Page 39 of Marked By the Pack
“Embarrassed the neighbors will see who you’re socializing with?” I asked. I thought the people in Crooked Point liked me. I knew Emma said that the women gave me dirty looks. But I never saw it. Now I wondered if everyone thought I was easy like Otto did.
“No.” He caged me in against the door. “I’m definitely not embarrassed to be seen with you, Zoey.”
I smiled. At least he wasn’t being an asshole tonight. “So what’s with the secrecy…”
He silenced me by kissing me.
God, he was giving me major mixed signals. But it was hard to think about that when he was grabbing my hips, pulling me closer. He was going to be a great bodyguard. A bodyguard with benefits sounded pretty good to me. I sunk my fingers into his wet hair.
He groaned and pressed my back against the door. “I knew you’d be a good kisser.”
I laughed. I hadn’t even realized it, but he’d never kissed me last night. Just the side of my neck when he’d touched me in the kitchen. “Otto, what are you doing? You said you couldn’t date me.”
“But I also said I like doing things I’m not supposed to.”
“So youdowant to date me?”
“Fuck, Zoey. It would be ridiculous for a guy to not want to date you.”
I smiled up at him. “So you’re ridiculous?”
He reached up and touched my cheek. The smile had fallen from his face. “No, I’m cursed.”
Okay…What did he mean by that exactly? I really wasn’t here to play whatever game he was trying to play with my heart. “Well, you can’t date me. And that’s fine. I’m over it.”
He lowered his eyebrows as he stared at me. “So what are you doing here?”
Why was he the one who looked offended right now? He was the one that kept saying he couldn’t date me. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I kind of have one for you too,” he said. “I can’t date you…but that doesn’t mean we can’t hang out. In secret.”
I stared at him. “You want me to be your dirty little secret?”
“I mean…the things I’m going to do to you are pretty dirty.” The humor was back in his eyes.
If I was going to start dating someone, I wanted to do it for real. Not “hanging out” behind closed doors. I already did that every night. “I’m not interested in that. I want a boyfriend. I’m ready for something…more.”
He pressed his lips together. “I can’t.”
Why did he keep saying that?I tried to keep my face void of expression. I didn’t want him to know how much his words stung. It was just a silly unrequited crush. I had no idea why it hurt so much. “Which is why my proposition is better.”
“I’m listening.”
“I want to hire you. To be my bodyguard.”
“I’m sorry…what?”
“I’ll be honest, I’m a little freaked out that Callum is a vampire. Just a teeny bit. I’ve been having troublesleeping at night. And I thought maybe if you were there with me…I’d sleep better.”
“You want me to just sleep in the same bed as you?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled down at me. “Zoey, I don’t know if we’d be doing much sleeping.”
“Hm.” I ran my finger down the front of his t-shirt. If he was playing games with me, I could play games with him too. “I don’t know about that. I’m a very sound sleeper. And I’m only interested in men who want to date me in public.” I removed my hand a second before it reached the waistband of his sweatpants.
He groaned.
