McKenzie said nothing. She was too afraid that this moment would end. Yes, they were good together.
But for how long?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
An entire week passed with no word from Byron. Great sex — then nothing.
McKenzie knew this was how it was going to end, but even knowing that didn’t help. Why should she be so upset? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been through worse…a lot worse. She had been through hell and back a few times, and that a guy had used her for sex — great sex, mind you — and had then thrown her away shouldn’t make her feel as if she didn’t know which way was up anymore.
But each time she got a text message or the phone rang, her heart skipped a beat. What did it even matter? If he called or asked to see her, she would respond with an emphatic no. They were done. She wouldn’t be used by him. By anyone.
Sitting at her desk back at Seattle Accounting, trying to do her job, she listened to her phone ring and took several deep breaths before answering it. She didn’t care if it was Byron on the other end of the line, although she knew it wasn’t. And no, it wasn’t.
But no matter how many times she told herself this, she couldn’t get past the little ache in her chest each time it wasn’t him. Someday this would stop. Until then, she needed to just go on living her life.
She couldn’t take any more today. There was just no way. Deciding to call it an early day, she let Zach know she was leaving, gathered her purse and coat, and left the building.
It was a typical cool autumn day in Seattle — if any days or any weather could be called typical anymore — and the last thing she wanted to do at three in the afternoon was return to her empty house. She had loved that home from the moment she’d walked through its doors knowing it was hers. But now it was just another place where she was all alone.
When had being alone been a burden? She’d survived a long time on her own, and she really shouldn’t care, but after being with Byron — no matter how short a time it had all lasted — she was discovering she didn’t want to be alone anymore.
She walked down the street two blocks over to her favorite pub, or what she hoped could still be her favorite pub, now that it was tainted with memories of being there with Byron, and stepped through the doors. The familiar noise, smell, and feel of the place helped soothe her nerves.
She moved to the back, sat down, and soon placed her order. Routine. That’s what she needed. The more uniform her life was, the more she would appreciate it. Soon, she wouldn’t have to think about Byron at all. Her life would just go back to the way it had always been.
“I hope you don’t mind some company, sweet cheeks.”
McKenzie looked up with disgust as Nathan plopped down across from her.
“I do, actually. What in the hell are you doing here?”
“Awww, don’t be like that, love. I just wanted to visit,” he said, his weasel-like smirk in place.
“A smarter man would take a hint and stay the hell away when it’s obvious he’s not wanted around,” she said to goad him.
His eyes narrowed, but then he leaned back and smiled. The waitress came up and he ordered a drink before McKenzie could tell the woman he wouldn’t be staying long.
“I’ve missed you, McKenzie,” he said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand before she could yank it away.
“I don’t know why you’ve decided to appear in my life again, Nathan. But you were the worst mistake I’ve ever made, and that’s saying a lot,” she said, “since I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I don’t want to be anywhere near you. I don’t want you around. If you can’t take a hint and disappear, then I guess the law will help you to.” She tugged against his hold, but she was reluctant to cause a scene in the bar, and he had to be well aware of that.
“I screwed up when you were younger. We all make mistakes. I think we could be good together, though, now that we’re both older and wiser,” he told her.
Bile rose in her throat when he caressed the top of her hand with his thumb.
“Are you listening to yourself? You drugged me and let a man rape me. That’s not screwing up. That’s assault,” she said. What a worthless excuse for a human being. She was flabbergasted.
“Look, I’m nearly broke, and I have nothing and nowhere to go. You’ve done well for yourself…” He shrugged, finally releasing her hand.
“Yes, I have done well, in spite of the way you treated me, of what you did to me, and what you planned on doing to me. I feel nothing but disgust for you — isn’t that obvious? — and I don’t ever want to have anything to do with you again. Leave me alone, leave this city if you have any sense, and stay the hell away from me,” she snapped.
“You are such a hypocritical bitch. Yeah, I may have drugged you for that first time, but you sure snatched up the money quick and spent it on who knows what, and then you opened up your own little whorehouse where you did the exact same thing that I did,” he said, his voice quiet but fierce.
“I did take the money, and I did run, to get as far away from you as possible. And I opened up that place to stop men like you from taking advantage of innocent women. The women I hired? I saved them; I helped them to have a better life. I don’t care what you do with your life, Nathan. I don’t care if you rot in the streets. You will never again take advantage of me, and you won’t threaten or blackmail me. Our time is done. If I see you again after today, I will simply call the cops. As you damn well know, I’ve done it before.”
She looked him in the eyes, knew she couldn’t back down. Men like Nathan needed a weak woman to survive; they needed easy prey to feast upon. She was no longer vulnerable, no longer weak. And now that he’d lost his power over her, he would cower before her and run away with his tail tucked between his legs.
And just as she’d expected, he slumped a little, defeat on his face. “You owe me,” he muttered.
“I owe you nothing,” she snarled. “Now get the hell away from me.”
She felt nothing but contempt for this man. When he didn’t move immediately, she pulled out her phone. After that little incident at her house, she had a restraining order out on the man. And he knew it.
She started dialing the police and he immediately stood up. “Fine, I’m going,” he said, his voice almost a wail.
“And don’t come back.”
He just nodded and walked away.