He hadn’t realized Ellie had feelings for him. His intention with women was always a warm friendliness. Wasn’t that what mattered? Intention? He didn’t want to walk on eggshells around Lexi. He wanted her to understand that he’d only been friendly.
Maybe his love wasn’t enough for Lexi.
And when had it ever been? His whole life he’d tried to help his mom, to keep her from being sad and crying so much. It hadn’t worked. His mom got worse, having panic attacks for years.
His love was not enough.
Now she wouldn’t even leave the house.
His love was not enough.
Even his wife, who’d sworn to love him and only him, had found him lacking.
Maybe…his love wasn’t enough for anyone.
He rested his head on the steering wheel, a numb emptiness taking over, leaving him cold and tired. All of his efforts were for nothing. There was no way to fix this because it was him that was broken.
~ ~ ~
Lexi couldn’t believe she’d gotten this new gig so quickly, but she was thrilled. Nate had emailed her with some of the particulars, including a small budget, but that was okay. It was her first real client. She stepped into the Red Arrow Marketing offices not far from Marcus’s bar in the financial district. It was a cool loft-style open space filled with brightly colored chaise lounges, sofas, chairs, even inflatable exercise balls. Workstations were in the center of the space with glass offices around the periphery. Definitely a young and fun vibe in here. A young woman at the central workstation approached, wearing a cute light blue dress with daisies on it.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked.
“Hi, I’m Lexi Judson. I’m here to meet with Nate.”
She smiled. “He’s expecting you. Go right in. He’s in the corner office.” She gestured to his glass office.
Nate raised a hand, smiling at her. She waved back, crossed the large space, and joined him.
He stood and reached across the desk to shake her hand. “Great to see you again. Please have a seat.”
She sat in a cushioned red chair across from his desk. “You too.”
He folded his hands on top of his desk. “So, first things first. This is a party with food, beer, wine, champagne—all of that is already taken care of—but I’d also like fun activities and decorations like you did at Mardi Gras. Just so you know, the team-building exercise before the party is a creative one, where we have a competition to come up with the best campaign for terrible products. Just for kicks, you know, stretch the creative muscle and get some laughs. That’s the vibe we want here.”
“Sure, that sounds fun.” She gave him some of her ideas, including a photo booth using an iPad with fun signs and backgrounds they could later frame and keep, a banana-split bar, and temporary tattoos of red arrows to show team spirit since that was their company name.
“Awesome,” Nate declared. “You’ve got a real fun attitude and some very creative ideas given the budget. Ever think about doing marketing work?”
“No, actually,” she said, surprised. “I don’t have a background in that.”
“We like all kinds of backgrounds here. It’s the creativity that makes you a good fit.”
Her eyes widened. “What’re you saying?”
He tapped his chin. “Let’s see how the event goes, but I’m thinking you might be a great addition to our team.”
“But I don’t know anything about marketing.”
“You’d catch on.”
She could barely believe she’d gotten a job offer like this so fast. “That’s very generous of you, Nate, but I’m really enjoying being an event planner.”
He smiled. “Then let’s get you more of that business. I used to work for the biggest ad agency in the city, McCann-Thomas. Maybe I can pass along your name. As long as the party goes well.” He winked.
“Thank you. And I’m sure it will go well. So would the party be here, or did you want an outside venue?” That was her biggest concern with the short notice.
He spread his arms wide. “We’ll have it here. Plenty of room. I’ll have some of the guys move the workstations out of the way.”
She smiled, thrilled at how easily everything was coming together. “That’ll work.”
“Just one thing.”
She pulled out her phone, ready to type in any notes he had. “What’s that?”
His voice became hard. “Stay away from Marcus Shepard.”
Her head shot up.
“No contact from here on out,” Nate ordered. “You don’t work for him. You don’t let him near you.”
She went hot and then cold. “What does Marcus have to do with anything?”
“It’s simple, Lexi. Stay away from Marcus and you can have this job along with my glowing recommendation to McCann-Thomas.”
“And if I don’t stay away from him?”
His expression stormy, his blue eyes hard, he bit out, “Then none of that good stuff happens.”
Goose bumps prickled down her arms. “Does bad stuff happen?”
“I’m afraid it will if you spend more time with him. I say this for your own safety.”
“Why?” she whispered.
He leaned across the desk. “He nearly destroyed my sister. Her name was Grace.”
“Was?” she whispered, horrified.
He straightened. “Some real twisted shit. First he tells her they can both see other people, but he makes her feel special. She’s in love with him and she hangs on, hoping he’ll stop seeing these other two women he was seeing. Then, finally, he breaks up with the other two. She’s so excited, she thinks he really loves her and only her, and then he dumps her too.”
That must’ve been when he was seeing three women. Stupid Marcus. Of course the women would feel special. He treated women nice. Well, except for the multiple-women-at-one-time thing.
“You said her name was Grace. Is she still, um, alive?” She’d thought she’d only attempted suicide.
He clenched his jaw. “She tried to kill herself.”
