“Huh—what?” Crystal asked distractedly.

“Yeah—exactly.” Mia snickered. “Just walk around and let him follow. He’s definitely going to.”

Crystal started down a nearby hallway, intending to wipe her sweaty palms and take a breath before approaching Mark. She barely had time to register the sound of footsteps, before her arm was in his grasp and she was swung around and pushed into an empty room. She started to struggle until she heard a masculine voice say, “Angel, it’s me.”

That was it for her. Those words were the equivalent of gas on a flame. She used her hands to locate him in the darkness. “Mark . . .” He made what sounded like a grunt of surprise as she blindly pressed her lips against what she hoped was his mouth. Actually, it turned out to be his cheek, but she moved to the right until she found what she was looking for and her lips met his.

“What do you need, Angel?” he asked huskily as he rocked against her.

“Touch me,” she begged. He took a couple of steps forward until he’d braced her back against a wall. He pulled her strapless dress down and her bra along with it. Her breasts sprang free into his waiting hands.

“Fuck, I want to see you, baby. But right now, I’ll settle for tasting.” With that, he sucked a bud into his mouth while flicking the tip of the other one. When she moaned, he whispered, “You have to be quiet, Angel, or someone will hear us.”

Moments passed in sheer bliss, as Mark pinched and teased her nipples, while his tongue was back in her mouth. She was hanging on the edge, when suddenly a sliver of light lit up the small space. Before either of them could pull apart, the door flung open and she was gaping at her brother-in-law in horror.

Crystal had to give Declan credit for not being easily shocked, because he simply blinked a couple of times before shutting the door without saying a word. She heard him yell down the hallway, “The broom’s not in the closet. I’ll get the one from the garage.” Apparently, Ella was determined to check for herself because a second later, because Declan, in a voice heavy with amusement, said, “Trust me, Ellie—there’s nothing in that closet that you need to see right now.”

As their voices faded away, Crystal slumped against Mark. “Oh, my God,” she moaned in horror. “My brother-in-law just saw my boobs. Maybe even worse.”

“He left pretty quickly, so I doubt he saw much,” Mark murmured reassuringly.

Maybe she should be utterly embarrassed by what had just happened, but Crystal was surprised to feel a giggle escape, followed quickly by another. Before she knew it, she was slumped back against Mark’s broad chest, shaking with laughter. “This is totally my luck,” she managed to wheeze out. “I mean, I finally throw caution to the wind and decide to go for it, and I bare my tits to Declan!” She heard Mark chuckle in her ear before he nipped it with his teeth. “Ouch!” she yelped, sticking her elbow in his stomach to defend against his love bites.

“Careful, Angel,” he warned. “I have something wedged up against my ass that I suspect is the broom Declan was hunting. If you force me back another step, I’m probably going to become intimately acquainted with it.”

“Oops, sorry,” she replied, trying to stifle a snicker.

“We’d better get presentable and out of here before someone else comes along,” Mark said as he began pulling first her bra and then her dress back up. “I have no idea where the light switch is in here, so we’ll have to check to make sure everything’s as it should be when we step out.”

“Mark . . . I want to go home with you tonight,” Crystal found herself saying as she stared at his outline in the dark. Wait—had she really just asked to have sex with him? Well, yes, she had. Heck, who was she kidding, she’d do it right now, even knowing that Declan was probably watching the door by this point.

“Angel,” Mark said, sounding both surprised and uncertain. “When and if you’re ever in my home again, it won’t be for another sleepover and it won’t be to make love. We’ll fuck—because that’s what I do. And you don’t strike me as a woman who goes for that type of entertainment.”

“That’s exactly what I want,” Crystal found herself replying. “I’ve never had that before. Actually, I’ve never made love either, if I’m being honest.”

“Wait—what? You’ve been married, Angel. How could you possibly be a virgin?”

“Um, what are you talking about?” she asked. “I didn’t say I was a virgin.”

She heard him sigh in the darkness before he said, “Honey, if you haven’t made love and you haven’t fucked—then what have you done? That about covers it, I believe. Shit, surely you didn’t just do oral while you were married, did you?”

Crystal’s mouth fell open at his statement. “No!” she sputtered. “Bill didn’t do stuff . . . you know . . . down there. What I meant was that my ex-husband wasn’t very good at sex. At least, I don’t think he was. He was my first and only, so I have nothing to compare him to. But I don’t think what we did could be classified as either lovemaking or the other thing. From the things that my friends say, though, there’s a lot more than I’ve experienced, and I want it—with you.” Oh crap, I didn’t mean for that to come out sounding so desperate.

His voice sounded strained when he finally said, “Angel, I can’t be your white knight, and, baby, you deserve to have one. I’m not capable of giving you what you’re looking for.”