“Oooh . . . it’s been awhile since I’ve had their barbecue.”
She sighed in relief. “I was gonna cry if you said no.”
“Eek . . . that wouldn’t be pretty,” he joked.
“Oh, hush and drive. I’m starving.”
Following her orders, he drove to their favorite place for some good old barbecue and after he found parking, they walked to the restaurant, got a table, and planned their gastric attack. Mia would get the brisket and he’d get the pulled pork and they’d also share some sides if they could ever decide on what they wanted.
After they ordered and their drinks had arrived, the two friends caught up, swapping stories about their love lives—Mia about Ethan and Marc about Lizzie.
“You have a girlfriend? A real one? Like you’re committed to her and all that?”
Marc laughed because he hadn’t been much of a relationship kind of guy. His friendship with Mia was his longest relationship ever with a female. For him it had just been one-night stands. Until Lizzie. His sassy little thing.
“Tell me about her,” Mia prompted. “What does she do? How did you two meet? How long have you been keeping this a secret?”
“I met her at a party a couple of months ago,” he laughed. “She’s an account executive with an advertising company.”
“I have no idea what that means but it sounds fancy,” Mia remarked, snagging a piece of cornbread.
“It means she works long hours, frequently travels, and is stressed a lot. But I take care of that,” he said.
“Ha!” Mia laughed. “I bet you do.”
Their dinner arrived and they divvied up all the food. After moaning over their first bites, Mia asked what he did while Lizzie was gone.
“I’ve been doing my best to stay out of trouble.”
“How’s that been working for you?” she asked, raising one of her eyebrows, knowing his propensity for chemical escape because she was often at his side, looking for parallel release.
“Well . . . a little hard without you guys around.” He answered honestly but that’s as honest as he got. Marc didn’t tell her about his struggles while the band was gone, about the increased frequency of his partying . . . a cover for his drug use to escape the prolific flashbacks of his father’s death.
“Well, unfortunately . . . or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I guess, trouble is happening tonight.”
“What do you mean?” he asked her warily. Trouble often meant getting stoned out of their minds.
“After dinner we’re meeting up with Marty, Clark, and Todd.”
“Oh, you think so?”
“Oh, I know so,” she mimicked. “We need this, Marc. The five of us together!”
Now was that a truth. He really did need this time with his friends.
“Marc?”
He whipped his head around looking for who called his name. It sounded a lot like his girl. “Elizabeth?” he shouted.
“Yes,” she said, a puff of laughter punctuating the end of that word. “You called me.”
“Oh,” Marc replied. Into his phone. Moving his hand from his ear, he saw the phone and quickly put it back up to talk into it. “I did.”
“You okay?” Lizzie asked.
All he could remember was round after round of drinks, dancing with Mia, lots and lots of laughter, followed by even more drinks. His head was swimming.
“No . . . I’m not gonna make it tonight. So drunk. Just gonna crash here. I promised you I wouldn’t drink and drive. Sorry, baby. I wanted your body tonight, snuggled all up against mine, your perfect ass teasing my cock into a tizzy. God, my cock has missed you,” he said, feeling it come to life just talking to her.
“Just your cock?”
“Well, I control its brain . . .”
“I thought it controlled your brain.”
“Don’t confuse me, Elizabeth. Anyway . . . I’m spending the weekend with you. You better be ready.”
“Friday night . . . you’ll find me naked in my tub . . .”
That vision sobered him and his dick up fast.
“Come on, loverboy. Say goodnight so Clark can drop off your drunk ass,” Mia called out.
“Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
“Goodnight. Until tomorrow, Marc,” she promised.
He couldn’t wait.
With a hand to his throbbing head, Marc silenced the alarm on his phone. Fuckin’ hell. He forgot how wild Thursday nights could be. Crawling off the sofa, he took in the space and figured out he was at Todd’s. He’d spent plenty nights here riding out a high or passed the hell out in an attempt to drown out the visions in his head. The ones that had been there for over half his life. No matter what he did, it never went today.
At least today, he wasn’t high.
Now he just had to figure out where his car was so he could get the change of clothes he always kept in there and head to work. Pounding on Todd’s bedroom door, Marc called out his name. “Dude. Where’s my car?”
“At the club,” came Todd’s grouchy reply.
“Can you—”
“Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll take you.”
Yeah . . . they’d done this way too often.
After getting his car, Marc went to work with a short detour to the restroom to clean up and change. He then spent all day doing his best to concentrate on the articles he needed to get done for next week’s edition instead of Lizzie who had texted him during her lunch hour to remind him about later that evening.
Lizzie in a bathtub. Naked.
His imagination was way too active with that and not the damn article about the new retail shop opening next week on North Avenue.
When he finally got home, Marc quickly packed a bag for the weekend then hurried over to Lizzie’s. As he pulled into her driveway, he noticed the lights on up in her bedroom and hoped she was actually in the tub as promised.
