Page 7 of If You Dare

Clive chuckled.

Their strawberry-blond, lethally sexy coworker lounged in the center of an air mattress inside like the queen of freaking Sheba, fluffed pillows at her back. When she lifted a pair of chopsticks to her mouth, Marcus’s own mouth went dry. Her plush lips closed around a bite, her delicate throat working as she swallowed. Damn.

Those lips would be the death of him. Mainly because she refused to let him close enough to have a taste.

“Mmm. Dragon roll,” Clive said. “Do you think she went to Sushi Café? I love when they throw in a free crab Rangoon.”

“Unbelievable,” Marcus grumbled.

The soft bluish glow that lit her face came from the iPad on her lap. It must’ve been tuned in to something funny. She tossed her head back and laughed. He felt a punishing jolt of attraction as he watched her—the same unrelenting attraction he felt every day he saw her at work.

Made no sense.

He’d asked her out. She’d said no. He’d been shot down plenty of times by different women in the past and had bounced back quickly. But after Lily told him no, he hadn’t bounced back. Dating other women felt wrong. Which really made no fucking sense.

“Yes, she looks truly terrified.” Clive chuckled again.

“That’s why I brought these.” Marcus kicked the duffel bag at his feet.

“You don’t think that’s cheating?”

“I think all is fair in love and war and hard-won trips to islands.”

Clive scrubbed a hand over his sandy blond hair and shook his head. “I don’t get it, man. If you want a date with her so badly, why don’t you ask her out?”

Well. Shit. Was he this transparent? Marcus shot him a look. “What are you talking about?” He’d tried to sound shocked, but his voice had come out thin and a little guilty.

Damn. It.

Clive grinned. “Yeah. I kind of figured out that you liked her, like, a millennium ago.”

Marcus accepted defeat and dropped the innocent act. It was just as well. He was a horrible actor. “Does Joanie know?”

“No, man.” He clapped Marcus on the back.

Relief.

“I did ask her out. Once.”

“No way. Lily turned down the Marcus Black?”

“Shut up.”

“So, ask her again. She didn’t know you then.”

Yeah, well, she knew him now. And she practically hated him. Or…not hated him. But she had his number…along with way too many women in Fantom who continued to call and leave him voicemails asking him for “one more date.” Life would have been easier if he could have hooked up with one of them…or several of them. But the idea of dating anyone other than Lily had left him feeling empty.

Which he did not understand. Thinking with his dick had worked fine and dandy up until he’d met the maddening redhead. Now he was a lovesick puppy. And if that wasn’t pathetic enough, his best friend knew.

“Just stick with the plan, Clive.” He was not talking about this. Not now. Not ever.

His buddy rolled a shoulder, unfazed as usual. It was impossible to intimidate the guy who’d known him since he was a gangly thirteen-year-old.

“I don’t know, man.” Clive looked through the window at Lily again. “You may not be able to scare her off, costumes or no.”

“She’s a prima donna.” Marcus admired the wave of her long hair, and the open, inviting smile on her face, even in the dimness. God. He was screwed. Might as well return his man card along with his balls on a keychain. Some playboy he’d turned out to be. “The moment she breaks a nail, she’s out of there,” he said, not sounding the least bit sincere.

Harmless insults had become the norm between him and Lily over the two and a half years they’d worked together. He mostly did it because he loved the feisty spark in her eyes whenever she slung an insult back at him—she enjoyed busting his balls. But if he were being honest, he’d never been able to truly relegate her to the role of prima donna.