Page 16 of Chasing the Wolf (Dark Wing #7)

Chapter 16

Xavier

I 'm not used to things not going my way. I know that's rather egotistical. And counter to some of the important events in my life. My father being an asshole, him forcing me to sign in blood for an arranged marriage when I turned 18... But really, for the rest of my life I've been the golden boy.

School was easy for me. Even easier than college. Turning the family business around fell into my lap. And it's something I love. Something I'm good at. How many people can say that?

I hear yes one hundred times more than I hear no. And when I get a no, I find a workaround and turn it into a yes. The last three days have been extraordinarily frustrating. But that's okay. I'll find a way to make this work out for me and Mac.

I can see the future; I can feel it. It's just out of reach—the last two-inch gap I have to cross over. I'll find the way.

I struck out with Hope at the front desk, and again with a couple of others.

I retraced our steps from yesterday—pizza parlor, tiki bar, and downstairs to the Bj?rn Bar. No Mackenzie, which leaves only one place: her cabin downstairs, where I went and almost got her fired—or at least us both in trouble. Not that I would mind another bridge-sanctioned activity with her.

I find myself wandering the halls, watching the crew go in and out. I wonder if there was some sort of company memo given out, seeing as how everyone seems to be yanking the crew-only doors shut tightly behind them. I haven't even seen one opportunity to sneak downstairs. I suppose the ship has become more secure now.

Deep in thought, I turn down a side corridor and pause. Where am I? I'm not going to get lost on the ship now. I find my way to the lobby and sit on a bench under the staircase, a grand piano to my side. I pull my phone out and text her again.

Me: Can we please meet?

I watch three dots appear and disappear, appear and disappear, until finally she responds.

Mac: I can meet you. Something quick.

Me: Have you had dinner?

Mac: Dinner is a date, not something quick. I'm not having dinner with you, Xavier.

Me: You have to eat.

Mac: I'm not hungry.

Me: Isn't that what happens when you're in love?

I erase it quickly. Dropping the L word isn't something that's going to get her to try anything with me, but then I think about it and... I do. I love Mackenzie Northwood? I think the real question is, when haven't I loved Mackenzie Northwood? And I'm not sure I should even try to answer that. There's no way I won't end up in trouble. I try again.

Me: Magic can have side effects.

I erase that too.

Me: What about some pie?

She used to love pie. Like obsessively, irrationally love pie.

Mac: That's not fighting fair.

Me: I didn't know we were fighting.

I stand and look around and march over to the first crew member I see. "Excuse me. Where would I find the best apple pie on board?"

"Today?” He laughs. “It’s Pi Day. Hoard dining room, if you can get in.” He smiles and keeps walking.

Me: I hear the best pie is in the Hoard dining room.

Mac: That's dinner.

Me: Not if you only eat pie.

Mac: There's a dress code.

Me: So wear a dress.

The dots come and go again.

Mac: I don't have clothes for the Hoard dining room.

Me: There are stores on board.

Mac: I'm not buying formal wear to eat pie. Even if it’s Pi Day.

Me: I'll buy it for you.

I hit send before I think the whole thing through. Shoot. Is she going to think I'm trying to buy her again?

Mac: Colette works in the Hoard. She brought me leftovers from Pi Day last year. It's worth being bought. But now I feel bad because I couldn't be bought for school children but pie is my hard limit? It's not a good look.

Me: I've already sent the money to the school. It was a low blow, and it made me feel gross.

Mac: Me too. Why didn't you tell me?

Me: Because I didn't want you to think I was still trying to buy you. I'm not. I want a partner, Mac. I want you.

Mac: It’s really good pie, the executive chef's secret family recipes. This doesn't mean anything. I'll meet you in the lobby to get the dress. We'll have to be quick if we want to make it to the seating.

Me: Right, I'll get changed and be there in ten.

I watch the bank of elevators move slowly and ditch them for the stairs. Back in 1414, my clothes go flying and my tux is on in under three minutes, and I race back downstairs. I meet up with Mac as she pops out of the crew door.

