Will had just stepped back into his office from his bathroom after changing back into his own clothes after their news broadcast when he heard commotion and even whistles from the bullpen. He stepped outside, joining Neal, Gary and Jim. He noticed Kendra, Tess and Tamara dressed in dresses and clearly ready for a night out.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"They're going to Magic Mike Live." Neal explained. "They've been talking about it ever since they got their tickets last week."
"What's Magic Mike Live?" He wondered if it was a concert. "Is it a concert?"
Kendra, having heard the topic of conversation, joined the men. "Magic Mike Live is what we deserve after all our hard work."
"That's not an answer to the question." Before he could ask again the room fell silent. Will looked up and saw Kayla and Maggie walk in. Kayla was dressed in a green, knee length dress. She walked straight up to Neal, who took her hand, twirled her around and then kissed her softly on the lips telling her she looked beautiful.
"Maggie, you look beautiful." Kendra gave her friend a quick hug then joined Tamara and Gary.
Maggie was wearing a black lace dress with a sweetheart neckline, open shouldered and short banded sleeves and an above-the-knee hemline. She looked a bit shy at the glances she was getting, her eyes lingering on Jim's who seemed to be trying his hardest not to stare. Seeing she was uncomfortable, Will approached her. "You look really beautiful tonight, Maggie."
She smiled a bit shyly at Will's compliment, but she appreciated his words as well as his company. "Thank you."
Thinking that maybe Maggie might tell him where they were all going. "Wanna tell me what this Magic Mike Live is where you ladies are going? Is it music?"
Maggie giggled at that. "Not exactly."
"Here, we'll show you." Kayla said as she and Kendra joined Maggie and Will. Quickly finding the video on her phone, she pressed play and handed her phone to Will. Only a few seconds into the video Will knew enough and gave the phone back to Kayla. Clearly they were not going to a concert. "That's not a concert." He stated dryly.
"But there is music." Tess, who had joined them now too, added. "Good music."
"You're not going for the music." Martin pointed out. He had joined the small group that was forming. Ever since the ladies had gotten their tickets the show had been a frequent topic of conversation. There had been a lot of teasing by their male colleagues.
"Still without good music it would be difficult for them to put on a good show." Kendra laughed, knowing it wasn't a good argument.
By now everybody had joined the small group that had formed. Will looked around and didn't spot MacKenzie. He wondered if she was going to the show too. He noticed Sloan was missing too. "Are all of you going?" He asked Maggie, interrupting her conversation with Jim.
Maggie nodded enthusiastically. "It's a girls' night out. We've all been looking forward to it."
"Mac is going too?" He tried to go for nonchalance as he asked, knowing all too well that he wasn't succeeding. With all the women dressed up for their night out he couldn't stop himself from wondering how she would look. MacKenzie always looked beautiful, though when she dressed for a night out she was breathtaking. Even more heads would turn and back when they'd been together he'd always felt lucky to have her at his side. He'd also often made sure other men knew she was with him by putting a hand on her back or wrap his arm around her waist. He was certain she'd noticed the possessive gesture, yet she'd never seemed to mind which pleased him.
First it was Sloan who walked into the bullpen, followed by MacKenzie. He didn't know if he was the first one who'd spotted MacKenzie, he didn't care. All he could see was her. By some invisible force he was drawn to her. As he walked to her, where she stood with Sloan, he looked her up and down. He couldn't look away if he wanted too, not that he wanted too. "Mac." Her name a mere whisper on his lips. He was in awe of her. She was breathtaking in her dark burgundy knee length flared cocktail dress, with a deep V-Neck and V-back, which showed off her beautiful curves, as well as her long, lean legs.
"You're going dressed like that?" Was what he blurted out instead of complimenting her.
"What's wrong with this dress?" MacKenzie smoothed an imaginary crease. She'd bought the dress a few weeks ago, glad to now finally have an occasion to wear it. She'd seen it in a boutique shop's window one evening as she'd walked home. The next day, during her lunch break, she'd gone to the shop hoping the dress was available in her size. Luckily it was and when she'd tried it on she'd been thrilled with the way it looked on her. She felt pretty in the dress. She'd even hoped that Will would see her in the dress and he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off of her. This wasn't like she'd hoped it would go.
