Daisy slid out from under Tim’s hand, standing and frowning at them both. “I need to use the restroom. Don’t worry if they seat us while I’m gone. I’ll find the table on my own.”
As she walked away, she could feel both of their gazes on her back, and she practically ran to the ladies’ room. The second the door closed behind her, she let out a sigh of relief. It was one of those single restrooms, with a couch, a mirror, and then a separate stall. She rested her hands on the sink, staring at herself. “What are you doing?” she whispered to the empty room.
The door opened, and she quickly turned, about to apologize for forgetting to lock the door, but then she froze, because it wasn’t a woman there to use the facilities.
Mark came inside, closed the door, and locked it behind him, clearly not giving a damn he was in the wrong restroom as his gaze focused on her. “Mark. What are you—?”
He closed the distance between them, curling his hand behind her nape, and he melded his mouth to hers with a kiss that screamed of possession and dominance. He backed her up against the wall, and his hands cupped her ass as he lifted her up and stepped between her legs. She moaned, knowing she should put a stop to this because they were in a bathroom, of all places, and public sex was illegal, and it was her job to uphold the law. But she was unable to find the actual words to stop him. Mostly because she didn’t want to.
His mouth ravished hers as he slid a hand between them, rubbing her in hard, fast circles. She cried out into his mouth, pleasure consuming her immediately, because he played her like a frigging fiddle. One stroke of her strings, and she’d play any song he wanted. Her nails dug into his back, and she rested her cast on him, rocking her hips wildly.
He ended the kiss and bit down on her neck where it met her shoulder, and she closed her eyes. He pumped his hips against her and flicked his tongue over the spot he just bit. When he quickened the strokes of his fingers, she tensed, every nerve inside her bundling into a tight ball, and she came harder than ever before. “Mark,” she breathed, collapsing against the wall. “I’m—”
“Why did you run away last night? What did I do wrong?”
“Nothing,” Daisy said immediately. She brushed a lock of his long hair off his forehead, swallowing hard at how good it made her feel to do something so simple. “Truth be told, I think I’m scared of you.”
“Well, I’m scared of yo
u, too,” he growled.
“Me?” She blinked. “Why?”
“Because I’m fucking jealous,” he said, cupping her face with both his hands, locking eyes with her and refusing to let go. “And I don’t like it. Any of it. I don’t do jealous.”
She licked her tingling lips, still riding on the high of the orgasm he’d sent her on, not even pretending to not know what he was talking about. “There’s nothing to be jealous of. He’s just my partner, my friend, and my roommate. He likes to pretend—”
“He doesn’t seem to think so, or to be okay with just being that.” He pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her gently, a complete contrast to the hardness of his voice and the frantic way he’d made her come seconds before. When he pulled back, he ran his thumb over her swollen lower lip. “Look, I’ve never been the jealous type. Not even with Tina.”
“I—”
“But seeing him staring at you like you control the sun and the moon with your smile, and knowing he’s right, didn’t fucking feel good. I was starting to suspect that this isn’t enough for me anymore, but now I know it for a fact. It’s not enough. I need more.”
She reflexively tightened her grip on his shirt. She was going to kill Tim for messing with Mark like this. For ruining their tenuous hold on each other, and whatever they had between them. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I want a goddamn title attached to what we’re doing, the real one, and I want to tell people what we are to one another…or I want out. I won’t press you for an immediate answer, or try to change your mind, since I know you didn’t want this, and neither did I.” He stepped back, gently lowering her to her feet. “But if you decide you want more, too, then come to my place when you’re ready. I’ll wait as long as it takes. Take your time. Think about it. And if you never come? I’ll know what that means, too.”
With that, he left her in the bathroom alone, still trembling.
Could she give him what he wanted? Was he really okay with what she did, and fully willing to accept her as she was? And, more importantly, was she ready to do the same with him? Accept him? Love him? Because that’s where this would lead, if she let it. They’d fall for each other, and he’d hold her heart in his hands. Because the way he made her feel? There was no doubt in her mind she would fall for him.
Completely, madly, wildly. The kind of love that consumes a person. Picks them up. Drops them to the ground. Destroys them.
Loving him would be easy.
It was losing him that would be devastating.
Chapter Fourteen
Mark sat in his living room, staring at his door, tapping his heel impatiently, an untouched beer hanging from his fingertips and dripping condensation on his carpet. His pulse was racing, his head was pounding, and he felt like he was about to run a marathon. In her room behind him, Ginny slept peacefully, completely unaware her father was a fucking mess. All because he was waiting to see if a girl was going to show up at his door and give him a chance…
Or if he’d lost her by asking for more.
He was an idiot for even thinking she might show up tonight. If she did overcome her natural tendency to run, it wouldn’t be so soon. It would take days. Weeks. Months.
Hell, even years.
More than likely, it would take forever, and that knock would never come.