He was surprised she cared enough to ask after his mom had dismissed her. “Her friends gave up after a while. She wouldn’t call them back or ever show up to anything. And I’m her only family besides my grandparents, but they don’t live nearby. No brothers or sisters, and my dad died when I was seven.” His mom had insisted he not bother her parents, who were enjoying their long-overdue retirement in Florida.
Not for the first time he wondered how his mom’s life would’ve been different if his dad had lived. Maybe she wouldn’t have had any issues at all. She’d loved Marcus’s dad, and Marcus had too. His dad hadn’t been a violent man, just a hustler, looking for easy money. A charmer, his mom had always said. Guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“I’m sorry,” Lexi said gently. “It’s hard on you.”
He swallowed over the lump in his throat, surprised once again by Lexi. She’d seen through his cheerful facade at his mom’s place to his real anguish. His whole life he’d tried to help his mom, and she just got worse and worse, from crying to panic attacks to agoraphobia. His love was not enough.
His love hadn’t been enough for his wife either. They’d divorced four years ago. A disaster of a relationship—betrayal, cheating, lying.
Maybe his love would never be enough for anyone. Maybe he’d never be enough.
“Marcus, are you okay?”
He snapped to attention, pushing down the dark thoughts. “It’s nothing she wouldn’t do for me if our situations were reversed. It’s always been the two of us against the world.”
“That’s really hard on a kid.”
His mom had done the best she could. His protective instincts made his voice come out harsh. “I’m thirty-three years old, a grown-ass man who’s got his shit together. That means I look after her.”
She got quiet.
Now he felt bad. Lexi was only trying to be a friend. “Too harsh?” he asked.
“No. It was actually perfect. I like a grown-ass man who’s got his shit together much better than a charming flirt.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.” That had not been his experience with women. Flirting usually went a long way.
She fidgeted a bit in her seat and gave him a small smile before turning her head away, looking out the window.
She didn’t seem like such a man-hater now. She was a little insensitive, but also straightforward. No BS with her. No games. Just straight-up truth. Damn, she was starting to grow on him.
Chapter Three
Lexi wasn’t eye-fucking a sweaty, insanely muscular Marcus in a loose white tank top and black athletic pants any more than her friends Sabrina and Ally were, so it was just normal woman behavior.
They were at Sabrina’s apartment on Sunday, helping her with the move to her fiancé, Logan’s house. The women were packing Sabrina’s dishes and related crap in the kitchen while the men—Marcus, Logan, and Ethan—hauled her furniture out. Logan had a muscular athletic build, and Ethan, Ally’s fiancé, was in tiptop shape as a cop. Still, Marcus’s muscles were so massive she’d bet he could carry the sofa he was currently helping move all by himself.
“Turn it sideways,” Marcus told Logan.
Logan had just reached the propped-open front door with his end of the sofa. He angled it, and the sofa fit, the two of them heading through the doorway. Ethan followed behind carrying the coffee table.
Sabrina headed for the living room, bending to pick up something from the carpet where the sofa had just been. Her long dirty blond hair was up in a ponytail. She looked up at them, her brown eyes bright, her round cheeks glowing, probably from a morning fuck with Logan. She’d been pretty open that Logan couldn’t keep his hands off her and vice versa. “You guys! Look what I found! Remember?”
Lexi squinted at something little and brown. Err…
Sabrina joined Lexi and Ally in the kitchen. “It’s from last year’s Super Bowl party.” It was a little plastic football on a stick. Sabrina had stuck a bunch of them in a chocolate cake that she’d decorated to look like a football field. She was too much of a foodie to actually dye the chocolate icing green, so she’d used small amounts of green piping around the edges. Sabrina was truly a domestic goddess, and Lexi had been totally spoiled, popping into Sabrina’s apartment down the hall and snarfing down homemade meals and desserts. Lexi was really going to miss her. Her throat closed. This sucked.
“That was a fun night,” Lexi said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. “I can’t believe you guys are leaving me here all by my lonesome.” It had been so nice for a while there with Ally, Sabrina, and Missy all living down the hall from her. Almost like a college dorm, popping into each other’s apartments whenever. Now Ally lived with Ethan, Missy lived with her fiancé, Ben—the two of them currently on a romantic getaway in Aruba—and Sabrina was moving in with Logan.
