Pixie's Passion by Mina Carter Page A

speech
out as she rooted in her purse for her cellphone. Flicking it open
she scanned for new messages and breathed a sigh of relief. No news
was good news. It meant the babysitter was coping with her two
monsters.
    "...the owner of Mackenzie Plasma Products,
Mr Mackenzie is offering to whisk the lucky lady who wins his date
off on a luxury evening which will include dinner and dancing on
his sumptuous yacht, the Lady Jane ..."
    "Oh my god...would you look at that!" Joanie,
Teresa's co-worker and partner in crime, hooted as a man stepped
out from the wings and started down the runway. Suave and
sophisticated in a classic tuxedo he had the sort of dark good
looks that wouldn't look out of place in a Bond movie.
    "The name's Mac, Big Mac."
    Joanie fell about giggling at her own joke as
Mackenzie strutted his stuff on the catwalk. Teresa had to admit,
he was good looking. But his brand of slick good looks left her
cold. Too like Mario, her ex husband and the bane of her life. He'd
been a charmer too and had had her convinced she was his one and
only.
    It wasn't until the car accident that had
taken his life that she'd found out she was one of many. That the
wedding vows Mario had taken he'd said so often he should have been
word perfect, usually without the little matter of a divorce in
between, and that a wife back in Italy ensured that neither she nor
their two children were entitled to any of the De Luca fortune.
    "You, are drunk. Already."
    The bidding was fast and furious as Teresa
shook her head at her friend's giggling. Joan couldn't hold her
alcohol. Just one drink, especially the complimentary champagne on
their table, and she was anyone's.
    "Yup! And you should be too! To the good Mr.
Mackenzie and his gorgeous ass!"
    Joanie's catcall dropped right into a lull in
the noise, her comment clearly heard throughout the room. Including
the good Mr. Mackenzie himself who turned and winked right at
her.
    "Ohmigod, ohmigod , he heard me,"
Joanie squeaked and disappeared under the table as everyone in the
room looked their way. Mortification burned across Teresa's cheeks
as she thrust her hand under the tablecloth and tried to grab hold
of Joan.
    "Get your ass up here girl, everyone's
looking at me," she hissed as her cheeks glowed neon. At least, if
the lights in here went out, they'd still be able to see.
    Joanie slapped her hands away, stopping her
friend from hauling her back up to face all the people staring at
them. People who were all grinning at Teresa, obviously thinking
she'd been the one to make the ass comment.
    "Girl, you are so dead when you come
out from under there."
    "Well, we know Mackenzie has one dead cert in
the room," the auctioneer laughed and moved smoothly on. "Okay,
next up is the listing from paranormal club Moonlight &
Magic . Waiter Cy is a bad boy looking for the right woman to
tame him, if only for one night...Christmas eve. So, for all the
lovely ladies in the audience...here's one Christmas present you
won't forget!"
    The next figure to step out from the wings
onto the catwalk stole Teresa's breath right out from her lungs. He
was tall and stripped bare to the waist. All the better to see the
tattoo's that covered his arms right down to the fingers hooked
into the loops of jeans that rode low on his hips.
    He stood in the middle of the stage for a
moment, his attitude pure arrogance as he looked around the room.
The lights had to be blinding him but still he looked, ice blue
eyes sweeping across the crowded tables. A collective feminine sigh
whispered around the room and even Teresa's traitorous body sat up
and took notice. She didn't want it to, she was done with men. So
done after Mario that if she'd found other women in the least
attractive she'd have given up on men completely. But there was
something about this guys defiant stance that sent a shiver down
her spine.
    His head turned and he looked straight at
her. Teresa's breath caught as his blue eyes burned into hers. He
couldn't possibly