Marni came running over to direct us back over to the table. Mark slipped his hand around my waist in a possessive manner as he glanced over at Steve. I giggled, probably from having too many Mimosas or maybe it was that his hand felt like he had a death grip around my waist. Mark pulled out my chair for me and I took my seat as he turned to the other people at our table and shook their hands introducing me to each of them.
Steve sat next to me on my other side. Mark seemed tense about the seating arrangement and continually wrapped his arm around me, constantly pulling me to him. At one point, I gave him a reassuring squeeze on his thigh so he would release me so I could eat my food like a normal person.
Steve seemed amused by the obvious possessiveness Mark was displaying. Each time I glanced over at Steve he would smile and shake his head. I also smirked back at Steve and a couple times I actually gave him a ‘
can you believe this
’ type of look. After eating, they began presenting all the athletes and Mark was called on stage.
Steve took that opportunity to whisper in my ear, “For this being the first date, he’s pretty possessive.”
I giggled at the obvious, “Yeah, I’m really not sure what that’s all about!”
Steve turned to me with a serious gaze. “Oh, I can tell you what that’s all about. You’re stunning and I wouldn’t let you out of my sight either.” His eyes had grazed over my body quickly, before returning back to my eyes at the end of his statement.
I swallowed as our eyes met and was terribly unsure as to how to respond to that. “Umm, thank you,” was all I could choke out in my confusion. I sat there for a moment trying to gather my wits, still feeling his hot breath in my ear as he had said that. I was unsure what else to say to that and wondered if he was flirting with me.
He quirked up his eyebrows as he turned towards me again, “So, let me ask you something. When you leave someone as powerful as McKnight, do you just start dating any other rich guy that comes along?”
His question caught me off guard and my face fell as I realized what he must think of me. I straightened my posture and glared at him. “I am not a gold digger, if that’s what you’re implying. I met Mark on one of my daily runs. I’m not after his money or anyone else’s for that matter.” I looked him right in his eyes as I stressed, “And I was NEVER after McKnight’s money either, since that’s what you and probably the entire company thought.”
Steve dropped his head and shook it. “I’m sorry…really, I’m very sorry. I…that was wrong of me to say. I …uh…” he closed his eyes and then cringed when he opened them again. He offered his hand, “Sorry, can we go back to being friendly?”
I reluctantly shook his hand and nodded, “Sure.” I tried to focus on the presentation, but could barely make out anything that was said. The conversation that just took place was still milling around in my head.
“Umm, so, where do you work?” Steve asked trying to change the atmosphere and the conversation.
I decided to shake off his earlier comment and replied, “I’m a bartender over at Allure.”
Dammit. Why did I just tell him that?
I cursed myself for my stupidity. I had to just hope that he wouldn’t tell HIM.
His eyes lit up. “I love that place! It has a great vibe there. I know the owner, Z. We grew up together in the same neighborhood.” He exclaimed as he turned and leaned in more towards me.
Shocked, but also feeling some relief that he knew Z, I smiled, “Really? You know Z?”
He gave a light laugh as he said, “Yeah, actually we played football together and hung out a lot. We used to have some wild times.”
I continued to smile as I asked, “Then you must know Flynn too?”
He smirked oddly, “Of course I do. Flynn and Z were inseparable.”
I giggled, but then noticed the rude looks we were receiving from the other people at our table. We were supposed to be paying attention to the athletes being presented, but I couldn’t resist continuing our conversation. “He’s my roommate! We live close to Allure, so he’s always there too!” I whispered excitedly.
“Holy shit! What a small world! No wonder why I always run into him at Allure!” He shook his head and I noticed his gaze upon my lips and then quickly back up to my eyes. “I’ll definitely have to stop by again really soon.” His gaze was…intense and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
Just then Mark came back to the table looking pretty annoyed. I straightened up since I had been leaning towards Steve to make sure he could hear me when we were supposed to be quiet listening to the presentation.
Feeling remorseful, I sat quietly for the remainder of the presentation; of course, there was nothing else I could do since Mark’s arm had returned possessively around my shoulders, pulling me closely to him.
When it was finally over, and I do mean finally because it was so boring, we all stood up. Steve shook Mark’s hand saying goodbye and turned to me, “It was great seeing you again Isa…Izzy.” He smiled as he corrected himself. “I’ll have to stop by and see you next time I’m at Allure. Tell Z and Flynn I said hello.”
