Eraser Crimson by Megan Keith, Renee Kubisch Page A

caught a glimpse of a dark-haired man knocking at her apartment, two doors down.
    “Nate?”
    Nate turned to see Mackenzie walking down the hallway, a petite blonde trailing her.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    “I couldn’t stay away.  Thought I’d give you a lift to work.”  He put one arm around Mackenzie’s waist and held his other out to her friend.  “Hi, I’m Nathaniel Pierce.”
    “Andrea.  Nice to meet you, Nathaniel.  Well, he’s better looking than you made out.”
    Mackenzie’s face reddened in embarrassment and she scowled at her friend.
    “I can see your dilemma, Mack.”
    “What dilemma?” Nate asked, looking back and forth between the two women.
    “Oh well, we were just having a coffee and Mack here was telling me how hard to resist you were.”
    “Was she now?”  He chuckled, pulling Mackenzie closer to his side.  “She’s pretty damn irresistible herself.”
    “Right.  Well, that’s enough embarrassing Mackenzie for one day.”  Mackenzie pulled herself from Nate’s hold and walked back to her apartment.  “Good bye, Andrea!” she called, opening the door.
    “What else did she say about me?” Nate asked with a wink.
    “Good bye, Nathaniel,” Andrea said with a smile, shutting her door in his face.
    Nate laughed, then followed Mackenzie into her apartment.  He took a seat on her sofa when she called from her bedroom, “I’ll be ready in a minute.”
    “Did you get all your errands done?” he called out but didn’t get a reply.
    When she returned to the room in her work clothes she was unable to meet his eye.
    “You didn’t have any errands did you?  What’s going on?  Do you want me to go?” he asked, standing and preparing to leave.
    “No!”  Mackenzie held her hand to his chest.
    “Well, what then, Mackenzie?”  He sighed with frustration and ran his fingers through his hair.  “You need to be honest with me.” 
    “That’s a bit rich coming from you!”
    “Mackenzie, I explained-”
    She jumped up against him and pinched his lips together so he couldn’t talk.  She gave him a wicked smile.  “I know, I know, I understand.  But, Nate, you need to understand something too – I’m used to being on my own and you’re … frustratingly overbearing.”  He tried to speak but she clamped down on his lips to stop him.  “I needed some thinking time, and a bit of girly advice, surprisingly, and I’ve decided … I’m done fighting this.”  She removed her hand to finally let him speak.
    “Really?”  His beaming smile caused Mackenzie’s heart rate to spike. “So if I ask you to pack your things and move into my apartment you’d say yes?”  He wrapped his arms around her waist.
    “No, that’s taking things a little too far.”
    “Well, it was worth a try.”  He chuckled.  “What brought this on?”
    “I had a good chat with Andrea and she made me see sense.  I want to see where this thing between us can go.”
    He looked around the apartment before letting her go and stepping toward a bouquet of daffodils.  “I’ll be right back,” he said, picking up the vase, leaving the apartment and a confused Mackenzie behind.
    He held the flowers in one hand and knocked on Andrea’s door with the other.
    “Hi?” the blonde said when she opened the door, a confused look on her face.
    “These are for you.  Thank you, Andrea.  Whatever you said to her, I appreciate it,” he said, passing the flowers to her.
    “Um, okay, sure, thanks.”
    He turned in time to catch the beautiful laugh leaving Mackenzie’s lips.  He strode back to her and scooped her up into his arms.
    Mackenzie squealed as her legs wrapped around his waist.  She looked over at Andrea who was grinning wildly.
    “Oh. My. God!” Andrea silently mouthed giving her a thumbs up behind Nate’s back before he kicked the door shut.
    “Make me a sandwich woman!” Nate bellowed as he dropped Mackenzie to her feet in the center of the kitchen.  He