.

Ethan slung a sweaty, dusty arm around her. “You do realize this is your fault. You could have won, but you chose to leave the shorts at home and wear these instead.” He pinched her yoga pants and pulled.

“If I’d have known you were susceptible to that sort of thing, I would have worn a thong. But I was sure you were immune after all those models.”

He choked and stopped, his arm falling off her shoulders. She grinned and kept walking. His grandmother was waiting for her behind the dugout and they nodded to each other.

“I don’t blame you, girlie. I think you were the only one on that team who really wanted to win.”

Mackenzie said, “Ethan could make the pope play for Allah. I think half the people who work for him came from a competitor.”

“Did you?”

“No. I was hired right out of college.” She swung her bag up. “And if I could find anyone who paid as well, I’d switch.”

Ellen glanced toward the other dugout. “I’m sure he knows that.”

Mackenzie smiled. “That’s why I can’t find anyone who will pay as much. Ethan gets what he wants and he usually doesn’t care what it costs as long as it’s worth it.”

“He gets that from his father. . . Join us for dinner tonight.”

Mackenzie’s eyebrows shot up and she shook her head. “Thank you, but I can only take so much of him a day.”

His grandmother chuckled. “I think you could take a lot more than you’re willing to admit. But I’m asking you to join Christine and me. And before you say no again, remember that I just lost a bet because of you.”

Mackenzie shook her head again, amused. “You forget I’m immune to O’Connor ploys. You lost that bet because of your grandson. I didn’t think any O’Connor would bet against their own.”

“I didn’t bet against him. It would have done the boy good to get walloped by you. We’ll be at Melisse at seven. I’ll make the reservation for three.”

Mackenzie glanced behind her, catching the gaze of his mother. She was talking to Ethan but looking at her. Christine O’Connor didn’t look like she would enjoy sharing a meal with the woman who’d threatened her son.

“It was very interesting meeting you, Mrs. O’Connor–”

“Ellen.”

“Ellen. But I won’t be able to make dinner tonight. I’m sure you can thank Ethan for me for such an enjoyable afternoon.”

Ellen smiled at her, looking like Ethan at his most winning. “I sure can. If you change your mind, we’ll save a seat for you.”

Mackenzie walked away, thinking of a cool shower and an O’Connor free night. No need to tell Ellen that only one person could get her to change her mind with any kind of regularity, and he’d used up that power for a good long while. She wasn’t going to forget today’s game anytime soon.

His grandmother called after her. “Mackenzie? It was very interesting meeting you, too.”



Mackenzie arrived at the office Thursday morning expecting the jokes and ribbing to continue. For three days now, she’d had to endure a near constant barrage of jokes, puns, and gags. It helped immensely to think of a cash-register ringing every time the word ball left someone’s mouth. She hadn’t been kidding about charging Ethan– he’d said it, he could pay for it. And it would probably cost him less than a sexual harassment suit. Just barely.

But this morning everyone was eerily quiet as she made her way to her office. There were no jokes, no exaggerated winks. She smiled at one of the interns, who blushed and looked away.

Mackenzie didn’t ever remember losing her temper over something Ethan had done but maybe he’d felt bad and told everyone to leave her alone.

That didn’t sound like him at all.

Ethan was waiting for her in her office, sitting in her chair again, and her confusion disappeared.

“Oh. Now I know why everyone looks so afraid of me. Come to rub it in?”

He looked up from the paper he was reading, his eyes hard, his mouth pulled together so tight his lips looked white.

She stopped in her tracks. “Are you okay?”

He threw the paper down on her desk. “I guess you don’t read the tabloids.”

“I try not to when I know you’re going to be in it.”

He didn’t laugh, didn’t chuckle, and she reached for the paper. Her eyebrows rose when she saw it was the National Enquirer, but her comment died on her lips when she saw the headline. And then sat down hard when she saw the pictures.

Her mouth fell open.

“I’m sorry, Mackenzie.”

She tried to tell him this was going to cost a lot more than a thousand dollars but she couldn’t get it past her lips.

She cleared her throat. “They just aren’t letting up on you, are they?”

One side of the cover in bold headline, He made me abort my baby!

And the other side was a picture of them facing each other, their bodies almost touching. There was no mistaking his grin and her smirk, and Mackenzie was sure that anybody who saw it would think they were getting ready to jump into each others’ arms. She was fairly certain they’d been threatening each other at the time.

