She shifted uneasily on his lap, knowing her face had to be bright red once again. She didn’t dare admit that she’d even named her battery-operated boyfriend Mark. He’d think she was some kind of weirdo for sure.

They were locked in their own little world until a loud voice jerked them apart. “Mark, can I talk to you for a minute?” She looked up to see Declan scowling down at them. Actually, a quick glance around showed most everyone shooting them curious looks. She could only hope that no one else had been close enough to hear their conversation. This day had probably taught him more about his sister-in-law than he’d ever wanted to know. Ella was going to kill her.

“Um—sure,” Mark agreed as Crystal scrambled from his lap. He got up slowly, putting his hands in his pockets. He gave her a wink before following Declan into the house. She didn’t want to answer all of the questions that she knew the other women would have, so she stayed where she was, waiting to see if he’d come back.

She’d barely had time to start worrying when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, Angel, but I’ve got to run. I received a call while I was talking to Declan. It’s nothing major, but I need to take care of something.” Crystal noticed Denny standing a few feet away, obviously waiting for his boss.

“Oh—okay,” she murmured, trying to hide her disappointment. For some reason, she’d had it in her head that tonight would be a turning point for them. Now it looked as if she’d be a party of one—as usual. “Drive safely,” she added, knowing it sounded lame. What she actually wanted to do was stick out her lower lip and sulk like a teenage girl with her first crush.

As she was turning away, Mark touched her shoulder before clearing his throat. “Would you—I mean, do you want to do something tomorrow night?” She could only gape at him in shock as his words hung heavily between them. Had he just asked her out? Or did he mean sex?

“Like a date?” she asked uncertainly. “If it’s the other thing that we discussed, we’ll have to make do with what you have because Amazon doesn’t deliver on Sunday. I have my Rabbit, though—so I could bring that. If you don’t have handcuffs, we could use one of your ties. I like that teal blue one that you wear sometimes.” When he continued to stare at her with his mouth now hanging open, she rushed to reassure him. “You don’t have to make a decision now. You can text me—or call me later. Or even send me a private message on Twitter.” Oh God, I’m rambling and making a fool out of myself. Shut up, Crystal—don’t say another word!

He rubbed his temple, saying, “Angel, I’m talking about dinner. Isn’t that what normal people do when they go out together? Possibly a movie as well.” Behind them, Denny coughed loudly, although Crystal suspected it was actually to keep from laughing. She and Mark probably sounded pathetic. Both of them uncertain and fumbling around with something so simple. “Although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by the other stuff you mentioned.” His eyes widened for a moment before he took a deep breath. “I’m trying to do this right, Angel, so stop distracting me. May I pick you up at seven tomorrow night?”

Unable to contain her grin, she said primly, “Yes, please.” At the same time, she fought the urge to run around and do some cartwheels. She had a freaking date with Mark DeSanto. Stuff like this didn’t happen to girls like her. But it was happening—ahhh!

He leaned down to brush a kiss onto her cheek before moving his lips to her ear. “No need for the tie, Angel—I have handcuffs.” With that statement, he gave her a quick salute and followed Denny out.

Since every head at the barbecue was still turned to her, she playfully held up her fingers in a V for “victory.” “That’s right, I’ve got a date tomorrow night!” After a few seconds of silence that felt more like minutes, the applause started and she took a bow.

Who knew that all it took was the promise of dinner with a sexy man and two glasses of wine for Crystal Webber to turn into a wild woman? Dear Lord, had the answer to her happiness been that simple all along?

• • •

Denny smirked as they walked into Mark’s house an hour later with Chinese takeout. “‘At last, your love has come along. Your tying-up days are overrr . . .’”

“Shut up, asshole,” Mark snapped as he listened to his assistant butcher a classic love song.

“Oh, come on, man, I was just getting to the part about not turning any more asses red. That was my best verse. I worked on this for the entire trip.” He pouted.

“I knew I should have gone through the fucking McDonald’s drive-thru,” Mark grumbled.

“Well, if you hadn’t lied and made us leave before the actual food was served at Declan’s, we wouldn’t be in need of food. Why’d you bother to tuck tail and run after making out in the closet, talking dirty, and then asking her out? Heck, it was all smooth sailing and you panicked.” Looking suddenly serious, Denny asked, “What made you do that, by the way? The date, that is. . . .”

Mark dropped on a barstool and lowered his head onto his folded arms. “I don’t know. I caved to pressure. Declan was warning me off, like I was going to defile her or something.”

Denny raised his brows and Mark flipped him off. “Yeah, so maybe he had a small point. But for once, I was trying to be a good guy—and she wouldn’t let me. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was taking a BDSM training class.”