The Office Rival: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

“An older sister, Gemma.”

“Favorite band?”

“Band? Bon Jovi.”

“Nice,” he adds. “Favorite song?”

“‘In These Arms’ … Bon Jovi.”

“Favorite movie?”

“Father of the Bride.”

He pauses, then follows with a short chuckle. “I love that movie, too.”

“Really?” I laugh out loud.

“Favorite food?”

“Nachos.”

“Ultimate holiday destination?”

“Australia,” I answer with a smile.

“Why did Haden take you outside on Friday night?”

The question, a giant curveball, stuns me. Mentally, I try to calculate how many questions he has asked me, but all I think about is some excuse that will satisfy him without having to let the cat out of the bag.

“How many questions is that? I think your time is up.”

“I’m sure you can answer the last one.” His stern tone catches me off guard.

I could tell him the truth. Besides, if this goes any further, I can’t hide something like that from him. What are the chances of this going further? He is young, I am older. The best we could achieve is copious amounts of hot sex.

“We argued earlier that day. Frankly, your cousin is a jerk.”

He appears fixated on my movement, and I give him nothing to see how uncomfortable I am with this conversation.

“I think I’ll order that second burger.”

“Don’t I get to ask you the lightning round of questions?”

“The next date you can.” He winks.

“Oh, there’s going to be a next date?” I ask coyly.

“Why wouldn’t there be?” He angles his face closer to mine, and with his lips slightly parted, I follow his lead until our lips brush together. The butterflies have crept their way into my stomach, causing some major excitement, but soon the grim reaper follows—guilt. I don’t know who or what I am feeling guilty about—my second attempt at playing the field since Jason and I broke up only two weeks ago, or the fact that he’s the Jerk’s cousin.

Don’t answer that.

“Marcus?” I say softly as we both move away. “I just broke up with my fiancé. I’m slowly adjusting to life being single again.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me, Presley. We can have fun together.”

Fun. That either means hanging out at the amusement park or tied to the bed with a gag ball and chains.

We finish lunch and head back to the office. Marcus insists on taking me back to my desk. I put my purse away, and before I know it, he leans in to gently kiss my lips again. In the background, I hear a throat being cleared. It’s Dee, and she is standing with an overly thrilled Clive.