Page 72 of Revealing Mark
“Look, I don’t have time for this so say what you have to and go.”
“I’m sorry.”
How could someone believe that saying just two words would undo what he had said?
“I appreciate the apology but it’s not enough,” I said with a sigh. I checked my watch. “And I have somewhere I have to be.”
He crowded me with my back against the wall and I put my hands against his chest.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” He leaned closer and I fought for control. He was so close my eyes drifted to his lips and I wanted him to kiss me. I was so weak when it came to him. Who allowed a guy to treat them the way he had and still want them so badly it hurt?
“This is not a good idea,” I mumbled, struggling with the urge to pull him closer and not push him away.
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong.”
He dipped his head and captured my lips with his and I was suspended in the need for nothing else except this kiss with him. He swept his tongue against the seam of my mouth and I sighed, allowing him to thrust his tongue between my lips.My hands gripped his shirt and he pressed me up against the wall, shoving his leg between mine, making his intent known.
I couldn’t think. I could only feel. God, I wanted him and I hated myself for it. But then I remembered. He didn’t trust me. He had assumed the worst of me. He hadn’t given me the benefit of the doubt.I broke the kiss and shoved him.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and I continued to lean against the wall, still trying to catch my breath.
“You need to leave,” I whispered, smoothing my hair.
“You can deny it all you want but this thing between us is not going to go away,” he said with so much confidence it annoyed me.
“Attraction and chemistry are only the half of it,” I shot back, making a concerted effort to pull my eyes from his and search for my house keys. “Without trust, we have nothing.”
My hands closed around my keys and I felt relieved. I opened my apartment door and Mark was still standing there with a contemplative look and his hands shoved into his jeans.
“I think it’s best that we pretend nothing happened between us.” I shrugged. “Let’s just go back to the way things were.”
It was impossible not to look at him and be reminded of how close we had been. He would always be a part of my life. As my brother’s best friend and a close family friend, we had to figure out a way to be around each other and not allow our attraction to get the better of us.
“You’re still mad, I get that,” he said. “But this,”—he motioned between us—“this thing between us isn’t something we can ignore. I don’t want to ignore it, Tracy.”
“I have to go.” I took the easy way out and I closed the door. Feeling unsettled, I leaned against it.
“You can’t hide forever,” he said through the door. I closed my eyes, feeling myself wrestle with my feelings for him and the hurt he had caused.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
I was distracted and subdued after dinner with Maggie.
“Tracy?” Maggie said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, hating that she had caught me not paying attention.
“Everything okay?” She touched my hand.
I wanted to say I was okay and I would have had it been anyone else. Maybe it was the sincere concern that undid me, but I found myself unable to shut her down like I did everyone else.
“It’s just been a bit of a difficult time trying to navigate everything.”
“Are you talking to your parents yet?” she asked.
I sighed. “Not really. I will eventually. It feels like no matter how much I try, things aren’t going the way I had expected.” I had wanted to find a connection to my father that would make me feel like I belonged but so far there had only been empty hope.
“I want to show you something,” she murmured, rising to her feet, and I did the same.