"You really like pie?" I inhale as she passes me, but there's nothing. Her hair's pulled up in an elegant bun. And fuck, I think she looks great the way she is. She's wearing a tight black tank top and black three-quarter leggings. Sexy as all get out, and my body is taking over. There's nothing I wouldn't give this female. If I'd realized her draw to pie earlier, we might be farther ahead than we are now. "You look..."

She stops. "I clean up all right. You just had a tuxedo in your room?"

"Yes, Mac." I button the bottom button of my coat.

"I guess gone are the days of the backwards Maine Bears baseball hat, jeans, and a ratty concert T-shirt now that you own a bougie brand."

"I still own and wear all my concert T-shirts." Far more than my social media manager would like. Clothes and shoes continually appear at my apartment and office. With notes on how to wear them and when. Some are swaps she's arranged with other brands. Most are things her team and stylist have purchased for me to wear to elevate our brand. "You look lovely, just like you are."

"Yeah, this isn't going to cut it for the Hoard dining room. Rex, the ma?tre d' and technically my boss, will have no mercy on me. I briefly looked in Colette's closet to see if there was anything of hers I could borrow, but she's taller and thinner than me and there's nothing. There's got to be something in the back on the sale rack, I'm sure. Something I can throw over my leggings so we can get out of here and go get us some pie."

"If I'd known you were motivated by pie, I would've suggested this earlier."

"It's not just any pie. Today is the day Chef does her pie array. And yes, that’s done on purpose. It's not every cruise. It's only because of it being Pi Day. If you finish the array you get a pi day pin."

"Pie day?" I ask.

"Yeah, as in P-I not P-I-E," she says.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Today is March 14. You know, 3-14. And pi, the geometry formula for the circumference of a circle, is 3.14 blah, blah, blah."

"And that's a holiday?"

"Everything's a holiday on a cruise ship, but this is the best one. Normally, I just get the leftovers down in the crew cafeteria. Or what Colette can scavenge for me. So I've never had the full selection before."

"I'm glad I asked."

She's already halfway into the store, making a beeline for the back racks. "Come on, slowpoke, let's get going. I really wanna find something quickly."

When have I ever thought shopping was fun and wished I had more time for it? Never. But now I do. There are all kinds of gowns and dresses, and I want to see Mac in all of them. I just want to know what they look like on her. I just want to buy the entire store out to wrap her in luxury, away from all dangers. It's what I've done my whole life, shielding her from danger, but I want to do it in a way that is much more positive.

I grab a black sequin dress from the rack whizzing by. "How about this one?" I hold it up.

"That one is not on sale."

"So?"

"I'm going to buy whatever I end up getting. And I, unlike you, am on a budget."

"Does the dragon not pay you enough?"

"He pays just fine. I love my job, and I love being on the ship. But..."

"But what?" I loop the black dress over my arm and grab a red one I think is in her size. Mac doesn't stop. She's charging for the back of the store. She smiles and waves at the shop clerk.

"Hi Mackenzie, do you need anything?" the shop clerk asks.

"Hi, Josie. Just something for the Hoard dining room. Something quick. I'm going right now."

"Oh, lucky, you have some pie for me. I think I have the perfect thing for you. It's not on sale, but it's not too pricey."

"What's not too pricey?" Mac asks.

"Maybe I've been working here too long." The clerk drops the price tag. “There might be something your size on the back rack. Let's take a look.”

I grab the dress the clerk was suggesting for Mac. It's barely anything at all price-wise, and it would look really great on her. Low-cut with some beading on the sleeves, a cinched waist with a slit skirt but still modest enough. I throw that one on the pile too.

When I get to the back of the shop, Mac is rifling through clothes. Hangers screech as she pushes them aside. “No, no, not that one either,” she says.

“I don't know. I don't know if there's anything here, Mackenzie," Josie says. “I mean, if I can just find you a skirt, it should be fine. The top, maybe Rex wouldn't say anything.”

“He wouldn't say anything if I was a passenger. But yeah, he'd say something to me.”

“Okay, let's keep looking over in the men's section. We can find an oversized shirt that we could cinch into a shirt-dress.”