Entering her house, he listened for any activity on the main level as he headed to the stairs. The moment he stepped on the second floor landing, the sound of running water hit his ears. Marc walked into her bedroom and turned towards the bathroom. A naked Lizzie stepping into the tub stopped him in his tracks. Her long hair was secured up in a bun on top of her head, showcasing her long, graceful neck. When she turned to sit in the water, her eyes landed on him. There was no attempt to hide from him. Instead, the opposite. She turned her body to face him so he could see her in all her magnificence. Marc strode to the bathroom and stood before her.
“Elizabeth,” he said, knowing how she liked him calling her that. Her breath caught and he smiled. “Care if I join you?”
Without a word, she shook her head. Marc kicked off his shoes and went about taking off his clothes, his gaze never leaving her beautiful face. Her eyes, on the other hand, followed the track of his hands as they went to his pants. Her tongue moistened her lower lip just as he pushed down his pants and boxer briefs.
Once naked like his girl, he stepped in the tub behind her and eased into the hot bubble bath, sighing at how great it felt. “As much as I love the view of your perfect ass, I’d much prefer you down here in my arms.”
Lizzie glanced back at him, the beginning of a smile tipping the corners of her mouth, and lowered herself into the water. Marc slipped his arms around her stomach and drew her even closer to him. Her head fell back to his shoulder as she got more comfortable.
“This is the perfect way to end my week,” he said, loving just being with her like this, relaxed . . . and naked.
“You think?” she finally spoke. He kissed her nose before responding.
“I do. I’ve got the most beautiful woman in the world, naked and between my legs. How can it get any better?” he asked, playing with an escaped tendril of her hair.
“Oh, I don’t know . . .” she retorted, turning around and kneeling before him, that vivid smile of hers returning as her hands found purchase on his chest. “I can think of a few ways to make it even better.”
Lizzie reac
hed behind him and a few seconds later, her bath sponge touched his chest. “Are you dirty?” she asked, her hand guiding the sponge down his chest and completely abandoning it once it reached the water. Her hands continued on until they came in contact with his now aching cock, causing him to swallow hard before answering her question.
“Very,” he answered, her hand continuing to stroke his cock. Being dirty never felt so good.
Lizzie
August 7, 2006
Having just gotten out of an all-morning meeting, Lizzie collapsed into her chair and let her head flop back against it, her eyes snapping shut. She was exhausted . . . and hungry. Surprise pop-up meetings right as she’s about to eat her breakfast were so not cool. Glancing over at her now probably rock-hard oatmeal, her stomach growled. Food was definitely the next item to knock off her list.
Sitting up, her eyes landed on a picture of her and Marc out on a boat cruise a couple of weeks ago. Everything about that man made her so happy and she was almost positive that she glowed from it. Even right now, her cheeks felt aflame.
Wiggling her mouse, the screensaver disappeared revealing her basic desktop . . . and a message notification from her boss, Parker. Shit! Lizzie opened the message and groaned as she read it.
Can you stop by when you get a moment? Got something important to discuss.
Guess lunch was postponed, she thought, and tried to remove the spoon from the oatmeal to take a bite, even if it was cold, but it was stuck.
Double shit!
As Lizzie walked down the hall, she bit down on her thumbnail, trying to tamp down the rolling going on in her stomach. The unknown and impromptu nature of the meeting the culprit of the havoc being played with her nerves. She hoped to glean some information from Parker’s assistant, Eva, but she appeared to be out to lunch.
With a fortifying breath and a plastered smile on her face, Lizzie knocked on Parker’s door. “Hi, Parker. You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Thanks for coming during your lunch hour. I am swamped today but wanted to have a sit down with you. Please shut the door.”
Oh crap . . . the door. She already didn’t like this meeting. An impromptu one on one with the door shut? Her mind raced thinking of what this could be about as she took a seat opposite her boss.
“Short and sweet, my dear. Ninety days ago, you started for us and there hasn’t been a day since that I’ve regretted hiring you. You’ve completely exceeded my expectations. Every single assignment, you’ve blown me and our clients away.”
The struggle was real to keep the proud smile from covering her face as Parker continued to talk. Ninety days? It seemed like so much longer than that with everything that had been going on professionally and personally.
“I want to challenge you . . . see what else you can do . . .”
Oh, shit! What did he have in mind?
He didn’t leave her hanging long. “I have to go to Seattle for a few weeks to help Lifescripts open their new office.”
“A few weeks?”
“Yes. I’ll be out there for the majority of it with you, but I have a few days sprinkled throughout where I need to leave for other meetings. I don’t want to leave them empty-handed and who better to step in for me than one of my best employees?”
Damn! One of his best employees? Coming back to Chicago was totally the best decision she’d ever made.
“When do we leave?” she asked, feeling the excitement for this opportunity rush through her blood.
“Next week.”
“Great.” Shit.
“I’ll have Eva set up all your travel plans and send over whatever documentation we have on Lifescripts so you can be up to speed before we get there.”
“Thanks, Parker. That will be very helpful.”
“Keep up the fantastic work, Liz,” he said, standing up.
“I will,” she replied before walking out of his office and back to her own. And when she entered, she shut the door and did a damn happy dance right there, not caring who saw.
Lizzie didn’t relish the thought of being gone from Marc for so long, but this opportunity . . . hot damn! She’d never had anything even remotely close to this at her last job, and Lizzie was so ready to prove herself to Parker.
