“Crys, if the hickey on the side of your neck is any indication, girl, then you’re somewhere around a Ferrari level.”
“What?” Crystal shrieked. She’d been so distracted when she was getting dressed this morning that she hadn’t noticed anything. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
Without looking, Lydia shook her head. “Afraid not, sweetie. I saw it myself but figured it was from a curling iron since neither you nor I have seen much action in a while.”
“It’s only noticeable when you turn your head a certain way,” Gwen added helpfully. “Just stare straight ahead when you’re talking to people.”
“That’s great,” Crystal mumbled as she attempted to pull the collar of her blouse higher. “I have a hickey for the first time ever, and I ran Mark off last night by telling him the truth.” Throwing her hands up in the air, she snapped, “There are just some weeks you’re born to lose!”
“You haven’t necessarily lost anything,” Mia said thoughtfully. “Having an alpha man myself, I can tell you one thing. They’re only pissed at a woman if she matters to him. The fact that Mark got his undies in a wad over you seeing Bill tells me that he was jealous, and it’s probably not a feeling that he’s well acquainted with.”
“So true,” Gwen agreed dryly. “In my long and disappointing love life before Dominic, I can tell you that men couldn’t give a shit about stuff like that unless they are emotionally involved. I once dated a guy who brought up my ex-boyfriend constantly, even encouraging me to give the guy another chance. You’re under Mark’s skin, and he’s out of his league with you as well.”
“So what do I do now?” Crystal exhaled loudly. “I have one man wanting me back and another one running from me.”
“It’s quite simple.” Lydia grinned. “Which one do you want to catch you?”
Gwen twisted her lips, looking the definition of devious as she said, “Actually, you don’t need to do a thing, Crys. If Mark is who I think he is, then he’ll come to you and your ex-husband will as well.”
“But I don’t need two men in my life,” Crystal cried. “I just want one guy, the one who can give me what I need without me having to beg.”
“Well, don’t tell us.” Mia chuckled evilly. “Tell it to Twitter.”
• • •
Lydia left for a meeting after they returned from lunch. Crystal worked steadily for the next few hours before blowing out a long, frustrated breath and deciding that she needed a break. She got up and shut her office door before returning to her desk and Googling “booty call quotes.” Even though Mia had encouraged her to tweet something at Mark, she’d been hesitant. That wasn’t exactly the mature approach, was it? Scanning through the page, she read one that seemed to apply to how she was feeling about the previous night.
So, before she could talk herself out of it, she replied to Mark’s last tweet with “If you get a booty call at three a.m., you probably weren’t first on the list.” Unknown. #Angel. Then she dusted her hands off in satisfaction. It took approximately sixty seconds for her to regret her impulsive social media slap down. She frantically pulled up the Twitter page and could hardly believe her eyes when she tried to log back in. Sorry, we’re overloaded. Please try again in a few moments. “Shit!” she hissed as she desperately tried to enter the Twittersphere. Crystal had been pressing REFRESH for what seemed like hours with no luck, when she heard her office door open. Her head jerked up and the blood drained from her face. Mark stood there and if the way he was scowling was any indication, he’d already read her tweet. “Oh crap,” she murmured.
He took what looked like carefully measured strides into her office before turning to close the door quietly behind him. “Good afternoon, Angel,” he said in a neutral voice. “Having a good day?”
“Um, sure,” she mumbled. His words were polite, but there was something about his eyes. They seemed to blaze down at her behind his careful veneer. “How about you?”
He strolled closer, stopping just inches from where she was sitting before propping a hip on her desk. “It was going well—until my assistant burst into my office to share something with me.”
Should I beg for forgiveness or go the defiant route? Or maybe just act dumb for a bit longer and attempt to defuse the situation.
“Well, whatever it was, I’m sure the person meant no harm. Sometimes people say the first thing that pops into their head and then regret it. The person might even attempt to take it back, but is unable to.”
Mark raised a brow as he studied her in silence for a time. Finally, he said, “Is that so? My question in that instance would be why say it to begin with? I’ve always found that unfiltered thoughts tend to contain the most truths.”
Frustrated by his calm wordplay, Crystal snapped, “Oh, for heaven’s sake, admit you’re mad at me for dissing you on Twitter! I can’t take much more of this civilized bullying.”
She shut her eyes, waiting for him to blow. When nothing happened, she opened one eye, only to find him grinning at her with what almost looked like delight. “My Angel has claws. I’ve seen the evidence of that on my back—but I wasn’t convinced until now. Even when you’ve been a bad girl, you still come out swinging. I like that—a lot.”
Holy cow . . . I think I just had an orgasm—or wordgasm. Huffing, she could only manage an inelegant “Whatever” as he stepped close enough to trail a finger along the seam of her mouth. Without thinking, she parted her lips and touched her tongue to his digit, causing him to roughly inhale.