“What’re you two planning over here?” Ellie asked.
Lexi lifted her head, surprised Ellie was still there. “He hired me to plan a Mardi Gras event on Fat Tuesday.”
Ellie smiled. “Sounds fun. I’m usually in the know, but it’s been tough with Marcus out in the burbs half the week.”
“I’m sure he’ll fill you in.”
Ellie leaned down, speaking in a conspiratorial tone. “I hope you don’t take Marcus’s flirting too seriously. I mean, most women do.”
“No worries.”
Ellie glanced over her shoulder before whispering, “There was a woman who took him way too seriously. She was one of many he was dating. When he dumped her, she tried to kill herself.”
Lexi’s hand went to her throat. Did Marcus know the devastation he’d wrought? A woman tried to kill herself over him? That was serious. She swallowed hard. “How do you know this?”
“Her brother Nate is a regular. He tells anyone who’ll listen to steer clear of Marcus.”
“Was this recent? Does Marcus know?” She couldn’t imagine Marcus not caring if he did know.
Ellie glanced over to where Marcus was now striding toward them, and turned back, leaning close to Lexi to confide, “The only reason he screws around so much is because of his divorce. That bitch really did a number on him.”
Lexi hadn’t known Marcus was married before. How well did she know him, really? She didn’t want to believe the bad rumors about him. She liked him, and he’d been good to her. But maybe that was how he was with all women, which was why they ended up devastated.
Ellie put her hands on her hips and called out to Marcus in a saucy tone, “Whatcha got there, boss man?”
Marcus held up a keychain. “Apartment key.” He handed it over.
“Thank you,” Ellie chirped. She stuck the key in her jeans pocket and walked away.
So Ellie had an open invitation to the boss’s apartment.
Lexi clenched her teeth, taken aback by the stab of jealousy. Dammit. Marcus had gotten under her skin. She found herself wanting to believe in him, wanting to believe he’d changed, that he was no longer a cheating, lying player with a long trail of shattered hearts.
An uncomfortable lump of emotion lodged in her throat. She swallowed it down, reminding herself it was better if she and Marcus were just friends.
Chapter Six
Marcus took his seat in the booth and smiled at Lexi. She did not smile back. “Got the checkbook. I’ll pay you half up front.”
“Thanks,” she said tersely.
“Something wrong?”
“You and Ellie together?” Her tone was flat.
“No.”
“She has your apartment key.”
He studied her for a moment. The fact was Ellie was renting the apartment next door to The Burrow. He’d recently bought the adjoining building, which would soon have a coffee shop on the lower level. He gave her low rent by Manhattan standards and a pay bump since she’d stepped in as part-time manager in his absence.
“Are you jealous?” He kinda hoped she was because that meant she was into him. She had said he was an orgasm-inducing eye-fuck of a man with his shit together and she couldn’t think of anything better than that. She’d definitely grown on him too.
She stared at her laptop. “It’s none of my business.”
“That’s true.” Was this a good time to make a move? Or would it screw everything up? She was making such great progress with his mom he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. “Lexi, I don’t play where I work.”
She typed furiously, not looking at him. He waved his fingers in front of her face, and she finally looked up from the laptop. “What?”
He leaned close, lowering his voice. “I know you got the goods on me from my mom, but there’s more to me than a handful of buff baby pictures.” He thought that might coax a smile from her, but she wasn’t budging. “All I’m saying is maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
She gave him a sour look. “I know you’re a flirt down to your bones. Some women might take it to heart. Not me. Other women.”
“Flirting is just my way of being nice.”
She shut her laptop with a snap. “So if you flirt with women to be nice, how’re you nice to guys, then?”
He wasn’t sure why she was asking, but whatever. “I play basketball with them, buy them a beer. Bro stuff.”
“Do that with me.”
“You want me to treat you like a guy?”
She nodded emphatically. “I’d like that very much.”
“All right. Well, I guess we could play pool. I’d do that with my bro. There’s a table upstairs.” In a very private room.
