she needed some distance between herself and anything that said “ribbed for her pleasure” when she was standing there talking to her brother.
“Haven’t seen you in a couple days.”
“Well, you pissed me off last time I saw you.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Sorry.”
He probably was, too.
“Hey, whatever. I win your bet.”
His brows shot up. “I heard a rumor about you and Chase McCormack kissing at Beaches, but I was pretty sure that...” His eyes drifted toward the condoms. “Really?”
Dying of embarrassment was a serious risk at the moment, but she was caught. Completely and totally caught. And as long as she was drowning in a sea of horror...well, she might as well ride the tide.
If he needed proof her date with Chase was real, she imagined proof of sex was about the best there was.
She took a fortifying breath. “Really,” she said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “It’s happening. I have a date. I have more than a date. I have a whole future full of dates because I have a relationship. With Chase. You lose.”
“I’m supposed to believe that you and McCormack are suddenly—” his eyes drifted back to the condoms again “—that.”
“You don’t have to believe it. It’s true. He’s also going to be my date to the charity gala that I’m invited to. I will take my payment in small or large bills. Thank you.”
“I’m not convinced.”
“You’re not convinced?” She moved closer to the shelf and grabbed a box of condoms. “I am caught in the act.”
“Convenient,” he said, grabbing his own box.
She made a face. “It’s not convenient. It happened.”
“You’re in love with him?”
The question felt like a punch to the stomach. She did not like it. She didn’t like it at all. More than that, she had no idea what to say. No seemed...wrong. Yes seemed worse. And she wasn’t really sure either answer was true.
You can’t love Chase.
She couldn’t not love him, either. He was her friend, after all. Of course she wasn’t in love with him.
Her stomach twisted tight. No. She did not love him. She didn’t do love. At all. Especially not with him. Because he would never...
“You look like you just got slapped with a fish,” Mark said, and, to his credit, he looked somewhat concerned.
“I... Of course I love him,” she said. That was a safe answer. It was also true. She did love him. As a friend. And...she loved his body. And everything about him as a human being. Except for the fact that he was a man slut who would never settle down with any woman, much less her.
Why not you?
No. She was not thinking about this. She wasn’t thinking about any of this.
“Tell you what. If you’re still together at the gala, you get your money.”
“That isn’t fair. That isn’t what we agreed on.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I know. But I also didn’t expect you to grab your best friend and have him be your date. That still seems suspicious to me, regardless of...purchases.”
“You didn’t put any specifications on the bet, Mark. You can’t change the rules now.”
“We didn’t put any specifications on it saying I couldn’t.”
“Why do you care?”
He snorted. “Why do you care?”
“I have pride, jackass.”
“And I don’t trust Chase McCormack. If you’re still together at the gala, you get your money. And if he hurts you in any way, I will break his neck. After I pull his balls off and feed them to the sharks.”
It wasn’t very often that Mark’s protective side was on display. Usually, he was too busy tormenting her. Their childhood had been rough. Their father didn’t have any idea how to show affection to them, and as a result none of them were very good at it, either. Still, she never doubted that—even when he was a jerk—Mark cared about her.
“That’s not necessary. Chase is my best friend. And now...he’s more. He isn’t going to hurt me.”
“Sounds to me like he has the potential to hurt you worse than just about anybody.”
His words settled heavily in the pit of her stomach. She should be able to brush them off. Because she and Chase were in a relationship. She and Chase were friends with benefits. And nothing about that would hurt at all.
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you need anything, just let me know.”
“I will.”
He lifted the condom box. “We’ll pretend this didn’t happen.” Then he turned and started to walk away.
“Pretend what didn’t happen?” She pulled her own box of condoms up against her chest and held it tightly. “See? I’ve already forgotten. Mostly because I can’t afford therapy. At least not until you pay me the big bucks at the gala.”
“We’ll see,” he said, walking out of sight.
She turned, chucking the box into her cart and making her way quickly down to the milk aisle. Chase wasn’t going to hurt her, because Mark was wrong. They were only friends, and she quashed the traitorous flame in her stomach that tried to grow, tried to convince her otherwise.
She wasn’t going to get hurt. She was just going to have a few orgasms and then move on.
That was her story, and she was sticking to it.
* * *
“I’m taking you dancing tonight,” Chase said as soon as Anna picked up the phone.
“Did you bump your head on an anvil today?”
He supposed he shouldn’t be that surprised to hear Anna’s sarcasm. After last night—vulnerability, tears—he’d had a feeling that she wasn’t going to be overly friendly today. In fact, he’d guessed that she would have transformed into one of the little porcupines that were on her pajamas. He had been right.
“No,” he said. “I’m just following the lesson plan. I said I was taking you out, and so I am.”
“You know,” she said, her voice getting husky, “I’m curious about whether or not making me scream was anywhere on the lesson plan.”
His body jolted, heat rushing through his veins. He looked over his shoulder at Sam, who was working steadily on something in
