The One For Me (Danver #8) (15 page)

“Please tell me you aren’t still going to marriage counseling with Bill,” Ella pleaded.

“I’ve only been one time,” Crystal said defensively. “But he’s pressuring me to go again.”

Ella ran a hand through her hair in frustration before looking at the baby monitor on the table beside her. Sofia had gone down for a nap right after Crystal arrived, and she was still moving restlessly in her crib. When the baby quieted again, Ella said, “Tell me the absolute truth. Are you thinking of taking Bill back?”

“What?” Crystal gasped. “No! Of course not. I’m happy as I am.”

“Okayyy.” Ella drew the word out as if her patience were being tested. “Then why are you going to marriage counseling with him? For God’s sake, Crys, that’s whacked. Do you realize what kind of message you’re sending the man? He no doubt thinks you’re going to end up remarrying sometime in the not so distant future. That’s certainly what most would believe. And what about Mark?”

“Things are good with him,” she said happily. Actually, things
were
great there. They’d been going out for over a month, and the only times they weren’t together
in the evening were the few times he’d been out of town on business.

“That’s good.” Ella smiled before lowering the boom. “And what does he think about you attending a therapy session with your ex-husband? I can tell you what Declan’s opinion would be on the matter, and it’s hard to believe that Mark is that understanding.”

Crystal shifted in her seat before dropping her head back on the sofa and staring up at the ceiling. “I—er, I haven’t really told him,” she mumbled, hoping that her sister couldn’t understand what she was saying. She should have known better.

“That’s pretty much what I thought.” Ella snorted unhappily. “Crys, are you trying to ruin your life? I’ll admit, when you and Mark first started spending time together, I was a tad concerned that you would get hurt, and Declan was frantic. But you two have been so good for each other. Everyone says that Mark is a changed man, and you’re just . . . glowing. I’ve never seen you this happy before, even when you were a newlywed. But you’re playing with fire here, and I don’t understand why.”

Crystal pinched the bridge of her nose before looking at her sister and admitting softly, “He keeps crying.”

“Mark?” Ella shrilled, looking amazed.

“What? No! Of course not. Bill. It’s as if he’s broken out of the cold shell he’s always lived in and now he’s this whole new emotional person that I don’t recognize. Each time I try to tell him that I’ve moved on and there is no hope of us getting back together, he breaks down. He said that he just needed me to be his friend
and support him while he’s getting help. I mean, he doesn’t have anyone else, and he wants to change.”

Ella blinked rapidly before pursing her lips. “Honey, I think it’s great that Bill is attempting to better himself. And, of course, knowing how softhearted you are and the history between you both, I would expect nothing less than for you to be a friend to him. But, that being said, you’re going to marriage counseling at his request. Which indicates that you’re working on issues as a couple—to have a future together again. I’m very much afraid that Bill is manipulating you and taking advantage of your good nature.”

Crystal chewed her bottom lip as she pondered her sister’s words. In truth, she’d wondered the same thing more than once. But he seemed so sincere. And he hadn’t made a move on her romantically—well, other than holding her hand during the session. “I don’t know what to do,” she finally admitted. “I know I shouldn’t care whether he suffers or not because he never cared or noticed when I was. But he just seems so lonely and lost, and I feel kind guilty that I’ve caused it.”

Ella reached over and put a hand on top of hers. “That’s why you’re the woman you are, sis. You have a huge heart, and you don’t want the person who made you miserable to be sad. But regardless of whether it’s genuine or if he’s messing with your head, it has to end. It’s not fair to you, to Bill, or most of all, to Mark to keep this going. Tomorrow, you need to call him and tell him that you can’t do it anymore. Don’t meet
him in person, because you won’t be able to handle it if he gets emotional.”

“All right.” Crystal sighed. “I know you’re right. I guess I’d just been hoping that Bill would lose interest in me again—you know, kind of like when we were married.” Smiling, she added, “I certainly don’t want to lose Mark.”

“How are things with DeStudo?” Ella asked with a mischievous grin. “You know everyone’s talking about the whole romance of the year, right?”

Baffled, Crystal asked, “Romance of the year? Us?”

