Chapter 5
Five
Mark
I scroll through Maria’s pictures as I lean against the hood of my car outside the coffee shop. Her shift ended five minutes ago, but I’ve been here for twenty, so I don’t think I missed her.
I’m not going to lie; I originally thought the girl might be a bit crazy.
Who in their right mind claims to be in a relationship with someone that they don’t talk to?
Hell, I don’t even remember how we met, but we had to have met somewhere.
We wouldn’t be friends on social media otherwise.
Naturally, I messaged her to find out what the hell was going on, but that message went unread. So, I stalked her profile.
Tracking her down and confronting her face-to-face had not been a part of the plan, but when Sean informed me this morning that he was taking me to a strip club tonight and wasn’t taking no for an answer, I saw my new social media relationship as an opportunity to get him off my back.
It hadn’t been hard to figure out where she worked; she took a lot of pictures here at the shop.
The plan had been to have her play the part of my girlfriend, the part she had chosen for herself, I might add, and put on a bit of a show to convince Sean.
I just wasn’t expecting to find myself so damn drawn to her; it almost borders on obsession.
It had me leaving work early for the very first time.
I knew she was attractive from what I saw of her profile last night, and looking at her pictures again now, after seeing her in person, I realize that the pictures don’t do her justice.
She is breathtaking and smells of honey and caramel, which is not a scent that I will forget anytime soon.
I even find the fact that I make her so nervous both adorable and endearing, when I usually find it annoying as hell.
It’s a common occurrence for women to be nervous and intimidated around me.
I am told it’s because I am so ‘beautiful’ that it’s unnatural, and while I’ve never believed that to be true, having to deal with the way women react to me all these years means it has to hold some merit.
The difference here is that Maria’s nervousness is warranted because I want to devour every inch of her and make her mine.
When she told Sean that she knew she wasn’t my ‘usual type’, implying that I am out of her league, it pissed me off so much that I wanted to bend her over the counter and prove to her that she is exactly my type right then and there.
She doesn’t think highly of herself; that much is obvious, and I don’t understand why.
Sure, she may be a little curvier than what society deems is the beauty standard, but that is part of what makes her so stunning.
I have always preferred my women bigger because it gives me something to grab onto when I pull them in for a hug or fuck them from behind.
I freeze. Fuck them from behind? Really?
I shake my head at myself and try to force that thought from my mind, but unfortunately, it’s too late.
Images begin to flood my mind at the thought, images starring Maria and what she might look like beneath the silly little apron she has to wear at work.
Because it’s been so long since I’ve been with anyone, I can already feel my dick starting to harden in my slacks just from those images alone, and I let out a shaky breath.
“Come on, Mark. Get it together,” I mutter to myself as I shift my ass on my car to hide my growing erection.
Something about Maria has awakened something primal inside of me, something that’s been dormant for a very long time.
Normally, I’m not this bold, and I don’t come on to women as I did with her, kissing her and all that, but that’s what just seeing her brings out of me, I guess.
I do want to fuck her, and not just as a one-time thing either.
I’m sure, once my cock slides into her pussy, that it will never want to leave.
It’s been ten minutes since the end of her shift now, and I’m starting to worry that I missed her somehow.
Just as I’m about to go inside to see if she’s still there, or if there’s an alternative exit for employees or something, she finally emerges, followed closely by the guy she had been working with earlier.
I briefly wonder if the two of them are together—they take a lot of pictures together—but I quickly answer that all on my own.
If they had been together, he wouldn’t have just walked away when I kissed her earlier.
Nor would she have put the two of us in a relationship online.
Maria has ditched the apron and let her chestnut brown hair down, which falls beautifully to just past her shoulders.
I am grateful for the heat too, because she’s removed her baggy sweatshirt, revealing a dark purple top that, while loose around the stomach area, clings to her large tits like a second skin.
It also shows enough cleavage to have every man in the vicinity drooling, myself included, and the black jeans she’s wearing hug her ass deliciously.
I would like to note that none of this is helping the situation in my pants at all, and my teeth dig into my bottom lip as I take her in because she’s an absolute vision.
Her friend is the one who spots me first, the smile appearing on his face telling me that he’s not the least bit surprised to see me here either.
I dip my head by way of greeting, and he does the same before getting Maria’s attention.
He says something to her, motioning in my direction, and I watch with amusement as her head snaps up and swings toward me.
When our gazes lock, her beautiful eyes go wide.
With a smirk, I push myself off the car and close the distance between us.
“Mark,” she gasps when I reach them. “Wha-what are you doing here?”
I lift my eyebrow and shove my hands into my pockets to keep myself from reaching for her like I really want to do for some reason. “I told you I’d be here when you got off work. We have a date, remember?”
She blinks rapidly, her gaze bouncing between her friend and me. Fuck, she’s cute when she’s flustered. “I didn’t— I thought— You were serious?”
“I was,” I reply. “I am. I don’t say things I don’t mean. Besides, weren’t you the one who started all this by making it official on social media? If we are going to make this work, we should at least take some time to get to know each other.”