I smiled sweetly. “I will definitely do that.” And then I watched Steve walk off. I turned back to Mark realizing he was glaring after Steve as he walked away.
Mark shook everyone’s hand saying their goodbyes. He had a hard time doing that because he kept grabbing my hand to hold, but had to quickly release it to shake everyone’s hand goodbye.
We said goodbye to Marni and I told her it was nice to meet her, although I wasn’t too sure of that considering her earlier remark.
Mark’s hand slipped back around my waist as we walked out to the front lobby to retrieve his car from valet. While we waited for his car to be brought up, he slipped his sunglasses on as he took a deep breath, “So, you and Steve looked like you knew each other really well from what I saw up on stage.” His tone was actually quite accusatory and I immediately felt for, some odd reason, like I was with HIM again and was going to be punished later.
I started to stammer just like I had always done with HIM when I was in trouble. “I…I’m sorry. We…umm, when I told him I work at Allure, he told me he knew Z and we just went on from there.” I swallowed hard, trying to stop that rising feeling of nervousness. Mark just nodded his head and didn’t say anything else. I realized that HE used to do the same exact thing.
The car pulled up then and he held the door out for me. I slipped in and he closed the door. He slid into the driver’s seat and headed back toward my townhouse. The ride was very quiet. I didn’t know what to say and still couldn’t shake that nervous feeling I had of an impending punishment. Just as we were approaching the townhouse I softly said, “Look, I’m sorry. You took me to the banquet and I should have really been more attentive. I’m very sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry too. It’s just our first date and I really should have taken you someplace nice. I just really wanted to see you again and this was the only thing I could think of since I have training and a photo shoot tomorrow.” He pulled in front of the townhouse and shifted the gear into park. “Let’s just start all over again on Tuesday. Okay?”
I exhaled and smiled, “Yes, I’d love that.” But I wasn’t sure if I really meant those words. He leaned over and kissed me deeply. Again, it was a really wonderful kiss, but just not the same as with Z. There were no sparks, but then again I keep comparing each kiss to Z’s.
He got out and came around to my side and walked me to the front door. He took my hands in his. “I really enjoyed your company. I’ll see you Tuesday, right?”
I smiled up at him. “Yes, I’ll see you Tuesday – same time, same place.” I teased. He bent down and kissed me, then walked back to his car. I took a deep breath unsure of the inquisition I might have to answer to as I entered the townhouse.
Chapter 10
Izzy
Lucky for me it was just Melanie and that type of inquisition I could handle. She was sitting at the bar reading the paper looking bored. Her eyes lit up when she saw me walk in and clapped her hands like a toddler. “Yippee!! You’re back! Where’d you go? What’d you do? And can I tell you how hot he looked?” I laughed and threw my purse on the counter. I grabbed a mug, needing some coffee after coming down from all the Mimosas I drank.
“Well, where do I begin?” I sighed as I reached in the fridge for the cream. “It was… nice.” I started and continued to explain the banquet, the brunch, Mark, the possessive arm thing and Steve.
“Wow!” Mel exclaimed looking shocked and concerned. “So you think this Steve guy will go and tell HIM where you are?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t seem like he would.” Then I chuckled and said, “He actually knows Z and Flynn from high school!”
“Wow.” She laughed. “Now, that’s a small world!” She stopped giggling, turned serious and asked, “So, you’re going to see Mark again on Tuesday?”
I nodded my head, but frowned. “Yes, I…this sounds weird. But, in the car ride home, I felt like Mark was just like HIM and was going to punish me later.” Then I felt stupid for telling her that. She wouldn’t understand, but she surprised me by not looking too shocked and seemed more sympathetic.
“Well, from what I gathered from you, after two years of that, you’re going to keep getting those feelings for a while.” She cocked her head and scrunched her nose. “So, now will you tell me more about these punishments and why you actually left?”
I was just about to pour my heart out when the front door opened and in walked the guys laughing, all sweaty and looking…sexy. Clark had the basketball and was still dribbling it. They all saw me and their laughter ceased immediately. Flynn walked over to the fridge and grabbed waters for everyone and began tossing them to Z and Clark.
