His deep laughter tumbled around her in the dark. “Yeah, I get that.”

“And I wanted to see if I was good enough to beat the best.”

She sensed more than heard his head turn.

“You’re the best.” She squeezed his knee. “You’re unbeatable.”

“I don’t know.” One rough hand covered hers, and on a soft rumble he said, “You may beat me yet.”

She sniffed. That may have been a laugh if he hadn’t been touching her. If her heart hadn’t been beating triple time. He slipped his hand beneath hers. Heat from their pressed palms lit a fuse that burned up her arm.

“Lily?”

She couldn’t see his face, but she knew his eyes were on her. She could feel them.

A beat passed. Then another. He flicked the flashlight on, his eyes zooming in on her mouth. “Don’t suppose you’re scared enough of the dark to leave.”

She shook her head. “I don’t suppose you’re planning on leaving me on my own.”

A smile, then, “You might cheat.” He tugged their linked hands and leaned the slightest bit closer.

“True,” she breathed, mirroring his movement. “I wouldn’t trust you if our roles were reversed.” Inches from his face, she admired the curve of his top lip. “What are you doing, Black?”

“I think,” he whispered back, his warm breath fanning over her lips, “I’m going to have to kiss you, McIntire.”

Chapter Eight

The flashlight clicked off, and Marcus’s lips hit hers hard.

The stubble surrounding his mouth scratched her lips, but he softened a moment later, giving her a brief reprieve to calibrate her brain. Unlinking their hands, he wrapped his palms around her upper arms. He tugged, and she went willingly, then sort of fell into him. The air mattress was about as stable as one of those inflatable-ball-filled rooms.

Lips still fused with hers, he laughed through his nose as he fell back, pulling her on top of him. Lying against that hard wall of muscle, she didn’t think there could be anything better than being held by him… until he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

Oh, yes. Much better.

She kissed him back, her tongue tangling with his while her fingers found the back of his scalp and clutched at his short hair. The feel of him, the smell of him, the taste of him was all so utterly masculine, she felt feminine and delicate by comparison.

He pulled away, his breathing ragged, and she shifted against him, feeling the hard length of him press into her thigh. Talk about masculine. She rubbed against him again. Shamelessly. This was crazy, right? They barely tolerated each other at work, were in the least romantic location on the planet. Plus—

“Sorry.”

Did Marcus Black just apologize?

Chest heaving, she stayed over him, her arms locked around his neck, breasts smashed into his chest, mouth close enough that his truncated breaths tickled her lips.

“Are you?” she challenged.

He tightened his arms around her and ground his pelvis against her leg. His voice was impossibly deep when he said, “No.”

Palming the back of her head, he dragged her lips down and slanted his mouth to kiss her. She wanted to cry with relief. Shrouded in the darkness, hidden from the outside world, this felt safe, like in this sequestered place, she was free to do whatever she wanted. Whomever I want. And right now, being on the receiving end of this man’s dwindling control was exactly where she wanted to be.

She took advantage of her heightened senses in the dark, exploring his body by touch. The soft, worn cotton of his T-shirt, the puckered fabric at the hem, his hot tongue still in her mouth. She slipped her hand beneath his shirt, fingers straying over an army of rock-hard abs dusted in soft hair. She trailed her fingers up his chest, savoring the width of him, the coarse texture of him, and the heat rolling off his skin in waves.

When he groaned and deepened the kiss, his stubble scratched her face just like she’d imagined at the bar. He nipped at her bottom lip, her jaw, her neck, until he found the hollow at the bottom of her throat and explored it with his tongue.

Every brush of his lips felt more erotic in the blackness. She was a prisoner to each new and unexpected sensation crashing over her body like the tide. The heat of his mouth, the cold, prickling sensation when he left her skin exposed to the air, the surprise of his hand snaking under her hoodie and shirt.

A startled gasp left her when his fingers closed around one breast over her bra. His other hand grasped a handful of her butt, and he hauled her closer, still kissing and suckling the side of her neck with his talented mouth.

His jaw raked against her neck, and he dragged his lips to her ear. When he spoke against the tender spiral of her ear, she shuddered. “You have the sweetest ass I’ve ever seen.” He squeezed again. “And it feels even better than it looks.”

The wet heat of his tongue on her earlobe obliterated her senses and froze the response in her throat. His hands continued their intentional exploring, the hand beneath her shirt leaving to join the palm beneath the material of her jogging pants. He molded his big hands over the silk of her panties. And squeezed again.

She started to let out a soft moan but his lips found hers, and he swallowed the sound. He pulled away from her with a soft smooch and smiled against her lips. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you, Lil?”

He…wanted her? Her heart raced for a new reason. She’d thought, since she’d shot down his advances when she’d started working at Cameron Design, that Marcus had relegated her to the role of his nemesis. Or maybe she’d relegated him to the role of hers. Well, maybe not nemeses, but they weren’t exactly simpatico.

“You want me?” she breathed, surprise infusing her voice.

“Are you kidding?” He squeezed her ass again, pulling her hard against his erection. His zipper pressed painfully between her legs, and he sucked a breath through his teeth, a growl percolating in his throat. “You think this setup works for me? That I’d choose here, of all places, to seduce you?”

The word “seduce” intrigued her more than it should. Being seduced by this man, a man capable of epic seduction was… Well, it was awesome was what it was. She relaxed against him, feeling a surge of warmth in her panties and ignoring all the good sense she’d clearly left behind when he put his hands on her.

“Have you thought about seducing me, Marcus?” She nipped his chin. The growth on his face pricked her tongue.

One of his hands left the globe of her bottom and slid between her legs. Even through her panties, the swipe of his strong fingers made her shudder.

“Only every night after work.” He licked the underside of her top lip and pulled it into his mouth. His fingers moved again, and she squirmed against him. “Some nights it kills me so much, I have to take matters into my own hands.” He bit down lightly on her lip, and she felt her bones melt.

“You—you think of me…like that?” And hadn’t she done the same, holding the fantasy of him behind her at the pool table in her head while touching herself? She loved the idea of them doing it at the same time, both coming with their minds and bodies focused on each other…

“God, yes.”

He slid his fingers between her legs again, her thoughts ceased. She wanted him. But she always had, hadn’t she? In the bright light of day, she could pretend there was nothing more to her than the driven, prickly, no-nonsense woman she showed to the world. She could pretend she didn’t want him, didn’t need him. Act as if a man of Marcus’s caliber was of no use to her, didn’t fit in her perfectly organized life plan.

In truth, she admired nearly everything about him. The strong line of his back and broad shoulders, yes, but also his unbridled talent and ability to take on a project with zero fear. But even if she’d been willing to break her rule against dating her coworker, she knew she wasn’t his type. Wasn’t blond enough, wasn’t vapid enough. And she wasn’t willing to sleep with him on the first date. Except…this kind of qualified as a date. And she was kind of willing to sleep with him right now.