Page 6 of Marked

Duncan was wrong. For the next six months, I worked tirelessly to get back in her good graces. At work we were solid. Our partnership was as easy as breathing. It always was. Outside of that was where things got a little hairy. How the hell was I supposed to explain what I meant by “mistake” when Lanie dodged any and all efforts I made to get close to her? She’d understand if she’d give me two damn minutes. But she wasn’t acting alone. Her two best friends were throwing up roadblocks faster than I could knock them down.

Henley and Jade were determined to set her up with every available male who came into the diner they worked at, Over Easy. Those two were a damned menace and the worst part was they were doing it to intentionally push my buttons. The girl gang had drawn the line in the proverbial sand.

“You gonna do something about that?” Keaton asked.

He and I were hanging around the office waiting for Koen to finish a bit of last-minute paperwork when Lanie breezed by us, practically running out the door on her way to another date.A motherfucking date.I nearly bit through my bottom lip, trying to hold in the groan when I saw what she was wearing. A skintight, flaming-red dress cut so short she’d flash more than a smile if she bent over. Coupled with the sky-high black heels on her feet, she was every man’s wet dream, and my current nightmare.

God dammit!

“Not yet.”

“You’re a fool.”

He wasn’t wrong. Both he and Koen had uncovered my infatuation with our teammate—undoubtedly from their women—and the news spread like wildfire. Hell, even Nelson Travers, our tech guy, and his wife, Sammy—our administrative assistant—had begun giving their unsolicited advice on how to win over the feisty agent. None of them knew our history though. They had no idea how spectacularly I’d screwed the pooch.

Koen knocked my shoulder with his when he approached. “What are you gonna do if one of these guys turns out to be Mr. Right?”

Clenching my fists at my side, a red haze clouded my vision. My jaw ached with how hard I was grinding my teeth together. The possibility of Lanie being with anyone other than me wasn’t a scenario I was prepared for. It was inconceivable, yet it would become a reality if I didn't do something to stop it. The thought had the blood in my veins heating to the boiling point.

They stared at me, eyes flaring wide, then glanced at each other before they began cackling like two prepubescent boys in the midst of a farting contest. They were pissing me off. My relationship—or lack of one—with Lanie was not a laughing matter. Far from it.

“Jesus,” Koen snorted. “If looks could kill, I’d be roasting on a spit in the pits of hell.”

“What are you talking about?” I raised a brow.

“You were about three seconds away from stranglingKoen with your bare hands for even suggesting your girl might find someone else.”

Shit.“Sorry, man. I don’t know what came over me.”

“We’ve been there.” Koen pointed between himself and Keaton. “We know what it’s like to want something you think is out of reach.”

“You’re not good enough for her, right?” Keaton quipped. “Isn’t that what your huge brain is telling you?”

I didn’t answer him, there was no need. Of all people, he was probably the only one who could understand my hesitation.

“My father was a fucking serial killer, Noah,” he continued. “My past nearly got Henley killed.”

“But it didn’t,” I interjected.

“Because I didn’t let it.Wedidn’t let it. You need to silence that shit, brother. Shut out all the voices in your head and concentrate on what your heart is saying instead.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder,” Koen cut in. “You’re about as straitlaced as they come, but playing by the rules isn’t gonna help in this situation. Life isn’t always black and white. If you want to get to the good parts, sometimes you have to color outside of the lines.”

I needed a plan. Things were about to get messy.

2COMPLICATED BEAUTY

Lanie

Never again. Henley and Jade could bitch and moan all they wanted, but this was the very last time they set me up on a blind date. Or any date for that matter. Each one was worse than the last, almost as if they were trying to ambush my love life. Hell, knowing them, they probably were.

We met at Le Haut, a new French restaurant just outside of town. The name translated meantThe Top, which tracked considering the place was built on the summit of one of the smaller mountains surrounding Huntington. Unfortunately, I was seconds away from shoving my date over the edge of the nearest cliff.

Sitting across from Bill, Bob, Bart, or whatever-the-hell the guy’s name was, was akin to the worst kind of torture imaginable. Since the moment we arrived, he hadn’t stopped talking about himself, all the while staring at my boobs. He was the youngest account executive…blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I’d tuned him out after he ordered a bottle of their “finest cabernet sauvignon,” without consulting me. I hated red wine, despised it actually. Not only did it leave a bad taste in my mouth—much like my date was doing—it gave me a killer headache the next morning.

Why I’d dressed to the hilt trying to impress this schmuck was beyond me. He may have been outwardly attractive; however, his good looks didn’t make up for the fact Billy-Bob was boring as fuck and rude as hell.

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