Aged to Perfection Page 6

  She shrugged. How could she explain that she needed to solidify her place with him because she was feeling so insecure about meeting his friends—in her bathing suit, no less?

  Mark looked at her, staring into her soul. He kissed her gently on the lips. “You have nothing to worry about. If this is really making you that uncomfortable, Rach, we don’t have to go in.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Really. I have to get it over with sometime, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  She bent at the waist, flipped her head down and ran her fingers through her hair fluffing it back up, then whipped upright again. “Well, how’s it look?”

  “Sexy as hell.”

  She smiled. “Does it look like you’ve been grabbing it?”

  “Grabbing it? No, but it definitely has a wild thing going on.”

  “Ugh.” She tried to finger comb it to tame it down.

  Mark placed his hand against her fingers to stop her. “Leave it. You look hot.” Taking her hand, he led her out of the garage and around the side of house into the backyard.

  A tall, dark-haired guy walked towards them. “Mark, you finally made it.” When he reached them, he shook Mark’s hand before turning his attention to Rachel. His gaze slid over her body admiringly. .

  “You must be Rachel. Glad you could come. ” He took her hand and shook it warmly.

  Not seeing any censure in his eyes, just complete male appreciation, she immediately relaxed. “Thanks for having me.”

  “I wish I was,” he replied so quietly she wasn’t sure he had really said it until she noticed the look Mark was giving his friend. What the hell is that about? Mark looked ready to hit him.

  “What?” Tony asked Mark.

  “Watch it,” he replied, wrapping his arm around Rachel’s shoulder.

  “You want a drink?” Tony asked her, indicating the bar area littered with blenders.

  She glanced around the pool deck at all the girls with their fruity drinks with umbrellas. God, had she ever been that young? “Yeah, a beer would be great.”

  “Beer? Really? We have lots of other stuff,” Tony told her.

  “No thanks, beer’s good.”

  Tony slapped his hand across his heart. “I think I’m in love. You don’t, by any chance, follow sports.”

  “Season Bronco’s tickets,” she replied, then arched her hand towards Mark. “He’s eagerly anticipating the season.”

  “No shit.” Tony shook his head. “How come you always find the good ones?”

  Mark shifted his shoulders. “It’s a gift.”

  Tony reached into the cooler and pulled out two beers for them. “Enjoy.”

  Beers in hand, Mark led Rachel over to a group of people sitting under a gazebo. “Did you make that?” she asked him.

  “Yep. Other than the pool, I did all the landscaping for Tony.”

  Rachel let her gaze roam around the yard, taking in the bar, multiple seating areas mixed in with green space. It was a fantastic backyard.

  “You did an amazing job. I’m definitely going to be able to fire a lot of referrals your way.”

  She looked at the gazebo in amazement. It rose from the ground like a monument to masculinity. Its huge chunky frame, strong and powerful. “Mark, you truly are talented. That gazebo is great. It completely suits Tony.”

  He laughed. “Loud and ostentatious.”

  She smacked his arm. “No. It’s fantastic.” She looked down at the path. “Is this slate?”

  Mark groaned and grabbed her. “No work. Turn that designer brain off,” he joked.

  “Sorry. Occupational hazard.” She took a pull of her beer, enjoying the yeasty brew sliding down her throat.

  As they walked up to the group, Mark grabbed a chair with one hand and pulled it into the circle. He sat and pulled Rachel down onto his lap, making it clear to everyone that she was with him, and introduced her to everyone.

  She noticed more than one jealous look from the girls at the party. One in particular, a girl named Lisa, was shooting daggers at her. Yep, this was going to be fun.

  Rachel sat listening intently to the conversations around her. The guys had clearly been friends for a long time. The camaraderie and friendship was obvious to even the most unobservant outsider.

  Lisa did her level best to exclude Rachel from the conversation. Annoyed, Rachel excused herself to go to the washroom. When she got back, Mark was in the pool with most of the people from the gazebo.