"It's a bit revealing." As soon as he'd said it, he regretted his words.
"Don't be sexist, Will." She pushed against his shoulder.
Before he could apologize Maggie rushed over to MacKenzie. "Mac, you looked beautiful!"
MacKenzie smiled. "Thank you."
"This is the dress you talked about, right?"
"It is."
"You look gorgeous, Mac." Don smiled at her as he gave her an appreciative look, one that didn't go unnoticed by Will. Touching Don's shoulder MacKenzie smiled and thanked him. The next to compliment MacKenzie was Tess, who had something else to add too. "Are you trying to get picked out of the crowd and get on stage?"
A few of the women started giggling. Will's eyes had never left MacKenzie's and her reaction surprised him. She quickly bowed her head, and maybe she thought she hid it from the others, but he saw it. MacKenzie was actually blushing. She was cute when she blushed, cute and adorable, and clearly something was up.
"What happens on stage?" He asked, his eyes never leaving MacKenzie.
"A lapdance is what happens." Kendra answered.
"Here, I'll show you." Tess had already found a video on her phone and was ready to show it to Will.
Softly he pushed Tess' hand away. He didn't need to see the video. Het got the gist of it. He moved around till he was next to MacKenzie again. He carefully, as to not startle her, he placed his hand on her waist and leaned a bit closer. "You look amazing." He said softly, not wanting the others to be part of their conversation. He waited till she looked at him and held her eyes. "You look really amazing."This time he liked her blushing a whole lot more knowing his words were the reason for it.
"So Magic Mike Live," he said, "you actually like that kind of show?"
"My sisters went to the London show. They highly recommended it."
"Really?"
MacKenzie nodded. "Perfect girls' night out they said."
"Did either one..," he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.
"Time to go, ladies!" Sloan announced. "We don't want to be late." The women gathered their coats and purses, all of them ready for their night out.
Having put on her coat, purse in hand, MacKenzie was about to join the others when Will stepped in front of her, blocking her path. With an eyebrow raised she waited for him to say something.
"Enjoy your evening and…"
"And?"
"Be careful." He added.
MacKenzie smiled. "I will." She patted his chest.
"Can you…," he hesitated. He didn't want her to take what he was about to say the wrong way. He just worried about her. "Can you send me a text when you're home?"
He surprised her with his request. Looking at him she could see the sincerity in his eyes. When they'd been together, he always asked her to let him know when she either got home or was on the way to their home. Her relationship with Will had become better, stronger even, over the last few months. They spend more time together, mostly still work related, but she still felt they were finding their way back to each other. She didn't want to jinx it and decided it was best to let him set the pace. She squeezed his hand. "I will." Walking away she felt his eyes on him. Just before she walked through the door and out of sight, she let herself look back over her shoulder and found him still looking at her. Feeling suddenly shy, she quickly looked away and then stepped out of sight.
Will's thoughts often drifted to MacKenzie during his evenings at home. Something that seemed to happen more frequently during the last few weeks. That Friday it was even more than usual. Not only because of the image of her in that dress, but also because he kept getting text messages with photos of the night out the women of News Night were having. At first he hadn't understood where these messages were coming from. Then, after Martin had replied, he'd realized they were all part of a text group that someone had set up and apparently the girls had decided to share their adventures. There was a lot of teasing going back and forth which made him smile. He was proud of the tight knit group the team at News Night had formed. He knew MacKenzie was to thank for that. Having her back in his life had been a surprise, one he hadn't handled well, but one that was needed. He had needed her, he still needed her.
He hadn't replied to any of the message, finding it to be inappropriate since he was their boss, but he had seen every photo and read every text. He paid extra attention to the ones that were about MacKenzie. There was one with her, Sloan and Maggie, but all he saw was MacKenzie. She was all smiles, her eyes sparkled, clearly she was enjoying herself. He loved seeing her this happy. Though part of him wished he was there, not because he wanted to watch the show, but because if he was there he could at least think he was making her happy and smile like that. It had been too long since he'd been the reason for her happiness and the smile on her face.