She flipped open the paper, read the abortion article first, and then looked at all the damning pictures of them together. Him holding her in the air, his hand on her butt, his arm around her shoulders, him wiping her down after the slide.

She said, “At least these pictures all seem one sided. Maybe I can pretend you were annoying me. Oh, wait. You were.”

And then she flipped the page. “Oh, God.”

Just in case anybody had missed it, there were arrows pointing at his enlarged crotch and her pebbled nipples as they faced off.

Mackenzie closed her eyes and whispered, “Please tell me everyone thinks these were computer generated.”

“I’m sure the Enquirer would do that but I doubt they needed to. I thought I’d hid it better than that, though.”

Her eyes popped open. His lopsided grin was self-deprecating and she looked down at the paper. “Well, just let me pretend it was computer generated, okay?”

“I do have to wonder, though. If mine was real, maybe yours was, too.”

She refused to blush. “Whatever gets you through the day, O’Connor.”

She closed the paper and put it down on her desk, sitting back in the uncomfortable chair and resting her head.

She said, “While the pictures are embarrassing, I guess it’s not the first time they’ve splashed your new girlfriend on the cover.”

“Are you my new girlfriend now, Mackenzie?”

“Or someone they could pretend was your new girlfriend.”

He laughed. “I can honestly say that normally it is my new girlfriend.”

“I’m so glad you can keep your sense of humor about this, Ethan.”

He smiled and started opening the drawers to her desk. “You bring out the best in me, Mackenzie. Maybe the Enquirer knows a good thing when it sees it.”

“I’m starting to worry about you. Really, I am.” She watched him rifle through her desk. He held up a box of envelopes with a hopeful look and she shook her head. “That other thing isn’t so easy to ignore though.”

He sighed. “No. Please tell me you have some chocolate hiding somewhere.”

Mackenzie pushed herself to her feet, walked over to her filing cabinet, and took out a box of hanging folders. She took out a Twix and handed the rest to him.

“Sneaky, Wyatt.” He dug through the box, pulling out a Snickers with a satisfied look.

“Desperate measures, O’Connor. I could spend all my bonuses buying chocolate for you. Does your mother know about this obsession you have?”

“I keep my obsessions away from the innocent eyes of my mother.”

He took a big bite, leaning back in his chair. Her chair.

She closed her eyes and took a bite of Twix, crunching into the cookie and letting the smooth caramel roll over her tongue.

She mumbled around the cookie. “Just this once I’m not going to bug you about sitting in my chair. You’re having a bad day.” Her eyes flicked to the cover of the Enquirer again. “You know what, I’m having a bad day, too. I’m going to need my chair now.”

He smiled wide, chocolate smeared across his perfect white teeth. “You can come share it with me.”

“You don’t learn, do you? There’s probably someone in that building over there, taking pictures of us right now.” Mackenzie squinted out the window. “Actually, there really might be. Close the blinds, will you?”

She hurried away from the window and sat back down, slouching to hide from unseen cameras.

Ethan shot up in his chair. “I’ve just had a brilliant idea.”

“I seriously doubt that. It’s just the sugar rush, it’ll go away.”

His eyes sparkled and he laughed. “Mackenzie Wyatt. You trust me, right?”

She frowned and shook her head. “No.”

He leaped to his feet, rounding the desk. He grabbed the arms of her chair and leaned down close. He smiled into her wide eyes. “I swear I will make this up to you, Mackenzie.”

The smell of peanuts and chocolate wafted towards her and she frowned at him. “That sentence never comes after a brilliant idea. Usually it comes after a really, really stupid one.”

“Nope, it’s brilliant. You’ll hate it, but it’s brilliant.”

She grabbed his forearms. “Ethan, what are you thinking? My God, I should never have given you chocolate.”

“I’m thinking you are the answer to all my problems, Mackenzie Wyatt.”

And then he kissed her. Kissed her.

A quick peck on the lips that tasted like Snickers, and then he was gone and halfway down the hallway before she could even snap her mouth shut.

She turned in her chair to see two women standing outside her office wearing the same dumbfounded expression she was.

She said, “What just happened there?”

The two women looked at each other and then said, “He kissed you.”

