He cupped her face with his big hand. “Aww, Lex. You’ve got a little sweet hiding in there, don’t you?”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up.” And then he kissed her.
And he was good at it.
Damn.
His lips moved over hers, smooth heat, his tongue tracing the seam of her mouth, seeking entrance. She opened for him and the kiss turned wild, all lips and tongue and teeth. She scrambled into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing herself against his hard muscular body, losing herself in his taste, his scent, his glorious mouth.
His hands were under her sweatshirt, skimming up her bare back, bringing electric heat wherever he touched. She ground against him, the hard bulge in his jeans hitting just the right spot, drenching her with desire.
He broke the kiss suddenly, breathing hard. “I should go.”
She grabbed his head. “Are you kidding me?”
But he wasn’t kidding. He peeled her hands off him, set her off his lap, and stood. She reached for him, but he stepped away. “Lex, I want to take it slow with you.”
“I’m cool with it.”
He blew out a breath, looking at a point over her shoulder. “I don’t do that rush-to-bed thing anymore. You’ve got to get me to at least a third date nowadays.”
She gaped at him, standing in front of her and not touching her. Ooh, wasn’t this the ultimate irony? She’d found the best turn-on—a reformed bad boy—which was also the worst tease. At least she hoped he was reformed. She still had some niggling doubts, mostly due to what Ellie had told her, but could she really trust Ellie’s word? It sounded like work gossip.
He leaned down and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “See you soon for a second date.”
“This was a date?” In her ratty sweats?
“Yup.” Then he walked out the door.
She stared at the door, still in shock. Did that seriously just happen? What guy walked out in the middle of a hot makeout session with an eager lusty woman? What guy walked out on his favorite team’s game? She turned to the TV. It was still paused at the beginning of the third quarter and they were tied. That was not at all a sure win. He should’ve wanted to know who won, should’ve stuck around to find out.
It was because of her. Because he adored her. A warm tingling feeling seeped through her, giving her a hot shiver. This was a more dangerous situation than she’d realized. Lethal.
He was trying to romance her.
And despite all of her defenses and natural resistance to any and all vulnerability, her heart squeezed with the possibility of her very own true romance. Was it really possible the man she’d thought was everything she despised was actually everything she’d ever wanted?
Chapter Eight
Marcus was hunkered down at Garner’s Sports Bar & Grill, watching the end of the Knicks game. The fact that he had to haul himself across town to avoid the temptation of Lexi down the hall was a conundrum. He’d made his move—pure instinct—but then he’d had to stop because this woman was different. He didn’t want to do the same old wine-dine-bed, though he wouldn’t exactly call chicken wings and the Knicks a wine and dine. He’d intended it to be a friendly thing like Ethan had suggested, getting to know each other by doing what he liked. He’d even incorporated Zach’s advice to bring meat.
He let out a manly sigh. Now that they’d crossed the line—he’d admitted he adored her—the pressure was on to do something special, but what? He supposed he could ask her what she liked to do, but what if he got stuck doing embarrassing girly things like getting his nails done or antique shopping or, the absolute worst, shoe shopping.
“Yes,” he whooped as the Knicks won. He’d missed a tense third quarter, but the fourth had been awesome as the Knicks kicked ass.
Josh moved over to him, working the bar as usual. “Want another beer?”
He considered Josh for a moment. His dark brown stubble was nearing serious beard territory, like it had been at least a week since he’d shaved. Was Josh going through something? Maybe the fallout with Hailey last week at ladies’ night had hit him hard. Or maybe he was missing his ex. They’d been together for two months, probably Josh’s longest relationship. But that was back in December, more than two months ago. It had to be Hailey.
Marcus waved the offer of a beer away. “No, thanks. You okay?”
“Sure, fine. Why do you ask?”
“Hailey.”
Josh set his jaw, close-mouthed like always when Hailey’s name came up.
Marcus had grown up with Josh like a brother, which was why he didn’t pull any punches. “What the hell happened that night? She was so upset she walked home in the cold of a February night and she forgot her dog. You know how she loves her dog.”
Josh clenched his jaw. “I offered her a ride back.”
“What’d you do?”
He threw his hands up. “I didn’t do anything!”
Marcus cocked his head. “What’d she do?”
“None of your damned business.”
Interesting. “Okay, okay.” Though it was odd that Hailey was to blame if she was the one who walked home in the cold. Something wasn’t adding up.
Josh shifted away, checking on the other customers, mostly guys there to watch the game. Marcus waited for him to refill beers before gesturing him over.
Josh took his time getting to him. “What?”
“I need some date ideas besides dinner.”
Josh relaxed. “Who you asking out?”
“Lexi Judson.”
Josh grinned. “Got the full name going on, huh? Sounds serious. Well, what does she like to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You can ask her, you know.”
And be forced to endure girly stuff? “Just give me some ideas.”
Josh looked to the ceiling. “Let’s see, besides dinner, you could do lots of cheap stuff like a hike and picnic, walk along the boardwalk and try to win a prize for her on one of those games, take a walking tour of Clover Park and let her window-shop, buy her ice cream, stuff like that.”
