He shakes his head to that idea. “So what are you going to do with this guy?”
Seems the man I love is choosing denial today. So be it.
“Well, I thought after dinner I’d tell him to drive to the nearest dark spot and we can fuck like animals. Then maybe I’ll ask to go for ice cream since I’ve been really wanting some mint chocolate chip lately. Nothing big. Just your usual blind date.”
Even though he has to know none of that is what I actually plan on doing with Ava’s newest potential Mr. Right, Marius looks utterly miserable as he listens to me. When I finish, he grunts like he’s disgusted.
“I don’t want you to go.”
“Then let’s come clean and tell the world we’re together.”
Of course, his answer to that suggestion is the same it’s been for two years. Shaking his head again, he says, “Not yet. That doesn’t mean you have to go out with this guy, though.”
He pulls me to him and kisses me hard, his hand gently encircling my throat in that way he does when we’re alone that never fails to make me weak in the knees. “You’re mine, Eden. Not his. Mine.”
Barely able to speak I’m so aroused, I croak out, “If I don’t go out with this guy, Ava will be suspicious.”
I see the jealousy in his eyes when he says, “And if you do go, I’ll be miserable.”
Against his lips, I whisper, “Then you know what you have to do. It’s your call, baby. The ball’s totally in your court.”
I spin out of his hold again and hurry toward the door. I don’t look back because if I do, I’m going to want to stay, and I can’t.
He’s going to have to accept the fact that as long as he insists we keep our relationship secret, I’ll have to keep going on blind dates with the men Ava finds for me. It’s completely in his control.
CHAPTER NINE
Marius
Furious about Avainsisting on setting up Eden, I head down to my brother’s office to find out more about this guy from King Industries she’s picked out this time. I love my sister-in-law, but this shit needs to stop right now.
I find Matthias sitting on the black leather couch just inside the door. He looks stressed out and utterly exhausted. Too bad. This conversation can’t wait.
“Hey, what’s going on? Planning on taking a quick nap?” I ask as I walk in.
“Maybe,” he answers sheepishly. “You look like you have something on your mind.”
Unsure how to phrase this so it doesn’t seem suspicious, I try to be as casual as possible when I say, “Just wondering about this guy Ava says she’s setting Eden up with.”
Matthias screws his face into a look of pure confusion. “Why do you care?”
“I’m bored. I have nothing else to do.”
My brother seems to accept that answer, although that may be because he looks like he hasn’t had enough sleep in a year. He stands up from the couch and walks around his desk to sit down in his chair. A few seconds later, he spins his laptop around toward me.
“That’s him. Robert Jennings. Everyone calls him Rob. Nice guy. Thirty, I think. He’s got an MBA like Kellen. In fact, Kellen suggested him for Eden even before Ava asked if I knew anyone at work for her. Seems like an upstanding guy.”
I study the picture of Rob Jennings on the King Industries website and hate him instantly. Like hate that burns hotter than a hundred suns. The kind of hate that makes you want to kill people. I hate his light brown hair. I hate his face, which I’m guessing more than one woman has thought was decent. I hate his smile especially. He looks like he’s spent his entire life in a dentist’s chair. Eden’s going to hate this guy too. I know it. He’s an IT guy, for Christ’s sake.
Still staring bullet holes through my brother’s laptop screen, I ask, “What makes you think Eden wants a guy like this? From what I’ve seen of her, she’s pretty wild. I’m not sure this guy with his buttoned up, white dress shirt and no tie look is going to be able to handle the likes of her.”
“Well, I’m not sure he’s going to like her since she can be a lot, but Ava asked me for my help setting her up, so I figured Rob would be a good choice. Anyway, it’s just a date. Nobody is saying they’re going to get married.”
His mention of that word makes me tear my attention away from Mr. Rob Jennings of the land of IT. “Married? Seems like you’re jumping the gun, aren’t you?”
Thankfully, my brother is too sleepy or distracted by fatherhood to pick up on the seething jealousy that’s currently seeping into every syllable I utter. As he spins his laptop back in front of him, he says, “Well, Ava wants Eden to be happy, andshe thinks this guy can do that. She promises if they don’t hit it off that she’ll be fine with it. I think they’re going to go out to dinner first, and then they’ll be at the party in a few weeks.”
Jesus Christ! Two dates? What. The. Fuck?
