Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) (19 page)

“I mean, shit.” he rubbed the back of his neck and
looked out the windshield. Without looking at her again he said, “I wanted to
do this right, but then, well, the whole locker room thing.” His grin was back,
and she felt her cheeks become fire hot. “I’m going to be honest. I’ve never
done this before. You know, asked a girl out, not even in high school.”

Oh.
Wow
.
If that wasn’t a bit unnerving and a little bizarre, but then again girls
wanted from Alex what he wanted from them, and it wasn’t about fancy wine
glasses or easy conversation.

“A date?”
She felt
like a major bitch for saying that so incredulously.

“Yeah.
Pretty
fucking crazy, I know.” His voice was void of emotion, and she knew she had
offended him.

Before she stuck her foot in her mouth again she
said, “I’d really like that, Alex.” A flicker of surprise moved across his face,
and then he was grinning. “I mean we did sleep together and
all,
and I’d look kind of easy if I didn’t accept.” When he chuckled she started to
as well, thankful the mood was a little lighter.

He leaned forward and kissed her, right there, no
doubt in front of Darcy. “I think I love you.” He was smiling when he pulled
back and she knew his words weren’t in the literal sense, but that didn’t stop
her heart from skipping a beat. “You free tomorrow? I want to make plans before
you realize you just agreed to go out with me and change your mind.”

It was her turn to laugh, but it was more of the
nervous variety. She hadn’t gone out with a guy in years, but this wasn’t just any
guy.

“Yeah, I really would like to go out with you,
Alex.” The tension and awkwardness in the truck dissipated, and giddiness
settled inside of her. Mary could handle the truth, could handle being one of
the girls who’d experienced one night in the star quarterback’s bed, so to
speak, but what she hadn’t anticipated was the heartfelt apology Alex gave her,
or the explanation of why he had acted the way he did at Tainted, or him asking
her on a date after he already had her. She had braced herself for the worst,
and enjoyed the best, and right now she was uncertain of what lay ahead. That
scared the shit out of her. She would just have to go with the flow, and hope
she didn’t drown in the process.

****

Alex was nervous with a girl, and that was something
he had never experienced before. He sat across from Mary at The Refectory, a
restaurant that specialized in American and French cuisine. It was one he had
passed on more than one occasion, but never in his life did he think he would
be sitting within it on a date. What was sad was he hadn’t even had anything
formal to wear, not living in Columbus. So he had gone to Brooks Brothers and
purchased a pair of slacks and an oxford so he looked somewhat presentable. He
had worn a getup like this before, years ago, but being in Mary’s presence in
such an unusual setting, for him anyway, had his palms sweating and his heart
racing. He felt like a damn teenager all over again.

“This place is amazing.” Mary lifted her wine glass
and took a sip. He followed her gaze to the high ceiling with the thick wooden
beams, and down to the brick walls that surrounded them. “I’ve always wanted to
come here, but never had someone to go with and didn’t want to come alone.” Her
cheeks turned pink, and he couldn’t help but grin. It really didn’t take much
to embarrass her, even if she was the one doing that to
herself
.

“Yeah, me, too.”
It
wasn’t really a lie, because until he had met her he hadn’t cared about places
like this. But once she said yes to going on a date with him, he knew he wanted
to take her here. They had just finished up their meal, and now a comfortable
silence settled between them.

“Did you like dinner?” She had gotten some kind of
chicken and pasta dish, and on several different occasions he had found himself
drawn to her eating. At times she acted so sensual about eating, and had even
moaned lightly with each bite. If she had he didn’t doubt her cheeks would have
been in a constant state of redness.

“It was delicious.” Her smile was brilliantly white,
and male satisfaction filled him.

“And you’re enjoying the evening?” God, why was he
acting like a pussy all of the sudden? He had never felt so unsure about his
actions until this very moment.

