Page 26 of Wicked Flirt
“Hey,” she said casually. “Wasn’t expecting you.”
He held up a brown bag that smelled wonderful. “Brought wings. Knicks are away tonight. Mind if I watch the game on your TV, bro?” Shehadtold him to treat her like a guy. This was a nice safe friends thing. And wings instead of Kix sounded pretty darn good.
She gestured widely. “Come on in.”
He smiled, his dark eyes lighting up. “Excellent.” He followed her in. “I haven’t gotten a TV yet for my temporary place. Mostly I watch stuff on my laptop. The game’s better on a big screen.”
“Have a seat,” she said, heading to the kitchen. “I’ll get plates and a roll of paper towels. Wings can get messy.” Her stomach growled in anticipation. “You want something to drink?”
“You got any beer?”
“No. I’ve got milk or water.”
“Water, please.”
By the time she got everything over to the coffee table, Marcus had already made himself at home, man-spreading across her green sofa. His legs splayed wide, his arm stretched along the back of the sofa, his gaze on the game. Bro time. He’d been considerate enough not to start eating. The take-out boxes on the table were untouched.
She opened one. It even had celery with ranch dressing.
“That one’s medium hot,” he said. “The other one’s spicier. I wasn’t sure how much fire you could take.”
Her head whipped toward him. Something about his tone held some subtle innuendo. Two could play at this game. “I can take it all.”
His dark eyes gleamed. “Wild, hot, or blazing?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded breathy.
He smiled his sexy half-smile. “Good to know. I’ll remember that for next time.” He winked, piled some wings on a plate, and went back to the game.
She sat next to him and pretended like everything was totally normal. Just two bros hanging out watching the game. Except she knew she was playing with fire. She piled some wings on her plate and took a bite. Mmm…so good.
“This is so much better than what I was going to have for dinner,” she told him.
He glanced over at her. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“Kix cereal.” She waited for him to act judgmental. Clearly he was into health and fitness.
“I always keep Life cereal around for when I’m too tired to cook.”
“Oh.” She smiled a little. “I thought you only had protein shakes and lots of red meat.”
“Usually I eat pretty healthy, but Life’s not too bad for you. Pretty low sugar.”
She relaxed and ate some wings. “So who’s winning?”
“Knicks. But it’s just the first quarter.” He drank some water. “Want me to explain the game?”
“I know it. I’m just not a big fan of it.”
He set his glass down. “And I just barge in asking to use your TV. Go ahead and put on what you like.”
“It’s okay. I have an older brother. Sports was on all the time at home growing up.” She picked up a wing. “Anyway, you brought me a hot meal.”
They ate in silence except for the sound of the TV and Marcus’s occasional whoop when the Knicks scored. It was kinda nice to have company again. Now that her friends weren’t just down the hall, she spent a lot more time at home alone. Probably didn’t help that she was working from home. So far she’d set up shop using Hailey’s suggested lawyer, made business cards, and networked as much as possible both online and in real life, but she should probably get up to speed on the financial side of owning her own business so she’d be prepared. She glanced at Marcus. He might be able to help with that with his economics degree and the fact that he owned his own business.
She waited until they were both done eatingandfor the commercial to ask him. She knew better than to try to talk to a male sports fan in the middle of the game.
“Sure, I could walk you through the financial side,” he said.