“I have to get back. Live by the train schedule.” She tucked the laptop back in the bag and then just sat there, staring at him for a solemn moment.
He waited, unsure where she was at. He’d never felt so off-balance with a woman before. One minute he was sure she was into him, the next she was fleeing the scene. Maybe she was nuts. But would a crazy woman be such a generous friend, helping him out with his mom’s condition? No. It must be something about him that sent her on the run. He decided right then and there to treat her exactly like she’d asked to be treated. Like a guy. That was the only way to keep her comfortable, to keep her from running away from him.
He smirked. “When I kick your ass at pool, you can buy me a beer.”
“Ha! You’ll be the one buying me a beer.” She grabbed her down vest and purse, shifted like she was going to stand, and then seemed to change her mind, staying in place. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“I’ve watched you flirt with every single one of my friends, but you never flirted with me. Why?”
“I thought you’d bite my head off,” he replied honestly.
She frowned, her brows drawing together. “Am I that scary?”
“Not scary. More like a back-off attitude around men.”
Her lips pressed together. “It’s complicated. I like men for some things.”
“Not going to touch that one.”
She went on, her voice earnest. “I just haven’t been too impressed with men as a species. Overall.”
“Well, on behalf of my species I say thrbt!” He blew a raspberry.
She shoved her arm in her down vest. “Mature.”
“You realize we’re the same species with some complementary parts?”
She got her vest on and threw one final look at him that he could not interpret. Irritated? Intrigued? He’d never had so much trouble reading a woman. “You sound smart,” she said. “Much smarter than when you flirt.”
So I sound like an idiot when I flirt? Thanks a lot!
He narrowed his eyes. “This is how I talk to guys. You’re now a guy to me.” Yup, he was really going to win her over now. He couldn’t help getting defensive when she threw jabs like that. Sure, he might look like a hulking mass of muscle, but underneath all that, he had feelings, sometimes very sensitive feelings. He’d sooner parade around naked in Times Square than admit any of that shit.
She cocked her head. “So you normally talk down to girls. Hey, darling, hey, sweetheart, aren’t you a pretty little thing?”
He clenched his jaw. “No, I charm them. That means a lot of compliments. Don’t need big words for those, do I?”
“What did you do before you owned this bar?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m trying to understand what makes you the way you are.”
The way you are? That sounded bad. “How am I?”
She gestured for him to hurry up. “Just tell me what you did before you owned a bar.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “After I graduated from Penn—”
“Penn!”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Penn. Economics degree. I headed to Wall Street, dollar signs in my eyes. Got sick of that frantic life, moved to a hedge fund; then I…” He stopped himself. She didn’t need to know that.
“What? Tell me.”
“It’s stupid. Really stupid.”
“If you went to Penn, you can’t be stupid. It’s written all over their Ivy walls.” She leaned close, her voice lowering. “Come on, tell me.”
He grimaced. “I got married.”
She straightened abruptly. “Why was that stupid?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Because a man in love does stupid things. Moved to Vegas for a year—that’s where we met, I know, I’m a walking cliché—and I got some crap job at a casino. Blew most of my savings spoiling her. Long story short—it ended. Moved back home and started all over again.”
“Why did it end?” she whispered. Like whispering would make it easier for him to say.
“That’s not something I talk about with the guys.”
She batted her eyes. “Can I be a girl just for this talk?”
He gave her his sexy half-smile. “Sure, darlin’. None of your sweet-ass business.”
She laughed and offered him a fist bump, so he gave her one. “See ya.”
“Hold up. The check.” He quickly wrote out the amount, folded it in half, and gave it to her.
She peeked at the check and looked up at him. “Marcus, this is very generous.”
He tapped the table. “And I expect a kick-ass event in return.”
She beamed a smile at him. “Thank you so much! You won’t be disappointed.” She left the booth and strode toward the door.
He turned to watch her go, striding with purpose, and found himself smiling. He was in the friend zone, but somehow it didn’t matter. Because he was no longer numb with a woman like he’d been since his divorce four years ago. He felt everything—her jabs, her warmth, her delight. There was only one explanation—
He adored her.
