Until now, Mark liked being on his own. Preferred it even. He wouldn’t throw Lacey into the midst of paparazzi chases and flashing cameras. When she moaned and clung to him, her br**sts pressing into his chest, he bit back a groan. Time was up. If he didn’t stop now—he might not be able to. With a massive amount of self-control, he pulled away from her, dropping his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“What?” She tensed in his arms. “Why not?”
His fake relationship with Sylvia Day flashed before his eyes, but that wasn’t why he shouldn’t have touched her. The real reason was simple. He wasn’t the right guy for her. She deserved better. “I’m not right for you. I’m—”
She jerked out of his arms and lifted her chin up in the air. “A movie star who has every girl, and some boys, in Hollywood throwing their underwear at him? I get it. I’m plain, my boobs aren’t silicone, and I don’t hang on your every word. I mean, how could I possibly compare with the famous Julia that got paid to make out with you in Remember Me?”
“What? No. Don’t be insane.”
He rolled his hands into fists, resisting the urge to show her exactly how much he wanted her. Hell, she was everything he wanted and more. Which was why he had to stay away from her. She didn’t need his brand of crazy in her peaceful life.
Not to mention, come tomorrow, news of his “relationship” with Sylvia would be all over the news. They’d already “leaked” the photos to Entertainment Tonight, who planned to air them tomorrow afternoon. Just in time for the movie premiere when he would show up with her on his arm, confirming all the rumors they’d planted.
When the news hit, Lacey would be livid. She would think he made a play for her while he was screwing another woman. That he’d lied to her about being single. She would despise him.
“Yeah, okay.” She stared him down. “I get it, Mark. You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me. You’re not interested in anything more than an accidental kiss.”
He swallowed hard. Should he let her think he didn’t want her, and hurt her now, or tell her the truth? The idea of letting her think she wasn’t good enough for him didn’t sit well. “It’s not true. I’m interested. Very, very interested.”
She shook her head and stared at his chest. Somewhere in the vicinity of his third button if he wasn’t mistaken. “You don’t have to say anything. Really. It was a mistake. A simple kiss. Nothing more.”
“No, damn it.” He grabbed her hands in his. “It’s not a simple kiss. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since we were kids.”
She scoffed. “Now I know you’re lying. You never once tried to kiss me.”
“I knew we wouldn’t work together, so I kept my lips to myself.” He sighed and tightened his fingers around hers, forcing her to pay attention to him. “And then tonight, when I saw you, it was like being punched in the gut. I can’t think straight around you.”
“That’s supposed to be my line,” she muttered, her face guarded. “I’m not the famous movie star in this fight.”
“Jesus, Lacey. You know me. I’m still me underneath all this Hollywood bullshit. For the first time in my life, I feel like I could have more. I want more. Right now. More from you. More from myself.”
She ran her thumbs over his hands, gentle and yet poignant. “Maybe you could have more? Maybe we could be more. We’re from different worlds. Or … we are now, anyway. I’ve been hurt too many times to blindly trust that you would be happy with me, after making out with Angelina Jolie. I just don’t … know.”
“But what if we tried? What if you let me in?”
She looked up at him without speaking, studying him as if to expose all of his secrets. When she finally spoke, he almost wished she hadn’t. “Let you in? I did let you in tonight, even though you could care less about how I’ve been. Tell me something, Mark. If you hadn’t driven into a freaking ditch—would you have stopped by? Would you have even remembered me as you zoomed by in your Maserati, back to your wonderful life?”
He opened his mouth and then closed it—unable to lie to her, yet not wanting to tell her the truth, either. “I would’ve kept driving, but you don’t even live here anymore. I knew that.”
“Don’t give me that excuse. If you wanted to see me, you could’ve asked Eve.”
His eyes flashed. “I didn’t—”
“Exactly. You didn’t.” She lifted her chin and stared him down, despite the tears shining in her eyes. “You were fine without me all of these years, and you’ll be fine without me again. This is nothing more than old feelings being brought back to life. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. We’re not nothing.” He grit his teeth, not willing to let her trivialize his feelings.
She shook her head slightly, her mouth pressed tight together. “I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea when I invited you to stay the night, but you need to realize I’m not some discarded toy you can pick back up when you decide I’m interesting again—only to throw me back out when you’ve finished with me.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“How can I trust you after what you did?”
She tried to pass him, her eyes on the stairs behind him, but Mark stepped in her path and grabbed her hips. If he let her leave him, she would never come back downstairs. “Don’t go.”
She pressed her lips together tight and looked up at him with pleading eyes. What she pleaded for, he wasn’t sure. For him to kiss her? For him to back off?
“Mark …”
Pressing his hips against her, he showed her how very much he wanted her. Her eyes went wide, and she bit down on her bottom lip hard. Her involuntary gesture only made him harder. He longed to kiss away the teeth marks on her plump lip, to take away the sting. But he wouldn’t. Shouldn’t.
Forcing himself to concentrate, he met her eyes. “Christ. I want you so damn much. I’ve always wanted you. But tonight? Tonight it’s eating me alive—ripping me open.”
“Then why aren’t you taking me? Why are we talking right now, instead of kissing? I’m not a kid anymore. If you want me—take me. I’m right here.”
Oh, how he wanted to do exactly that. Rip the clothes off of her body and take her against the wall. He took a steadying breath. He needed to make her see that she was right all along—that he was no good for her. They wouldn’t work. As much as he wished they could, it wasn’t possible.