“Sex isn’t a mistake.” Charlie crossed his arms. “It’s not something you just fall into.”
“No, but it’s damn hard to resist when you’ve been denying each other forever and you just can’t anymore,” Marcus shot back at him.
“She doesn’t get it,” I said. “She thinks you guys messed around, and now you’re going to leave like you always do.”
“What? How could she think that?” Marcus gasped. “I didn’t leave her. I just came to getthis, so I could do this the right way!”
Marcus dug in the bag and showed me a small black ring box. He really was serious about this.
“She doesn’t know that, Marcus. She just thinks you’re abandoning her again,” I pointed out.
“I don’t want her to think that. Ineverwant her to feel abandoned like that ever again,” Marcus stated. “I was a jerk back then, but what we shared last night was real. I want her to know that, and I want more of that for us. I don’t ever want to let her go.”
“So this is just a huge misunderstanding!” I said in relief. “You can talk to Kallie, apologize, explain what you really meant and ask her to marry you! It’ll all work out!”
“Definitely.” Marcus straightened with a resilient nod. “I messed up, but I can fix this. I want Kallie to be my wife, and I want to be with her. It’s not enough to be dating, not after everything we’ve gone through. We should be married, like you guys are. If she rejects me, fine, but I won’t be a coward anymore. At least she’ll know how I truly feel about her.”
“She’s not going to reject you, man,” Charlie assured him. “But the longer you drag this out, the more she’s in pain, and we have to leave soon. You need to set this straight so both of your minds can be on the mission.”
“Exactly.” Marcus subconjured the bag and hurried forward. “I need to find her, so I can tell her right away.”
Charlie, Marcus and I headed back to the café. I hoped I’d get to witness it all, and see Marcus ask her. That would be amazing.
This is good, this is very good,Oberi muttered.Perhaps now, all this drama is behind us.
I sure hoped so. I really wanted Marcus and Kallie together, so I could fangirl over them like a proper best friend should,and this miscommunication stuff was getting really old. This was their chance to finally be a couple! I was so excited.
Except now, I was starting to get worried. We’d come back to the café, and she wasn’t here, but her coffee was, sitting half-drank on the table.
Where was she? We were supposed to start the heist in fifteen minutes.
“This isn’t right. I left her right here,” I said in concern.
“Is she back at the penthouse?” Marcus asked.
Charlie was already making a phone call. He shook his head as he hung up on Eddie. “She’s not up there. Nobody saw her come back from the café.”
“Sawwhocome back from the café?” a familiar voice asked.
Ivy and Chancey walked in. Chancey was looking impatient. “Are we ever gonna start this thing? Time to hit the road. I ain’t got no patience for bullshit today.”
“Yeah. Neither of us got any sleep, what with Charlie and Ava keeping us up all night,” Ivy grumbled grouchily.
“That wasn’t us,” I said, with a pointed look at Marcus. He blushed a deep red. Ivy seemed positively delighted.
“Oh, so it wasyou,” Ivy said deliciously. “Finally grew a pair of balls and showed your lady what’s up, huh?”
“Yeah, but I fucked up the talking part,” Marcus said lamely. “We did it, but I was too chicken to tell her how I feel about her first.”
Ivy sighed and put their face in their hand. “Marcus, I’m gonna kill you.”
“Wait until we find Kallie.” Marcus seemed really nervous. “Guys, have you seen her?”
“We haven’t seen her all morning,” Chancey said, suddenly appearing alert.
The color blanched from Marcus’ face. He sprang into action, running toward the counter where the barista was stacking cups.
“Excuse me, did a woman with blonde hair come in here?” he asked loudly, getting her attention.