~ ~ ~
Marcus drove to Ethan’s place back in Eastman late Sunday morning, looking forward to working out with Ethan’s weights. He’d just come from his mom’s house. The bad news was she hadn’t called the psychiatrist; the good news was she was no longer against him seeing Lexi. Not that he would’ve let that stop him after getting to know Lexi better. He’d been numb for so long with the women he’d dated. Flirt and charm, dinner and wine, bed and gone. It had gotten old, but he hadn’t changed what he did. Why was that? Too busy or…maybe he just didn’t know any other way to be.
Ethan’s fiancée, Ally, was working her part-time gig this morning, so it’d be bro time. It still baffled him how Ethan had gotten himself engaged—given he was a tough hard-ass—when Marcus had gone out of his way to be a charmer. And all Marcus had gotten for his efforts were a few laughs and a lot of emptiness.
Geez. Was it so much to ask? Why couldn’t he find someone like Ethan had? Why couldn’t Lexi be that someone? He deserved that much, didn’t he?
Maybe he didn’t. Maybe that was why it had never happened.
What the hell did Ethan have that Marcus didn’t have? They had similar fucked-up backgrounds, similar upbringings with the Campbell family, similar practical outlooks. Growing up, Ethan had been tough with no respect for authority. It was their honorary dad, Joe Campbell’s influence that had set Ethan on his career path as a cop. Good thing too. Punk-ass with a chip on his shoulder wasn’t much of a career. But with Ally, Ethan was different—smiling, laughing, lit up with pure joy. How did Ethan get from point A to point B? Marcus felt stupid asking. Everyone knew he never had a problem getting a woman. But lately he’d realized it wasn’t just any woman. It was the right woman.
By the time he got to Ethan’s townhouse, he was so agitated that Ethan took one look at him and immediately steered him toward the treadmill. His friend’s dining room was a home gym. Pretty sweet setup with a treadmill, barbells, smaller dumbbells, and a rowing machine.
“Get a hard run in,” Ethan said. “It’ll make you feel better.” Ethan’s short dirty blond hair was already damp with sweat, so he must’ve gotten a head start.
Marcus went to the treadmill, and Ethan took a seat at the rowing machine, quickly getting into a steady rhythm.
He started the treadmill slow for a warm-up run, glancing over at his friend. Ethan was only a year older than him, his expression dialed to hard, authoritative, and don’t fuck with me. Not surprising given his training as a cop. Marcus amped up his run, working hard, trying to get out of his head. Ethan silently rowed across the room, completely focused on his form.
By the time Marcus finished a hard run, his heart rate was up, tension was down. He slowed the treadmill for a cooling off period. Screw it. He was here, Ethan was here, it wouldn’t hurt to ask for a hint about getting a woman to adore him. But if Ethan laughed at him, there’d be a smackdown. It could get ugly. Ethan was not someone anyone messed with, especially now that he was trained to subdue criminals. Marcus didn’t care. He couldn’t take being laughed at for such a serious problem.
Summoning all the casualness of asking about the weather, Marcus posed the question that might unlock all of his future happiness. “Hey, Eth, how’d you get Ally?”
Ethan glanced at him and went back to rowing. “What do you mean how did I get Ally? You don’t get a person.”
“I mean, uh, how did you hook her? She looks at you like you’re…I don’t know, like she adores you. She lights up, you know?”
Ethan stopped rowing and grinned, his whole face lighting up with that love-happiness he wore like a second softer skin. “I love the way she lights up. You asking for Lexi? I saw the way you look at her.”
Admit nothing. He didn’t need that kind of pressure, the guys watching him go for it and possibly fail. “I don’t know. Just in general.”
Ethan smiled some more. “I’ve only ever loved Ally. But I guess what I did could work for you. First we did the friend thing. I invited her to do stuff I like. You know, to see if we were compatible.”
