A part of her wanted to play dumb. About what? But she wasn’t enough of an actress to pull that off. Which was exactly why Connie’s plan was a disaster waiting to happen. She couldn’t lie to save her life. A fact which she would explain to this man. She would make him see the light.
They both turned to stare at the door at the sound of a boy’s loud laugh and a high-pitched little scream of disgust. Elizabeth sighed. She would make him see the light after she dealt with whatever chaos had ensued in her absence. Glancing at a clock in the hallway, she turned back to him. “Could you wait for ten minutes when my class lets out? I have a free period next so we can talk then.”
There was that wretched smile. “Of course.”
The next ten minutes felt more like ten hours. Her class, which had been charmingly distracting a few minutes ago, was now a pain in her ass. But eventually—mercifully—the bell rang marking the change of class and the students ran for the door as if the walls had caught fire.
And now she was alone. Thank God. She needed one minute—just one—of peace and quiet to calm her frazzled nerves and think about what she wanted to say.
But Mark didn’t give her one minute. He came strolling into her classroom approximately two seconds after the bell rang, at the precise moment the last of her students filed out. “Ready to talk?”
No! “Sure.” She could do this, she could do this, she could do this. She just needed to take control of this situation before it got out of control.
But before she could speak he came up next to where she was standing in front of her desk, leaned against it, and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked extremely comfortable in her classroom. “So. Are we getting married or what?”
Elizabeth turned so she could face him head on. “Excuse me?”
That smile. God, she hated that smile. But her body did not, apparently, because as his eyes met hers, all crinkled up and cute, a warmth spread through her belly and out to her limbs.
“Did you agree to your sister’s crazy plan?” he asked.
So he thought it was crazy too? Great. She cleared her throat. “No.”
He raised a questioning brow. “You told her no?”
“Um, no, not exactly. Did you say no?”
“Not exactly.”
For a fleeting moment, Elizabeth wondered what their conversation would sound like to someone passing by her door. They’d sound insane, no doubt. “What does that mean?”
Instead of answering, he turned it back to her. His eyes narrowed on her face and she tried not to squirm at the intensity. “You don’t want this wedding to happen either, do you?”
“What?” It came out as a squeak. She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “Of course I do. She’s my sister, I want her to be happy.”
“So you do want to go along with this crazy plan then? So she can have her big wedding and all that?” He said ‘big wedding’ with such disdain, Elizabeth had the urge to defend her sister’s plan. Which was ludicrous since she wanted no part of it. But he’d said…
“Wait, do you not want this double wedding to happen…or Connie and Robbie’s marriage?”
Yet again, Mark met her question with a question. “Are you telling me you think this wedding is a good idea?”
Elizabeth found herself temporarily stumped. “Do you mean this particular pretend double wedding or their wedding, specifically?”
“You can’t honestly believe they’ll make a good match.” The words took her aback but it was the sudden change in his demeanor that hit her the hardest. Mark’s face had hardened. Gone was the twinkly grin. In it’s place was a smirk, plain and simple. He looked so condescending she wanted to smack him.
“They seem happy together,” she started.
He let out a little snort of disbelief and Elizabeth could feel heat rise to her cheeks as anger flooded through her. How dare he judge her sister’s relationship. “What, do you think she’s not good enough for Robbie?”
He hadn’t said it but his face had judgment and condescension written all over it. She wasn’t blind. She hadn’t gone through her entire life at her sister’s side without knowing the type of impression she made. But that was only if you didn’t know her. Underneath all her bravado and type-A-ness, she was the kindest and most loving person Elizabeth knew. Most people just couldn’t get past the hard shell.
“You don’t know my sister.” Her voice had hardened and she impressed herself with how confident she sounded. Amazing what a little fierce overprotectiveness could do for one’s self-esteem.
“I don’t need to. I know Robbie.”
Silence fell between them and they eyed one another like they were opponents in a boxing ring until Elizabeth broke it. His opinion about their relationship didn’t matter, not really. What was at stake here was their involvement. Whether her sister would get the wedding of her dreams. And whether she would have the fake wedding of her nightmares.
Dropping her defensive stance, she breathed in and out and counted to ten before saying, “So you don’t want to go along with this double wedding then? Because you don’t want to support their marriage?”
The smirk faded and Mark’s eyes narrowed a bit as he studied her. “I’m trying to figure out what it is you want me to say.”
Elizabeth blinked back at him. Good luck with that. She didn’t even know herself. On one hand she wanted to support her sister and on the other….well, on the other she didn’t want to be miserable and humiliated for the next two months of her life. That’s why she’d left it up to him in the first place. He was supposed to say no, dammit.
“You want me to say no so you don’t have to.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact.
Guilt made her queasy. Why was he making this so difficult?
“You said yourself that you don’t want them to get married,” she said. “So clearly you’ll say no to this ‘crazy plan,’ as you put it.”
Okay, so maybe she agreed with him that it was a crazy plan, but he was the one who’d said it.
A smile tugged at his lips again as knowing laughter filled his gaze. Could this man not stay serious for more than ten seconds? Was this a medical condition or something?