Sabrina hugged her. “Aww, Lexi, we’ll visit.”
“I miss you guys too,” Ally said, shoving her blond bangs out of her eyes. “It’s not the same now that we don’t live down the hall from each other.” She gave Lexi’s arm a squeeze. “It does kinda suck to be the last one here.”
Ethan returned and gave Ally a wink. He had short dirty blond hair and blue eyes, the same coloring as Ally, except their personalities were complete opposites. Ethan was a tough guy who rarely smiled, and Ally was bubbly and easily excitable. Ally beamed at him like he was a sex god wrapped in chocolate.
Lexi blew out a breath. Ya know, fucking couples and their sappy happiness all in your face. Not that she begrudged her friends’ happiness. It was just that it wasn’t the same between them anymore. It was all “let me check in with Ethan” or “I’ll see if Logan can come too.”
Lexi went back to packing Sabrina’s coffee mugs.
Sabrina leaned against the counter next to Lexi. “What’s the deal with you and Marcus? He keeps looking over at you, and you’ve definitely been checking him out.”
Lexi sucked in air. He was checking her out too? She hadn’t realized. A warm tingling spread over her skin.
Ally closed a cabinet and turned to Lexi. “Yeah, how long’s this been going on? I saw you two at the Valentine’s dance flirting up a storm.”
Ethan rushed out of the apartment with an end table, probably not comfortable with girl talk.
“We weren’t flirting,” Lexi said. “He helped me avoid a drunk guy.” She didn’t mention it was Sabrina’s uncle, not wanting her to feel bad.
“I saw you leave the dance with him,” Ally said. “Spill.” Her friends didn’t miss much.
She couldn’t share about her deal with Marcus from two days ago both because it was now off and he might want his mom’s issue to be kept private. She’d felt so bad about messing up with his mom that she’d told Marcus not to worry about the event he’d offered in exchange. He still wanted to help her out, but she just didn’t feel right about it.
Lexi lifted one shoulder. “We just happened to be leaving the dance at the same time. Now you’re all caught up.” She hadn’t talked to Marcus since that night, which wasn’t unusual. They didn’t know each other very well. She didn’t even have his number. He had hers from her business card, though. Not that she’d really expected anything. It was just that he was so sweet with his mom, she felt like she’d caught a glimpse of a different Marcus.
Sabrina nodded. “That’s good. He can’t seem to stay with just one woman. Logan says Marcus was seeing three women at the same time. Definitely not someone you could expect to have a committed monogamous relationship with. Major red flags on that guy. Not that he’s not nice. Logan is close with him, so he must be a good guy, he’s just not relationship material.”
There you have it, folks! The relationship counselor has made her diagnosis and it’s not good!
“Yup,” Lexi said. Sabrina wasn’t wrong. Marcus was a good guy to have as a friend, but not more than that. She’d seen his good side shining through—the way he took care of his mom and the fact
that he still wanted to honor his part of the deal even after she’d screwed up her part of the deal as his fake girlfriend. She’d heard the rumor about the three-women-at-the-same-time thing, also had heard he didn’t believe in monogamy, and that he left women devastated in his wake, all of them apparently believing they were special when they were just one of many. Obviously he lied to them, cheating on them and letting them think they had something real. Unfortunately, she was intimately familiar with that type of man—her ex, Noah, and his flavor of the week, her dad’s affairs and her long-suffering mom crying over it and then forgiving him over and over. Lexi had tried so hard to comfort her mom as a young girl and then, when she was older, begged her mom to move on or at least stand up for herself. And Lexi’s older brother was exactly like their father, already cheating on his newly pregnant bride, a sweet woman whom Lexi both liked and felt sorry for.
The reasons not to be with Marcus kept piling up—he was a lying cheater, his mom hated her, and her friends didn’t approve. The no-thanks trifecta. So why did she feel disappointed? Maybe the rumors about him weren’t true. She was having trouble reconciling them with the kindness she’d seen in him.