Mackenzie nodded. “That’s what I thought.”



The press conference started at one that afternoon. Ethan looked his most handsome, his most charming, and Mackenzie wanted to find some Tums for the ulcer his smile was causing her. What had he meant when he said he would make it all up to her? Maybe he’d meant the pictures.

But how in the world was she the answer to any problem he had? She’d bet money she was one of his top ten irritants.

She gathered with the rest of the floor and watched the live press conference.

He addressed the accusation of beating, the abortion, and sounded very sincere and believable. He told the world that he hadn’t done any of the things he was accused of, and he could’ve killed someone on primetime and no one would have believed it after listening to him.

He looked into the camera. “I want to apologize to the women I’ve hurt in the past. I know that strong emotion can make an ordinary person a little jealous, a little crazy. What I did to them was unforgivable. I used them to ignore my own breaking heart and can recognize their need for getting back at me through the press.

“These women built hope that I would one day love them enough. That one day I would choose them. And now that I have chosen another, they’re lashing out.

“After five long years, Mackenzie Wyatt has agreed to marry me. She has worked for O’Connor Capital for more than seven years and has repeatedly refused to even acknowledge our mutual feelings. She is a very stubborn, very private woman and my life is anything but private.”

He held up the inside pages of the Enquirer and laughed. “But when even the Enquirer can see the passion between us, it’s time to throw in the towel.”

Laughter from the reporters drowned out the scream Mackenzie was trying to make. All around her, heads were turning to stare in disbelief, and she kept her eyes glued to the television.

“My fiancé is a very private person, and while she will have to get used to the attention my life attracts, I would ask that the press go easy on her for a little while. Don’t scare her off! It’s taken five years to get her to say yes.”

More laughter, a few questions that he smoothly answered, and it was over.

Mackenzie dropped into the nearest chair and put her head between her knees.



“You’ll make it up to me? You’ll make it up to me?”

Ethan could tell she was a little upset. One thing about Mackenzie, he could always tell when he’d crossed the line into no man’s land.

“If you’ll just listen to me–”

“When have I ever listened to you? Never! And do you know why? Because this is what comes out of your mouth!”

He frowned. “You’re making this into too big a deal, Mackenzie.”

She sat down hard in the chair behind her desk, grabbed the stapler and started stapling the air. He could see staples falling out the side, and he decided he’d rather have it empty anyway.

She took a deep breath. “You just announced on national TV that you and I are engaged. And that all the bad press from your ex-girlfriends are jealous tantrums. Did I miss anything?”

“You know, most women would be thrilled to be engaged to me.”

“Really? You really think any other woman in this building would be happy at finding herself unknowingly engaged to you? I’m the only anomaly here?”

He thought about it, then nodded. “Yes.”

She narrowed her eyes but didn’t bother to disagree with him. “Well, perhaps they can be taken in by a pretty face and a charming smile. I, however, know that you are not nearly as wonderful as everyone thinks.”

“And why is that, Mackenzie?” He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.

If he was going to be visiting more often, he was going to get this chair replaced.

She said, “Why can I see through your bull? A gift, I guess. Now I want you to go back downstairs, get those reporters to turn their cameras back on, and tell the world you were joking. We’re not engaged.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, honey. We are.”

He could see pressure building again and he held up a hand to stop the flow. “Just for a little while. Until I’m back on my feet. It hurts having all these women ganging up on me.”

“My heart bleeds for you. We’re not engaged.”

“I’ll let you dump me. You can say you couldn’t handle all the press and leading a public life.”

She said, “I’m not going to be able to handle it. All the attention is going to jump from you to me!”

“They’ll lose interest. We’ll have a little press conference, tell everyone how happy we are, and it’ll die down.”

She rubbed her temple with one hand, the other setting the stapler down, forgotten.

Ethan stood, moving it out of reach, and walked behind her.

She twisted in her seat, glaring at him. “What are you doing? Get back in your chair.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging. She tried to stand up but he pushed her back down.

“You’re the only one I can ask to do this–”

“You didn’t ask.”

He ignored her outburst. Of course he hadn’t asked. She would have said no.

“I know this may be hard for you to grasp but most women do love me. They fall in love with me so easily. Any other woman would start out being a friend, doing me a favor, but then she would start secretly hoping, hinting. And then I’d end up breaking her heart, watching her cry, and I’d be in the same place again.”

