He was beginning to worry this was about getting the girl permanently. After saying “never again,” something in him was ready to try. After two years of crushing on Lily, dating other women, seeing Lily at the office the next day, and regretting the temporary fling, he knew what the end of the road looked like. And with any woman other than Lily in his arms, it looked a lot like misery.

From what he knew about her, the most important part of this was that Clive and Joanie never found out. That would be a challenge after what happened at their house during the London cocktail party, but Marcus was a convincing guy. He wasn’t ready to cede yet. Even with Clive giving him the stink eye in the break room Monday afternoon.

“Seriously. We were arguing and didn’t want to disturb the party,” Marcus insisted, topping off his mug of coffee and mixing in a teaspoon of creamer. Eventually, if they kept seeing each other, they’d have to tell their friends, but for now, it wasn’t any of their business. Clive was the hardest to convince, but if he had him, he had Joanie. Joanie, while incredibly intelligent, also had her mind on about nineteen different things at the same time. She was a lovable scatterbrain, and not always the most observant.

“Arguing.” Clive leaned against the countertop, arms crossed, unimpressed.

“You know how we are.” Marcus put the spoon in the sink and headed for the copy room. Clive followed. “Sorry if we ruined your party by running out, but it was for the best.”

“What were you arguing about?” Clive asked.

Marcus turned and gave his buddy a planned eye roll. “Hawaii.”

Clive nodded as if he wasn’t surprised. “She doesn’t want to go with you.”

“Of course she doesn’t.” Actually, she hadn’t really said one way or the other. When he told her the story he’d spun for Clive and Joanie last week, she’d sort of mumbled a response that may have been in the affirmative. He supposed he should see if she meant it or not, but now didn’t feel like the right time.

Clive stopped short of following him into the copy room. Good thing, too. Marcus had nothing to copy. “Lunch today?”

“Uh, no thanks, I’m catching up on email.”

“Suit yourself.” He turned his head. “Lily, lunch?”

Marcus couldn’t see her, but heard her approaching as she answered, “I have a lunch date.”

“Oh. Okay then. Joanie!” Clive called across the hall. She answered with an “I know! I’m coming!”

“Enjoy your date, Lily,” Clive told her, and Marcus came to the doorway in time to see the Camerons leave the building and Lily walking toward him, papers in hand.

“Hey, Marcus,” she said brightly.

“Hi. I told Clive we were arguing at his house and that’s why we left.”

Her eyebrows crawled up her forehead. “And he believed you.”

“Is it that hard to believe?”

She shrugged a shoulder and wouldn’t look at him. He wanted to touch her, to pull her lips to his and say something teasing and sexy, then kiss her until she melted into him. Even with Joanie and Clive gone, and the temp off today, he was holding back until she explained her “lunch date”.

“What are you working on today?” he asked instead.

“Oh, this and that. No big projects, just the little ones that require a lot of attention and a fast turnaround.”

“Nice,” he said, hating this how-is-the-weather conversation. It felt forced.

“Go back to the mansion yet?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not yet. You?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be going back.”

“Not even if I dared you?”

She gave him a small smile as she fed her papers into the copier and pressed a button. “Especially not if you dared me.”

“So.” He put his coffee down on a table, watching the machine spit out copies. “You’re…you have a lunch date.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, far too casually for his liking. “Same guy that I’m going with to the RSD dinner.” Her eyes trailed to the side. “Hope that won’t be awkward.”

“You hope that won’t be awkward.” Was he missing something major here? What had happened after he left her satisfied in her bed Friday? Did she get a call from an ex? Did she decide to end things with Marcus and not tell him?

“I mean…you don’t mind, right?”

Jaw clenched, he leaned forward. “I mind, McIntire.”

“Oh, bummer.” Her blue eyes widened. “I was going to do that no-panty thing that you asked me to do.”

His brow went down, his brain in Neanderthal mode. “What?”

“You, dummy. You’re my lunch date. And my RSD dinner date.”

Oh. Sweet.

“You’ll pay for that.”

“I hope so.” She grinned.

He took the two steps separating them, lowered his face. Against her lips, he said, “Missed your mouth.”

“It’s only been two days.”

Didn’t he know it. “How did you sleep?”

“Fitfully.” Her arms came up to drape around his neck, and he stepped in closer, palming her hips.

“Seriously? I would think you would’ve passed out, slept like the dead.”

“What about you? How did you sleep?”

Not well. He’d wanted to be with her in her bed. He wanted her right now.

“When are we coming out of the closet?” he asked.

She chuckled. “You mean out of the pantry?”

“Yeah. When?” he pressed.

Her smile fell, and her arms tightened the slightest bit. She straightened, somehow managing to come away from him so that her shirt was no longer brushing his. “Don’t you like no one knowing?”

“What about the RSD dinner this weekend? What is your plan there?”

“I told you, I’m not wearing panties.”

“Which I appreciate, but what…we both show stag?”

“Worried about your reputation?” she teased.

“McIntire, quit jerking me around.”

“Oh, but you like it.” Her hand snaked between their bodies and cupped his crotch. His body bucked. His brain blanked. “Don’t you?”

He ran his hands up her rib cage to just under her breasts. “You’re distracting me on purpose.”

She continued her erotic massage. “Yes, I am. What are you going to do about it?”

“Let you.”

“I have unfinished business with you,” she said, sliding his zipper down. “And I always finish what I start.”

With the copier whirring away in the background, Lily sank to her knees and tore open his pants. He managed to back them out of sight from the front door, and hoped to God they’d hear if someone came into the building.

…

“You steal one more piece of my chicken, Black, and I am going to throttle you!” Lily raised her eyebrows and gave him the sternest expression she could manage. Part of that was for show. The other part was sincere. She would appreciate if he stopped eating her food.

He grinned, stuck his chopsticks into her paper container, and came out with another piece of chicken—which he then put in his mouth and chewed merrily while making moaning noises.

She turned to Joanie. “Are you seeing this?”

“Come on, guys. It’s going on nine o’clock, and Joanie and I would like to go home and have crazy, hot, monkey sex on the sofa.”

“Clive!” Joanie’s face went pink.

“Okay, the kitchen counter,” Clive corrected.

“I apologize for my husband.” Joanie shook her head and dug into her noodles, and while she was a little red with embarrassment, she didn’t look all that upset. Clive may be teasing about the where, but Lily had no doubts her best friends had an active love life. It was admirable really. They’d been married for seven years, and showed no signs they’d been together more than seven months.

“I suppose you’re right, dear,” Clive said. “It’s rude to brag about my awesome sex life to two people who may or may not be getting any.”

Worst timing ever. Lily had just taken a big bite. A big bite that also had a very big sliver of red pepper in it. Now she was coughing, and the pepper was burning her throat. Marcus stood from his chair to come to her aid. She waved him off frantically, able to catch her breath, as she reached for her Diet Coke and took a hearty sip.