“Well, heck yeah,” Ella enthused. “No one has ever seen Mark walk around at Danvers holding a woman’s hand. You two are joined at the hip almost every day when you come through the door, and trust me, it’s been a hot topic. Did you know that your boss calls him . . .”

“Mr. Big,” Crystal filled in with a laugh. “Yep, she’s convinced that we’re the Danvers/DeSanto version of Carrie and Mr. Big from
Sex and the City
. Of course, I think she’s concentrating on Mark’s right-hand man, Jacob, more than anything.”

“She mentioned that too,” Ella agreed with a grin. “It’s nice to see her smiling again every day, though, isn’t it? I mean, I knew Lydia a little before you went to work as her assistant, and she always seemed so sad. I’m not saying that anything will ever come of her crush on Jacob, but it’s great to see her living life again.”

“I’ve been trying to get Mark to set them up,” Crystal confessed sheepishly. “He says he’s not getting
involved, though, and that Jacob doesn’t really do long-term commitments.”

“Well, neither did Mark,” Ella argued.

“We aren’t exactly engaged; it’s been like a month,” Crystal pointed out.

“For a man like Mark, that’s major,” Ella added. “I’m just saying that sometimes people do things a certain way because they haven’t found someone who makes them want more. Look at Declan—he wasn’t looking for love, marriage, or a family, but that changed.”

“That’s true,” Crystal said thoughtfully. “Whatever it is, I’m enjoying what we have. I never knew that a man could make me feel so much.” Dropping a hand over her eyes, she whispered, “I flat out lust after him as much as I did back when I used to stalk him around the office. And it’s not just that. He’s funny, thoughtful, and one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.”

Moving in for the kill, Ella asked bluntly, “And are you willing to lose that to keep from hurting Bill’s feelings?”

“No”—Crystal cringed—“not at all. Of course, you’re right. I’ll do something about it.”

“Thank God,” Ella deadpanned. “Now, are you two coming to Suzy’s party this weekend? I have no idea what’s going on because she’s been really secretive about it.”

“I think Gwen knows something.” Crystal nodded. “When we were having lunch the other day, she acted really funny when Mia brought up the party.”

“Same thing here from Beth. She’s a horrible liar, and I can normally get her to break, but this time she’s keeping her mouth shut, which is highly unusual.”

“Mark doesn’t know anything,” Crystal said thoughtfully. “He asked Gray if there was some special occasion, but instead of answering, he said Gray just smiled and walked off. I tried to get him to ask Nick or Jason, but he told me that men don’t harass other men for information like that.”

“Oh bullshit.” Ella snorted. “They try to pretend that women are so much worse about gossip, but I’ve heard Declan in action, and they’re every bit as nosy. He probably already tried it but didn’t want to admit to failing.”

Before Crystal could reply, her phone chimed and she fished it from her purse. Her insides went all gooey as soon as she saw the text from Mark.
When’re you going to be home, Angel?

“Dear Lord, let me see that.” Ella chuckled as he grabbed the phone from Crystal’s fingers. When she read the message, she said, “Awww, that’s so sweet. Is he waiting at your place or something?”

Crystal knew she was blushing as she admitted, “No . . . he’s talking about his house. He calls it ‘home’ because—it is, right?”

Wiggling her brows, Ella said, “Mmm-hmm, it’s his place all right. But he’s referring to it as
your
home. That’s a big difference.” When her sister started humming the bridal march, Crystal got up from the sofa and threw a pillow at her.

“Keep it together, crazy. If Mark hears you doing that, then no doubt he’ll run for the hills.” Picking up
her purse and snatching her phone away from Ella, she walked backward to the door. “I’m leaving now before you start ordering wedding invitations and creating a song list.”

Ella laid back full-length against the couch cushions, putting her hands behind her head. “Come on over to the dark side, Crys—it’s pretty sweet here.”

Crystal shook her head and gave a wave before leaving. She quickly typed out a response to Mark’s text letting him know she was on her way as she settled in her car. She didn’t want to admit it to her sister or anyone else, but she’d started to let herself think of Mark’s place as home. She only hoped for the sake of her heart that it was a permanent residence and not temporary housing.

