Crystal felt his arm move around her, and she knew he was looking for the door handle. She had just seconds to get his attention before the moment was lost, so she gave it her best shot. “Mark, I want to know what it feels like to be fucked—just the way you’d do it. I don’t want rose petals and champagne. I want dirty, sweat-soaked sheets. I want aches in places I’ve never imagined, and I want to take a man in my mouth for the first time ever.” Stiffening her spine, she added, “If you aren’t interested, then I’ll find someone who is.”

The last word had barely left her mouth when the door was wrenched open once again. She blinked against the light to find Mark’s driver, Denny, standing there grinning. “Let me be the first to toss my name in the mix. Because if my cousin is crazy enough to turn you down, then I’m happy to be your backup plan.”

She could only gape at the other man, mortified. Mark stepped up behind her, putting a hand on her waist. “What in the hell are you doing here?” he gritted out.

Looking completely unaffected by his boss’s biting tone, Denny held up his phone. “Well, actually, you invited me, if you recall, and also ordered me to bring a case of your favorite wine. So I made my delivery but couldn’t seem to locate you anywhere.” Putting a hand on his heart, he continued. “I was so worried that I tracked your phone. Imagine my surprise when your little red dot led me right to the broom closet.”

Having gotten over the initial embarrassment, Crystal was enjoying the sparring going on between the two men. She had liked Denny right away. And the way he teased Mark was nothing short of hilarious. “Thanks for saving us.” She grinned at the other man. “Mark was under attack by an overeager broom.”

“Oh, my pleasure, beautiful.” Denny grinned before extending his elbow to her. “Shall we join the others while my cousin sulks?”

She looked over her shoulder at Mark to find him glaring at them. When he met her eyes, his expression softened slightly before becoming perplexed. He didn’t know what to do with her. It was written all over his face. She had a feeling that he didn’t often suffer from any kind of indecision. Well, while she had him off balance, she’d do everything in her power to keep him that way. He’d wanted her in that closet, and tonight, she would use all of her limited knowledge to entice him further.

When she walked out onto the back deck with Denny, Ella came over at a fast clip. “Where have you been?” she whisper-shouted before pulling her away from Denny with a smile of apology.

“Making out in your closet,” she replied to a stunned Ella. “Oh, and Declan totally busted us, as I’m sure you’ll be hearing about later.”

“Did you have someone in there with you?” Ella asked, looking hopeful.

“Els, of course. Even I’m not desperate enough to masturbate at your barbecue.”

Ella started choking, while Crystal reached over to thump her on the back. A few feet away, Declan caught her eye and lifted a beer as if saluting her. Ella, noticing the interaction, looked back and forth between them before exclaiming, “How in the world does my husband know something like that before me?”

“Er—he might have walked in on us,” Crystal admitted sheepishly.

Before Ella could respond, most of their female friends had surrounded them. Mia smirked then elbowed Suzy. “You got lucky, didn’t you, Crys?”

Suzy gave her an appraising look before saying, “She certainly did something. She has the rosy, sexy glow going on.”

“What’d I miss?” Gwen waddled up to the group, holding her back.

Crystal saw an opportunity for a distraction, and she jumped on it. “Gwen! You’ve been avoiding us since your ultrasound appointment. I’m dying to know whether I’m having a niece or nephew, so spill.”

Gwen shook her head before dropping it. “We chickened out.”

“Pardon?” Claire asked, looking confused.

Emma pointed to Gwen’s stomach. “You do realize that you’ve got a little person in there and it’s too late for backing out, right?”

Beth gave a rueful smile. “I had some of those moments of panic myself. But Nick kept telling me that returns were illegal.”

“Oh no, that’s not what I meant,” Gwen sputtered out with laughter. “We’ve decided to wait until the baby is born to find out the sex. We’ll probably be moving to a bigger place shortly afterward anyway, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go all out on a baby room. Our families are disappointed, but it’s something we both wanted.”

“Well, if you ask me, there’s not enough mystery left in the world,” Suzy agreed. Pointing to Ella, she added, “Just please don’t go all Linda Blair when you’re in labor like that one did.”

“She scared the holy hell out of me!” Ava giggled. “I’ve told Mac not to even think about having children until I get that memory out of my head.”

“At least you were the skinny skank,” Suzy said dryly. “Although I’m pretty happy being the queen of the whores.” Everyone laughed, having heard the story of Ella going into labor while she was with Suzy and Ava and calling them all kinds of horrible things from the pain she was in.

Then Mia pushed her under the bus. “Crys, your lipstick is smudged all around your mouth and the seam of your dress is askew.”

Crystal looked down to find that yes, indeed, when Mark had helped her with her dress, he hadn’t exactly done a great job in the dark. The side seam now ran down the middle of her chest. Why hadn’t she gone to the bathroom after leaving the closet? She might as well be holding up a sign that said I JUST GOT GROPED IN THE CLOSET.