Chapter 16

DYLAN

I step out of the car, closing the door as softly as I can. Mackenzie sits on the swing in the gazebo, wearing her sadness like a second skin. I hate that I'm the one that's made her feel this way. I feel awful.

She doesn't look up as I approach, and I can't say I blame her. It appears to her that I've mislead her, and I guess to an extent, that's exactly what I've done.

I haven't lied to her. Not once. But I have omitted things from conversations with her. Things that I haven't told any of my friends in Cliff Haven yet. The truth is, if I could trust anyone with the sordid details of my life, that person is probably Mackenzie.

I move closer to the gazebo, hands shoved deep into the pockets of my suit pants. Stopping at the entrance, I lean up against the post.

"What exactly happened, Kenz?" I dare to ask. "What did Madison tell you?"

Knowing Madison, it can't have been anything good.

"Oh, not much," she answers spitefully, the hurt in her light blue eyes sending shockwaves to my heart. "She just accused me of being the reason you're abandoning the hotel industry. Oh, and she may have mentioned you're a major player with party boy tendencies. Not that any of that should matter to me, seeing how our relationship is fake and all."

"Fake?"

We may have been putting on a show for the benefit of my parents tonight, but nothing about any of this feels fake anymore. I'd wanted her to come to the party, fake-date or friend, and if I've hurt her, I hate myself.

"Yeah, well it's not like we're really together." She pushes off the ground with her foot, setting the swing in motion.

"Why are you so upset then?"

Just as quickly, she slams her foot down and the swing comes to an abrupt halt. The pain in her stare has me wishing the ground would open up and swallow me.

"I'm upset because you've been hiding shit from me, Dylan," she cries. I wince at the disgust in her tone. "You aren't the person that I thought you were. You actually led me to believe that we had something in common."

"We do," I say, my eyes pleading with hers.

A bitter laugh escapes her. "Dylan, you used me tonight. You brought me here to shock your parents and your ex-girlfriends. I'm not like these people and you took advantage of that."

I shake my head defiantly. "No. I didn't even know that

Madison was going to be here."

She raises her eyebrows in disbelief.

"That's not the point though," I continue. "I brought you with me because I like spending time with you. I wasn't lying when I said that having you here with me made this whole party more bearable."

At least it had until my father dragged me away from her.

"Yeah, well it feels like you literally just fed me to the sharks. For the second time since I met you, by the way." She folds her arms across her chest, leaning back into the swing.

I exhale an unsteady breath as I step up into the gazebo and fill the empty space on the swing beside her. My chest physically aches knowing I've been careless with Mackenzie. She's right. She deserves more than what I've given her. I'd been stupid not to have been upfront with her.

"I'm sorry, Kenz. I should have given you a little more background information. About me, and about this whole situation. I wanted to. It's just… complicated."

"I googled you, Dylan," she admits. She thrusts her hand in the air, her phone held tightly within her grip before dropping it back into her lap. Settling her gaze on the stars in the darkened sky ahead, she lets out a groan of frustration. "God, you're fucking googleable."

I sigh, stealing a glance at the phone in her hand. Cringing, I squeeze my eyes shut before I ask her, "How much did you read?"

"Enough, I guess."

I slowly reach for the phone, my breath catching in my throat as my fingers brush hers. She opens her palm, allowing me to take it. I bring up the internet browser, still open on the google search page. Sure enough, my face fills the screen, a bunch of words below it that only describe me in vague detail.

I press on the news tab and a bunch of articles follow. I hold the phone back out to her, and she reads the top headline aloud.

"Future of Abbott group in jeopardy as Dylan Abbott, son of Ivan Abbott exits company."

My lips form a thin line as I look down toward the ground. "My dad wants me to stay on and work for him so that I can take over the company when he retires."

"But you don't want that," she correctly assumes.

"No." Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my knees. "I tried it. I worked for him for a few years while studying for my MBA but honestly, I hated it. I'm not cut out for that type of work. But you're right. I should have told you that I…"

"That you what?" she retaliates. "That you're the heir to a billion-dollar fortune?"

"Was."

"Was?" she questions, a crease forming between her brows.

"When I left the company, my parents cut me off. I think they figure that without my trust fund and credit cards I'll eventually come crawling back," I say with a subtle snicker. "Joke's on them, I guess. Living in Cliff Haven makes me happy. The tavern, the diving. Even that stupid bomb of a car."