It was later on in the evening when the photos got a bit more blurry, clearly they were all having a lot of fun. There were some remarks from the guys asking if they'd brought enough bills and who got picked out to go on stage. The only answer that came, was at what he guessed was the end of their night out, were a few photos of them watching the show. One caught his eyes not surprisingly was the one with MacKenzie. Her head tilted to the side, her cheeks were adorably flushed, her smile held a bit of embarrassment making him wonder what that was about, and from her eyes he could see she was tired and ready to go home. He felt an ache realizing he wanted her to come home to him, where she would crawl into bed with him, he'd wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. When MacKenziewas in a mood like she appeared to be in now, tired and maybe a bit tipsy, she was clingy and he secretly had always loved it when she needed him close.
When he finally got MacKenzie's message that she'd gotten home safely he went to bed. It was then that he got another message from her, one that made the ache for her within him resurface ten times stronger.
Wish I could have come home to you, Billy. I miss you.
He wanted to reply, he was even tempted to get dressed and go over to her apartment to tell her he'd wanted her to come home to him too, that he missed her just as much. He couldn't though because the only reason she'd send the message was because of her current mood otherwise she wouldn't have send it. Also he wouldn't be able to deal with opening his heart to her and to have her realize the next day that she'd made a mistake. He would talk to her on Monday, really talk to her, and try to figure it out.
On Monday morning Will was one of the first at the office. More importantly by arriving this early knew he'd be earlier than MacKenzie. He hung his coat in his office, dropped his suitcase on his desk, quickly went to MacKenzie's office, sat down and waited for her.
As she walked into work on Monday morning MacKenzie was lost in thought. She'd hoped that by Monday morning she would have come to some sort of resolution. Unfortunately and despite all the thought she'd put into it, she wasn't any closer to a solution. The reason for the turmoil wasn't that different than other times, the subject was always Will, but this time she was more confused because of the way he'd acted on Friday evening. It wasn't just the way he looked at her when he'd seen her in her dress. It had been his concern for her safety. More importantly it had been how he looked at her when she'd walked away and looked at him over her shoulder. She'd seen something in his eyes and it had given her hope. She'd tried for most of the weekend to squelch the feeling because nothing could come of it. Every time she thought that a little voice said maybe there was hope. Over the weekend that tiny little sliver is what she got stuck on and had caused havoc on her.
With a coffee in her hand, her bag in the other, her coat slung over arm, MacKenzie opened her office door.
"Good morning MacKenzie." Will greeted her.
Startled MacKenzie spilled her coffee all over her blouse. She cursed as the hot liquid soaked her blouse. She took hold of her blouse and started waving it to avoid the liquid to soak her blouse and onto her skin. "Goddamnit Will." She exclaimed. "Isn't it bad enough that you ruined my weekend? Now you have to go and mess up my Monday morning?"
Will was next to her as soon as he saw her spill the coffee. He stood there helpless. He didn't have any tissues nor did he think she would appreciate it if he suddenly started touching her chest. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay." She walked over to her desk, dropped her bag and coat onto it and threw her empty coffee cup into the trash can. "I've ruined a perfectly good blouse. Or better said you ruined my blouse." Usually she had some spare clothes at her office. Not this time because she'd needed them last week.
"What did I do?" He'd followed her back to her desk.
"You scared me!" Picking her coat back up again she angrily pushed him away. "Now I need to go back home to change."
"Wait Mac." Will following her out of her office. "How did I ruin your weekend?" They hadn't seen each other. How could he have ruined it? At the elevator he leaned against the wall as they waited. "How did I ruin your weekend?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She pushed the button again, knowing all too well it didn't make the elevator get there any faster. Finally the doors opened. She got in, pushed the button to get the doors to close and just before they closed she looked at Will. "I'll be back for the first rundown."
Will was standing at Jim's desk, talking to the younger man, when Tess, Tamara and Kendra walked in. A few minutes later Maggie had joined them too. As he stood there, Will overheard the women talk about their night out. It wasn't long before MacKenzie's name got mentioned which made him step a little closer.
"I still can't believe they picked Mac." Kendra said to Tess. The women were all gathered around Maggie's desk.
Trying to be inconspicuous Will grabbed a file and inched closer to Maggie's desk.
"Me neither."
"Ooh come on, she looked fantastic in that dress." Tamara said, "it was obvious that she'd drawn attention. Especially from that tall blond guy."
There was a tall blond guy? Will's hand on the file tightened. He didn't like the sound of that.