  “Hey, Rach, come join us,” Mark called as she walked past.

  Before Rachel had a chance to answer, Lisa pulled on Mark’s arm. “Come on, we’re going to play volleyball. Sorry, Rachel, we have enough for two teams as it is.”

  Rachel raised her eyebrow at the girl. “No worries. I’ll just enjoy my beer.”

  “You sure? I can get out if you want,” Mark told her.

  “No, don’t be silly. Have fun.”

  Mark looked at her then nodded his head.

  Rachel sat back down in a vacant seat in the gazebo and talked with Sheila, another woman who’d opted out while the volleyball game went on. Rachel couldn’t help but grit her teeth watching Lisa try her best to hang on Mark and get his attention.

  “She is so pathetically obvious,” Sheila said.

  “That’s one word for it,” Rachel replied, getting more annoyed by the minute.

  When the volleyball game wrapped up, Rachel set her beer down on the ground. “I’ve had enough of this shit.”

  Sheila grinned. “Crush her.”

  Rachel smiled. “Oh, I intend to.”

  Mark looked over as Rachel stood. She made sure she had complete eye contact with him and shot him a look that promised a night of sin.

  Lisa continued to try and get Mark’s attention. Without breaking eye contact with Rachel, he shoved Lisa away and moved towards the edge of the pool. He rested both elbows on the edge. “You coming in?”

  She nodded and slowly untied the halter of her dress. Deliberately taking her time, she dropped the straps and slid the material down, exposing her bikini top.

  Mark stood a bit straighter against the pool edge. His penetrating gaze glued to her, Rachel drew the dress down her body in a seductive pseudo-striptease. She could see Mark’s eyes heat and the lust on his face from where she stood several feet away. With the dress in a puddle at her feet, she stepped away from it and slowly walked towards the pool edge, never taking her eyes from Mark’s.

  “Jesus, I need to cool off and that wasn’t even for me,” Tony replied from beside Mark before he dunked his head under the water. Mark grinned.

  In a vain attempt to get Mark’s attention back on her, Lisa slid up next to him and pulled on his arm. “Come play with us.”

  Mark shook her off his arm. “I’m already playing with someone,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at Rachel. She winked at him then shot a quick look at Lisa.

  The little blonde had her hair piled on top of her head, not wanting to ruin her makeup and hair. Rachel could never understand going to a pool party then being too afraid of getting wet to really enjoy yourself.

  “You coming in?” Mark asked.

  Rachel grinned mischievously at Mark then jumped off the side, tucking her legs in for a cannon ball. When she came up out of the water, Lisa was dripping like a wet dog, her mascara running down her face. Rachel pasted on her best sweet, fake smile. “Oops sorry.”

  Mark laughed loudly and held out his hand to pull Rachel towards him. When she was pressed up against his body, he leant in close. “Nicely done. You can put your claws away. You made your point. “

  She batted her eyelashes innocently. “What do you mean? I thought you wanted me to come swimming.”

  He shook his head. “I did, but trust me, after your little striptease, my mind was on nothing but you.”

  “I know.” She pressed herself against the front of him and wrapped her legs around his waist. “I just want to make sure she realises I can play the game too.”


  Mark glanced over at Lisa. “Yeah, I’d say you made your point.”

  Rachel looked back over her shoulder at Lisa, who looked mad enough to spit nails and smiled at the woman. Enjoying her victory, she turned back to Mark. “Yep, I’d say she got it.”

  “Chicken fights!” Tony yelled from across the pool.

  Mark grinned at her. “Let’s take ‘em down.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Eight

  After a rousing game of chicken fights, Rachel pulled herself out of the pool and wrapped her towel around her body.

  Sheila asked her to help bring food out from the kitchen. As they strolled towards the house, Sheila slung her arm around Rachel’s shoulders. “You completely annihilated Lisa. Not only did you make her look like an idiot, but you made every guy here completely jealous of Mark.”

  “Why would they be jealous of Mark?”

