Page 54 of Striking Heat

I’m not sure who could possibly be at my door. No one usually comes to see me. And if they do, they don't show up unannounced. I’m not big on spontaneous visitors.

I rip the door open, and there she stands.

I wasn’t expecting to see Mac this evening. I had hoped she would be with me tonight, but after the way we left things in the diner, she was the last person I expected to darken my doorstep tonight.

“Hey,” she says.

I just keep standing there and staring, trying to process whether or not she’s real. I want to reach out and touch her. Make sure I’m not hallucinating or dreaming.

“Uh, Danny? Are you okay?”

I shake my head to pull me from the fog.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Hey. How are you? What are you doing here?” I ask, a flurry of questions sprouting out of my mouth. I reach up and rub at the back of my neck.

“I thought I would come by and surprise you.” She rocks on her heels. “I’m sorry, should I go?”

She looks behind her, back to her car.

“Oh, you drove here?” I tease her. “I thought you might have attempted to walk here too.”

“Funny.” Her brows furrow, a look of confusion marring her beautiful face. “So, are you going to let me come in?”

“Yeah, you can come in.” I move to the side and gesture for her to enter.

“Thanks.” She enters the house but lingers in the entryway. “If you have plans or something tonight, I don’t have to stay. I just thought I would come over and see you tonight. I felt bad about the way things were left at the diner.”

She’s rambling and I secretly love it. I love how uncomfortable and rambley she gets when she’s nervous, like she is right now. I can see it all over her face, the way her eyes are searching around. I’m not sure if she thinks someone is here or if she’s looking for signs that I was preparing to leave.

“I probably should have called you first, but I wanted to surprise you,” she rambles. “Do you like surprises?”

I laugh and motion for her to follow me into the living room. She listens and we make our way over to the couches. “Please sit down, Mac.”

She lowers herself onto the chair.

“I don’t usually like surprises. However, this is a nice one.” I smile at her. “I just wasn’t expecting company.”

“Do you plan everything?” she asks with a smirk.

“Normally, yes. I like to have a plan.”

“Did you plan the other night? When you and I went home together?” she asks me.

“No, that just kind of happened. A lot like you showing up here tonight.”

She nods. “I thought maybe you would still like to do that pizza picnic or something.”

“I thought you were busy tonight and had to get home very quickly,” I remind her of what she said to me before she ran out of the diner earlier today.

“Yeah, I’m not the best at sharing. And I’m certainly not the best at being interviewed. I wish Cromwell would have known that before asking me to do this article.” She shrugs and adds, “But I guess you might be figuring that out already.”

I laugh. “A little bit. Why do you think I show up at training and other team functions? It helps me to see you in your own element and talk to the people you work with. Gives me a much better idea of who you are instead of trying to get that out of you.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because it’s the way I am, and I know it makes it harder for people, especially people like you, to do your job. I’m not the easiest person to get along with sometimes.” She smirks at me. “But I’m working on it.”