"Ooh, he was hot."
Maggie nodded. "He was."
"And those moves." Tess added.
"Yes, those move."
Will looked at the women. They all seemed to be lost in thought, all even looking a bit dreamily. Who the hell was this blond guy they were talking about who had picked his MacKenzie. Wait a minute, he suddenly remembered Friday's words, was MacKenzie picked out of the crowd for a lap dance on stage? Having heard enough he was ready to walk away when Kendra's question stopped him.
"You think he got her number?"
"Wait, what?" Maggie looked from Kendra, to Tess, to Tamara.
"You weren't there?"
"Where?"
"After the show," Tess started explaining, "we were in the lobby, getting our coats. MacKenzie was alone standing a bit behind us, when the lap dance guy approached her."
"No way."
"They were talking for quite a bit. From the way he was touching her, it seemed as if he was trying to persuade her to go home with him."
Having heard enough Will walked away feeling angry and jealous. He hated feeling jealous and he hated it even more that only MacKenzie had that effect on him. He stayed in his office brooding till it was time for the first rundown meeting.
Walking into the conference room he immediately noticed MacKenzie wasn't there. Second thing he noticed as he took his seat, was that the subject of conversation was Friday's night out. He kept his mouth shut, but every time MacKenzie's name was mentioned he listened closely. None of it was doing his mood any good. By the time MacKenzie walked in with long strides he'd heard more than enough.
"Okay, everybody let's get started." MacKenzie was all business. She studiously avoided Will's eyes the entire meeting. She felt them on her and it took all of her willpower not to look at him. At the end of the meeting she left the room before the others. She didn't have to look back to know Will was right behind her. Stepping into her office she took a deep breath. She dropped her binder on her desk and sat down. She was surprised when it wasn't Will, but Maggie and Tess who stepped into her office. She guessed someone probably had stopped Will from following her into her office.
"Did you go out with the hot blond guy?" Tess never was one to beat around the bush.
"Who?" She stepped around her desk.
"The blond Magic Mike Live guy who picked you to go on stage, gave you the lap dance and then looked you up after the show." Thinking she needed a reminder Tess showed MacKenzie her phone with the recording she'd made of MacKenzie's time on the stage.
Before she could say anything Will joined them in her office. "What are we watching?" He asked as he saw the three women looking at Tess's phone.
"It's Mac." Tess held her phone a bit higher so Will, who was now standing behind her, could see what they were talking about.
What he saw was MacKenzie, in her gorgeous dress, sitting on a chair, on the stage, a shirtless guy's with his hands on her knees pushed her legs apart, stepped up to stand between them and started grinding against her.
"Okay, that's enough." MacKenzie quickly grabbing Tess' phone. She really didn't need Will to see anymore footage. "Please delete the video." She addressed Tess.
"I will after I send it to you."
"I really don't need…" She tried, but Tess cut her off.
"You really do need it. Remember when he lay you down on the stage and started to.."
MacKenzie held up her hand to stop Tess. She really didn't want her to finish that sentence with Will present. She glanced at Will who looked at her with curious eyes. "Don't you have work to do?" She asked, focusing back on Tess.
"What did he start to do?" Will asked. He was enjoying MacKenzie's obvious discomfort, his anger and jealousy temporarily pushed to the back of his mind in favor of teasing her.
Glaring at Will, MacKenzie took hold of Tess' arm knowing Maggie would follow, and guided them towards the door. "Go and do your jobs."
"Not before we know if you gave the guy your number."
MacKenzie squirmed feeling Will's gaze on her. "We'll talk about that later." She ushered Tess and Maggie out of her office. Before turning back to Will she took a deep breath.
Amused at MacKenzie's attempts to stop Tess from talking, Will watched her walk back to her desk, trying her best to look anywhere but at him. He waited for her to sit down behind her desk before he took his seat opposite of her.
"You had a good time Friday?" He casually started the conversation. Crossing his leg over the other, he sat back and watched her.
"I did."
"Was it the perfect girls' night out?" He asked referring to her words from Friday.
She smiled. "It was."
He nodded. "It looked like you were enjoying yourself."
She groaned and shook her head. Of course he was going to tease her about the video. "Can we not.."