Ally raised her brows at Sabrina, her blue eyes dancing with mischief. “Maybe Lexi just wants a little fun in a big package.” She turned to Lexi. “You want to bang him, right?”
Lexi snorted at the blunt question.
“Ally!” Sabrina exclaimed.
“I’m sorry,” Ally said, not sounding sorry at all. “It’s just that he sort of oozes sex. Maybe I should’ve said you would enjoy some early foreplay stuff?”
Lexi burst out laughing.
Logan and Marcus walked back in. “What’s so funny?” Logan asked, already smiling in anticipation. He was a real cutie when he smiled, his brown eyes sparkling with good humor. His light brown beard was hot too.
“Nothing,” Sabrina said primly. “Ally said something inappropriate.”
Ethan walked into the kitchen, his eyes only for his love. “Ally loves inappropriate.”
Ally laughed. “I do. It’s terrible.”
Ethan cracked a smile, his face lighting up like Ally was the sun and he worshipped her. “It’s great.”
“What’s next?” Marcus asked, hands on his hips, giving them all a peek under his tank top to sculpted pecs and ridged abs. All of him—from his huge shoulders to the round massive bulge of biceps to his chest and abs—glistened with sweat. Testosterone city. “Dining room table?”
All three women stared at him. It was impossible to look away from all that sweaty sexy male.
“Yeah, let’s get the chairs first,” Logan said.
A few minutes later, the men left with a pair of chairs each.
“Woo!” Ally exclaimed, fanning her face with her hand. “I can see why you’ve been checking him out so much, Lex! He looks like a male model—ooh, even better—like one of those sexy stripper guys!”
“Just because the man is built,” Sabrina said in an even tone, “does not make him a stripper.”
Lexi flashed to a stripping Marcus, her cheeks flushing, and quickly pushed that image out of her mind. She dropped to her knees to close the flaps on the box she’d been filling, hiding her embarrassing reaction.
Ally pulled some plastic containers from a cabinet. “He’s like a stripper. I know he owns a bar. Come on, Lexi! It’s us. You can’t tell me you’re just going to ignore all that studliness!”
“What do you want me to say?” she asked, holding the box closed and reaching one hand up to the counter for the tape. “Marcus is sex personified. He’s a magnificent stud, panty-melting man candy, an orgasm-inducing eye-fuck. And he’s a man who’s got his shit together. What could be better than that?”
“Thank you,” Marcus replied.
Lexi squeaked in surprise, nearly falling over. She shot her friends fierce glares for not warning her he’d returned. Sabrina grimaced apologetically. Ally shrugged and whispered, “He just got here.”
She slowly stood to face him, her cheeks flaming. And she was so not a blusher.
He stared at her for an excruciatingly awkward moment.
“Girl talk,” she said, really hoping he hadn’t heard anything before the got-his-shit-together part.
He jerked his chin. “Figured.”
Logan and Ethan returned, and Marcus went to help them carry out the dining room table, a smile playing over his lips.
She stood perfectly still, frozen in awkward limbo, waiting for the men to leave. As soon as they cleared the doorway, she turned to her friends. “How much did he hear?”
“I think he got here at orgasm,” Ally said matter-of-factly. “But he might’ve heard more from the hallway. The door’s propped open and you were kinda loud.”
Sabrina nodded. “Orgasm-inducing eye-fuck. You were on a roll. I think I sort of froze when he did.”
Lexi covered her face with both hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed in my life.”
Someone rubbed her back soothingly. Ally. “Be glad if that’s the worst of your embarrassment. I’ve done much more embarrassing things.”
Lexi dropped her hands and scowled. “I doubt that.”
Ally smiled. “Guess where I was when Ethan and I first connected.”
“Your college reunion, right?” Lexi said.
“Yes, but much worse,” Ally replied. “It was the men’s room at the hotel where they had the reunion. I was hiding in a stall, bawling my eyes out over my ex, and he walked in. I’m standing there hoping he doesn’t notice me, and then he comes right up to the stall, identifies himself as a police officer, and asks if I need any help.”