“Maybe I’ll say yes so I can watch this engagement fall apart.”
Elizabeth gasped. She couldn’t help it. Sure it was a bit melodramatic but then, so was his statement. “You would do that to your best friend?”
Mark’s eyes opened wide with fake innocence. “I wouldn’t be doing anything. Your sister’s ridiculous double wedding fantasy and all the PR that goes with it is going to be the end of them, I’d bet you anything.”
Anger on her sister’s behalf warred with shock at his callous words. “So you want a front row seat, is that it?”
He leaned forward so their faces were inches apart. “I want to be there for my friend when he realizes that marrying your sister is a mistake. And if I can help that realization along by showing them both their true colors, then all the better.”
“You’re an asshole.” The words came out through gritted teeth.
He jerked back as if she’d struck him. To her amazement, he looked genuinely hurt by that. “I’m just a realist. Your sister and Robbie are too different. Despite the cliché, opposites don’t actually attract, they just drive each other crazy.”
“Or they bring out the best in one another,” Elizabeth said.
A fellow teacher walked by at that point and gave her a little wave through the open doorway. Oh Lord, she really hoped he hadn’t heard that back and forth one the validity of opposites attracting. How embarrassing. “Look, this is my workplace, I don’t want to talk about this here.”
He looked around as if just now noticing that he was standing in a classroom. His face scrunched up in confusion. “So you’re a teacher, huh?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Great deductive reasoning skills, Sherlock.” Okay, so perhaps that wasn’t the most mature comment of all time, but his presence in her space, not to me
ntion his irritating tendency to change the topic, was driving her nuts.
“I just wouldn’t have figured you for a teacher, that’s all.”
Somehow she just knew that was not a compliment, not from this guy. “Well, I realize it’s not as sexy as being a bartender, but it pays the bills.”
His lips twitched up at that. “What do you teach?”
Elizabeth crossed her arms in front of her chest, suddenly on the defense again. “Math.”
“High school math?” His tone was incredulous, like she’d just admitted that she was raised by wolves.
“Yeah, so?”
“How did that happen?” Like it was a tragic accident and not a life choice.
She shrugged. “I like math.”
He shook his head, his face screwed up in confusion. “Yeah, but teaching high school students? They smell weird.”
Elizabeth let out a little snort of shocked laughter at that before remembering that he was insulting not only her students but her chosen profession. “You smell weird,” she muttered under her breath.
Wow. She was reaching new lows in her maturity levels. She needed to get away from this man before she stuck out her tongue or told him he had cooties.
When she glanced back at him she saw him struggling not to laugh. “What?” she demanded.
“Nothing, it’s just… Glad to see you’re not boring.”
Elizabeth gasped again, this time in righteous indignation.
Before she could come up with a retort, he started to walk toward the door, but not before adding, “I mean, you are a math teacher.”
Elizabeth sighed as he reached the door. It was hard to argue with that. She definitely hadn’t chosen the most exciting career of all time, or the sexiest. But she loved it.
He paused in the doorway before turning back. “We need to finish this conversation.”
She nodded. That much they could agree on. “Tomorrow after—”
“Tonight.” He interrupted as if she’d never spoken. “My bar. I’ll be there all night.”
No. No, no, no. She was not going back to the scene of the crime.
But before she could say so, he’d shut the door.
* * *
What was he doing? That question played on a loop as Mark went through the mundane duties of cleaning up after the happy hour crowd. There was a lull before the after dinner crowd would arrive and he found himself with way too much time to think as he kept watch on the door. He’d been alternating between kicking himself and marveling at his own stupidity from the moment he’d walked out of that classroom. He’d gone there with one mission. One. To see if Elizabeth wanted to go along with this stupid plan and maybe, just maybe, apologize for giving her a hard time in the car the other day. And what had he done instead?
Well, he’d kind of been a dick. He couldn’t help it! The way she was defending her sister and that relationship, as if it wasn’t completely obvious to everyone that Connie was crushing his best friend with her domineering bitchiness. And more than that, her hypocrisy had slayed him. She didn’t want to be a part of this ridiculous scheme any more than he did, but she didn’t want to admit it. It wasn’t a stretch to figure out why. The sweet, angelic math teacher was afraid to stand up to her sister.
He had a mental image of Connie’s reaction when he’d accidentally brought the wrong type of wine to one of her and Robbie’s dinner parties. She’d morphed into Medusa right in front of his eyes. So maybe Elizabeth’s trepidation was understandable—but still, he wasn’t going to be her scapegoat. For some reason that he couldn’t name, he wanted Elizabeth to stand up for herself.
And so he’d pushed and needled and had said all the wrong things.
Staring at the door, it dawned on him. She wasn’t going to come. Dammit, he’d blown it with her…again. Not that he was trying to win her over or anything. Except that maybe he was. If she really was getting over a bad breakup, who better to help her rebound? He was something of an expert on moving on after failed relationships. The best way to go about it? Move on as quickly as possible with the closest available partner. He’d be more than willing to be used by Elizabeth—all in the name of helping her through this difficult time, of course.