"I was talking about the photos." He said with something that he hoped sounded innocent. Looking at her he knew it hadn't.
She didn't buy that. "Sure you were."
They were silent. After a while MacKenzie started to feel uncomfortable with Will's gaze and silence. When she looked at him she saw him looking at her. His head titled to the side, his blue eyes soft and gentle. Quickly she looked down at her binder, opening it to distract herself from the flutter she felt in her chest.
"Mac?" Will finally said after watching her work. Her only acknowledgment was a soft hum but she didn't look up at him. He watched her work. Watched her as she tucked a strand of hair that had gotten loose from her pony tail back behind her hear. The last few weeks he'd felt as if they were moving forwards. He hadn't been willing to define what forwards exactly meant. While his intention had been to talk to her after the weekend about their current predicament, ever since this morning, to be precisely ever since he'd heard Tess mention the blond guy, he'd become uncertain on how to move forward. Was she interested in the blond guy? Did she give him her number? He had thought that her text message had meant she might still think of him like he did of her.
"Did you like him?" He finally asked, wondering if she heard the insecurity in his voice.
"Who?" She didn't look up as she answered.
Even though she wasn't looking at him and therefor couldn't see it, he rolled his eyes. "Come on, Mac."
Putting her elbow on her desk, she put her head on her hand and looked at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Hot blond guy." When she didn't react he didn't know if she was playing him or not. "Was he the one that picked you to go on stage?" That got a reaction from her, one that didn't bode well for him. She was blushing.
"Yes."
He didn't like that hot blond guy made her blush. It got even worse when he saw she was now also biting her lip. Damnit was he losing her to some blond dancing Magic Mike guy? Was it because she thought he was too old? Did she like younger guys? He started to feel uncomfortable and insecure. He felt his insecurity get the best of him. He knew he should try to reign it in, talk with MacKenzie and tell her how he felt. Those good intentions went out the window when he heard MacKenzie's phone ding signaling an incoming message.
Watching her he saw her open the message. He didn't have to see it to know what it was. He heard music, women screaming and he saw MacKenzie blush even more. Moving quickly he reached over the desk and before she could even stop him he had her phone in his hands.
"Will!" Getting up on her feet she rounded her desk.
"No." He held the phone high enough that MacKenzie couldn't reach it. "I wanna watch this."
"Why?"
"I wanna see what's got you blushing like that."
"Will." She tried again. "I really don't want you to see me like that."
Her soft pleading tone made him stop the video and look at her. She was uncomfortable. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable around him. There'd been enough of that in the past. He handed her the phone back. "You didn't answer my question."
"What question?"
"Did you like hot blond guy?"
She didn't understand why he kept on talking about the guy. "I don't understand why you keep on..," something dawned on her then. She looked at Will, saw him rub the back of his neck, as he turned away from her. "Wait, are you jealous?"
"Of who?" He kept his back to her because if he turned around he knew she could see that he was in fact jealous.
"Hot blond guy."
"Ah!" Will exclaimed, turning around pointing at her as if he'd caught her on a big lie. "So you admit he's hot."
"I…, well yes," she didn't get the chance to say anything else because Will was already talking.
Will's shoulders dropped as he heard her admit that she indeed liked the guy. "Did you give him your number?"
"What?"
"You heard me, Mac."
"Why do you care so much about that guy?" She questioned him. She wanted to reach out to him, but she was afraid he might reject her. "Will."
"I need you to answer the question, MacKenzie. Did you give him your number?" He needed to her say it. "I want you to be happy, Mac." He already felt the defeat of losing her. "I would never want to stand in the way of your happiness. I just kinda hoped that maybe I'd be the one to make you happy. But if he.."
Putting her hand on his arm she stopped him. "I didn't give him my number, Billy."
The use of her nickname for him finally made him look at her. She was the only one who called him Billy and he'd missed it. He hadn't noticed she'd stepped closer to him. "You didn't?"
"Of course not." She said indignantly. Her hand was mid-air to hit him on his chest when he caught wrist. If she let herself she only had to lean forward a tiny bit and she could put her head against his chest. She couldn't do that though because she needed answers first.
"You're confusing me, Will." She said it softly.
"I," he started but words got caught in his throat.
