Itisn’t just me, either— a glance at this woman tells me that she is currently having thoughts of punching her date, too.Ihave no doubt that she can get herself out of this just fine.Butthat doesn’t meanIshouldn’t offer to help, just in case she wants it.
IignoreCarlfor a quick second to make eye contact withMackenzieand mouth “Help?”Mylips barely move—Ilet my raised eyebrow do the bulk of the asking.
Thewoman shrugs, but then she gives me a faint smile and a subtle nod.Ourtwo-second conversation probably would’ve gone unnoticed even by people looking straight at us.
Carlreaches across the table andIgrab his hand with mine and give it a shake as he says, “Thankyou.”Theguy is thanking me when he is the one who risked everything over the past two months by spying on people at his company to get us the information we need.
Istand, vacating his wife’s seat. “Thankyou,Carl.I’lltake it from here.Relax, and have a great anniversary evening with your wife.”
“She’swalking in now,”Charliesays in my ear.
Whew.Icut it a bit close.Idon’t even look back toward the door to confirm—Ijust walk in the direction of the kitchen whereIcan see the waiter.AsIpass the table withMackenzieand the guy whose faceI’mseeing for the first time,Ihear him telling a story about his ex-girlfriend and how her brother didn’t like him, so he planted some drugs in the guy’s truck and then tipped off the police.
Classyguy.Iroll my eyes.
“I’mgoing to be a minute longer,”Imutter just loudly enough forCharlieto hear and hopefully not obvious enough to make it look likeI’mtalking to myself.
“Whatare you doing?” she asks. “Pleasetell me you’re not staying forMackenzie’ssake.”
Iignore my handler, but it doesn’t surprise me that she also picked upMackenzie’sname.Shecan eavesdrop on multiple conversations with the best of us.
“Jace, you can’t protect every random girl you meet.Besides, from what your mic picked up,Ican say with almost complete confidence that she can handle herself just fine.”
“Iknow,”Isay, right beforeIreach the waiter.ThenIhand the man my credit card and tell him thatI’dlike to pay forMackenzie’sand her date’s meals, and thenIask him to pack hers in a to-go container.Hedoesn’t seem surprised by any of it, but then he was witness to enough of the guy’s personality to guess thatMackenziewould want to leave.
Iturn and smile whenIseeCarl’swife beaming likeCarldefinitely gave her his “Ithink you’re great” smile.ThenIhead back towardMackenzie’stable.Iam really going to enjoy introducing myself to her date.
CHAPTER3
THE MUTUALLY AUTHORED ORIGIN STORY
MACKENZIE
Mostpeople think there are only red flags in dating, but there are lots of colored flags.Likeblue, where one person in the relationship really brings the other down.Orgreen, when one is really jealous or insecure.Yellowis for the incompatibilities that may or may not be deal breakers. (Likewanting to live in different parts of the country, or putting the toilet paper roll on under instead of over, or being the kind of person who spoilsTVshows or movies.)
Purpleis where one is controlling or manipulative.Andthen orange, which is when one person shows about as much enthusiasm about the relationship as a sloth on tranquilizers.Orthe sometimes elusive pink, where every issue is ignored because of rose-colored glasses.
Thisguy,Spencer, is basically a bag ofSkittles.
WildBerry-flavoredSkittles, specifically, because he doesn’t have any orange and he’s got alotof red.Plus,Idon’t think he’s actually watched many spy movies or he would know how theCIAworks.
Ismile and nod politely at my date as he tells me about his ex.Yes,his ex.Butthe nice part about his story is that it showcases even more colored flags, leaving me no doubt that leaving this date early is the right thing to do.
Thehottie without a suit coat— who had been sitting for several minutes in a booth whereI’dhad the perfect view of him— walks up to my table and says, “Mackenzie, is that you?”Hegrabs a chair from the empty table behindSpencer, pulls it over to our table, and takes a seat.
Fora split second, hearing this man say my name makes me wonder if we actually know each other.Butno,I’venever seen him before today.Hemust’ve heardSpencersay my name.Heobviously heardSpencermake that comment about how he’ll show me how much he knows about me later because he seemed as bugged by it— or by the way my date said it— asIwas.
Istill can’t believeIsaid yes when this complete stranger asked me ifIwanted help.Ido feel likeIneed to end the date soon, butIdidn’t feel likeIneeded help before he offered.SowhydidIsay yes?
Maybebecause at first glance, the man appears to be everything my date is not.Self-assured.Confident.Suave.And, okay, maybe a bit like he’s interested in me instead of only being interested in telling me about himself.AndmaybeIam curious to know if he actually is as he appears.
“Hi,”Isay as if we are long-lost friends. “It’sso good to see you!”Now, if onlyIknew his name.AmIgoing to have to introduce him toSpencer?MaybeIshould start thinking of a fake name to say.
“You, too.Wow.Ithas been so long.Whenwas the last time?Senioryear of high school?”
“Senioryear,”Isay, nodding, not having a clue where this is going but very interested to find out. “SinceIleftLeesburgto go to college.”
“No, wait,” the man says. “Youcame back home thatChristmas, remember?Weall got together atBurgerBliss.”