Not even caring about lunch anymore, Lizzie picked up her cell phone and called Marc. She needed to share this amazing news with him.
“Oooh, to what do I owe this unexpected call from the stunning Elizabeth?”
His sexy voice made her heart flutter and when she got that under control, she blurted out what had just happened with her boss.
“Not gonna lie . . . I’m disappointed that I won’t see you for three weeks, but this sounds like such an amazing opportunity!” his voice full of excitement for her. “So, tell me again, your boss said you were what?”
Lizzie was glad that Marc had been honest with her for a few reasons but the biggest one was that he’d miss her. He hadn’t said those exact words, but that’s what he meant. And that pleased the hell out of her.
“He said that I was one of his best employees.”
“That’s my girl! We should go out to celebrate this tonight.”
“Or . . .” she interjected. “We can stay in to celebrate, preferably in one of our beds.”
“We can do whatever you want, baby.”
“I really like that about you,” she blurted out.
“What?”
“The way you always try to make me happy,” Lizzie explained. “It just makes me want to do whatever I can to make you feel the same way.”
Lizzie
August 30, 2006
Hump day, Lizzie thought while she drove from her house to Marc’s, a silly yet tired smile overtaking her mouth. She hadn’t seen Marc in over two weeks. Even though she loved her job, it couldn’t give her what Marc was about to on this Wednesday evening.
Lizzie pretty much had it all. Life was great.
Well . . . except for one thing.
She wished she could spend more time with Tom. Since she’d returned to Chicago, they’d had zero time together. Just phone calls.
And those were usually rushed. They both were busy and trying to coordinate a time to get together just hadn’t worked out. He’d been creating furniture masterpieces and she’d been traveling for work. At least she’d see him this weekend at the big Labor Day party.
As she pulled into Marc’s neighborhood, her phone rang. Figuring it was Marc wondering where she was, Lizzie grabbed her phone from her purse and answered it without looking.
“Hello?”
“Hi, stranger,” Tom’s voice hit her ear and she sighed, knowing that it was true and a little freaked out the he’d called after he’d just been on her mind. “You there?” he asked after her extended silence.
“I am. Sorry, so . . . what’s up?”
“I was hoping you might be able to come to the party a little early . . . you know, so we can catch up.”
“I would absolutely love that. Just you and me?” she asked hopefully.
“Yeah, you and me.”
She smiled to herself, happy to finally see her best friend.
“I know once the party really starts we won’t get an opportunity to be alone to just talk and catch up so I figured . . .” Tom continued.
“You figured correctly. Sounds like an awesome plan.”
His deep chuckle tickled her ear. “Full of them over here.”
“I can’t wait to see you, Tom.”
“Me either, Bits. Like noon?”
She cringed at his use of a very old nickname he had thought up. He had gone from Beth to Betsy to Bitsy to Bits because she was short. So not original but it had stuck . . . with him anyway.
“Bits?” she asked.
“Always loved that name. Fits you perfectly,” he said laughingly.
“Bye, Tom . . . see you Saturday.”
“Bye, Bits,” he said and hung up before she could tell him to stop with the name.
Shaking her head at Tom,
Lizzie pulled into Marc’s driveway. A smile broke out on her face when she noticed Marc sitting on the porch, a beer bottle dangling between his fingers, a smile of his own on his face.
She jumped out of the Jeep and made her way to him.
“‘Wanna celebrate hump day?’” he said, quoting her text from earlier. He placed his beer on the step next to him.
“Yes?” she responded.
With a shake of his head and a smirk on his lips, he pulled her between his legs.
“God, I love you,” he said.
The words hit her, disorienting her. “Whoa!” she exclaimed, pushing back at those unexpected but much wanted words. “You what?”
Bringing her back to him, he placed a kiss on her nose. “I love you, Elizabeth McCullough.”
“Man, you’re pulling out all the stops for this celebration.”
His laughter fluttered across her face and the warmth from it coursed through her body.
“Yep . . . I’m so in love with you,” he added and her heart skipped a goddamn beat. When it finally righted itself, she allowed herself one kiss before she placed her hands on his cheeks and spoke her truth.
“I love you, too.”
The big, bright smile on his face pulled the tears from her eyes. That she could, with how she felt for him, make him that happy, she could easily get addicted to that feeling. Addicted to him. She couldn’t wait to be at that party with Marc by her side.
“Marc, we never discussed telling people about us . . . we never said anything about keeping it a secret but somehow nobody has a clue and I just know that I don’t want to keep it a secret any longer. I want to be at this weekend’s party as your girl. I quite literally want to shout out, ‘I’m dating Marc!’” she jokingly shouted.
“You are my girl. And I’m so proud of that. I don’t know why we’ve kept it quiet either. Don’t worry . . . everyone will know I’m yours by the end of that party,” he announced, that sexy smile of his making an appearance.
Her cheeks flushed in absolute giddiness. “You’re mine,” she said happily.
“Yeah, baby, I’m yours,” he said, his voice probably full of the joy he felt at that.
“I’m yours.”
Losing You (Stars On Fire #4) Page 5