"Were you really jealous of that hot blond guy?" She asked. Taking a step back to look at him, she watched him let go of her wrist. She immediately missed the connection, missed feeling his body close.
"Why do you continue to call him that?"
She wasn't going to be deterred. She needed him to answer the question. "Answer the question."
"Yes, okay." He admitted. Feeling exposed and vulnerable by his admittance, he started to pace again.
She hadn't expected him to actually admit it. "Does that mean that you're actually an option?" Surely she was reading all this wrong.
"Of course!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up as if it was obvious and she should have known. "I thought it was obvious." He added after a pause, this time much softer than his previous exclamation.
MacKenzie was speechless. Will had stopped pacing. He was standing in front of her, hands on his hips, looking at her with apprehension as if he didn't have a clue how she felt about it.
"Will." She said softly. She watched his shoulders sag and his eyes cast downwards. Was he really expecting rejection? "Will." She tried again, hoping he would look at him, but nothing happened. "Billy." She didn't like they were having this conversation in her office. She wanted to go to him, wanted to be able to touch him without prying eyes or the possibility of someone walking in on them. "All I wanted after that night out was to come home to you." She bit her lip as she spoke the words that she'd texted him.
"Yeah?" Feeling encouraged he stepped closer to her. "I wanted that too." Hesitantly he reached for her, his hands hovering in the air before settling on her hips. Gently he pulled her in. "Mac." He whispered. After one more glance at her eyes he leaned in, wanting to kiss her.
She put her hands on his chest and stopped him. "You can't kiss me."
"Wait, what?" At first he thought she was joking, but as she tried to step away, he realized she wasn't. "Why not?" He didn't care it sounded as a whine. He really wanted to kiss her now that he knew she was in fact not into hot blond guy, but into him.
"Because we're at work."
"We can't kiss at work?"
"No." Her resolve was weakening as he pulled her close again, wrapping her into his arms. She had to stop herself from snuggling closer.
"Mac." He whispered in her ear, brushing his lips against the outer shell of her ear, feeling her shiver in response. "I really want to kiss you." He lowered his head, nuzzling her neck, breathing in her scent. Slowly, giving her the chance to pull away because he would never force her, his lips sought out hers and he felt he was coming home. He kept the kiss soft, gentle, his lips brushing hers, tasting, reacquainting. It was her soft sigh that was his undoing. Running his hands over her back, one slid into her hair, keeping her close. He took her bottom lip between his teeth, lightly pulling on it with his teeth before soothing it with his tongue.
No longer caring about her objections of kissing in the office, MacKenzie let herself be swept away as Will took control of the kiss. No one kissed her like Will McAvoy. When Will kissed, he kissed with his whole body and soul. It was all consuming, powerful and gentle at the same time, just like her Will. Her whole body hummed in pleasure. Her hand slid over his chest, over his shoulder, up his neck till she could slide her fingers in his hair and hold him close. As his tongue slid over her lip, she parted her lips, letting him in.
Deepening the kiss he groaned, low in his throat, the taste of her familiar yet new. He wanted more, needed more of her, but couldn't let himself go here in the office. He wanted too, especially when he heard her soft whimper as he slowed the kiss down to an end. The way she chased his lips with closed eyes as he pulled back, reeled him right back in. He would never get enough of the taste of her. He once more kissed her softly before pulling back. He watched her put that loose strand of hair behind her ear and lick her lips. Somewhat shyly she looked at him. Wanting to reassure her he pulled her into his arms again, loving the feel of her body against his.
"We really need to get back to work." She said, her voice muffled against his chest.
"I don't want to." He didn't care that he was whining again. All he wanted was to be with her. He kissed the top of her head. "I want to take you home." He kept caressing her back until she stepped out of his arms. He smiled as he watched her walk to her desk, her fingers briefly touching her lips. He couldn't stop smiling, knowing all too well he was looking too smug.
"Don't look so smug, Will." MacKenzie immediately called him out. Back behind her desk she sat down.
Walking towards her desk he shrugged. "I can't help it." Putting his hands on his desk, he leaned forward. "Come home with me tonight?"
Tilting her head she smiled at him. She'd heard the small waver in his voice. "I'd love to." She merely shook her head at the big grin that appeared on his face. "Now, go." She turned her attention back to her work. She heard him walk away and the door closing a few seconds later.