“You know,” her friend chimes in, his voice laced with humor, “he’s got a point.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, grateful for the support. I hold out my hand, knowing that, if he’s important to Maria, it would probably be wise to get on his good side. “I’m Mark, by the way. The social media boyfriend.”
He shakes his hand while beaming at my Maria. “Darius. I’m the gay best friend and roommate.”
That knowledge shouldn’t reassure me, but it does. “Well, Darius. Would you mind if I stole Maria for a bit?”
Darius, bless him, practically shoves Maria into me. “Please, be my guest!”
I decide then that, at some point, I owe this man a beer.
He’s clearly on my side with this whole thing, and the more people I have in my corner, the better.
I still don’t know why I’m so drawn to her or why I want her so badly.
I hardly know her! But I do want her, so much so that I haven’t been able to think of anything else all day.
“Hang on,” Maria says quickly, her voice trembling a bit. “We really don’t have to do this.”
Both Darius and I look over at her, and she shifts nervously, pushing a bit of hair back behind her ear. I can tell she’s nervous, but she straightens and squares her shoulders in an attempt to appear confident.
“I get it, okay? Changing my status to say that we are dating was a really stupid thing to do, and I’m sorry.
I was drunk, feeling down and sorry for myself, and I was desperate to get Darius off my back about my love life.
Or lack thereof. He said that he would drop it when my status changed on social media, because everyone knows that means things are serious, and I got this insane idea of changing my status to meet his terms. I had every intention of changing it back this morning since there’s the whole required waiting period or whatever, but then I woke up with this ridiculous hangover, and I completely forgot, and—”
I can’t help but smile because she’s rambling. Judging by the thick pause and the way her shoulders sag, she realizes it too.
After a moment, she sighs and pulls her phone out of her back pocket. “Look, I’ll just— I’ll change it back now, let you off the hook. That way, we can stop all this.”
Before she can even unlock the device, I cover it and her hand with my own. “Or, you can leave it and go out with me tonight as I suggested.”
In any other situation, the surprise on her face would be comical. “W-what?”
With a shrug, I take a chance and step closer to her. “It takes balls to do what you did, Maria, and I’ll admit, I had every intention of showing up, using your drunken idea to get Sean off my back, and then never seeing you again.”
“What changed your mind?” Darius asked curiously. I can tell he’s getting a kick out of watching this situation unfold, and I can’t blame him. I doubt this kind of thing is a common occurrence.
“I met you,” I say, not taking my eyes off of Maria and talking directly to her even though Darius asked the question.
“I saw you, face-to-face, and I realized how lucky I’d be to have someone like you in my life.
I’m a big believer in fate, you know. So, go out with me tonight. Let’s see if there’s anything to this.”
Maria looks over at Darius as if looking for his approval or input. To his credit, he nods enthusiastically.
“O-okay,” she stammers, a small, legitimate smile forming on her gorgeous mouth.
Returning her smile, I hold out my hand, and she takes it with a giggle. It’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard, and as I lead her back to where my car is sitting, I make a mental note to try to make her giggle more often.
Like the gentleman I am, at least on the outside, because the thoughts going through my head are anything but gentlemanly, I open the passenger door for her.
“Thank you,” she says softly as she steps around me to climb in.
However, before she does, she pauses and looks up at me.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Mark?”
It takes an awful lot of willpower not to kiss the shit out of her right here, out in the open, just for doubting me, but I barely got her to agree to go out with me. I don’t want to scare her off already, not before I find out what it is about her that turns me into a horny, possessive teenager.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t tease her a bit.
I take a couple of steps forward, boxing her in between my muscular chest and the car. I lean down until my mouth is only centimeters from hers, my nose brushing against hers. She gasps, and I know that she’s expecting me to kiss her again. I love that I have that effect on her.
“Get into the car, Maria.”
Her cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink as she chews on her bottom lip. “Okay.”
Her hesitation makes me pause. I straighten. “Unless I’ve misread things, and you don’t want to go out with me.”
Her eyes bounce between mine for a few moments, and my stomach drops when she doesn’t respond right away.
However, she then turns and drops into the passenger seat without a word, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.
I don’t bother hiding my smile as I close the door and round the hood to the driver’s seat.
We are on the road in a matter of seconds, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Maria wringing her hands in her lap.
“You’re nervous,” I point out, trying to initiate a bit of conversation. While I want her to be comfortable around me, I also want to understand. I want to know what’s causing her hesitation when it comes to going out with me.
She sighs. “I am, sorry. I’ve just never been on a date with someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
She nods and looks over at me. “Someone so out of my league.”
It’s funny. You hear something so much, it starts to lose its meaning. That’s how it is for me when people talk about my looks and such. But hearing it from her is like hearing it for the first time all over again.
“Or maybe you’re out of mine,” I say, winking at her.
Shaking her head, she laughs and turns her attention back out the window. “Yeah, I doubt that.”
One comment. That’s all it takes to awaken this primitive desire to protect her, even from herself.
Her view of her self-worth is so skewed, and I want to change that.
I have to. I want her to see what I see when I look at her, and I know that’s going to take time.
I just have to make sure that I’m given the chance to do so.