“Maybe you should try being less lovable. That way they’ll dump you and no one gets hurt.”

“If you and my ex-girlfriends have anything in common, it’s that you have no illusions about how lovable I am. Even if I did break noses and force abortions, my name is synonymous with Prince Charming. Every woman in the world wants her own Prince Charming.”

“I don’t.”

He spun her chair around. “I know. That’s why I can trust you.”

He knelt to one knee and the look of horror on her face made him chuckle.

“Mackenzie Wyatt, will you do me the honor of pretending to marry me?”

“You’re even nuttier than I thought you were.”

“Was that a yes?”

She shook her head. “No.”

He took her hands in his and smiled. “I’ve always wanted my very own no-man.”

When she opened her mouth to yell at him some more, he stood up. “Just think about it. I’ll give you a few minutes.”

He needed to nail this thing down before she could come up with a way to get out of it. And also alert his mother and grandma. He probably should have done that before the press conference but he hadn’t thought of it.

He might just leave a voice message for his mother. Or let his grandmother tell her. Mother had strong feelings about Mackenzie, and he didn’t want to hear them again.

He took out his phone, backing his way out of Mackenzie’s office. She was looking around for the stapler again and he closed the door behind him.

He dialed his grandmother, nodding his head at those passing him as if they were giving him heartfelt congratulations instead of incredulous looks.

When Ellen answered, he didn’t know what to say.

“Er. . .”

She chuckled. “We saw it.”

We. “Is Mother alright?”

“She’s lying down.”

He debated whether or not to tell her this was a temporary arrangement, but decided against it. He would have to get his mother on board and he didn’t think he could do it over the phone. He wouldn’t put it past her to try and end this fake engagement before it had a chance to start. He glanced behind him at Mackenzie’s office. He wouldn’t put it past her, either.

“I need to go. I have a few more interviews to give. Tell Mother everything will work out and I’ll see her tonight.”

“Bring Mackenzie.”

Ethan grimaced, imagining Mackenzie and his mother together right now. “I’ll try.” He paused. “You seem okay with this.”

“I knew the minute I saw your grandfather. Sometimes that’s how it happens. And sometimes it takes seven years and countless mistakes before you can see what’s right in front of your nose.”

He shook his head, smiling. Trying to decide if she was going to be upset when she learned it wasn’t real.

He didn’t think so. Grandma rarely did surprised or upset. She left that to Mother.

He said, “I’ll see you tonight. Try to be gentle with Mother.”

Ellen hung up on another chuckle. Ethan was glad somebody was finding this situation amusing.

He commandeered an office on Mackenzie’s floor, giving his rep a quick call to see who wanted interviews. He gave permission to confirm the happy engagement, with no date set yet.

He returned four calls to reporters, giving quick interviews with promises for more later, then sat back and took a deep breath.

When he’d seen those pictures this morning, rage had filled him. He couldn’t ever remembering feeling that kind of white, hot anger before. He’d known from an early age that he was fair game. There would be good written about him, and bad. And that was that. It was up to him to get them to spin it how he wanted it spun.

And the women he dated were already in the spotlight. They knew the pressure, the unspoken rules. . .

Most of them, anyway.

But Mackenzie didn’t, and seeing her on the front of the National Enquirer had made him seriously think of destroying those who’d put her there.

He’d gone this morning to comfort her. To tell her it would be okay.

And he’d realized after about two minutes that Mackenzie didn’t need him to protect her. Wouldn’t want him to.

And she did a damn fine job of getting him to stop moping, stop dreaming of revenge, and start thinking how to spin it.

He’d known an engagement was what he needed the moment the idea had come to him. It would silence the tabloids. Would silence any other ex-girlfriends who’d started thinking of telling lies to the press.

Would stop the speculation about Mackenzie and him.

A mystery would always tantalize and an engagement announcement would end that mystery. Of course, now there was the mystery of just who this woman was who had captured Ethan Howell O’Connor.

He chuckled, thinking of some reporter getting hold of Mackenzie and what she would say. He’d have to give her a few lessons on how to talk to the press before that happened.

He thought about taking that short walk back to her office and decided he’d give her a few more minutes to cool down. Give her time to empty that stapler, at least.



