The One For Me (Danver #8)(11)

When she reached the doorway of Danvers, she looked over her shoulder to see him still standing in the same place, looking confused. No doubt the poor man probably thought she was mental and was pondering relocation so he’d never have to see her again.

• • •

As soon as Mark opened the door to his office, he saw Denny sitting at his desk in the reception area with a big smirk on his face. “Don’t even start,” he growled as he walked past and shut his door. He’d given his assistant enough to keep him amused for the near future, and right now, he wasn’t in the mood to be heckled. Hell, what could he say? Both he and Denny knew that he’d acted completely out of character for the last several days and even he didn’t know why. It certainly wasn’t like him to be content to play house, but strangely enough, he had been.

When she’d stood on the sidewalk and stared at him as if in some type of daze before saying how much she’d like to lick him, he’d almost lost it. As it was, he’d had the hard-on of a lifetime with her luscious body plastered against him. He should be grateful she’d had enough sense to pull away, because his hand had been about an inch from her ass and closing in fast. His cock still throbbed just thinking about it. He was adjusting his zipper, trying to ease his discomfort, when Denny buzzed to let him know that Brant Stone was there to see him. Grimacing, Mark stayed seated as his friend opened the door.

Brant crossed the room, extending a hand. If he thought it strange that Mark didn’t get up to greet him, he didn’t mention it. Dropping into one of the chairs in front of the desk, Brant asked, “So what’s the deal with you and my sister-in-law?”

Mark was momentarily taken aback by the question. “Ella?”

With a snort of impatience, Brant said, “No—Crystal. I heard she was at your house all weekend. Something about her being sick.” The narrowing of the other man’s eyes told Mark that he didn’t believe a damn word of it. That was the downside to being longtime friends with business associates. They tended to know far too much about your personal life. He and Brant had grown up in the same circles, so there weren’t many secrets between them.

Trying not to look guilty that he was battling an erection at the sound of Crystal’s name, Mark looked his friend in the eyes—and danced like a fucking ballerina. Speaking slowly and deliberately, he said, “Man, Ella is your sister-in-law. You are aware of that, right? I’m almost certain she’s the only one you have.”

Brant had always been a bit on the uptight side, and even though his fiancée, Emma, had loosened him up quite a bit, jokes still tended to fly over his head at times. Of course, he possibly didn’t look amused because he knew Mark was bullshitting him. “You know what I mean,” he said dryly. “I consider Crystal as much my family as Ella now. Declan was a little . . . concerned about how she came to be at your house.”

Mark couldn’t help but be irritated over the fact that neither of his friends considered him trustworthy. Hadn’t he always been there when they needed him, with no questions asked? Okay, maybe a few, but nothing like this inquisition. “For fuck’s sake, Brant, I didn’t chain her up in my basement. She threw up on me on her way out of the building, before passing out. What would you have had me do, leave her on the curb?”

Brant pursed his lips, before shaking his head. “I’m grateful you helped her. But I’m not clear on why you took care of her for so long. I know Declan and Ella were out of town, but you could have called her parents or me.”

Mark gave a snort of disgust. “Her mother is one evil bitch. There’s no way I would have put Angel at her mercy.” Realizing his slip too late, he prayed that Brant hadn’t noticed his nickname for Crystal.

Predictably, Brant parroted, “Angel?”

Shifting nervously, he muttered, “Um, sorry. Crystal, I mean.” He could only hope that Brant thought he just couldn’t keep up with all the women he interacted with. Before he could ask further questions, Mark launched into an explanation of his first statement. “I was going to take her to the hospital, but she got really upset. Said her mother had left her there overnight once when she was young. She’d been scared to death and in pain. Now she has some sort of phobia over it. So I took her to my house and called a doctor. It was a nasty viral bug, and she was really sick for almost forty-eight hours. Would you have wanted to move her in that condition if I had called?” Brant looked uneasy now. Since the other man was a bit of a neat freak, Mark couldn’t imagine him dealing with what he had this weekend, and the look of horror on his face confirmed it.