Don't Steele My Heart Chapter Two

BANG! BANG! Mackenzie bolted up in her bed, “whats going on?”
The door opened up to reveal Lucas who had been knocking on the door for half an hour, “I said ten and you are just getting up now. What is wrong with you?” He marched over to her bed and looked at her. “Your hair is a mess and you are still in pj's, hurry up and get ready or I can take back my offer to help you” he stormed out of the room and slammed the door
Mackenzie rubbed her eyes and got out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror, her hair was really a mess. “That's what I get for sleeping with wet hair” she muttered to herself
As she got dressed she continued to mutter to herself about how rudely she had been woken up, after finishing braiding her hair she walked out of her room and met Mr. Angry-Pants at the front door and walked past and out to the car that was waiting.
Lucas drove and neither said a word, though Mackenzie was more speechless about the type of car she was in. A 1968 Pontiac GTO convertible, five speed, baby blue and blaring speakers. She loved old cars. He couldn't help himself, Lucas glanced over at her when he shifted and saw her take a deep breathe and saw the smile creep up onto her face. He inwardly smiled to himself, he was very proud of his car. He had bought it and completely restored it to a better then new condition.
They pulled into the mall parking lot and being a Saturday afternoon it was completely packed which of course got Lucas on a rant on how if she had gotten up like she was supposed to they wouldn't have to park so far away.
“Well I'm sorry I was up late skyping my mom” She grumbled as she got out of the car and closed the door
“Let's get this over with, first stop will be Coach” Lucas made a B line for the entrance
“What do we need in there?” Mackenzie asked as she ran to keep up with his long strides
“Have you seen your purse? A walmart knock off is definitely not gonna get you any good attention at school” he grumbled as he walked in and walked up to the counter
“Yes sir, how can I help you?” the saleswoman asked with a smile walking around the counter
“Yes, my wife needs some new stuff. If you could help her out with that that would be great.” Lucas said and then with a nod walked out of the store and left Mackenzie standing there with the saleswoman
“Sorry about him, he got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Mackenzie apologized, blushing and straightened her clothes since she had to run after him most of the way from the parking lot
“That's alright dear, what exactly were you looking for?” the woman smiled warmly and led her around the store and helped her pick out a few bags that suited her and some shoes and a few clothes
Mackenzie then went to a few more stores alone, after a unsuccessful search for her husband, went and did the shopping herself. She found a lot of nice but extremely expensive clothes but they all fit her perfectly and they were comfortable. As she was running out of ideas on where to look for Lucas, she noticed a small shop in a corner. It was a paint supply shop. She went in exploring and found many of the usual things she used while painting.
“May I help you Miss?” a young man came up to her, his name badge said Aaron
“I'm not sure, I've been wanting to paint a landscape but I am having trouble getting the texture and colors just right and I am running out of paint and usable paint brushes” She said looking around then looking back at him and realized how cute he was
“I can certainly help you with everything you need, my name is Aaron. Let me show you some of the new brushes and paints we just got in. Maybe there will be something there that can help you with your problem.” he led her towards the counter and took out some boxes that were just opened
After getting a ton of painting supplies, she said goodbye to Aaron and thanked him for his help and promised that she would definitely be back for more supplies. She walked with all of her bags of purchases and while looking in a window of a fancy clothing store she noticed him. Lucas. Talking to a bunch of high school students.
She decided against her better judgment to go in and see if he was ready to go, thank goodness the lady at Lord and Taylor suggest she wear the best outfit she bought out of the store. She walked up behind her husband and poked him in the back, since her hands were full she couldn't do much more than that.
“What the-” he turned around, clearly ready to yell at whoever had disrupted his conversation, then he saw her and his face turned red, “where the hell have you been?!”
“You ditched me remember?” she countered, hands on her hips
She looks good, Lucas thought to himself, trying to check her out without being noticed. She's wearing a belly shirt, which shows her nice toned stomach and belly button piercing? I didn't know she had her belly button pierced. She also was wearing low hung jeans and high heels. She looked HOT.