“Is she okay now?” she pressed.
He slammed his hand on the desk, making her jump. “Everything was his fault. She changed her name and moved to Thailand. Last I heard, she was living on a farm. My family lost her. He destroyed a sweet trusting young girl.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t you be sorry. It’s his fault. Stay away from him for your own good.”
She stared at him, torn between horror and sympathy. “Nate, am I here because you actually want me as an event planner or because you want to keep me away from Marcus?”
“Both,” he replied coolly. “Now you have a choice to make. I hope for your sake you’ll make the right one. Me or Marcus.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lexi went back to her apartment later that day, her head spinning with all she had to do. She’d called Nate on the train and took the job. She had to. She was unemployed and needed the work. It was just one job. She’d made no promises regarding Marcus and frankly didn’t know what to think. She’d calmed down enough to believe Marcus was innocent in the Ellie lip-lock, but this news about Grace haunted her. Had he ruined a young girl’s life, or had the girl been mentally unstable to start with? Was he even aware that Grace had taken a bad turn?
This job would end on Friday, then hopefully she’d have a glowing recommendation to a well-funded company, and she could build from there. And how would Nate know if she continued to see Marcus anyway?
Did she want to see Marcus?
Her mind flashed to his mom, Lia. They’d become friends. Even if she and Marcus were on the outs, she wanted Lia to know she was still available to her if she needed something. So far Lia hadn’t made any progress, not even to call the psychiatrist, but Lexi knew how important support and encouragement were for someone in the grips of agoraphobia. She called her just to check in.
“How’re you doing?” she asked.
“Something’s off with Marcus,” his mom said, getting
right to the point. “Is everything okay with you two?”
“I don’t know. It’s a little complicated, but I wanted you to know I’m around if you need anything. I mean, if Marcus is in the city or busy.”
“I saw him earlier and he barely spoke two words to me. He’s hurting, Lexi.”
Lexi’s breath hitched. They were both hurting, but she didn’t want to get into it with his mom, which was why she found herself blurting, “The Mardi Gras event went so well I got another job this Friday. I need an assistant, and you’re the first person I thought of.”
“Oh, Lexi, I’m thrilled for you. I would love to help, but it’s so sudden.”
Actually it wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe it would help Lia take a baby step forward. “I don’t live far from you, and I could drive you back and forth.”
“Gosh, thanks, but…I’m going to have to pass.”
“Well, anytime you want to stop by for lunch or whatever, feel free. I’ll be working from home and would love the company. I’ll text you the address. Or I could pick you up, no problem.”
“Thank you, sweetie. Marcus is lucky to have you.”
The stealth mom question hung in the air: does Marcus still have you? She swallowed hard. “Mmm-hmm. Well, I’d better go. I’m going to try a few ex-coworkers next. Just need a little help to get things set up.”
“I so wish I could help.”
“No problem. Maybe another time.”
“Yes. Another time,” she said softly. “Bye.”
Lexi hung up and sent a quick text to Lia with her address and a link to a local taxi service if she wasn’t up to driving. There. At least she could feel good about being supportive and encouraging to a woman who needed that.
She didn’t bother calling anyone else about being her assistant. That had been an impulse invite meant to distract from the Marcus situation. She’d power through on her own and hire if she got a bigger gig. She pulled out her laptop and set up an online invoice system linked to bookkeeping software. Then she searched for where she could pick up the needed party items closest to Red Arrow Marketing and locally, trying to make it all happen in the least amount of trips. The online search sent her down another rabbit hole reading about fun creative team-building games. She liked to have alternate options for events whenever possible, especially if something went wrong.
By the time she looked up from her laptop, it was dark outside. What time was it? Wow. Past seven. She’d really been deep in work mode. She should get something to eat.
Her doorbell rang. Her brain morphed from work mode to panic. Marcus. It had to be. No one stopped by unannounced anymore. She checked the peephole. Yup. She pressed her lips together and got a painful reminder of her lip injury from yesterday. Was it only twenty-four hours ago she’d witnessed him kissing another woman? Mere hours since she’d heard about the devastation he’d wrought on a young girl?
She opened the door. “Hi.”
He wore her favorite combo of sexy and badass—black leather jacket, jeans, and black work boots—yet she still needed some distance from him. “Hey, Lex, you eat yet?”
“No. I was just thinking about getting something.”
He hitched a thumb toward the hallway. “Let’s go out somewhere. Anywhere you want.”
“Actually I was thinking of staying in.”
“We’ll get takeout.” He clapped his hands together, rubbing them. “What’re you in the mood for?”
She eyed him. He sounded wired, probably because of the way they’d left things.
“Lex, can I please come in? We need to talk.”
She stepped back from the door, telling herself to try to be open despite all of her concerns.
He walked in, hands gesturing, his words tumbling out in a rush. “I realize you’re sensitive about cheating, and I know it looked bad before with Ellie, so I guess the right thing for me to do is not be friendly with women at all. Would that fix this? No darling, no sweetheart, no smiling, no flirting.”