That did sound bad. Super embarrassing. She could just imagine tough Ethan ready to come to the rescue in cop mode while Ally was sobbing in the men’s room. Tears were private.
“Why—” Lexi started to ask.
“The ladies’ room had a line,” Ally said, anticipating her question.
Lexi actually did feel a little better hearing that. Embarrassing misery loves company, she supposed. And it had turned out just fine for Ally and Ethan, so she didn’t feel bad about enjoying the story.
Sabrina grimaced. “Lex, the reason I warned you off Marcus earlier is because we worked it out this morning for him to stay here for a few months while my lease is still active. Just part-time, Sunday through Wednesday, so he can look in on his mom more. My lease isn’t up until June. He was nice enough to offer to pay part of the rent, but Logan already covered it for me.”
Lexi’s brain froze on “stay here for a few months.” She gaped at Sabrina in complete and total shock. “Here? He’s living here? In your old apartment? Right down the hall from me?”
“Oh boy, we’d better get her some water,” Ally said, looking around for a glass.
“Here, take a seat,” Sabrina said, patting a kitchen chair.
Lexi was too shocked to move. Ally and Sabrina pushed her to a kitchen chair, and she flopped down heavily. Her friends were talking to her in soothing tones, but she couldn’t focus on them, her brain homing in on the alarming fact of Marcus living down the hall. Her new magnificent stud, panty-melting man-candy, orgasm-inducing eye-fuck man who’s got his shit together neighbor. The man she knew better than to get involved with yet some part of her was still drawn to him. Resisting Marcus when she lived here and he lived in the city was easy, but right down the hall?
The men returned.
She felt Marcus’s eyes on her and caught his concerned look. “Why’re you living here?” she asked, her voice loud and embarrassingly high.
“So I can look in on my mom,” he replied. “Problem?”
His mom. He’d uprooted and rearranged his entire schedule to look after her. Major good-guy points. She was in trouble.
She kept her voice calm and composed. “No, I don’t have a problem.”
“Good.”
She couldn’t seem to stop talking, even though everyone was watching them curiously. “It’s just that
I live down the hall, so, uh, I guess we’ll be neighbors.” Just shut up.
He raised a brow and lifted the bottom of his tank top to wipe the sweat from his face. Her gaze dropped to six-pack abs, muscular ridges down his sides, and a dark happy trail leading to a sizable bulge. Her stomach dipped, a low ache and throbbing between her legs alarming her. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why couldn’t she be immune?
“Ethan has those ridges along the sides of his abs too,” Ally told Sabrina.
“Logan just has the abs,” Sabrina replied.
Marcus dropped his tank top back in place and turned to the guys. “Ever feel like a piece of meat?”
“In all the right ways,” Ethan said. “C’mere, baby.”
Ally practically flew to him.
Logan crooked his finger and Sabrina floated over to him, smiling.
“Bedroom furniture next,” Logan announced, his arm around Sabrina. “Then the boxes and that’s everything. I’ve got a cooler of beer and we’ll order some pizza as a thank-you for all your help. Sound good?”
“Yeah, let’s finish up,” Ethan said, giving Ally one last squeeze.
The men headed to the bedroom.
Ally walked into the kitchen. “Come on, ladies, let’s finish packing the boxes. Ethan brought a dolly, so it won’t take long to haul the boxes out. Then we’re done!”
Sabrina joined them in the kitchen and gave Lexi a sympathetic look. “You okay?”
Lexi threw her hands up. “Whatever! Men, right? Can’t live with ’em, can’t fuck without them.”
Ally giggled and Sabrina elbowed her, shaking her head.
“Back to work,” Lexi said, determined to ignore the temptation that was Marcus Shepard.
Even if temptation lived right down the hall.
Chapter Four
Lexi corralled all of her friends into going to ladies’ night with half-price drinks at Garner’s Sports Bar & Grill on Tuesday. It had been a while since they’d had a girls’ night out, and she was so looking forward to spending time with them without their guys.
She parked and walked briskly to the front entrance, stepping into welcoming warmth. She spotted her friends right away, gathered near one side of the long dark cherrywood bar.
Wicked Flirt Page 3
