The point was, Jaak and Nic were far from being perfect boyfriend material, and now Marcus was telling me those two brothers of mine thought they were qualified to give their friend advice about how to properly treat girls?
“Howbadare you?” I couldn’t help asking. “Do you, like, beat up the girls you date?”
It was obviously supposed to be a joke, but Marcus’ lips only curved. “Something like that.”
Riiiight.
“So you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong with you,” I guessed.
“Something like that.” His hands left my waist all of a sudden, but before I could even think of moving away, he had placed his hands over mine, pressing my hands closer to his chest, and I found myself ensnared in a different way.
Crap. Crap, crap, crap.
Should I have seen that coming?
Or had I not wanted to see it coming?
Where Marcus Ravelli was concerned, I just didn’t know the difference between what I did and didn’t want anymore.
“Your brothers told me that not all girls were bitchy, vain, selfish, and dumb.”
“O-oh?” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. On one hand, I felt he was being more than a little sexist. I could say the same thing about guys, too. But on the other hand, there was the way he was looking at me-—oh, he was looking at me like I was everything the other girls couldn’t be – and it was making my lungs suddenly incapable of functioning properly.
“So they started telling me stories about you, and the more they talked about this paragon—-”
I was a paragon?
“Who couldn’t possibly be real—-”
I wasn’t real?
“The more I wanted a chance to meet you.”
This was the point where my heart went wild, and all I could do was plead silently for it to stop—-
Please heart, please, please be still—-
“When Jaak told me he was skipping camp this year, I practically left him no choice but to invite me toBruin Hemel.”
Oh please stop thumping so hard—-
“When I first met you, and you were in your pajamas, and Jaak told me you hadn’t even taken a shower—-”
Stop racing so fast—-
“I looked at you, and I knew every word they said was true.”
Because if you don’t, I just might let myself forget how dangerous Marcus Ravelli was.
A faint cry almost escaped from my throat at the thought, and I swallowed hard. “I—-” My mouth snapped shut. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to say. All I knew was that this was too dangerous, and I was starting not to care that it was so.
“I just...” I took a deep breath and tried again. “Marcus—-”
His eyes blazed, and my voice faltered.
“That’s the first time you’ve said my name.”
His rough voice made me shiver, but his words just threw me back to the deep end. How else was I supposed to call him?