Dammit. Crystal winced. This was what happened when you had someone like Ella try to play matchmaker. All eyes were on her stuttering sister as if trying to figure out what she was hiding. Then, just as she’d feared, Suzy’s gaze settled on her. “You’re the only unattached one at this table. So unless someone has a confession to make about the state of their relationship, I’d say your sister is recruiting Mark for you.”
“God, yes!” Mia exclaimed. “My girl here is completely gone on ‘DeStudo.’”
Ava made a sound that was a cross between laughter and choking. “DeStudo?”
With a dreamy expression, Emma nodded. “That’s actually pretty accurate. I was in line behind him at the coffee shop last week, and man, is he sexy. He smelled so good that I found myself inhaling too fast and I was getting dizzy. And that voice. All manly and rough . . . I love Brant, but I secretly wouldn’t mind Mark for my work husband. I wouldn’t even need to touch him. Maybe an hour a day of sniffing and staring at him would do for me.”
“He is something,” Claire admitted shyly. “Jason has had him over for dinner a few times, and he’s so charming. He’s even good with our daughter, which I wouldn’t have expected since he doesn’t have children. I guess I wasn’t too good at hiding my admiration on his last visit because after he left, Jason waved a hand in front of my face and told me that I could go ahead and blink.”
Suzy chuckled at Claire’s story before saying, “Gray knows that I can’t help but appreciate a hot guy. Luckily, he’s secure enough to where he laughs it off. I also know he’s a man and will admire a beautiful woman—but that’s all it is. Now, if I were in the market for a threesome, Mark would be right up there at the top of the list. I mean, it’s not as if I could pick Nick, since he’s my brother-in-law. And Jason signs my paychecks, so that could get complicated. Declan looks like he knows his way around the bedroom, but I wouldn’t be able to choose between him and Brant, so they’re out. That leaves me with Mac, Dominic, and Gage—who wear those cargo pants well. But they are all in new relationships—which could be messy. That brings me to Mark. So yeah, if I were in the market, that bad boy would be my pick. I’ve heard some interesting rumors about him being a bit of a freak in the bedroom as well.” Staring at Crystal, Suzy asked, “Honey, are you sure you’re ready to make the leap from a Honda to a Lamborghini? Maybe you should start with . . . say, a Cadillac or even a Mercedes? While I admire you for going straight to a sports car, I have to wonder if you know how much horsepower that baby has.”
Beth’s eyes widened as she looked at her sister. “Just to be clear, we’re still talking about Mark, right?”
“Crap, I don’t know,” Mia murmured. “I’m still processing the whole threesome thing.” Then, raising her hand like a schoolgirl, Mia giggled. “I think I’ve mentioned that Suzy and Gray were at the top of my list of threesome dream teams.”
“Please don’t encourage her,” Beth moaned.
“Hey, I’d do you, Suzy,” Emma piped in. “You even used to have my favorite ass before Gwen came along.”
“Everyone wants Gwen’s ass,” Claire inserted before covering her face. “I think that came out wrong.”
Suzy bumped shoulders with Claire. “Hey, no judgment here. It’s a safe zone. And thank you, Emma, for your kind words. I’d be looking more for a man-man-woman kind of thing, but you never know.”
Ava cleared her throat as the laughter died down at the table. “Crystal, you do know that Mark doesn’t really do relationships, right? I’m not trying to dissuade you, but to my knowledge, Mark has never been involved with a woman beyond an evening.” Giving Crystal a look of concern, she added, “If you’re looking for something like that, you know, to experiment, then that’s great.”
“Oh, I’m not looking to marry him,” Crystal said breezily. She only hoped that the other women wouldn’t notice how forced her smile was. Of course she tried not to harbor any romantic delusions where Mark was concerned—but didn’t every woman have the Cinderella fantasy from time to time? Possibly, that was her whole problem. She grew up feeling subservient to first her mother and then to her husband. She’d barely been capable of making a decision on her own, and even when she did decide something for herself, she had to wonder if someone in her life hadn’t influenced it. “So . . . a question for all of you,” she began before she could chicken out. “If my being so . . . different from Mark’s usual kind of woman is a problem, should I show him that I can . . . change?” she stuttered out, no doubt sounding like an idiot. That hadn’t come out right at all.
Before anyone could answer, Ava spoke up again. “When I decided to go after Mac, I had to reinvent myself. It’s not that he didn’t love me as I was, because he did—for years. But I’d lost him because I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship with him. So in order to get his attention, I went a complete one eighty from who I’d always been. Instead of repressed and cautious, I became more of a daredevil. I did stuff that I knew would push every button that he had. I figured negative attention was good so long as he was thinking about me. Even if he only wanted to wring my neck. So I know what you’re trying to say.”
“Just to be clear here,” Suzy asked, sounding fascinated, “are you advising her to go buy some handcuffs and beat Mark at his own game?”