Everyone seemed to be watching me and there was a strange tension in the air. “Umm, so what’s the plan for today?” I asked, hoping to break the silence.
Z leaned against the counter near the stove and grinned, “We’re watching football, drinking beer and playing some pool. Mel told me you’re really good at pool, although I saw a little bit of that last night.”
He seemed to be trying to break whatever tension there was and put forth an effort to not make my obvious date with Mark an issue. I also couldn’t help but wonder if he knew just how good I was at pool and if he knew how I learned to play so well.
“Well, I guess some chili making is in order! I’ll run to the store in a bit and get some stuff.” I grinned at him and said it probably a bit too flirtatious. I couldn’t help it. He looked so cute all sweaty and he was giving me that adorable smirk and his eyes were all lit up excited. Our eyes lingered upon each other making my pulse race. I bit my lip trying to stop the giggle that was threatening to come out. I couldn’t help it. Being around him just put me in a giddy mood.
Clark shouted out “YES! I was hoping you’d cook again!” I started to laugh unsure if chili was considered a great representation of my cooking abilities. I glanced back at Z who was still grinning at me.
Breaking myself from his adorable gaze, I stood up, placed my coffee mug in the sink and turned to Melanie. “Mind coming with me to the store? I need to get the stuff for chili and we probably need more beer.” I also knew we needed to escape and have some girl time.
“Absolutely!” Melanie jumped off her stool.
“Great, let me run up and change really quick.” As I ran up to change I overheard Melanie whisper sternly to the guys something I couldn’t quite make out. Flynn shot out, “Whatever Mel!” I continued to hear loud whispering that seemed like everyone was arguing. I hurried and came back down. Everyone became quiet again. It seems to be a thing whenever I walk into a room with these guys lately.
Melanie and I left the townhouse and started walking to the store. “So, what was said while I was out with Mark?”
“The guys told me the full story since we didn’t really get into it last night. They told me about you flirting with Mark and that guy and how Z became jealous. Flynn said he could see fire coming out of Z’s nostrils and he looked like he was going to beat the shit out of Mark and his buddy. So, Flynn thought he’d help out Z, seeing that Z seemed really into you. Then Flynn told me how you guys disappeared into the back and how Mark called him out and that’s how the fight started. So besides making out, what did Z say to you in the office?”
I smirked and rolled my eyes. “Umm…I asked him why he did that and that’s when he grabbed me and started kissing me.” My heart was beating fast just thinking about his kiss again and I know I was smiling from ear to ear. “Then Sandy came and told us about the fight and he ran out to break it up.”
She nudged me, “So, what’s really going on with you and Z? Or even you and Mark for that matter!”
“I don’t know. I feel like Z was just jealous and wants to be with someone because of Sheila. I feel like he just wants me as a rebound, if anything at all.”
Melanie nodded. “What about with Mark? Can I tell you how hot you looked today heading out? Z about fell over when he first saw you, then it looked like he was going to beat the shit out of someone when you headed out the door. You looked HOT!”
“I don’t know about Mark. He was so possessive it gave me flashbacks of HIM.”
“So, how was it when you and Mark kissed? And…can I just say, his car is HOT…” she exclaimed laughing.
I grimaced. “It was good. But just…nothing like the way Z kissed me.”
“Wow. Shit! A lot happened in just two days! What are you going to do?”
“Umm, I’m not sure. I’m reluctant to be with Z. I mean he might just want me to get over Sheila, right?” I was trying to convince myself, but not really believing it. I really wanted so much more with Z. I just knew there was an attraction there, but wasn’t sure about it on his end and that really scared me.
“Nah, I don’t think so. He’s such a nice guy and I’m sure he really is interested in you.” She stopped and faced me grabbing my arms loosely. “Look, I’m your friend and just want to be honest. Z is really a great guy. I mean
really
a great guy. But if you’re not ready to get into something with him, don’t lead him on or anything alright? I mean you’re just getting out of a messed up relationship – or whatever that was and really, like you said, he is too. Not to mention how he was just hurt by Sheila.” She took a deep breath. “I just don’t want either of you hurt. He’s so sweet and caring. And so are you,” she quickly added. “But, you both just got out of relationships. Maybe you want to take it slow, if you do choose Z?” I nodded my head thinking she’s just standing up for Z more so than me. “Yeah, okay.” I agreed.