Allie was suddenly overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with his nearness, with the sheer mass of him. His shoulders were broadand rounded, and running her hands over them would be a treat. “Hmmmm.”
Anthony cleared his throat.
Allie was helpless to halt her embarrassment—mortified that she’d totally checked Mark out in front of his friends.
Herfriends.
After this morning, she’d count the Greens as more than just acquaintances. For a while, she’d forgotten that Anthony was a baseball star and Leticia was a Peruvian model. They lived in a big house and drove nice cars, but they were just people. People who made mistakes like letting a tripped-out designer have free rein over their nursery, but people who could laugh at themselves too.
After exchanging hugs and cell numbers and promises to keep in touch, Allie allowed Mark to guide her through the house with his hand on her lower back. The sensations he created with a simple touch were enough to send her mind into a fuzzy place. Within that fuzz, she believed that she belonged right where she was, with Mark, hanging out with their friends on a Saturday morning and not in her soon-to-be bug-free apartment.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Ihave to say this one more time: I’m sorry about last night.” Mark glanced over at Allie. She’d had a funny look on her face—a reserved look like she was steeling herself against what was to come.
“What part—sending me to a rat trap or hauling me out in my pajamas?”
“Both!” He laughed.
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It all worked out okay.” “Yeah, it did.” He’d gotten to spend the night under the same roof as this magnificent creature, Anthony cooked a mean waffle, and he had a beautiful woman sitting next to him. “What do you have planned for today?”
She laced her fingers together and hooked her hand over her knee. “My apartment building is being fumigated, so I thought I’d hole up in a bookstore down the street until six when I can get back in.”
Mark took that as an opening. “Would you consider helping me with a project?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Sure.”
“I need a baby gift for Anthony and Leticia and I have no idea what to get them. It’s been a long time since Chloe was a baby and I don’t want to get them a generic present.”
She clapped her hands together. “That’s easy.”
“It is?” Not for him. The gift had been in the back of his mind since they announced the pregnancy. Kate had a few ideas, but none of them seemed just right. Anthony was one of the few friends unspoiled by Jasmine’s advances. He’d turned her down twice and was the one who broke the news to Mark that she’d been unfaithful. He thought she’d been
flirting and wouldn’t really go through with her advances with the director … until she did.
“Yes—but you’ll have to go where few men have dared to tread.” She wiggled her fingers maniacally.
“Where’s that?” Visions of baby showers and boutiques flashed through his head.
“The fabric store. Mwa-ha-ha.”
He handed her the phone. “I think I’ll be fine.”
She put the info in and Siri had them turn at the next light. “If you say so.” Her eyes held a secret delight that delighted Mark. If this was her reaction to going to the fabric store, he’d gladly spend hours there.
Mark had spoken much too soon.
Forsyth Fabrics had row upon row of fabric in a warehouse-type building. The floor was blanketed with thin carpet and the walls were light cream. He stopped ten feet inside the door, clueless as to which direction they should go to find a baby blanket and why anyone would volunteer to comehere in the first place. From the other side of the store, a child’s scream of frustration echoed off the ceiling.
I feel your pain.
Three gray-haired women pawed through a bin of rolled fabric labeledEnds.A harried woman in high heels compared two blue swatches, holding them up to the light and dropping them to the floor and sighing heavily. Two clerks in green aprons wielded shiny scissors under a sign that read “Cutting Table.” Another one worked the register. There wasn’t another guy in sight. Mark hunched his shoulders and pulled his baseball cap down.
Laughing, Allie grabbed his arm and pulled him to the left. “You’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t know if I want to.” He scurried to keep up with Allie’s excited quick-steps. “What exactly are we looking for?”
