Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
I feel my stomach turn as he pretends not to check out my boobs as he takes a drag from his beer bottle.
“So…you want me to be your escort is what you’re saying?”
To my surprise, he simply shrugs. “I mean, if that’s what you want to call it–”
“Get the fuck away from me,” I snap.
“Hey, we’re just talking here–”
“Fuck off before I get you thrown out for propositioning me,” I reply. “My friend knows the owner.”
Taylor may only know one of the doormen, and I may be exaggerating, but my little threat works, and creepy-Adam backs off.
“All right, all right, relax. It was just an offer.”
“Eat shit,” I spit back.
My skin feels like ten thousand spiders are crawling all over it as I watch him go back to his friends. Only once they look away from me do I turn back and try to get the bartender’s attention.
And that’s when I see him: Marlon, standing by the door, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on me.
My heart leaps, and I take a step back as he immediately marches forward, threading his way through the crowd directly toward me.
I want to run.
I want to run to him.
I want to leap into his arms.
My God, I don’t know what I want.
But it doesn’t matter, because when he reaches me, I’m completely frozen in place.
“Who was that guy?” he asks, lips tight, an obvious jealousy stretched across his face. He glances over my shoulder in Adam’s direction.
Confused, I stare blankly back at him.
“Hey!” He snaps in front of my face. “I asked you who that guy was. The one you were just talking to.”
“And I heard you,” I reply. “What I want to know is–what do you care?”
He purses his lips, mulling this over, then glances over again at Adam’s table.
I look back and see all four of them are looking at us now. I can feel the tension rising–that territorial thing that happens with guys in situations like this. You’d think with that many of them, Marlon would at least show some semblance of fear or apprehension, but he doesn’t. In fact, he looks ready to take all of them on.
“Was he hitting on you?” he asks.
“What if he was?”
“It’s been three days,” he says. “Why haven’t you called?”
Is he joking?
“Why haven’t you called? You have my number too, you know?”
The bartender finally notices me and comes over. “What’ll it be?”
“Two mimosas and a sex-on-the-beach, please,” I reply.
“Would you like to start a tab?” he asks, but Marlon instantly hands him a hundred.
“This one’s on me. Keep the change.”
The bartender’s eyes widen, and he gives a sort of mini-bow with his head before heading off to make our drinks. “No problem. Thank you!”
“Flashing money around again, huh?” I ask. “Is that all you can do, Marlon? Just like Mr. Wall Street back there?”
I point a thumb behind me and nod in the direction of the table of brokers, and Marlon narrows his eyes at me. Seems as though I touched a nerve.
“A lot of girls would kill to be treated the way I treat you–”
“A lot of girls are shallow and don’t want anything but things, Marlon,” I reply. “Is that the kind of girl you think I am?”
For the first time since we’ve been together, Marlon looks at me like what I’ve just said to him is actually sinking in–like it’s not just something he’s heard a million times before and is prepared for.
“No,” he finally replies.
“Thank you.” I nod. “Now if you understand that, maybe you understand why I haven’t called you in three days.”
“You agreed to the rules–” he says, his voice faltering.
“Yeah, I did. But if all we are is a friends-with-benefits, then what do you care if I was talking to Adam over there? What would you have to be jealous of? It’s not like I’m your girlfriend, right?”
Again, he hesitates. “Well no, you’re not, but–”
“And why can’t I ask you any questions?” I press, getting right up into his face. “And what’s with all the secrets? Is that what your rules are there for, Marlon? Are you worried you might get attached to someone? Someone like me?”
Something in his eyes flickers.
I can feel the heat radiating off of him like I’m standing next to the fireplace in his penthouse.
He looks down at me, and to my surprise, I see something that almost resembles fear behind his eyes, and that is nothing I’ve ever seen from him before.
Slowly, he reaches out and delicately brushes a piece of my hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear, causing a shiver to run through me. And then, something totally unexpected happens.
Marlon leans in slowly, like something out of a romantic Hollywood movie.
It feels as though all the lights come down in the bar, leaving us in a glowing spotlight completely by ourselves. The roar of the crowd fades out into a dull hum somewhere behind me. The only thing I can hear is the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.