She stops chewing. Her face turns dark pink and her eyes glisten. Shit. I said the wrong thing. She turns and tosses her half-eaten chicken and biscuit into the trash. She doesn’t look at me. Wiping her fingers with a napkin, she walks into the living room. Her back is to me and she’s dead quiet.
“MacKenzie?” I ask as I put my own chicken on the counter.
“No. Don’t say anything. I’m embarrassed—I was eating like a pig.” She finally looks at me, but her eyes are wary. “Go tell your guys to come in and eat before it gets cold. I’ve got to, um, go do laundry. I’ll get out of your way so you can get your work done.”
“Babe?”
“Please, Sam,” she says softly. “Don’t.”
I nod at her but shake my head at myself as I watch her walk into her bedroom. “I’m such an idiot,” I mutter. I pull my phone out of my pocket and text my guys.Food.
In seconds, the door slams open and all three guys scramble down the steps. Only one hits his head on the pipe. That should teach him to miss it the next time.
“Boss, dude. This food is fantastic,” Tucker exclaims.
“Better than my mom’s,” adds Lewis.
MacKenzie returns to the main room with a basket of laundry. “Hey, guys,” she says with a smile. “I’m MacKenzie.”
“Hey, MacKenzie,” they all say in chorus.
“Thanks for doing all of, um, whatever it is you’re doing. I’ll feel a lot safer now.”
“Our pleasure,” replies Gill. “Your place is really cool, MacKenzie. Did you do all this work yourself?”
“No, my grandfather did it.” She smiles tremulously and takes a deep breath. “I’ll see you guys later. I’m going to throw this laundry in.”
I nod and smile at her, but she avoids looking at me. I don’t ask where the laundry facilities are—since I’m the world’s biggest ass, I guess I’d better keep my questions to myself right now. As MacKenzie heads up the stairs, I shake my head at myself. Iamthe world’s biggest asshole. Definitely. No doubt. A world-class asshole.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
TO ERR IS HUMAN
While the guyseat their dinner, I grab tools out of my car and go to work on the door, first replacing the old lock with a brand-new Gerda G1000 High-Security Single Cylinder Rim Lock. It’s a little pricey for a basic deadbolt, but it’s the best lock of its type on the market. I add an August Smart Lock to her door, too. MacKenzie can control the smart lock with a smartphone. She can choose who can enter her place, automatically lock it after she closes the door, and when the app is installed on her phone, she can access an activity log.
The windows are a different story. The things are flimsy as hell. If I pushed on one, I bet the entire window would fall out. I’ll ask Gill to measure the windows while she’s at work, and I’ll order new ones and have them installed. Maybe I can talk her into switching from windows to glass block. Those are impenetrable. Her one and only egress window will need to be replaced, too.
I check my watch and note the time. I’m concerned McKenzie’s been gone over two hours. Lauren showed up not long after MacKenzie took off with her laundry. She’s been helping Gill out with the motion lights. Well, she’s handing him tools. It’s made his day, I can tell you. He had a thing for thegirl until he found out she was married. The guy was hard to live with for two days after that.
“Where are you, MacKenzie?” She had one basket of laundry—she should be back. I reach for my phone.
Me: Where are you, sweetheart?
I hear the ding of a phone nearby. I stand to text again.
Me:Do you have your phone?
Ding. I see the face of her phone illuminate from the kitchen counter. “Great.”
I lean out the front door and call out to Gill and Lauren. “Hey. Where’s the closest laundry place?”
Lauren responds first. “There are two nearby. One of them is scary as hell. I think she’d go to the one further out. She has to take a bus or get an Uber to reach that one. Did she take an Uber?”
“Not sure.” I was too busy being a dick to notice. “Can you two hang out here? I want to go look for her.”
Lauren nods. “Sure. I’ll wait here. I’ll call her, too.”
“She left her phone here,” I say, pointing to the counter.
