The One For Me (Danver #8)(14)
“I’m confused,” Gwen said uncertainly. “I thought you spent the weekend with him?”
“I tossed my cookies all over him in front of the building on Friday and he took me home with him,” Crystal revealed, trying to avoid any more crazy speculation.
In true Mia fashion, her friend skipped right over the truth and circled back to a certain body part. “Tell us more about your inspection of Mark’s most valuable asset? How did that come about?”
Gwen, always being the more patient one, said, “Crys, just start from the beginning. I, for one, want to hear the entire story. You’ve been stalking the man for so long. This is like something from a romance novel.”
“Thank you, Gwen,” Crystal huffed out. “So, after our unfortunate meeting, Mark took me to his house and had a doctor come over to examine me. It was determined that it was just something viral, and sadly, I wasn’t even aware of where I was until Sunday. Then Mark made me breakfast and asked me to stay until Monday. Just in case I had a relapse. He had his assistant, Denny, buy me this outfit to wear today—and that about sums it up.” It was all she could do to keep a straight face as her friends looked at each other before turning pitiful eyes back to her.
“But what about getting close to Mark’s love rod?” Mia asked beseechingly. Crystal wouldn’t have been surprised to hear the woman’s feet stomping on the floor. Mia had never been good at waiting. She would bet that poor Seth had his hands full with his girlfriend.
“Oh . . . did I forget to add the part about the ride to work this morning?” she asked innocently.
“I’m going to do something crazy if you don’t tell us right now,” Gwen threatened. When her chin wobbled, Crystal started to panic. She knew that her pregnant friend cried at the drop of a hat now. There was no way teasing them was worth that kind of risk.
“Hold your Kleenex waterworks,” Mia said dryly. “Now, Crys, I don’t know how long I can hold the floodgates closed, so you’d better spill—like now.”
Giving Gwen a wary look, she said, “All right; I sat in his lap on the way to work this morning. Nothing happened, though, even though he asked me to kiss him.”
“Why didn’t you?” Mia asked incredulously. “Honey, I would have climbed that like a vine.”
“Apparently, I said a few . . . embarrassing things while I was out of it. Like how he was my dream man. I think I even admitted to following him around Danvers. So I jumped out of the car as soon as we arrived and I was thinking to myself how I wanted to lick him—only I actually said it aloud! I, Crystal Webber, managed to shock superstud Mark DeSanto. When he recovered, he told me that he’d never wanted to fuck a woman as much as he did me—and then I humped his leg like a dog in heat, right in broad daylight for all to see.”
“Holy . . .” Mia murmured.
“Shit,” Gwen added absently.
Taking another gulp of her water, Crystal said, “Oh, and then I kissed him on the cheek and ran from him.” The order of events might have happened a little differently, but that was the story in a nutshell.
“He wants you, Crys—bad,” Mia squealed, finally breaking from her trance. “You’re on his radar now, so you need to take advantage of it.”
Crystal nodded before shrugging helplessly. “I don’t know how. He was amazing to me and I loved the opportunity to spend time with him—even if I did embarrass myself a lot. But that’s all I’m going to have, isn’t it? Really, can either of you sit there and tell me that Mark and I will ride off into the sunset together in the very near future? Because as much as I’d like to believe that could happen, it’s not very likely, is it?”
“Of course, it’s possible,” Gwen said immediately. “Trust me; I was the original unlucky in love before I met Dominic. My whole dating life was one failure after another. I always cared too much and got walked all over for my efforts. I would have never imagined finding a man who loved me through all of my insecurities. And look at Mia over there. She landed Seth Jackson. He’s rich, hot, and puts up with her.”
Mia stuck her tongue out at Gwen before nodding in agreement. “Just because Mark is wealthy doesn’t make him any better than you, Crys, nor is he unattainable. Seth is the only one of the Jackson brothers and cousins in a relationship, and he swears they all envy him. Most men are like us. They want someone to connect with beyond the physical or financial aspect. Don’t rule Mark out and believe that he’s out of your league, because that’s bullshit. You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman, and he’d be lucky to have YOU.”