Chapter Twenty-Five

MacKenzie rolled into the pillow clutching at the sheet wrapped around her. God, it was morning already? Her mind struggled to pull up memories of last night. She remembered arriving at Senator Clinton's function, but the rest...well the rest was foggy.

She could feel the sun glowing against her skin, wait sun? Jon's daughter's room had high windows and the sun never hit her bed. She jolted upwards and screamed when her head popped at the sudden movement. She crashed back down into the pillow. “Oh fuck...” the pain blinded her. What in the hell? She adjusted her eyes slowly and the room came into focus, He came into focus.

Holy mother of god. She was in his bed. She tugged the sheets up higher around her body, why couldn't she remember this? Was she drunk? What in the hell happened here?

“What happened?” She closed her eyes as the sun burned her eyeballs. There better be a decent explanation why she couldn’t remember ending up in his bed.
Wiping a hand over his mouth, he stretched. "Do you want the censored for TV version or the reality of last night?”

“Oh, god—give me the reality.” She rubbed her throbbing temples, none of which ignored the fact he was lying topless in bed next to her. Oh crap, they had sex and she can’t even remember it? She peeked under the sheet and breathed a sigh of relief, she had underwear on.

He curled his fingers into the sheet. It was better than fisting them into her rumpled hair like he wanted to. He had every intention of making light of it, even teasing the holy hell out of her but the look on her face just wouldn't let him.

"The best we could figure, was that you were dosed with one of the glasses of wine last night. You were a bit...uh," he cleared his throat. "I guess roofied is the closest term to what happened to you." He tried to bury the images of her crawling all over him the night before along with the memory of the firm perfection of her ass that spooned him most of the night. He'd never wanted to bury himself inside a woman so badly. "I honestly tried to put you into your own bed but..."

He glanced down at the sheet clutched against her breasts and then zeroed in on her eyes. "The only way I could get you to go to sleep was in here.”

“Oh god,” she wanted to be mad at herself, for making a stupid careless mistake after everything that had been happening to them. She unknowingly put them in danger last night.

She nodded before opening them again and meeting his eyes. "Ok.. I'm sorry that it happened. I should of been more careful what I was doing." She watched him lean back and prop his hands behind his head against his pillows. This is not how she ever imagined waking up in Jon's bed. Ever.

As he leaned back and yawned, even with the pounding jack hammer in her head she wanted to roll into that chest and curl up until the pain went away. "Did I do anything ... stupid?"

He looked into her earnest eyes, the embarrassment was already deep enough. "No, just a little..." he grinned, trying to lighten the moment. "Well, a little cuddly. I didn't know you were such a teddy bear sort, Kenzie."

She winced, “yeah-I’m like that when I’m drunk, evidently high as well now I guess. I totally came onto you didn’t I? And didn’t take no for an answer?” He chuckled and all she wanted to do was sink under the sheets and disappear. Even with his bed hair and sleepy eyes, she was an internal mess.

“How did we get home?”

He scratched his hair and rubbed his chin, “you directed me to just lay low until we could get out, until you became –uh over keen.”

She put her hands in her face, “Christ, I’m so sorry Jon. Thank you for getting us out of there ok. I’ll ring David this morning and report this in. It was that Puerto-Rican waiter, right?”

He nodded, “yeah. He left after the job was done though. I didn’t notice anyone else.”

Her hair was tumbled everywhere and the makeup, well...God love women. Even with mascara smudged eyes he wanted to just roll her under him and take a taste of her. And if the firmness of her ass was anything to go by, the thighs would be equally destructive around his hips. He sat up, swinging his feet off the bed. God, he hoped the morning erection coupled with thoughts better left unsaid was hidden as he stood up.

Without a backward glance, he headed for the bathroom. "Don't worry, Mac, I won't hold this against you." He half turned at the door, keeping his back to her. "All bets are off when this is over though," he said quietly, turning back to the bathroom and the cold shower that was his only option. He still wanted to know who the hell Brian was, but now wasn't the time.

What kind of bodyguard was she here? She should have been more fucking careful. “Ugh,” disgusted with herself she waited until she heard the shower spray before padding back to her room to collect her robe. She patted her belly as it growled, she needed food and coffee so she could think straight again. The least she could do for him was make him breakfast since he had to do her job last night.

Her red dress, purse and shoes led a trail from the door to the middle of the living room floor. Oh god, seriously? She stripped off? Her cheeks burned and thanked god he wasn't here to see it as she scooped it all up and dumped in on the couch. Where in the holy hell was her gun?

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the leather of the strap twisted around the small revolver lying on the breakfast bar. She swore and jammed on the coffee, collected the eggs, bacon and cheese and set to work. She fished through the cupboard for an aspirin. God, of all things it had to be him MacKenzie.

As he towelled off, Jon swallowed down a shudder. Full blast cold hadn't even been enough to keep his dick from rolling out the red carpet for a morning of sex and more sex. It had been a long time since he'd actually slept with a woman in his bed. He was no saint since the divorce, but he preferred uncomplicated arrangements that rarely included a sleepover.