Mackenzie is silent for a moment as she allows my words to sink in. Then she finally says, "I was wondering why you drove that hunk of metal if you were a billionaire."

My lips lift slightly in a subtle grin, my shoulders jumping up as I let out a short laugh.

"My Ferrari is in the garage round back," I admit.

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

Her eyes lock with mine, scepticism in their midst, the growing smile on her lips mirroring mine. She doesn't know whether to take me seriously and I don't blame her.

How can I when I've been keeping this huge secret?

A moment later, her smile fades. "Money doesn't impress me, Dylan."

"That makes two of us," I tell her.

"None of this makes sense. Why Cliff Haven? I mean, you could go anywhere."

"What's wrong with Cliff Haven?"

"I don't know," she replies, looking down at the ground. "Sometimes I think about leaving. Just buying a bus ticket to anywhere and starting again."

There's an honesty in her words that I don't deserve. A vulnerability that I don't feel worthy enough to witness. Not after I've hidden these parts of myself from her.

Mackenzie doesn't show her heart often, but I can see it now. She isn't as tough as she lets on. The things that have happened in her life have affected her beyond repair. She's become an expert at hiding away parts of herself too. Maybe even more so than I.

"How do you think Kristen would feel if you left town?" I ask.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "She's got her own stuff going on."

"I think she'd miss you," I say.

She gives a little shrug, pushing the ground with her feet again to move the swing back and forth.

Stopping it suddenly with my own feet, I lock my gaze on hers. "I know I would."

Her eyes stay on mine for a moment, then she shakes her head. "As if."

"I would," I argue earnestly.

"Whatever." She dips her head, pushing off the ground again, setting us in motion.

"I mean it. Besides, those beers at the tavern aren't gonna be pouring themselves."

This earns a chuckle from her and I'm so happy to have made her laugh, I don't even care that she almost shoves me off the swing. "You're the worst."

"Come on. Let's go home."

"I'm not going with you, remember? I've already googled the nearest bus stop. I just need you to put in your magic code and let me out of here," she says, nodding toward the gate.

"If you think I'm going to leave you on the side of the road an hour away from home at this time of night, you're seriously deluded."

"I'm perfectly capable of getting myself home, you know. I don't need saving," she whips around to face me, and not for the first time, I see the fire inside of her.

She may be vulnerable, but she's also the strongest woman I've ever met. A fighter.

"Well, thank God," I joke. "Because I'm no knight in shining armour and that right there is hardly a white stallion." I turn and point at my beat-up car.

"Well, no," Mackenzie agrees. "But it is white. If you don't count all the paint chips."

My head falls back as I bark out a laugh, then I turn and

plead with her. "Please Kenz. Just get in the car."

"I'm okay here," she argues, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"What are you gonna do? Wait till I drive up to the gate and sneak out behind me?"

"If I have to."

"Fine. You're stubborn as hell, so I guess there's no point in arguing with you." I stand and ready myself to get in the car. I'm only calling her bluff. I still have no intention of leaving her behind. "But just so you know, I really am sorry. For dragging you into this mess. I shouldn't have kept all this stuff from you. I should have trusted you with it."

She looks up at me, not moving from her spot on the swing.

"I never lied to you though. I do like spending time with you. I did want you here with me tonight." I swallow down the lump in my throat, remembering the hurt that I'd caused her, hating that I wasn't able to protect her from Madison's wrath.

She looks over toward the gates, like she's planning her escape from me. "Have you finished?"

"No." I shake my head. "There's one more thing."

Her eyebrows jump up as she looks at me expectantly. "Well?"

"When I said that your dress was perfect, I meant that you look perfect in it. That's all."

I turn away from her, stepping down from the gazebo. I've only made it halfway to the car when I hear her footsteps crunching on the pebble path.

"You better figure out a way to fix that window winder." Her voice cuts through the night somewhere behind me. "Your rich ego is bound to take up all the oxygen in the car and I'm going to need some air."

A smile stretches across my face as I open the driver's door. I wait for Mackenzie to round the car to the passenger side, then I hear her wrestling with the handle.

"Do you need help?" I call.

"No," she cries out, yanking it so hard, I think it might break.

A few seconds later, the door opens, and she climbs inside while I try to deny that those long, toned legs have any effect on me.

We drive toward the security gate, and she watches as I wind down the window to press the large black button on the side panel.

"Are you kidding me?" she asks, completely livid. "You mean all I had to do was press that button and I would have been free?"

I couldn't contain my laughter if I tried.