Page 20 of Essence of his Soul

“No!” I blurted out too quickly, but I wasn’t ready for her to leave yet. I tried again, more calmly. “Liz, you don’t have to rush off.”

“Oh, yes, I do,” Liz replied with a knowing smile. She walked over to the counter where Mark had prepared a round pancovered in aluminum foil for her to take home. “Thanks for dinner, Mark.”

“Anytime,” Mark said with a wink.

I caught the sly glint in Liz’s eyes and rolled mine in return. The look they exchanged told me they were in cahoots. Liz had been trying to set me up with one relative or another for ages, and now here she was, playing matchmaker with Mark.

“Are you trying to impress me?” I asked Mark after Liz left.

Mark gave me that confident grin as he placed the bread on a plate. “Maybe. But we could make this a regular thing, you know.”

I raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to take him seriously. “Cooking dinner?”

He smiled, the kind of smile that always made my heart dance. “Spending time together as a family.”

For a second, I let myself imagine it—Mark here, not just for dinner, but for everything. And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if that thought scared or excited me.

Our eyes met, and the air between us heated up, but it wasn’t just the stove that had me feeling some type of way.

“If cooking is what it takes to get you to relax around me, then…” Mark’s voice trailed off, leaving the rest of his sentence to my imagination.

“I am relaxed,” I snapped, knowing it was a lie.

“No, you’re not,” Mark said as he approached me. Before I could step back, he slipped his hands into my hair, gently massaging my scalp. “You’re beautiful when you’re mad.”

I stood there, stiff as a board, trying to fight the rush of heat his touch sent through me. “Don’t.”

He chuckled softly. “You’re supposed to say thank you when someone compliments you.”

“You’re supposed to leave me alone. There will be no repeat of last night,” I said, trying to regain control of the situation.“You came to spend time with Tyler.”

He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine. “We can talk about us after dinner.”

I took a step back, needing to put some distance between us. “There is no ‘us.’ You’re here for Tyler and Tyler only.”

Mark crossed his arms over his chest, angling his head as he studied me with that stubborn determination. “Are you daring me?”

“I’m setting boundaries,” I shot back.

“Boundaries are made to be broken,” he said, his voice low and steady.

I shook my head, trying to stay strong. “Not this one. I already have a great relationship with a great guy.”

Mark chuckled again, that confident, irritating laugh that got under my skin. “That dude is just a cop-out, Essence. Another excuse for you to hide from how you really feel.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to keep my composure. “You’ve never even met him. How would you know?”

“I don’t need to,” he said, his eyes locking onto mine with a piercing intensity. “Your kiss told me everything.”

I glared at him, wishing I could lie and say I was in love with Malcolm. Maybe then Mark would back off. But I’ve never been good at lying. “My love life is none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I'm looking forward to a quiet evening alone.”

I kicked off my heels and left them under the kitchen table, turning my back on Mark, hoping he’d get the hint and leave. But as I walked away, I could still feel his gaze on me, knowing this conversation was far from over.

I went over to Tyler, lifting him out of his highchair and cuddling him close. “Your daddy thinks he can just show up whenever he wants. Well, he can’t,” I mumbled, even though I knew Mark was still standing there.

Mark moved away from the stove, wiping his hands on a towel. “I’m on leave, Essence. I have nothing to do all day while Tyler is here with a babysitter. What’s wrong with me getting to know my son? I can already tell he likes being around his daddy.”

“Da Da.”

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