“Dude, you are smoking hot! Where did you come from??” His friend, Chad, broke him out of his thoughts
“Everyone,” looking at his friends, “Chad, Jake, Monica and Sophie,” pointing to each in turn as he said their names, “this is Mackenzie.....my wife.” he didn't know whether to say the last part but he had already told them he had been arranged to marry a girl he didn't know so he didn't really have a choice but to tell the truth
“Hi everyone, its nice to meet some of Lucas's friends.” Mackenzie responded with a sweet smile, looking at each one of them.
“Hello to you my fiery goddess” Chad said, stepping up and taking her hand and kissing it
“Woah dude, back off man, that is our boy's wife after all” Jake said, pulling him away
“It's nice to meet you Mackenzie, I'm Monica and this is Sophie. I'm dating Jake in case you were wondering.” She said with a very nice smile, Sophie gave a tiny smile but didn't say anything
Lucas watched his friends' interaction with Mackenzie very closely, he was worried about how she would be received, especially by Sophie. His Ex. If it weren't for this marriage we would still be together, he thought to himself, she doesn't look very happy. I miss the weekend long sex fests we had... he was shaken from his thoughts when he realized that Mackenzie had said something to him
“What did you say?” he asked
“I said, are you ready to go. I want to get this stuff home and washed and put away, and I want to have enough light to paint.” Mackenzie said, shifting from one foot to another, she wasn't used to wearing heels
“Yeah, we can go” He turned to his friends, “you guys coming over tonight?”
“Yeah we can stop over, have a weekend gaming and junk food session” Chad said, high fiving Lucas and Jake
“Yeah we will meet you guys over there” Monica said, grabbing Jake's hand and Sophie nodded and with one last glance at Lucas followed Jake, Monica and Chad to the food court
Walking out to the car, Lucas took some of the bags she was carrying, which gave her a chance to ask, “do they go to your school?”
“Yeah, I have a few classes with each of them, I've known them since grade school.” Lucas said, putting her bags in the trunk and getting in the drivers seat
Mackenzie sat in the passenger seat, watching the scenery go by. Lucas turned the radio down, “I hope you don't mind that my friends are coming over for the weekend, we can get loud and rambunctious”
“I don't mind, I mean it was your house first after all. I'll be preparing for school, maybe do some sketching or painting. I have to ask your dad if he knows what my schedule is. I would like to be prepared.” Mackenzie said, not looking at him, head on hand watching the scenery, making some mental notes of stuff she would like to draw
“My dad will be going on a business trip tomorrow morning so be sure to ask him tonight I'm sure he has it in his office somewhere.” Lucas said, glancing over at her
They arrived home, and Mackenzie took her stuff up to her room and started sorting stuff to wash and heard when Lucas's friends got there. They were very loud. And their video games and music weren't any different.
She spent the night trying to sketch a landscape but couldn't get a good view from her angle at her window.  She went downstairs to the living room, where they were playing games and eating, and walked right to the window and opened the drapes, and started sketching. She felt someone come up behind her and look over her shoulder, “so you are still alive, that's a good thing.” it was Chad.
“Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?” she said looking at him, her face inches from his
“Didn't know if our pal Lucas locked you up in the attic or something.” he said, his face completely serious
“If he ever attempted that he wouldn't be able to call himself a man at all” She said, not blinking, staring right back at him
“Mackenzie” Martha called from the archway, “I just made some dinner for myself and was wondering if you wanted to join me, since these animals here are full from pigging out on junk food
“I would love to” she said with a huge smile across her face and went with Martha to the kitchen
As soon as she was out of the room, “Are you guys already married or is she up for grabs?” Chad asked while plopping down on the sofa right next to Lucas
“No, we are married, she has my last name and everything. But we don't act like husband and wife.” he said, more focused on his game than his answer
“So would you consider an open marriage because if you aren't going to tap that than I definitely will” Chad said with a smirk, which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Monica
“That is why you won't ever get a girlfriend, you don't know how not to be crude and inappropriate” Monica said, grabbing another handful of popcorn and throwing a few pieces at him
“Not true, I've had plenty of girlfriends” Chad said
“I don't think one or two sex sessions count as girlfriends dude” Jake countered, sitting next to Monica with his arm around her. The conversation continued like this for about a half an hour when Lucas finally piped in.