“Of course, Alex.”
Damn, the way she said his name was like fingers traveling along his body. Now
it was his turn to blush. He leaned back in his seat and brought his beer mug
to his mouth. He could still picture her opening the door when he picked her up
earlier. She had looked stunning, and he didn’t think he had ever used that
word to describe a female, but he sure as fuck did with her. He was doing a lot
of things he normally didn’t do. She was wearing a strapless white dress with
lacy looking flowers scattered around it, and the slight swells of her breasts
gently rose above the top of the neckline. He had sported instant wood when he had
first seen her. It wasn’t just about how fucking hot she was, or that he felt
so nervous around her, it was also about the way her smile seemed to light up
the whole damn room, and how every time she turned that smile on him he felt
lost.

“Alex?” He blinked a few times and realized he had
been staring at her chest as his thoughts wandered. “Are you okay? You didn’t
answer me.”

“I’m sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Lost in thought, huh? Or do you mean looking at my
boobs?” He chuckled for her calling him out.

Alex grinned. “What can I say? You’re gorgeous, and when
I’m around you I can’t think clearly.” He hadn’t said it to embarrass her
further, but once again her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. “You blush a
lot.” He took a drink of his beer and looked at her over the rim. She glanced
down and started playing with her napkin.

“Yeah, it’s a curse. I can’t hide what I’m thinking
or feeling because I turn redder than a tomato.” He didn’t say anything because
he wanted her to look at him. When she did he leaned forward, took her hand,
and brought it to his mouth to give her a light kiss on her knuckles.

“I like that I make you blush.” His voice was low,
and he made sure to hold her gaze with his own. He was such a sucker for her,
but it felt damn good. “Tell me something about yourself that no one else
knows.” He kept her hand in his and stared into her eyes. They were such a
pretty shade of blue, and contrasted with the darkness of her hair.

“There really isn’t anything to tell. I’m a pretty
boring person.” He didn’t believe that for one minute, not with the fire she
had behind her eyes, or the way she could give as good as she could take.

“I don’t believe that.” She lowered her eyes, and he
wished he could hear what she was thinking. “How about I start first, yeah?”
She looked at him.

“All right.”

“I have a sister that’s your age, so three years
younger than me. She started dating this guy that I hated. I thought he was an
asshole and used girls.” All of a sudden he felt shame, because for all the
shit he had given Reese, and the fact he had warned Kiera about him, Alex was
no different. Here he was, telling her something he never told anyone else,
because he didn’t even fucking realize what a damn douche he truly was. “Honestly,
I don’t know why I am the way I am.” Shit it was crazy to say this stuff aloud,
especially to someone that he cared about. “I have used girls, no doubt made
them feel like shit, but never thought twice about it. My sister and her
boyfriend are pretty serious. I hated him for how he hurt her, and let his
reputation and rumors on how he fucked a lot of girls make this toxic pool
inside of me. But time went on, and they made up, and are now living together.
For as much crap as I gave him, he ended up being really a stand-up guy and a
hell of a lot better than me.” She didn’t respond, but there was no judgment in
her face. “I was shitty to him, kicked his ass because he hurt my sister, but
it all turned out to be this huge misunderstanding.”

Shit, why did he tell her that? Why was she telling
her any of this? Yeah, she knew his reputation, but actually saying aloud made
it seem … real.

When the silence stretched between them he started
to grow uncomfortable, thinking he may have really fucked up good by confirming
what she most likely gathered from rumors.

“Although I had heard all about your exploits, I
think you’re a pretty great guy, bad boy reputation and all.”

Her saying that meant more to him than she would
ever know. Alex hung his head and actually felt his fucking cheeks heat from
her compliment. Clearing his throat and forcing himself to look at her again,
he was struck for the millionth time by how beautiful she was. The light right
above her was muted and cast a warm glow over her, like it was a halo and she
was this fallen angel.
“Enough about me.
Who are you
really, Mary? What’s your favorite color? Do you have a favorite animal, food,
or scent? I just want to know
something,
anything
about you, Mary.”