“Ladies," I say. “Why don't you try some of these on?" I hold up the four, no, five dresses I've already collected. "Please, Mac?"

"You know, Mackenzie, if a male wants to buy you a dress, let him buy you a dress. It means more time for eating pie."

"I hate that you're right, Josie."

Josie takes the hangers from me. "This way, Mackenzie. I'll set you up in a fitting room."

Mac rolls her eyes at me. "I was just going to pull them on like my mom used to make me do at Tarmart."

"Mackenzie! This isn't the souvenir shop on the island. I'd get in trouble if I let you do that." Josie laughs.

Mac vanishes between the curtains.

"Let me help you,” says Josie. “If I zip you up, we can get this done a lot faster."

Now I'm having fantasies of being the one to zip her up in the dressing room. Better yet, being the one to unzip her and slide the gown into a puddle at her feet.

I cock my head at Josie. "The blue one." It's the priciest one from the brief flip of the tags I did. But it will look fantastic on her and make her eyes pop even brighter.

"I'll see what I can do," Josie says.

Before she leaves to help Mac, I take a tag off a dress hanging in the aisle. It's a quarter of the price of the blue dress. I flash my eyes to the blue dress and to the tag. Making it clear that I'm willing to pay retail for the dress and I'm not trying to pull a fast one.

She nods. "Good idea," she mouths. "Not the first time," she says out loud.

"Not the first time for what?" Mac asks behind the curtain.

"Not the first time I've had a male excitedly waiting for a beautiful female to come out in a gown."

"The dress is pretty. Me, meh?" She laughs.

My wolf roars under my skin. "Mac."

"Relax, there, big guy. I'm not insecure. I'm a realist."

I growl.

Josie steps into the dressing room. "Mackenzie. That is gorgeous on you."

My hands twitch, wanting to open the curtain.

"It's good. I'll take it," Mac says, the urgency of pie in her tone. I hear her breath hitch. Was she looking at the price tag? "It's fine. I'll just work more."

"Mac? Let me buy the dress for you. And let me see."

Her head pops out between the curtain panels. "No."

"Am I going to have to be blindfolded while we eat pie?"

"That's not a bad idea. But I don't think Rex the ma?tre d' would like it. He gets finicky about the dining rooms."

"Then let me see."

She steps out into the dressing room corridor, and now it's my breath that hitches.

"You're breathtaking."

She’s covered from her wrists to her neck, but there’s a tantalizing slit up her right leg that flashes her taut calves when she moves. "You don't have to?—"

"It's the truth." I reach for her, but she steps away. The red looks great on her.

"He's right, Mackenzie, you look hot."

"Thank you." She smiles at Josie.

"I know you're pressed for time. But you need to try on the blue one. It's on sale. Look." Josie has discreetly switched the tags with the dress in the hall. It's scary how good and fast she is. She's either a witch or a former pickpocket.

"Whoa, all right then. Let me try the blue one on."

The bell from the front entryway rings. "I'll be right back." Josie darts out of the dressing room. "Hello, how can..." she says to someone in the distance.

"Well?" Mac pivots, placing her back to me. "Can you unzip me? Just get it started, and I can do the rest."

"Happy to help." I hold the top of the fabric and slide the zipper way past helping. Until my knuckle slides along her lower spine. My wolf is searching for any sign of scent from her, but there's nothing. Nothing but goosebumps prickling her arms. "Mac?"

She spins dangerously close to me, her hands clutching the top of the dress to her breasts. "Xavier, I..."

There are so many things I want to do to her. I run my finger down the side of her cheek. "Mac... it's not the dress that has the beauty. Your hair, your nose, your lips are all beautiful. It's this.” I lay my hand on her chest.

"You're a breast guy, eh? Well, not much there." She laughs, trying to break the tension.

"It's your heart. That's what's the most breathtaking thing in the room." I press my lips to her cheek. It might have been a chaste kiss if it weren't for our bodies being aligned and my cock pressing into her core.

Mac's eyes flash at mine. There might be something she wants more than pie. But pie will come first.

"The blue one. You heard Josie. It's a good deal." I step out through the curtain. My wolf groans at me.