“It’s February, though. Kinda cold for most of those ideas.”
Josh rattled off more ideas. “Ice skating, bookstore with a café, bar with a dance floor.” He gestured at him. “You’ve got The Burrow. Take her there for a drink and, if she’s cool with it, take her up to the private room to play pool, dance, whatever.” He winked. “That’s three activities at once and it costs you nothing.”
Marcus laughed. “I wasn’t trying to be economical. I was just trying to make it special.”
Josh glanced up and down the bar, probably checking on the drink situation. He turned back to Marcus. “You have to actually know her well to do something special.”
“What’d you do on your dates with Clarissa?” That was his ex.
Josh tsked. “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you before you blab to the guys.”
“That bad, huh?”
Josh blew out a breath and gave him a rueful look. “Let’s just say way too much yoga and green drinks were involved.”
“Guess we know why that one didn’t work out.”
Josh grabbed a rag and started cleaning the bar top.
He thought about The Burrow idea. “The thing about the private room is it’s just so private.”
Josh tossed the rag under the bar. “You don’t want to be alone with her? You? That’s rich.”
“She’s different.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Oh, geez, here comes the sappy stuff. Just invite her friends, make it a party.”
“A party date.”
Josh lifted both hands. “Why the hell not?”
“All right. I’ll check if the private room’s available.” He texted Ellie, who was on tonight. A few minutes later she got back to him. The room was booked Friday and Saturday nights. Thursday was available, and he told her to reserve it. He lifted his head. “So what’s the easiest way to get in touch with everyone?”
&nb
sp; “Just tell Hailey what you have in mind and she’ll do the rest.”
“You got her number?”
“Yeah. She won’t care that I gave it to you. She lives for this shit.” Josh pulled out his phone, tapped it a few times, and then wrote the number on a napkin.
Marcus grinned. “Not gonna let me see your phone, huh? You guys in a mad texting war? Or is it sexting?”
Josh shoved his phone in his jeans pocket. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Someone was ridiculous and it wasn’t Marcus. He kept that to himself because Josh, like always, had come through.
“Thanks, man.”
Josh grunted.
Marcus texted Hailey, who responded right away, I’m on it! Sounds fun! Then he texted Lexi to invite her.
Lexi: Are you going to run away after the party?
His neck burned. I didn’t run tonight. You’re special. That means we take it slow.
Majorly inconvenient I got a reformed bad boy yanking my chain. Get ready for an ass kicking in pool.
He barked out a laugh. He’d definitely made the right move. A special date, taking it slow. No girly stuff, either, and Lexi was on board.
See you then, he texted.
You live down the hall. I’m sure I’ll see you before then.
How about lunch with my mom tomorrow?
Sure. Are we always going to do stuff with other people?
He smiled some more and texted back. For now.
Guess my vibrator will get a workout.
He chuckled. I would like to see that.
Come on over.
Not yet, darling.
Don’t you darling me!
Not yet, horny woman.
Truthfact.
He smiled and caught Josh’s knowing look. “She’s funny,” he told him.
“And…” Josh drawled, “he joins the ranks of the undead.”
“Undead?”
Josh nodded sagely. “Ever notice how the guys resemble zombies once they’re hooked? Yes, dear, whatever you want. I like what you like, honey.” His lip curled. “Pathetic.”
Marcus couldn’t stop smiling, thrilled to be included with the love zombies. He was smart enough not to mention Josh had done the whole yoga and green drink thing for his woman. Instead he pointed at Josh. “And then there was one.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Josh said. “Last man standing. The only guy with his head on straight.”
“For now.”
Josh gave him a light slap on the cheek. “Idiot.”
~ ~ ~
Lexi floated through her week, all thanks to Marcus. He was just so much better than the kind of guys she was used to dating. He spent zero time bragging about how great he was and never even made a move on her. It was like he just wanted to spend time with her. On Monday after their lunch at his mom’s house, he’d bought her a coffee at Something’s Brewing Café back in town, and they’d just talked and talked. He told her about growing up with the Campbells, about some of the crazy shit that had gone down on Wall Street, and about how much he loved owning The Burrow. She told him all about her previous job and the ideas she had for going beyond event planning to party planning for busy professionals. On Tuesday they shared takeout for lunch at her place, talking over her business plan. And now today, Wednesday, he was taking her out to lunch before he had to drive back to the city for work, where he’d stay through the rest of the week. He was only living part-time in Clover Park. She’d see him at The Burrow tomorrow night too for his party.
She checked her look in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. Marcus had told her to dress nice for the restaurant, so she’d paired her white blouse with a plum-colored pencil skirt, black stockings, and high-heeled black ankle boots. She’d left her hair down, light on the makeup. Nerves skittered through her. Today felt more like a date, going out someplace nice for lunch.
The doorbell rang and her heart leapt. Calm down. She headed for the door, took a deep breath, and answered it.
Marcus flashed a smile and held a bouquet of red roses out to her. “For you,” he said warmly.
