keys. Offer holds for exactly thirty seconds.”
Chin lifted, Linda picked up her coat. “I apologize for my daughter’s behavior, Carter.”
“No need. No need at all.”
“Better hope this one’s tolerant, or you’ll end up alone. Again.” With a last glance at Mac, Linda sailed out.
“Well. That was bracing. I wish you hadn’t given her the keys,” he began and started toward her.
Mac threw up a hand to stop him. “Don’t. Please don’t. I’m sorry you got caught in the middle of that, but please don’t.”
“Please don’t what?”
“Anything.” She lifted her hand a little higher as she took a step back. “I don’t know what I was thinking. God knows what I was thinking. I told myself it was a mistake. I knew I should stop it, just stop it before it got this complicated. But I got caught up. It’s my fault.”
“I take it you’re not talking about your mother anymore.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Carter. This? This you and me thing? It can’t go anywhere. It can’t go where you want it to. It’s not you, it’s—”
“Don’t.” He cut her off. “Don’t make it a cliché. You’re better than that. We’re better than that.”
“It is me.” Because her voice wanted to break, she sharpened it. “I’m not equipped for this. I’m not the long-haul girl. I’m the one who panics and runs out of your house because it got a little too comfortable.”
“Ah. That explains that.”
“That’s me. Do you get it? I’m not what you’re looking for.”
“You can tell me what you want, Mackensie, but not what I want.”
“Of course I can. You’re . . . infatuated enough to imagine we’ve got a future. To want one. You’re traditional to your bones, Carter, and it won’t take long for you to want a solid commitment, marriage, family, the house, and the three-legged cat. It’s how you’re wired, and I’m telling you the wires got crossed with me.”
She tossed the whisk she’d yet to use in the sink. “You don’t even know me. This has been a flirtation, a sexual buzz, a reflection of something old. A crush that intrigued you and flattered me, and we’ve let it go too far too fast. We’re rushing along here to nowhere because the road’s been smooth. But there are potholes and bumps. God, we haven’t even had a fight, so how can we think—”
“That’s all right,” he interrupted. “We’re about to. I’m not sure who you think less of at this moment, yourself or me. Do I want commitment, marriage, family, the house, and the damn cat—which I already have, thanks. I do, eventually. That doesn’t make me an idiot.”
“I didn’t say—”
“Potholes and bumps? Welcome to the world. Every road has them. They’re there to be navigated, avoided, driven over or through to the other side. Your problem is you keep driving straight into the pothole that is your mother, and letting that wreck the rest of the trip. She’s not to blame for your poor navigation skills. You are.”
“I know very well . . . Wait a minute. Poor navigation skills?” The first hints of temper flushed her cheeks. “I know where I’m going, and how to get there. I just took a detour. Stop talking in metaphors.”
He cocked his brow. “I believe you took that one and ran with it. Detour my ass. We have something together. It may be something neither of us anticipated, but it’s real.”
“I have feelings for you, Carter. Of course I do. Obviously I do. And that’s why I’m telling you we need to step back. We need to reevaluate.”
“Why do you let her run your life?”
“What? I don’t.”
“She’s a selfish, self-involved woman who strips you emotionally because you allow it. You give in, give her what she wants rather than standing up to her.”
“That’s ridiculous and unfair!” The anger in her tone contrasted with the calm in his, and made her feel foolish. “I lent her the damn car to get her out of here. And that doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Then I’d say you need to reevaluate that apparently unhealthy relationship.”
“That’s my business.”
“Yes, it is.”
She took a breath, then another. “I don’t want to fight with you. I can’t fight with you right now even if I wanted to. I have to work and prep for the event, and . . . God.”
“Understood. I’ll get out of your way.”
“Carter, I don’t want us to be mad at each other.” She dragged a hand through her hair as he picked up his coat. “I