•   •   •

She and Mark had just finished a dinner of Chinese takeout and were curled up on the sofa watching television. It seemed so domestic and normal that Crystal had pinched herself once just to prove that she was awake. Somehow, she’d always imagined being with a man like Mark would mean lots of socializing, but they’d actually developed a fairly low-key routine. Most evenings they cooked, ordered in, or went out to eat, and then went back to either her apartment or Mark’s place—mostly his. They had gone to the movies a few times and spent lazy days on the beach in front of his house. She loved it since she’d never been one who liked to be constantly on the go.

His arm was around her shoulders, and he was absently twirling a piece of her hair when his phone rang. She saw Denny’s name on the display before
Mark answered the call with a simple “Yeah?” Then there was nothing but silence, followed by an explosion of profanity. She jumped in her seat, looking at him in alarm. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” He removed his arm and hunched forward. “I swear to Christ, I’m about sick of dealing with this.” He said a few more sentences before ending the call and dropping his head in his hands.

She tentatively touched his back, rubbing at the tense muscles there. “Is everything okay, babe?” Quite obviously, it wasn’t, and she felt kind of stupid for asking, but she had to start somewhere.

“Not really, Angel,” he snapped, before softening his voice. “Sorry, baby.” He rubbed at his neck before straightening to look at her. “You need to go home. My parents are coming into town unexpectedly, and it won’t be good if you’re here.”

Wow, she hadn’t been expecting that. She knew from the few things that both he and Denny had shared with her that his parents were about as bad as hers. From his reaction, she had to think they could even be worse. “I don’t mind,” she protested, not wanting to leave him in his hour of need.

Pulling her back into his arms, he dropped a kiss on her neck before saying, “Remember when I said that my parents made yours look tame?” When she nodded, he added, “Well, that was somewhat of an understatement. Your mother may be a bitch and your father may let her get away with it, but that’s where the similarities end. In my family dynamic, my father is the asshole and my mother is the enabler. And to make matters worse, he’s also a drunk who abuses
alcohol and God knows what else. He’s weak, selfish, and spineless. My mother tries to smooth his rough edges by pretending to care about us, and possibly a part of her does, but I’ll always be a distant second to her. They both sleep with whomever they want, but at the end of the day, they’re a team and anyone else is just on the outside looking in.”

Unable to process his words, she stared at him for a moment before saying, “Wow, I thought I had the parents from hell.”

That appeared to have surprised him enough to get a laugh out of him, which he’d looked sorely in need of. “I believe we both do,” he agreed, “just in different ways. They’re toxic, Angel, and I don’t want you to have to deal with it. You have enough to handle with your mother. Chances are that my father will be wasted, and when that happens, he can be nastier than usual. So it would make me very happy to know that you’re home enjoying your evening and away from their toxic behavior.”

“Are they staying with you?” she asked, still feeling as if she was abandoning him to the wolves.

“Hell no,” he responded immediately. “I’ll be their first stop, but luckily they prefer an expensive hotel. They generally stay at the Oceanix, so I figure I only have to survive a few hours—at least tonight.”

“All right,” she agreed. “I don’t want you to be stressed over them and have to worry about me, so I’ll go.” She was pulling away to stand, when he managed to halt her progress and lift her neatly into his lap.

“Thanks, baby,” he growled, “but I’m going to need a little something to get me by before you leave.”

“And what would that be?” she purred as his lips locked on hers. Dear God, the man could kiss. She might not have much to compare him to, but somehow she knew he’d be at the top of most women’s lists. He didn’t just kiss, he owned. He was in control, unless he was feeling playful and allowed her to take charge for a brief time. He believed in lots of tongue. When Mark took your mouth, you damn well knew it. Her clit throbbed and her nipples hardened, even though she tried to silently warn her body that there would be no satisfaction tonight—unless it was self-induced.

“Fuck,” he grated out against her lips. “I can’t believe I’m sending you away after that.” She felt the hard length of him pressing into her bottom. They were both worked up and in no way ready to see it end.

She curved her palm along his jaw, rubbing the stubble already showing there. “If you get rid of them quickly tonight, then come to me. You still have my key, right?”

He nodded, looking almost hopeful at her suggestion. She’d given him a key to her place the last time he’d left to go out of town. He hadn’t wanted to scare her by knocking on her door if he was late getting back, and she’d hadn’t wanted to wait until the next day to see him. “We’ll see, Angel. Leave the security chain off.”