Now she felt bad. He was trying to twist himself into some version of what he thought she wanted. What had Hailey said? The relationships that work out are the ones where the couple accept each other for exactly who they are. If she couldn’t accept Marcus for the friendly flirty guy he was, then maybe she shouldn’t be with him at all.
“Marcus, you don’t have to change for me.”
His eyes widened. “I don’t? So we’re good?”
“I’m not sure we’re a good fit. You should be who you are. And who I am is a woman who doesn’t easily put up with behavior that appears to involve my boyfriend with another woman, even if it’s not actually cheating. It just makes me very uncomfortable.”
“Lex, baby—”
“No baby, please.”
“I can change—”
“You shouldn’t have to. That’s my point.”
He threw his hands in the air. “So where does that leave us?”
She took a deep breath. She didn’t open her heart easily and it would take time before she could do that again. She just needed some time. Then she remembered Nate’s warning. “Do you remember dating someone named Grace?”
He stilled. “Yeah, I remember Gracie. Why?”
“She’s Nate’s sister. She tried to kill herself after you broke up with her.”
He hissed out a breath. “Is she okay?”
“Nate says she left the country, changed her name, and hasn’t been in touch with her family since.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “And he blames me.”
“He says she loved you.”
His brows scrunched together. “She did? She never said anything. She told me she was seeing someone from her office while we were dating.”
“Maybe she just said that. Nate says she was hoping you’d pick her in the end, and when you didn’t, she lost it.”
He frowned. “Jesus. I didn’t know. Honestly, I never would’ve guessed she was hurting. Gracie was always smiling, always happy.”
“Because she was in love with you.”
His eyes narrowed. “So now you blame me too?”
“I just think maybe you don’t realize the mixed messages you’re sending out, making a woman feel special without having much feeling for them.”
He scowled. “Nate poisoned you against me.” He pressed his lips tightly together. “So now we’re through?”
She sighed. “Can you just give me some—”
“Time,” he finished for her. “Sure. Take all the time in the world. I’m outta here.” He stalked out the door and slammed it behind him.
~ ~ ~
Marcus stepped into his apartment and slammed the door behind him, furious with Lexi for turning on him just because of something Nate said. She only saw the worst in him. She wanted to see the worst because she was a man-hater. He’d thought that from the first time he’d met her, and what more proof did he need? After all they’d shared…
Hell. He wasn’t going to wait around for her to make up her mind what she wanted. He’d be the one to dump her. He suddenly couldn’t get a deep breath. Calm the frick down. Think it through. Facts. He needed facts. Fact number one—
His phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but some sixth sense told him to answer. “Hello?”
A woman’s voice asked, “Is this Marcus Shepard?”
“Yes. Who’s this?”
“Jen Moore. I’m the one who found your mom collapsed on the sidewalk. We’re in the emergency room of Eastman Hospital. She’s conscious now and asking for you. The doctors say she might have a concussion. That’s all we know so far.”
Pure terror gripped him for a moment before he leaped into action. “I’m on my way.”
He left the apartment, racing down the hallway. What was his mom doing outside by herself? She should’ve called him if she was going to attempt her first outing in months. She had a serious condition. What was she thinking?
Lexi stepped into the hallway. “Marcus, I—”
“N
ot now. My mom’s in the hospital.” He brushed past her and rushed downstairs.
“Wait!” she called from behind him. “Let me get my shoes and I’ll go with you.”
He ignored her, running at top speed to his car. He got in, started it, and peeled out of the lot. Nothing could happen to his mom. It had always been the two of them against the world. He hadn’t been there to protect her. Instead he’d been fighting a losing battle with Lexi, who’d turned on him. Obviously Lexi didn’t love him. If she did, she would’ve heard him out, taken his side.
He rubbed his stinging eyes. Fuck. He couldn’t think about Lexi.
He broke all the speed limits, roared into the hospital parking lot, and parked. Then he ran through the lot, through the busy emergency room, all the way to the front desk.
“I need to see Lia Shepard right away. I’m her son.”
The receptionist took way too long to look up the particulars and sign him in. Finally, he was allowed back into the emergency room full of people on stretchers and in hospital beds with white curtains drawn around them for privacy.
He found her in a bed near the end of the ward, looking frail and beat up. The curtain was only halfway drawn around her bed. Her eyes were closed. Her right eye was black and blue and swollen, her cheek badly bruised with several scrapes, and she had a cut lip.
“Mom, I’m here.”
Her one eye opened, the other nearly swollen shut. It killed him. “Marcus,” she whispered.
A young woman in a T-shirt and leggings sitting on a chair next to his mom spoke up. “Hi, Marcus, I’m Jen, the one who called you. You sure made it here fast.”
He nodded once. “Thanks for bringing her in. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course. We’re just waiting for the doctor to return to see if she needs some tests.”
He stared at his mom, his gut churning. “Okay.” He spared Jen a quick glance. “I got it from here.”
Jen stood and touched his mom’s arm. “Feel better, Lia.”
Wicked Flirt Page 14
