Some Like It Charming - By Megan Bryce Page 0,11
is a very stubborn, very private woman and my life is anything but private.”
He held up the inside pages of the Enquirer and laughed. “But when even the Enquirer can see the passion between us, it’s time to throw in the towel.”
Laughter from the reporters drowned out the scream Mackenzie was trying to make. All around her, heads were turning to stare in disbelief, and she kept her eyes glued to the television.
“My fiancé is a very private person, and while she will have to get used to the attention my life attracts, I would ask that the press go easy on her for a little while. Don’t scare her off! It’s taken five years to get her to say yes.”
More laughter, a few questions that he smoothly answered, and it was over.
Mackenzie dropped into the nearest chair and put her head between her knees.
“You’ll make it up to me? You’ll make it up to me?”
Ethan could tell she was a little upset. One thing about Mackenzie, he could always tell when he’d crossed the line into no man’s land.
“If you’ll just listen to me–”
“When have I ever listened to you? Never! And do you know why? Because this is what comes out of your mouth!”
He frowned. “You’re making this into too big a deal, Mackenzie.”
She sat down hard in the chair behind her desk, grabbed the stapler and started stapling the air. He could see staples falling out the side, and he decided he’d rather have it empty anyway.
She took a deep breath. “You just announced on national TV that you and I are engaged. And that all the bad press from your ex-girlfriends are jealous tantrums. Did I miss anything?”
“You know, most women would be thrilled to be engaged to me.”
“Really? You really think any other woman in this building would be happy at finding herself unknowingly engaged to you? I’m the only anomaly here?”
He thought about it, then nodded. “Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes but didn’t bother to disagree with him. “Well, perhaps they can be taken in by a pretty face and a charming smile. I, however, know that you are not nearly as wonderful as everyone thinks.”
“And why is that, Mackenzie?” He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.
If he was going to be visiting more often, he was going to get this chair replaced.
She said, “Why can I see through your bull? A gift, I guess. Now I want you to go back downstairs, get those reporters to turn their cameras back on, and tell the world you were joking. We’re not engaged.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, honey. We are.”
He could see pressure building again and he held up a hand to stop the flow. “Just for a little while. Until I’m back on my feet. It hurts having all these women ganging up on me.”
“My heart bleeds for you. We’re not engaged.”
“I’ll let you dump me. You can say you couldn’t handle all the press and leading a public life.”
She said, “I’m not going to be able to handle it. All the attention is going to jump from you to me!”
“They’ll lose interest. We’ll have a little press conference, tell everyone how happy we are, and it’ll die down.”
She rubbed her temple with one hand, the other setting the stapler down, forgotten.
Ethan stood, moving it out of reach, and walked behind her.
She twisted in her seat, glaring at him. “What are you doing? Get back in your chair.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging. She tried to stand up but he pushed her back down.
“You’re the only one I can ask to do this–”
“You didn’t ask.”
He ignored her outburst. Of course he hadn’t asked. She would have said no.
“I know this may be hard for you to grasp but most women do love me. They fall in love with me so easily. Any other woman would start out being a friend, doing me a favor, but then she would start secretly hoping, hinting. And then I’d end up breaking her heart, watching her cry, and I’d be in the same place again.”
“Maybe you should try being less lovable. That way they’ll dump you and no one gets hurt.”
“If you and my ex-girlfriends have anything in common, it’s that you have no illusions about how lovable I am. Even if I did break noses and force abortions, my name is synonymous with Prince Charming. Every woman in the world wants her own Prince Charming.”
“I don’t.”
He spun her chair around.