Page 45 of Seizing Mack
Chapter Twenty
~ Mack ~
Mack stared at thescreen and exhaled. She wasn’t proud of what she’d done. Was this what her errant female hormones had reduced her to?
She blamed Nick. Ever since their coffee date she’d been thinking crazy things. Like maybe she’d actually found a guy (besides Jay) who enjoyed her company. Someone who she liked, as well. Someone with whom a friendship might blossom into something more.
She’d thought that guy might just be Nick Benning.
That was days ago. Now, she wasn’t quite as hopeful as she’d been. She’d thought their ‘date’ had gone well, but Nick hadn’t called since. He hadn’t texted. They hadn’t crossed paths atSeize. Mack had to be realistic and consider the possibility that Nick was simply a nice, friendly guy who didn’t share the same powerful attraction to her as she had to him.
It wouldn’t be the first time. Some women were just meant to stay in the friend zone, what Mack liked to refer to as the ‘always a bridesmaid’ phenomenon. Except in Mack’s case, she didn’t have a lot of female friends so she had never been (and probably never would be) a bridesmaid, either.
That realization, along with a sprinkling of self-pity and a few glasses of wine, had prompted her to take action.
“I’m home!” Mack startled at the sound of Jay announcing his arrival, Thank God it was him and not Dee. If Dee saw her on a singles match site she’d never hear the end of it.
Then again, Dee hadn’t been around much. She’d been keeping herself scarce ever since Mack officially fired her. That conversation hadn’t been as satisfying as she’d imagined, because Dee told her that she’d already received a call back from Tish and was planning on quitting anyway. That was okay with Mack. She no longer had to worry about Dee harassing clients or screwing things up and making everyone else’s job harder.
Another bonus: since Mack spent most of her time atSeize, her interactions with Dee were limited and more easily managed. Dee was no longer expected to rise at the ‘ass crack of dawn’ (as she’d put it), so she slept in and stayed out late, which further minimized face time. The less time, the better, in Mack’s opinion.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
Mack looked at the dark, silent phone next to her. She’d been keeping it nearby, ‘just in case’ Nick happened to text. “It didn’t ring.”
Jay came over and took a look. “That’s because it’s out of charge again.”
“Can’t be. I haven’t even used it.”
He scowled, tapping and swiping the screen. “Jesus, Mack. You’ve got like fifty-two open windows and six apps running. Don’t you ever close them down?”
“I thought I did. I just press the home key, right?”
He shook his head. “No, genius. You’ve got to actuallyclosethe windows. You know, ‘x’ marks the spot? That’s what is running down your battery.”
Huh.
“And what the hell, Mack? Why are you using my wireless charger as a coaster?”
She looked over at the small black disk, the one her empty wine glass was now sitting on. It surelookedlike a coaster. Or maybe a mug warmer, since there was a wire coming out the back of it.
Jay snatched up the glass, putting her phone in its place, glancing at her laptop screen in the process. “Hey, what is that, a dating site?”
“Yeah.”
He frowned. Mack didn’t know why he would, though. He often encouraged her to be proactive with her love life (or glaring lack thereof). “Any luck?”
“Oh, yeah. Loads,” she answered. Even her sarcasm was laced with defeat.
“Do tell.” Jay sat down on the couch next to her and got comfortable.
“Well, okay. Let’s start with Tom, here.” She touched the screen and a picture of a lanky man with poker straight hair cut into a style that had gone out with grunge. “He’s employmentally-challenged and looking for a strong woman who’s not hung up on stereo typical male-female roles.”
“Translation: he’s a mooch.”
“Bingo. But he’s a prince compared to this guy.” A swipe of her index finger took her back to a previous profile. Stylishly-short blonde hair hung artfully over the left side of his forehead, stopping just above mossy colored eyes so green they had to have been Photoshopped.
“This is Chad. He was captain of his high-school gymnastics team, and proudly counts himself among the gifted one percent of the human male population that is sufficiently well-endowed and flexible enough to suck his own dick.”
