“Anne.”

“I just needed to know she wasn’t going to get what she wanted, namely you. Blame it on my little black vindictive heart,” I joked.

He did not laugh.

Face still set in furious lines, he stalked toward me, backing me into the counter. The hard gray stone edge connected smack bam with the bruise on my back from earlier. It hurt.

“Ouch.” I rubbed at the sore spot, wincing.

“What?”

“I think I’ve got a bruise from the kitchen bench. Your fault.”

He harrumphed in a strangely sexy manner (it had truly never occurred to me that noise could be a turn-on). “I already said sorry about that.”

He picked me up by the waist and set me on top of the counter. His able hands pushed my knees apart as far as my skirt would allow and he stepped between.

“Ah, hey there.” I put my hands to his shoulders, pressing against the cool material of his suit jacket. “Ease back a bit.”

“Tell me what she said.”

“Why? You going to challenge her to a duel? Pistols at dawn?”

“You read too many books.”

“No such thing!” I cried, aghast.

“No duel. But I’ll sure as hell have her ass thrown out of here.”

“Mal, seriously. I dealt with it. It’s okay.”

He just stared at me.

“I very politely thanked her for her opinion and told her to go f**k herself.”

The tension in his face eased a little. “You told her to go f**k herself?”

“Yes, I did. I channeled my inner Scarlet O’Hara and took none of her crap.”

“Good. Liking that boundary. And you’re okay now?” He set his hands on the counter either side of my hips, meaning we were damn close. Much closer with some clothes missing and we’d almost be together in the biblical sense.

“I’m all good. Though my bottom lip sort of hurts. No more biting.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, yeah. I figured that when you pulled half my hair out to get me off of you. You know you can be kind of vicious, pumpkin. I like that.”

I smiled and he smiled and everything was fine and dandy.

“You’re definitely not going to sleep with her though,” I said, just to be sure. I really didn’t like the woman. “Seriously.”

“My dick doesn’t go near anyone that’s rude to my friends. That’s not cool.”

“Your dick has good taste, then.”

His eyes went kind of hazy.

“Mal?”

“Hmm? Sorry. I like the way you say ‘dick’ and ‘taste’ in the same sentence.”

“Right.” So not going there. I squirmed ever so discreetly on the countertop. “Thank you for worrying about me. But we should go back out and join the party. People probably want to use the bathroom.”

“There’s four more.” Soft as a feather, he brushed his lips across mine. Every nerve in my body kick-started at the contact.

“I’ll make you feel better, Anne.”

“Ah, yeah. I already said I was feeling fine. And you remember that line in the sand you drew about us not getting involved in a sexual manner and stuff? You’re messing with it big-time tonight.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“It kind of is. I don’t want to be your joke, Mal.”

“My joke? What the hell are you talking about?” His hands slid around to my butt and suddenly I was pulled in against him. All of him. And by the feel, there was a lot of him in a good and hard mood.

I squeaked and wrapped my legs around his hips. Honest to god, I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. When he pressed his c**k against me it made thinking impossible. My hormones were seizing control. All of this talk of babies had obviously given them ideas. Still, I made a token effort to resist. “Okay, big guy. That’s enough.”

Gently, he kissed my bottom lip. “Still hurting?”

“Totally cured.” Oh I hurt, I ached. A bit more of the pressure from his pelvis, making my mind reel, would do the job, however. I rocked against him, unable to stop myself. My eyelids slid half closed. Damn, he felt good.

“You’re not my joke, Anne. You’re my friend. One I am very f**king into for lots of reasons.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re my friend too.”

“But you know, it’s okay for us to relax and have some fun.” He demonstrated this point by kneading my ass. “You don’t have to be so wound up all the time. I’m not going to let anything bad happen.”

Malcolm Ericson might have been a lot of things, but omnipotent wasn’t one of them. Bad things happened. It was a fact of life.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, grinding himself against me once more, derailing my sadness.

“Nothing.” Sex. Stress. A bit of both, really.

“I really like your dress.”

“Thanks. The suit’s nice; you look incredible.”

“I been thinking about this kissing problem we got.”

“There’s no kissing problem. Everyone believes we’re together so … job well done Team Mal and Anne.” I raised a fist high. “Yay.”

He chuckled softly. “See? You can be funny.”

I gave him what had to be a dazed smile. Man, he was beautiful, especially up close like this. He angled his head and nudged my cheek with his nose, kissing the corner of my mouth. Fingers toyed with the zipper on the back of my dress. Not moving it, just casually threatening me with its imminent descent. Good god, did I enjoy being threatened in this way by him. My ni**les hardened, more than ready to be on display. They so had no sense.

“Been thinking,” he said. “Maybe you need to be kissed in other places.”

The man was a f**king genius.

Ever so slowly, he tugged the zipper down an inch or two. His smile dared me to stop him. Pity I’d lost all power over my limbs. The zipper went lower, loosening the bodice of my dress, making the front gape. Mal slipped a finger in the neckline, drawing the black lace out a ways.

“You not going to stop me?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Any minute now.” Not a chance.

Then he looked down. Hopefully, he appreciated br**sts of all types. If he was a size-based guy, this would not end well.

“Anne. Fuck.” He swallowed hard. A very good sign. Softly, his fingers traced over the hollow at the base of my throat.

“Yes?”

“You are so damn–”

Somebody hammered on the door, knocking me out of my lust fog.

“Mal, it’s time,” a voice hollered.

No. NO!

“Wha–?” Mal turned, scowling, while I got busy frantically holding my dress in place.

The door opened and Ben stuck his head in.

“Fuck’s sake, man,” said Mal, voice tight and furious. “Anne could’ve been na**d.”