Marcus turned off the treadmill. “Stuff you like?” That went counter to all of his experiences with women. He went out of his way to do what they liked. Had he gotten it wrong all these years?
“Yeah. I invited her hiking with my hiking club, real low-key, no-pressure situation. Did that a few times.” He frowned. “She hasn’t been hiking with me for months though. She has a fifty-degree rule. Has to be fifty degrees or higher.” He lifted a hand, showing a certain level. “I even got her these thin thermals and kick-ass hiking boots. It’s all about the right clothes to enjoy the outdoors, ya know? But she’s like, no go, her face is cold, but she won’t wear the face mask because it feels weird.” His forehead crinkled for a moment like he was still trying to figure out a solution to the hiking problem. “Anyway, as soon as it warms up, we’ll get back to it.”
This was the longest conversation he’d ever had with Ethan. The longest sentences his friend had ever uttered too. “What else did you do?” Marcus asked.
Ethan went back to rowing. The man was a machine. “I took her fishing.”
Marcus puzzled over that. Ethan loved fishing, but Marcus didn’t know a lot of women who did. Ethan was a real outdoors enthusiast. “What else?”
Ethan rowed merrily along. “I took her to a cookout. She loved the s’mores.” He turned to Marcus, smiling so big his blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “You were there. Remember the party by the lake?” Ally and her friends had organized that party.
“So you basically made zero effort?” Marcus had put in tons of effort with women, making reservations at all the best restaurants in the city, pulling strings when he had to for a primo table. Not only that, he bent over backwards to find the right compliments, and didn’t he make sure the woman got off first every single time? How was that fair? Ethan had done zip.
Ethan stopped rowing and scowled. “I made an effort. Geez. Aren’t you listening? I took her to all of my favorite things. That’s how she got to know me.”
“And then she’s madly in love with you? Eth, I’ve seen the way she looks at you. It’s like you can do no wrong.” He put his hand up to the ceiling. “Like yo
u’re up here.”
Ethan smiled, stood and stretched. “Yeah, well, she’s like that for me. We’re sure of each other. We both really appreciate what we have.”
He still couldn’t believe making zero effort had gotten Ethan to where he was now. “So how did it get to that level?”
Ethan shrugged. “When I knew she was into me, I made my move. You’ll know when the time’s right.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Except he was more confused than ever. He’d made plenty of moves before, and none of them had gotten him a woman who loved him and only him. “So then, one day you were just in love.”
Ethan shifted closer. “It’s like, I thought about her all the time, I got psyched to see her, I got to a point where it was hard not to be with her. Plus I had all this stuff going on with Peggy’s death.” That was his foster mother. “It made me more open to love. You have to be open to it. But once you are, you feel everything.”
Marcus blew out a breath and turned off the treadmill. “Deep.”
Ethan nodded.
Marcus headed over to the dumbbells. “What do you do now that it’s too cold for hiking and fishing?”
“Hang around here.” Ethan looked away, mumbling, “Other stuff.”
Marcus pounced. “What kind of stuff? Could you possibly be doing things she likes?”
Ethan dropped to the floor in a plank position, holding his body perfectly still. “It’s not like there’s a game on every night.”
“You watching girly shows?” Marcus teased.
Ethan held his plank, his voice defensive. “I’m just keeping her company. Some of those house shows teach you stuff. We’re saving for a house, you know. And she’s been helping out Hailey on the weekends with the wedding planning and sologamy stuff, so ya know, there’s shows that can be helpful for that too. There’s like a show for everything.” He switched to rapid push-ups.
Marcus grabbed a pair of dumbbells and did some slow arm curls. “Uh-huh. Wait, sologamy?”
Ethan grunted, finished his reps, and then stood, explaining how women marry themselves in a sologamy ceremony and commit to their own happiness. “It’s all about empowerment. Ally and all of her friends did the sologamy ceremony together. Now Ally offers it as an add-on to weddings for a bonding thing for the brides, bridesmaids, and any other woman who wants to join in. It’s legit.”
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