He found himself grinning at the door like a dopey idiot at the memory of her expression when she’d gotten all high and mighty sticking up for her sister. God, she was cute when she was feisty. His needling may have been a dick move but he couldn’t deny that he loved the results. It was like watching a sea monkey come to life when she dropped the quiet, shy act and let her true colors show.
Something told him not many people saw that side of her and that made it all the more satisfying. He wanted to be one of the chosen few. For a little while at least. Just until he got this crush out of his system.
He glanced back up at the door, which remained firmly shut. But now he’d gone and blown it. Again.
He’d all but given up hope of seeing her that night when, ten minutes later, she finally arrived. She had ditched the boring teacher outfit—black pants, plain blouse, and old lady heels—for a pair of form-fitting jeans and a lightweight sweater that hugged her curves to perfection.
Jesus, was he salivating? Get a grip!
Her brown, shoulder length curls were hanging loose, framing that perfect heart-shaped face and making her blue eyes look impossibly bright. Hypnotizing. That was the word for those eyes. He’d felt the same way that night. Every time she’d fixed those eyes on him he’d been rooted in place, unable to look away. He had the disconcerting feeling that she was seeing all of him. Even the things he didn’t want her to see.
Of course, that night those eyes had been puffy and red, and more often than not there had been tears streaming out of them. Not exactly the stuff of sex dreams, but they’d held him captivated in a different way. In a way that had made him want to take care of her, make her feel better, and for the love of God put an end to those tears.
But tonight? There were no tears in sight as she sat at the end of the bar. Her eyes were trained on him, wary but resolute.
He walked over to where she sat and leaned across the bar. She didn’t move back at his closeness, but clasped her hands in front of her on the bar. Man, she was so prim and proper it hurt. Where the hell was the woman who sang along to the jukebox at the top of her lungs?
He would coax her out of hiding. There it was again, that ridiculous need to get under her skin. Keep it under control, man.
“What can I get for you?” he asked. Yes, keep it professional. Keep it cool.
“Just a club soda, please.” She licked her lips briefly and that little motion was enough to get him hard.
Shit. Keeping it cool was not going to be an option.
He placed the drink in front of her. “So, are you ready to talk about this?”
Her hands wrapped around the glass and he found himself temporarily transfixed by the sight of her slender fingers. None of which bore a ring. The grim satisfaction he felt was alarming.
Freakin’ hell, crushes were the worst. This was an excellent reminder of what was at stake if he allowed this to go any further than a fling. His sanity. It had been so long since he’d felt this way, he’d thought he’d outgrown it. But no, apparently crushes could hit at any time—like the flu. Was it any wonder he’d sworn off relationships?
“There’s nothing to discuss,” she started. He watched her draw in a breath to speak and he just knew it was going to be something she’d prepared. Something logical and rational and….he didn’t want to hear it.
“Then why did you come?” He rested one hip against the bar and watched as her perfectly composed features fell into a small frown at the interruption.
“Because I want us to agree that there’s nothing to discuss,” she said. “We’ve already agreed that this is a silly scheme and—”
“I don’t think it’s silly at all.” Of course he did. Hell, he didn’t just think the double wedding plan was ‘silly’ he thought it bordered on insan
e. But the devil in him that was obsessed with getting under her skin came rearing its ugly head. Again.
She was clearly a bad influence on him. But what was it they said? The best way to get over someone was to get under them? No, that wasn’t quite it. But that idea held some merit.
A wicked fire ripped through him at the thought of seducing her—of having her in his bed, naked and willing.
She was staring at him expectantly. She’d said something and he was supposed to respond. Crap. He was too busy fantasizing to pay attention. Before he could think it through, a ridiculous plan began to take shape.
He wanted her. And if he was ever going to get her out of his system, he needed to have her. Just for a little while. Just long enough to get his fill and get tired of her. Learn her annoying habits and have her fall from this bizarre pedestal where he’d inexplicably placed her on that night.
To do that, he needed to get close to her. He needed to keep her in his life, just a little while longer.
And he could help Robbie while he was at it. If he was at his best friend’s side throughout this ridiculous double wedding planning debacle, he could help him to see Connie’s true nature. Even better, he could bring out the worst in Connie and make his friend see what was right in front of his face before he made the worst mistake of his life.
Before he could think it through any further, he leaned over the bar, taking pleasure in the fact that her eyes widened and darkened a bit at the close contact. She felt it too. That thought was a bolt of lightening to his gut and overcame any reservations that might threaten to bring him back to his sane self. “I’m going to do it.”
Elizabeth inhaled sharply. Her lips parted and his eyes were drawn to them. Sweet Jesus, he wanted to kiss those lips.
Ugh, he needed to get over this crush, or lust, or whatever it was, before it killed him.
He could see her swallow. “Y-you’re going to do what?”
Was it his words that had made her so nervous or his closeness? He said a little prayer that it was the latter because his pulse was going wild being so close to her sweet scent and warm skin.
The Morning After: Starting from Zero Box Set Page 19