She sucked in air. Not just because he was breathtakingly gorgeous when he smiled, it was just all his warmth and romantic intentions focused on her made her almost woozy. He really was beautiful—his dark hair styled back smoothly, chiseled cheekbones, square clean-shaven jaw. His large muscular body filled out a white button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and gray pants that must’ve been tailored to his exact measurements.
“Thank you,” she said, clutching the bouquet to her chest. She stared at the roses, admiring their lush petals just beginning to bloom.
Marcus cleared his throat. “So you want to put them in water or take them with you?”
Her head jerked up. How long had she been standing here admiring her roses?
She laughed. “I’ll put them in water. Just a minute.” She went inside and he followed.
“Hope you like Italian,” he said.
“I love it.”
“Great.”
She pulled a vase from a high cabinet, filled it halfway, and arranged the roses. Then she set it on the coffee table so she’d see them as soon as she returned. She crossed to him and he gave her a warm smile.
“You look beautiful,” he said, offering his arm.
She took his arm, feeling weak in the knees. She’d never known that was a real thing before today. “Thank you. You’re beautiful too. I mean, man beautiful.” She shook her head. “Handsome.”
He laughed and led her out of the apartment. “So how do you feel about sharing dessert? Some people want it all to themselves. This place has the best tiramisu, second only to Venice.”
“I can share. You’ve been to Venice? I’ve always wanted to go.”
“I’ve been to a lot of places. I like to go somewhere different on every vacation.”
They drove to the wealthy town of Greenport for lunch, Marcus telling her all about his awesome travels around the world—plenty of countries in Europe, but also Peru, Costa Rica, an island off the coast of Africa, Japan, and Australia. He loved to scuba dive whenever he could. He was so easy to talk to, she completely relaxed.
He parked, walked around to her side, and opened her door for her. Then he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm for their walk to the restaurant. He made her feel special, like he was really into her. In her experience, guys played it cool, games and all that shit. Not Marcus.
“Is it scary to scuba dive?” she asked. “I’d worry about running out of oxygen.”
“Nah, it’s great, you’d love it. I got certified before Australia so I could explore the Great Barrier Reef. The coral was amazing, tropical fish in all shapes and colors. We even explored a sunken ship.”
“I’ve snorkeled before in St. Thomas, but never tried scuba. I’ve heard it’s great in Hawaii.”
“Oh, yeah, both scuba and snorkel are fantastic in Hawaii. Things slow down at work for me in August. We should take a trip out there.”
She bit her lip. He was inviting her on vacation? The underlying assumption that they’d be together in the future warmed her all over, but made her a little nervous too. What if they planned something and things fell apart? It was only February.
He smiled down at her and winked. “No pressure. I just thought it’d be fun.”
She met his dark eyes and took a flying leap into risky relationship territory. “I’d like that.”
He smiled widely. “Then it’s a date.”
She couldn’t stop smiling. And she didn’t even care that she must look like a complete dope.
They reached the restaurant and Marcus opened the door for her, ushering her inside. He spoke to the maître d’ and they were shown to a table in the corner right away. The place was filled with square tables covered in white tablecloths with soft mood lighting in recessed lights and glowing red wall sconces. Several large landscape paintings of Italian vineyards decorated the walls.
The maître d’ helped her into her s
eat. Marcus took the seat across from her.
She put her napkin in her lap and whispered, “This is so nice.”
“Wait until you try the food. The steak Florentine is outstanding.”
She opened the menu, took a look at the prices, and seriously considered ordering a salad. This was ridiculously expensive.
A few minutes later, the waiter brought over the specials, and Marcus asked for a wine recommendation, checked in with her, and then ordered them a bottle. Merlot from Tuscany. No price discussed.
She leaned across the table to whisper, “Marcus, you’re very generous, but you’ve already offered me an event with a generous budget, and I’m afraid this is too much.”
He leaned close. “This is our first official date and I want you to feel special.”
“I do, but—”
“That’s all that matters.” He sat back in his seat. “Please just enjoy. You’re the first woman I’ve spent time with that cut through the numbness I’ve felt since my divorce. Your delight is mine too, your happiness makes me happy, and even your jabs are fine because I feel everything with you. Do you know how special that is? How special you are?”
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “I will really try not to jab.”
He laughed. “Just be yourself. I like who you are.”
“I like you too,” she managed.
They smiled at each other like fools.
The waiter arrived with the wine and gave her a small amount to taste. Her eyes widened. “It’s wonderful!” The best wine she’d ever tasted.
“Excellent,” the waiter said, pouring her a glass.
“Excellent,” Marcus echoed, his gaze warm on hers.
She couldn’t seem to look away, caught in thrall. He was romantic and gorgeous. His only physical imperfection was the slight bump in his nose. As soon as the waiter left, she asked Marcus, “How’d you break your nose? Boxing?”
“Flag football with the Campbells. It was an accident. Mad fell on me and got me with her hard head.”
“Aww, little Mad?” Her friend Mad was six years younger than him and petite.
He pressed his lips together. “Actually it was boxing. The guy was much bigger than me, like a frigging giant.”
Wicked Flirt Page 8