Ben scoffed. “You never cared who saw what before. And if it’s an issue, there’s a lock on the door, dickhead.”

“Rules have changed.”

“Shit, man,” said Ben, flashing his teeth in a big smile. “You’re actually serious.”

“Of course I’m f**king serious. This is my f**king girlfriend, you moron.”

Ben’s gaze flitted over my body. “Yeah well, your f**king girlfriend’s pretty cute. You know what? I think I like her.”

Every part of Mal tensed. There was fire in his eyes. “You–”

“No.” I grabbed hold of the lapels of his jacket. “No fighting.”

He looked at me, nostrils flaring. What was it about weddings that invited so much drama?

“I mean it,” I said. “This is Ev and David’s special night.”

But Ben was apparently having far too much fun to stop now. “Remember that time we shared a girl in Berlin? That was good … real good. Always thought I’d like to try that again. What do you say, Anne? Up for a bit of fun? Promise we’ll take good care of you.”

Mal snarled and I lunged, getting him in a strangle hold. I was basically hanging off him. Damn, the man was strong. Ben might be huge, but given Mal’s current mood, I wouldn’t bet against him in a fair fight. The muscles in his neck were bulging.

“Mal?” I said his name in my super calm and in control voice. Under different circumstances I’d have probably made an awesome therapist. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah.” His hands gripped my ass, taking some of my weight. A good thing. Dangling from someone’s neck was harder than it looked.

“Everything’s fine. Ignore him,” I said. “Ben, get out.”

The jerk waggled his eyebrows at me.

“Now.”

“Sure, Anne. No worries.” He winked at me, closing the door.

“Be calm, Mal. The bad man is gone.”

“I’m calm,” he growled, holding me to him.

“He didn’t mean it. He was just messing with you.”

“Didn’t you see the way he looked at you? Idiot meant it.” Mal hugged me tight. “Piece of shit’s bad as Jimmy sometimes. Should have kicked his ass.”

“Hey now, harness that inner caveman. You’re very aggressive tonight.”

“I don’t like people saying stuff about you. You shouldn’t have to put up with that.”

“Well, that’s sweet. But I don’t need you beating up anybody for me.”

“Four of us have been beating each other up since we were kids. It happens.” One handed, Mal tugged my zipper back up into place. Then he pierced me with a hard look. “You didn’t want to, did you?”

“Generally, I do prefer one penis at a time. It’s a failing of mine, I guess …”

“Good.”

I gave him a kiss on the cheek because a jealous Mal was an awesome sight. “What was he talking about ‘it’s time’?”

“Davie wants to play a few songs for Ev. We gotta go back out.” He sighed and sat me back on the counter. His hands rubbed over my sides. “You okay?”

“Yes.”

Still he frowned.

“You know, you can be kind of intense sometimes, Malcolm Ericson.”

His watched me in silence.

“You come across as this happy-go-lucky-type dude most of the time, but you are in fact a man of many layers. You’re kind of complicated.”

“Surprised?”

“Yes. And no.”

“And you call me complicated. You gonna dance with me later?” he asked, shaking off the bad mood.

“I’d love to.”

“You wanted another drink, didn’t you? C’mon, let’s go get that before I set up.” He lifted me down, his hands on my hips, treating me with the utmost care.

“You’re the best boyfriend ever. Fake or not.”

“How many you had?”

“Boyfriends? Two.” I held up a couple of fingers, just in case he wanted a visual aid. It was good to be helpful.

“So I’m number three?”

“No, you’re number two. Relationships aren’t my specialty.”

“No?” He lifted his chin, looked down at me. “You’re doing real good, Anne.”

“Thanks, Mal.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I had a nice buzz by the time we stumbled home. We shared a cab with Nate and Lauren at around three in the morning after an amazing party.

I’d finally heard Stage Dive play live. They were awesome playing acoustic. Jimmy’s and David’s voices melding together beautifully. Each one of those men was so damn talented it made my teeth hurt. Ben, with his bass, and even Mal, deprived of his full drum kit, made his presence felt in amazing ways. They were all in perfect balance, integral to the music.

It might have been way past my bedtime, but I didn’t want the night to end. Not just yet. I lay on my back, staring at my bedroom ceiling. It’d stopped spinning a short while ago. The gap in my curtains provided just enough light from the street to see by. A few years ago on nights like this when sleep wouldn’t come, I’d often talk to Mal–I mean, the poster version of him. Sad and psychotic, but true. Now the man himself slept next door.

Life could be a strange and beautiful thing sometimes.

Other times it was just a disaster. But sometimes beauty won out.

I ran my fingers over my poor, sore lips. They’d almost been kissed into extinction. Once Mal got an idea into his head, he was unstoppable. And apparently dancing with him meant indulging in a mini make-out session. It had gotten more and more difficult to feign dissatisfaction every time he tried something new. So many ways to kiss, I’d truly had no idea. Soft and hard, with or without teeth, the varying depths of penetration by tongue had featured largely. And hand placement. Whoa, the hand placement. He’d done everything from gently stroking my neck to kneading my ass. A man who knew what to do with his hands was truly a force to be reckoned with. I’d only just stopped him from slipping it up my skirt at midnight.

Such a great night.

He’d stripped down to boxer briefs again once we got home. I’d gone into the bathroom to grab a hairbrush and there he’d been, brushing his teeth. A man brushing his teeth had never been such a turn-on, even with the white bubbly drool slipping out of the corner of his mouth. My guess would be he didn’t own pajamas. Nope, a guy like him must sleep in the nude. A brilliant scientific deduction based on the hot and hard man currently occupying my couch. All too readily I could imagine his warm, tanned skin exposed. Did he sleep on his back, stomach, or side? Aesthetically, on his back would be most pleasing … for various reasons.