“I hate the color red; my favorite food is lasagna,
and I love the scent of Christmas trees. I’ve even stockpiled the aerosol cans
of that scent when they are on sale during the holidays so I can smell it
year-round.”

He couldn’t hold back the chuckle that left him, and
was pleased when she smiled. He reached across the table and gave her hand a light
squeeze to urge her to continue. He wanted to know every minute thing about her.

“You really want to know the boring stuff?”

“It isn’t boring stuff to me, Mary.”

She twisted her fingers together, and before he
could ask if he was making her nervous and uncomfortable she started talking. “I
won’t eat seafood unless it’s in the form of a tuna fish sandwich. I also eat
all of the toppings off my pizza first.”

He felt his skin stretch as his smile grew wider.
This was what he wanted to know, the little quirks that made her up,
the
little things that no one else knew unless they were
really paying attention to Mary Trellis.

She took a deep breath. “I feel out of my element.”
That took him off guard.

“Really?
Why?
Do I make you nervous?” She nodded slowly. “Well that’s a relief because I feel
like a total wreck over here.” She started laughing, and the sound speared
right through his chest.

“It’s
just,
I haven’t gone
out with someone in over two years, not since I left home.” He lifted a brow
because he was surprised as hell that she had been able to keep the guys from
beating her door down. “My ex, Lance, cheated on me actually, and for a long
time I didn’t see myself as anything special. He was all I knew, and I let him
make me feel like I wouldn’t be anyone without him.” He didn’t
speak,
just let her continue, although he felt like ripping
her ex-boyfriend’s balls off. “I found him in bed with one of my good friends
at a party.”

She took her hand away, and he let it go. She needed
her space, and that was fine, as long as she didn’t hide herself from him. Alex
realized he didn’t want that, not now or ever.

“She wasn’t upset over the fact, and although he
apologized for it and acted like he was in the wrong, I knew him well enough to
see he didn’t think he betrayed me.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I haven’t
told anyone how I felt about that, just blocked it out and pretended it went
away after I started going to OSU. But I’ll be
honest,
I deserved what he did to me in a sense.”

How in the hell did she think she deserved to be
betrayed?

“I let him walk all over me, talk to me any way he
felt like, and what he did was kind of like karma slapping me in the face,
waking me up, and showing me that letting someone do what he did to me would
only ruin me in the end. So, although I was crushed, now I can look back and
appreciate that things happened the way they did.”

“I’m sorry he hurt you, Mary. It’s a shitty thing to
do to someone.” His rage was a boil inside of him, growing hotter and hotter
until he thought he would burn alive from it. God, what he wouldn’t give for
that asshole to be in front of him right now.

“Everyone knew what he was doing at that party with Brittany,
but no one said a damn thing to me. They all knew they were screwing around
behind my back, and not one damn person stopped me from going into that room
and finding them fucking. It really showed me what kind of people they were,
and how I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself. They weren’t really my friends,
and I’m glad I found that out.”

He had watched her face when she spoke, saw the pain
she felt, but didn’t know how to comfort her. Hell, he didn’t even know what to
say to make her smile again. Alex wanted to hurt those people for her, beat
their asses until they were sobbing, crying out their apologies, and groveling
at her feet. He could feel himself start to shake from the force of his anger,
and his jaw ached from how hard as he was grinding his teeth.

“You want to know the real me, Alex?”

“Yes, Mary, I really do.”

She held his eyes for a moment before speaking. “I
am the kind of girl that let her alcoholic boyfriend verbally abuse her for far
too long, and it was all because I was too afraid of what I would be, and how I
would feel when I was alone.” He opened his mouth, but she smiled sadly and
shook her head, stopping what he would have said. “I’m not saying this to make
you feel bad, or to gain anything. You wanted to know something about me that
no one else knows, and I just told you my deepest secret, because I want you to
know who the real Mary Trellis is, Alex. I used to be very weak, not sure of
myself, and afraid of the unknown. I let people walk all over me growing up,
and never held my head high because I thought I wasn’t worth anything.”