Page 55 of Wicked Flirt
He spread his arms wide. “We’ll have it here. Plenty of room. I’ll have some of the guys move the workstations out of the way.”
She smiled, thrilled at how easily everything was coming together. “That’ll work.”
“Just one thing.”
She pulled out her phone, ready to type in any notes he had. “What’s that?”
His voice became hard. “Stay away from Marcus Shepard.”
Her head shot up.
“No contact from here on out,” Nate ordered. “You don’t work for him. You don’t let him near you.”
She went hot and then cold. “What does Marcus have to do with anything?”
“It’s simple, Lexi. Stay away from Marcus and you can have this job along with my glowing recommendation to McCann-Thomas.”
“And if I don’t stay away from him?”
His expression stormy, his blue eyes hard, he bit out, “Then none of that good stuff happens.”
Goose bumps prickled down her arms. “Does bad stuff happen?”
“I’m afraid it will if you spend more time with him. I say this for your own safety.”
“Why?” she whispered.
He leaned across the desk. “He nearly destroyed my sister. Her name was Grace.”
“Was?” she whispered, horrified.
He straightened. “Some real twisted shit. First he tells her they can both see other people, but he makes her feel special. She’s in love with him and she hangs on, hoping he’ll stop seeing these other two women he was seeing. Then, finally, he breaks up with the other two. She’s so excited, she thinks he really loves her and only her, and then he dumps her too.”
That must’ve been when he was seeing three women. Stupid Marcus. Of course the women would feel special. He treated women nice. Well, except for the multiple-women-at-one-time thing.
“You said her namewasGrace. Is she still, um, alive?” She’d thought she’d only attempted suicide.
He clenched his jaw. “She tried to kill herself.”
“Is she okay now?” she pressed.
He slammed his hand on the desk, making her jump. “Everything was his fault. She changed her name and moved to Thailand. Last I heard, she was living on a farm. My family lost her. He destroyed a sweet trusting young girl.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t you be sorry. It’s his fault. Stay away from him for your own good.”
She stared at him, torn between horror and sympathy. “Nate, am I here because you actually want me as an event planner or because you want to keep me away from Marcus?”
“Both,” he replied coolly. “Now you have a choice to make. I hope for your sake you’ll make the right one. Me or Marcus.”
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Chapter Fourteen
Lexi went back to her apartment later that day, her head spinning with all she had to do. She’d called Nate on the train and took the job. She had to. She was unemployed and needed the work. It was just one job. She’d made no promises regarding Marcus and frankly didn’t know what to think. She’d calmed down enough to believe Marcus was innocent in the Ellie lip-lock, but this news about Grace haunted her. Had he ruined a young girl’s life, or had the girl been mentally unstable to start with? Was he even aware that Grace had taken a bad turn?
This job would end on Friday, then hopefully she’d have a glowing recommendation to a well-funded company, and she could build from there. And how would Nate know if she continued to see Marcus anyway?