Mackenzie fumed at her desk after Ethan left.

This was all because of that stupid softball game. She’d known not to mix business and pleasure and sure enough, she was right. In less than a week, she’d gone from being a pain in the butt salesman, to meeting his family, to becoming engaged to him. She didn’t even know how to get out of it. He wasn’t taking no for an answer, and if she tried to hold a press conference she’d get laughed off the phone.

Maybe she could submit her own article to the Enquirer– He forced me to marry him!

What a nightmare.

Her emergency stash of chocolate was taking a hit today. She couldn’t concentrate. And everyone in the office had found some reason to walk by and stare at her. She knew if she left the dubious sanctuary of her office she’d be accosted, and she had no idea what to say yet. And how to say it without choking, or hyperventilating, or blushing.

The world thought she was engaged to Ethan Howell O’Connor.

How was she to ever hold her head high again? He dated movie stars and debutantes, and now he was engaged to her? No one would have believed it if he hadn’t told the world himself.

Her voicemail was full, had been full almost the minute the press conference had ended. The two most alarming calls had been from his grandmother and mother, the ten reporters following close behind.

This was going to ruin her life, and he thought she could just dump him in the end and everything would go back to normal? Sometimes he could even bullshit himself.

She had two messages from friends, one from her friend Shane.

“Is there more than one Mackenzie Wyatt who works for O’Connor? ‘Cause I swear I just heard he’s engaged to you.”

And Cassandra.

“Mackenzie! I don’t talk to you for one lousy week and the sky starts falling! What is going on? Call me!”

She didn’t know what to tell them, didn’t know what to tell herself.

Fifteen minutes later she’d snuck out to her car. There was one person who might be able to help her. One person who would be even less happy about this than she was. She should have just called but she couldn’t do it at the office. She couldn’t stay there one more minute with all those incredulous, watching eyes staring at her without shouting that there was no way in hell she was marrying Ethan O’Connor.

And that would just make her look like even more of a fool when he came back and told them she was. They’d believe him. They would always believe him.

She stopped at a gas station and used the payphone to call the number his mother had left on her voicemail. Mackenzie was the last person in California without a cellphone and normally she was proud of that. Today she hadn’t wanted to get out of the car.

His mother answered warily and Mackenzie announced herself just as warily.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

“Ms. Wyatt.”

Another silence.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner.”

“I’ll either be drunk or in prison for killing your son by then. Let’s make it lunch.”

“Perhaps this should be a private conversation.”

“I can meet you right now. The sooner you fix whatever is wrong with Ethan, the sooner we can end this pretend engagement.”

Christine O’Connor sounded a little cheerier. “Pretend? Come to the hotel.”

Mackenzie headed back downtown to the hotel. The glass high-rise of the Ritz-Carlton gleamed in the sunlight and when Mackenzie entered the modern lobby, money screamed at her. The new of it didn’t suit either Christine or Ellen O’Connor, but maybe Ethan had picked it. He would look at home here. He would look at home just about anywhere. Mackenzie’s current thinking was that he would look at home in a casket.

Christine O’Connor opened the door before Mackenzie even knocked, and she walked right in. For a moment Mackenzie wondered if it was wise to be alone with his mother and then she heard Ellen O’Connor chuckling.

“I looked like that myself a few times while I was married to Ethan’s grandfather.”

“Like you wanted to kill him?”

“Like killing was too good for him. Now, Christine was always too gentle. She never got angry with Michael like I did Grant.”

Mackenzie glanced at Christine and the frigid look she was currently wearing. Gentle was not the word she would have chosen.

Mackenzie said, “Can’t anybody keep a leash on Ethan? He’s a menace.”

“He needs a wife to do that.” Ellen grinned at her.

Christine cleared her throat. “What were you saying about this being a pretend engagement?”

Mackenzie stalked to the window, staring out at the hazy yellow air.

She said, “Ethan has decided that the best way out of this tabloid hell he’s found himself in is to become engaged to the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, he’s picked me to be that woman.”

His gentle mother said, “That does seem to be a stretch.”

Ellen came to stand next to her. “I think you’re perfect for him.”

Mackenzie and Christine both glared at her.

Mackenzie said, “He announced it at that stupid press conference before he even told me what he was going to do. Let me tell you, that’s not the way you want to find out you’re engaged to Mr. Charming.”