“I would rather not talk about it guys okay” Lucas mumbled and looked up just in time to see Mackenzie sneak up the stairs with her sketch pad, it was obvious that she had been listening to most of the conversation
“I'll be back guys” Lucas got up and went up to Mackenzie's room
Knocking on the door he waited for an answer. Mackenzie opened the door, dressed in booty shorts and a tank top, obviously ready for bed. “Oh sorry to bother you, but I thought maybe we should discuss some things.” Lucas said, his hand up behind his head nervously
“Sure, come in.” She held the door open then closed it behind him
“Whats up?” She asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed, watching him pace the room
“Well, I just want to tell you not to mind Chad, he's actually harmless and he would never really do anything to you because of who you are to me. And you are welcome to come and hang out with me and my friends any time. After what you did for me the other day at dinner with my father, I owe you for getting his mind off me. So, I'll be around if you need anything even at school.” Lucas said, avoiding eye contact at all costs
“Thank you, I've had to deal with guys like him before, at my old school I got plenty of attention for no reason and I had to punch a few guys who took it too far” Mackenzie said, continuing to sketch on her landscape
“Good, now I'm gonna head back down to make sure they don't hurt my TV” Lucas said, hand on the doorknob, “oh my dad is in his study if you want to ask him about your schedule, its across from the living room”
Mackenzie followed Lucas down and went to Mr. Steele's office, in doing so unintentionally letting everyone see her pj's she decided on for the night, which of course received comments from Chad.
She knocked on the door and heard a “Come in” She opened the door and walked inside.
“Oh, Mackenzie, what can I do for you dear?” Mr. Steele looked up from his laptop and took off his reading glasses
“I was wondering if you had my class schedule so I could be prepared and bring what I need for Monday.” She said as she stood behind a chair, trying not to look directly at him
“Of course, I have it right here,” he reached into his desk and pulled out the schedule and handed it to her, “if there is anything you want to change please let me know tonight so I can make a call in the morning to fix it”
“Actually, there isn't an art class on here. I love painting and drawing and if I have an opportunity to go to such a great school I would love to take their art class” Mackenzie said, noticing that there was a business class in her schedule on top of the usual classes
“Of course, I will call and arrange that for you. Your parents told me how important your art is to you. They even showed me some of your work that they had hung at the house. You are very good, and it is great that you are pursuing something you love and that you are good at.  I hope my son is making you feel accepted here, I know it is hard for him to open up to people. Especially since Faith died. He hasn't allowed himself to open up to anyone else, I hope that he learns to open up with you.” He looked at her and smiled, “I will be leaving early, I hope your first day of school goes well for both of you.”
“Thank you, I hope you have a good trip.” Mackenzie said as she left and started towards the stairs
“Ooooo, I like those shorts sexy, why don't you come over here and sit on Daddy's lap?” Chad yelled over to her, patting his lap suggestively
“Sorry, but you could never handle this” she said as she smacked her butt and continued up the stairs
“Man, she is sassy. You have your work cut out for you dude” Chad said, elbowing Lucas and grabbed a soda
“I don't know what you see in her Chad,” Sophie said, “she is just a little nobody who just happened to marry into money.”
“Wow, that wasn't cold at all Soph” Monica commented looking at her and shaking her head
“What? I'm being honest. It's not like either of them wanted to get married, it is a marriage of convenience so in case anything happens to her parents she has a place to be”
“What exactly do her parents do again?” Jake asked, looking back to Lucas
“They are paleontologists, there is a new dig site I guess in the middle east but the place they are digging is in a danger zone. But we were betrothed since we were little, they arranged it because of the ties her parents have to some European investors in our lumber company and my parents thought it would ensure that we always have an understanding of the information that is passed back and forth I guess.” Lucas said, looking at Sophie and trying to figure out what to do about her attitude
“That girl is going to get chewed up and spit out at our school” Sophie mumbled, just loud enough for Lucas to hear her