  “Come on. You look good and know how to have fun. Ninety percent of the women here are too concerned about their looks to have a good time.” Sheila sighed. “I hope when I am your age, I have as much confidence as you do. I’m still working on it. That must be the great thing about getting old. You really know who you are and are so comfortable in your own skin.”

  Rachel knew the younger woman was trying to pay her a compliment, but yow! That hurt. Her smile pulled her skin tight across her face. “Yep, we old ladies are like that.”

  “Oh shit! That wasn’t what I meant. I just meant I was kind of jealous, that’s all.” Sheila grimaced. “I’m sorry. I’m just going to shut up now.”

  Sheila’s boyfriend came up behind them as they entered the house and pulled her away, leaving Rachel to navigate her way through the house alone. Just about to enter the kitchen, she stopped when she heard Lisa’s voice. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with her again. She was just about to turn around and head back outside when she heard her name mentioned.

  “Rachel’s just a pathetic cougar. I could have Mark eating out of my hands if I was that obvious about sex too,” Lisa said.

  “I don’t know. You’re pretty obvious, and so far, you haven’t managed to snag him,” a second woman replied.

  “Come on, she comes in here with her fuck-me hair and little striptease. God. I hope when I am her age I’m not desperate and trying to snag guys half my age.” Lisa’s catty remarks shot into Rachel like a hollow point, tearing her chest apart. Rachel clasped her hand to her heart and backed away from the kitchen.

  It was true what they say—you never hear anything good when you eavesdrop. She stumbled into the bathroom, desperate to gain some semblance of control over herself. Propping her arms on the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror. Was Lisa right? Was she just a pathetic cougar? Was Mark only with her because she was so easy?

  Her mind immediately played back over their encounters. Instead of remembering the connection that she had with Mark, she thought about how she was so eager to try everything he suggested. Things she couldn’t have imagined she’d be willing to do. She covered her mouth as a cry threatened to escape.

  Breathing deeply, she studied her reflection. She might be old but she wasn’t dead. Sheila was right, with her age came a certain amount of experience. Class that these young girls just didn’t have, and she’d be damned if she would let them see her damaged.

  She finger-combed her hair. Well, at least now that she’d been swimming, her hair didn’t look like ’fuck-me hair’. Mark had said it looked hot. Clearly men and women had different opinions on hair.

  Feeling a bit more together, Rachel squared her shoulders and headed back to the party. She pasted on a smile and sat beside Mark. He grabbed her hand, encompassing it in warmth. When she didn’t respond, he squeezed her fingers until she looked at him, and shot her a questioning look before letting go of her hand.

  Alright, maybe she wasn’t quite as good at hiding her feelings as she thought. Rachel smiled at him then turned her attention back to the conversation floating around her. After firing several weird looks at her over the next hour, Mark stood and took her hand pulling her up out of her seat. “Alright guys, we’re heading out,” he told the group.

  Puzzled, Rachel glanced at him. He winked at her in reply. She turned to Tony. “Thanks for having us.”

  Tony stood and hugged her. “My pleasure. Anytime.”

  At the car, Mark held the door open for her. Rachel looked up at him. “We didn’t have to leave so early. I know I’m old, but I can last past nine o’clock.”

  Mark’s forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about? You seemed upset when you came outside. I figured you’d been enough of a trooper, staying an extra hour.”

  “Was I ruining your night?” she asked, wincing at her own catty tone.

  “Jesus,” he muttered, then walked around to his side of the car and slipped in behind the wheel.

  Mark pulled the truck onto the road. “You want to tell me what’s going on? Did somebody say something to upset you?”

  Rachel played back the conversation she had overheard. It was just too humiliating. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Whatever.” Mark sighed.

  They rode in silence the rest of the way to her house. As he rounded the corner onto her street, his phone rang. He reached for it from the centre console and knocked the phone on the floor by her feet. Adjusting her seatbelt, Rachel leant down and picked it up. Her eyes landed on the text message on the screen.

