“Tell me you didn’t have a good time,” Allie challenged.
“Parts were a lot of fun.” Mark winked.
Just as he hoped, Allie’s cheeks turned pink.
A thrill went through him. She’d felt the connection—back there in front of a rainbow of cottons—she’d felt it too. “Want to have even more fun?”
“More fun than a fabric store? You can’t be serious.” Mark threw his arm over her shoulder. “You’re going to love this.”
CHAPTER NINE
When Mark said “fun,” a dozen scenarios ran through Allie’s head— including one where they snuggled under bolts and bolts of minkie. If he’d even suggested getting all tangled up, she would have thrown herself at his mercy. Maybe … she had to keep her head on her shoulders or she’d end up unraveling over this guy.
But that kiss!
That kiss that left her lips tingling and her lower belly warm. She shouldn’t have given in to the temptation, should have remembered her place in this world was not with a man like Mark. But she had no defense against his pull and when their lips met, it was like she’d woken up from a sleeping spell. Who knew there were kisses like that in the world? Certainly not Allie. She was used to kisses that demanded something from her, not ones that lifted her up to her tippy-toes as if she’d been filled with helium.
Every kiss from this moment on would pale in comparison. And that’s why she should have never let the kiss happen. How would she ever find a man who compared to Mark Dubois? He’d stormed her hotel room to rescue her. He’d taken her to a castle the night. And he’d braved fabric shopping—an event menfeared beyond all others. She was doomed to a life of settling for a shadow of the man who made her heart pound and her good sense disappear.
Perhaps that’s why she gladly climbed to the top of rickety scaffolding outside a run-down building on the outskirts of Atlanta.
“Brushes up,” called Mark from the sidewalk below, where several reporters and photographers gathered round him.
Allie lifted her brush right along with the set of fourteen-year-old twins beside her—one girl, Olivia, and one boy, Owen. Even though they were
skinny little teens, there wasn’t much room up here. She forced herself to not look straight down. She already knew the sidewalk was hard—no need to remind herself of that fact when she was eight feet above it.
Mark stared up at her with this hunger that sent her insides swooping. She grabbed the metal bar for balance.
“Aaaaaand, go!”
She and the twins turned and attacked the wall with their wide brushes while a group of about ten went to town below them. The graffiti was kind of pretty in its own way, very colorful and street artistry. She would have voted to leave the artistic expression if there weren’t several four-letter words involved.
Mark spoke to the reporters. She could hear his deep laugh as he entertained them with stories of Teens on Target’s past projects, the good they were doing for the city in general, and the hope they instilled in the future. She paused to watch and listen, her brush on the wall and her attention on the man who was quickly becoming a fascination for her.
“How’d taggers even get this high?” Allie asked Olivia.
“They repel off the roof,” said the girl. She turned to see what Allie was staring at and let out a gusty sigh. “He’s so fun to look at.” Allie chuckled. “And you’re how old?”
“Old enough to see his movies,” replied Olivia, her head swiveling around to focus on her work.
“But not old enough to date him,” threw in Owen.
Allie laughed. “So you’re a fan of Slade McCoy, huh?” She remembered having quite the crush on Jess fromGilmore Girlswhen she was that age. Ah, the leather jacket and the hair!
“She has three posters of him without his shirt on,” snarked Owen with a smirk.
“Whatever. Only one of them is shirtless, and shut up, because he’s coming up here.” Olivia focused on the wall, working to fill in every inch of her assigned area.
Allie stifled her laughter. “Play it cool,” she admonished the two of them.
Mark’s head appeared, followed by those broad shoulders, his chiseled chest … Allie snapped her attention back to the wall, rivaling her younger counterpart in concentration.
“How’s the high crew?” he asked.
“Great,” squeaked Allie and Olivia at the same time. Owen rolled his eyes. The kid had twice as much done as Allie and his sister, but then he hadn’t been taking in the view.
Mark paused with his hands on his hips, checking over their work. The scaffolding was already crowded and Mark took up so much room that Allie scooted closer to the wall.