Having this woman in his house, his life, his space was hard enough, but now to add the feel of her in his arms to the list was about as close to cruel as you could come in stretch of hell. He couldn't even come up with a complaint, like bed hog, sheet stealer or roof rocking snorer. No, Kenzie was as close to comforting as it came for him.

He was used to sleeping alone. Even through his marriage he was alone more often than not. But here, with her tucked in so trustingly. He snapped his towel out and stepped into a pair of jeans. No, he had to be haunted by her soft skin and the lace of a woman comfortable with her body. Haunted by things he couldn't touch.

Leaving the top button open he padded out to the living room for his iPhone. Maybe he could get some work done at least. And he didn't give a shit if he was rude, he needed to stay away from her for a few hours at least. The smell of bacon and coffee drew him into the kitchen, his phone a distant memory as his belly growled. Well, he could ignore her after breakfast, surely.

"Hey," he said from the doorway, his shoulder resting on the door jamb.

She flipped the omelette and turned around, as if waking up beside him wasn’t enough punishment, there he stood in a pair of jeans not even buttoned up. Her eyes trailed up his flat belly to his chest, before meeting his eyes. “Hey, hope you’re hungry.” For food.

Then it came back. The night flashed before her eyes as the aspirin cleared away the fog, she was all over him like a horny teenager, pawing—touching, oh god she touched him. The sizzle of fat on her hand broke the stream as her cheeks flushed, oh fuck. “Shit,” she twisted the cold tap on and shoved her hand under it. How could he just stand there and say nothing to her when she practically tried to—she wanted to vomit. The heat of his skin, the feel of him growing hard in her hands...it was all there, in Technicolor in her head.

“How can you just stand there after what I did—“

So she remembered, he wasn’t going to make her suffer, but he took a small comfort knowing she remembered it now. “That you tried to rape me?” He grinned folding his arms.

She flipped the omelette, “Jon that’s not funny. God, I’m so sorry. I should have never—“ Despite the fact she was heavily attracted to him, this was so not what she’d ever had planned.

He stepped forward, then rocked back on his heels. Unsure what his next move should be, he went for the coffee pot instead. "You don't have to worry about last night, Mac. I know you weren't yourself. There's a reason roofies are illegal." Though if part of the allure was a woman without restraint, then he could see the appeal. He hated that it appealed, but a woman as strong as Kenzie wasn't a victim with that in her veins, she was a weapon.

He knew she would have felt bad. She wasn't the type to like the loss of control, and whatever had been in that glass was definitely the opposite of control. He poured two heavy mugs, leaving enough room for her blue water...er, skin milk, that she put in her coffee. Not sure why she bothered. Christ--nasty stuff.

He snagged the skim from the fridge and fixed it to her preference, setting it next to the stove before sipping from his own mug. "We'll just chalk last night up to a learning experience."

She chuckled, and served a generous pile of egg and bacon onto each of the plates. She nodded and picked up her mug, “Thank you. And Thank you for...” he could have very well taken advantage of her, especially with the crazy tension that flowed between them.

He lifted his mug, “for having blue balls this morning? No problems.”

She laughed, “oh god. I’m seriously so embarrassed, I mean it’s not that I wouldn’t have wanted—“she put down the mug. “Again, I’m sorry I put you in that position, when it’s my job to protect you. And thank you for getting us home safely, I appreciate it.”

They both stood in a comfortable silence sipping their coffee and he smiled. Her mind flashed back to the fight they’d had before they’d gone out. “This is sounding like a broken record, but I’m sorry for the kids thing—I should have told you earlier about the pictures and the threat. I’m going to get some work done after this, and then I promise we’ll talk, I’ll keep you informed of anything I find out today.” It wasn’t how she usually operated, but she owed him the honesty after what he did. She hated to admit, they made a pretty good team and ironically she trusted him with her own life.

He sat down, lifting his fork. He wasn't exactly a breakfast guy, but it looked really good to him. He was a two egg white guy before his workout, but the full carb explosion was just what he needed. He stood, pushing down some toast as he rounded back with raspberry jelly and a knife. Shoveling in a mouthful of egg and cheese he nodded. "I appreciate it. I got a few texts from my oldest son last night that hit a little closer to home than normal."

The toast popped and he slathered it in butter and jam, rolling his bacon in the center. "My kid doesn't text me unless I bug him. He knows something's up, they all do."

She sat down beside him and dug her fork into her eggs and scooped a huge mouthful into her mouth. “I know, and you haven’t seen them for awhile, and that’s out of the ordinary when they know you’re at home, not on the road. I get that.” She took a large gulp of coffee, “I’ll sort this somehow. See what I can do. "Until then, you are going to have to put up with me. Are you sure you can handle it?" He’d have every right to pull out now if he wanted to after last night.

"Well, I guess we're going to find out, now aren't we?" He folded a piece of bacon into his mouth. He was willing to try again. Handing over his life to this woman wasn't something he was willing to do a day ago, but after the last attack...he couldn't put his family in harm's way. Even if it meant cow-towing to a woman nearly half his size. She knew best, and he had to start trusting her sometime..