  Luvd R. Gonna get me a cougar 2. Roar.

  When Mark pulled into her driveway, Rachel tossed the phone on his lap. He glanced down at it and groaned.

  “Mark, I can’t do this,” she said, jumping out of the car and racing towards the house. He quickly followed her slamming his door behind him.

  Catching up with her at the end of the drive, he grabbed her arm. “You can’t do this?”

  “I’m not cut out for all the snickering and jokes. This was supposed to be fun, and it’s not fun anymore.” By the time Rachel finished speaking, she was virtually whispering the words. Choking on them, even though she knew they needed to be spoken.

  “Fun? That’s all this was to you, fun?” Mark demanded, his tone colder than a Denver winter.

  Rachel squared her shoulders and met his angry stare. “Yeah. I mean, come on, Mark, what else could it be? Like your friends said, I’m a cougar, right?”

  “Jesus, Rach. My friends are idiots. You know that’s not how I feel.”

  “Do I?” She shrugged. “It’s not like we have much in common.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? We like doing the same things on our time off. I’ve never dated a woman that I was intellectually more comfortable with. Even our jobs mesh great. There’s a hell of a lot more to this than sex and you know it.” His voice rose in anger.

  “I’m just worlds away from your friends.”

  “Fuck that. Did you even give my friends a chance? You seemed to enjoy talking to Sheila. You have tonnes in common with her.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “What do you mean? She runs your favourite art gallery downtown. That guy Mike makes the most incredible custom cabinetry. When we went to the flea market, you loved Johnny and Paul’s work. You have a lot more in common with my friends than you do yours.”

  “That’s insane,” she stammered.

  “Is it? Since your divorce, what the hell do you have in common with most of your friends? You don’t like those phony charity things with all those hypocritical people like my parents. You hate book club. Come on, really, what do you have in common with them?” he pressed.

  What the hell did he want from her? He was asking her to embrace a completely different life than the one she had. To leave the security of her acquaintances for the unknown with him. She’d already lost herself once before and what she felt for Mark was so much stronger than anything she’d ever felt with Roger. If Mark found her lacking and left her down the road, she didn’t think she could survive.

  “Look
, I need to get out of here. This thing between us just isn’t going to work,” she told him. Without making eye contact, she gave him a half smile and stuck her hands in her pockets to discourage any kind of physical contact. If he touched her, she knew she would break and fall helplessly into his arms.

  This was the smart thing to do. There was no way this could work. They were just too different. She was beef jerky and he was prime beefcake.

  How the hell did she expect to hold onto him? It was just better to leave him before he dumped her for the newer model like her ex-husband had.

  Mark reached out his hand and grabbed her arm. She recoiled, desperate to keep her distance. “Mark, don’t. Let’s just end this before either of us gets in too deep.”

  “Rach, this is stupid. We’re good together. We understand each other. No one’s ever got me like you do.”

  He stepped towards her and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her closer. Her head rested against his chest. Damn it, this was exactly what she didn’t want to do. She pulled back from him.

  “No, Mark,” Rachel told him, placing her hand firmly against his chest to halt his progress.

  Mark threw his hands up in the air. “Fine, whatever.”

  He roughly ran his fingers through his hair. The curls stood on end from the force. Rachel longed to smooth them down with her hand. She clenched her fist to curb the impulse.

  His eyes narrowed. “I never would have thought you were a coward, Rachel. After everything you’ve been through, I thought you would get how rare it was to have a connection like we do. Maybe you’re right,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess I don’t know you at all.”

  Mark turned on his heel and left Rachel standing on her front lawn. He climbed into the truck without a backwards glance. The hemi engine roared to life moments before the squealing tires peeled away from the kerb. Pain ripped through Rachel’s chest.

  She managed to move a few steps before she dropped down onto the front steps, rubbing her chest to ease the pain. It didn’t work. The tears she had been fighting fell from her eyes, splashing on the cement. What had she done? Was Mark right? Was she just a coward?