Ellen said, “He’s not nearly as smooth with you as he is with all those other bimbos he brings home. It’s good for him. And stop frowning, Christine. The wrinkle between your forehead hasn’t gone away since you met Mackenzie.”

Mackenzie nearly laughed at the speed his mother stopped frowning.

Mackenzie ran her hands through her hair, pulling at the roots. “I would have told you at the picnic that I wouldn’t really hurt your son, but he’s changed my mind since then.”

Christine’s frown came back.

Mackenzie said, “He won’t listen to a thing I say. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

Ellen shook her head. “That boy is notoriously hard-headed. I think you’re stuck with him.”

“Maybe you could have him committed. Just tell the press that he has obviously lost his mind.”

“I think he’s finally found it.”

Christine sighed. “You’re not helping, Ellen.”

“Someone’s got to be on his side. You two are going to be hatching all these plans against him. As his grandmother, I have a duty to protect his future and the future of the O’Connor name. This girl’s exactly right for him. We need new blood. And he needs someone he can’t schmooze all over.”

Mackenzie felt a little queasy thinking about future O’Connors. His mother didn’t look all that well herself.

Mackenzie sat down slowly on the couch, staring at Christine hopefully. “Maybe you could have both of them committed?”

Ellen sat next to her. “There are a lot of perks to being an O’Connor. I’m sure we could come to a mutually beneficial agreement in regards to grandbabies.”

Right about there, Mackenzie realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere with his mother. Maybe if Ellen had been against it, but between Ethan and his grandmother, her cause was lost. His grandmother had already told her she would bet for whatever she thought was best for Team O’Connor. Apparently she’d decided Mackenzie would make a great addition.

Mackenzie left as fast as she could and found herself at the batting cages. She changed into the sweats she kept in her car for just such emergencies and proceeded to knock the hell out of a ball that looked unsurprisingly like Ethan Howell O’Connor.



Ethan gave Mackenzie nearly an hour to calm down before he returned to try and sweet talk her again. He grinned to himself, thoroughly enjoying having to beg to get her to even pretend to marry him. After years of fending off women, he was enjoying the challenge. Although when he found her office empty, he started to enjoy it a little less. No one knew where she had gone, no one had her cell number, and she didn’t answer her home phone.

He frowned. He hadn’t expected her to run.

He ran through his voice messages, hoping she’d called, but even he realized how slim that chance was. His grandmother, though, had called to tell him that Mackenzie had arrived there very upset with him. His grandmother sounded pretty amused about it.

He called her back real quick.

“Is Mackenzie still there?”

“Nope. Came to see if we could get you to stop with this pretend engagement, then ran off in a huff after I started talking about babies and ways to keep the O’Connor men in line. She wants to have you and me committed.”

Ethan rubbed his forehead. “I should have told you it wasn’t real, but I wanted to talk Mother into it in person. Mackenzie is just doing me a favor.”

Ellen laughed outright at that. “She’s not doing you any favor if she can help it. But I’m hoping the engagement will stick. She’s the best one you’ve dated in years and I hope that brain of yours will start working and realize that before too long.”

His grandmother could be just as bad as his mother at trying to get him married off. She was just a bit more discerning.

“Did she leave a cell number or tell you where she was going?”

“No, but if I was you I’d just sit still. She’ll be back eventually to have it out with you.”

Ethan relaxed. She was right. Mackenzie would be back to give him hell, he just had to let her get over the shock.

“And Ethan. Get that girl a ring! An engagement’s not real until there’s a ring on her finger.”

He hung up. That wasn’t a bad idea, actually. He’d always found jewelry to have a calming effect on women.

He drove by her house on the way to the jewelry store, unsurprised to see a TV crew waiting already. Mackenzie would be surprised, but it was her fault for not giving her cell number out at work. Then he drove to a jeweler that he’d visited a number of times at the end of a relationship. He’d never needed jewelry at the beginning before and he wondered if Mackenzie would find that as funny as he did.

He doubted it. She would probably say it had something to do with the kind of woman he normally dated and he wouldn’t disagree with that. Mackenzie was a different breed altogether.

He found a diamond ring that would work until he could get her a custom one. It was probably better to save the nice one until she’d had time to cool down anyway.