She couldn’t have heard him correctly. How could his parents possibly know what she did in her private life? “Could you repeat that?” she asked, unable to make sense of anything at this point.

He sighed. “When my parents showed up, it was to nose into my personal life. Apparently, it had trickled down the family grapevine that I was seeing a woman. Since it’s . . . unusual, they felt the need to invade not only my privacy, but yours as well. During the course of that, they ran across the fact that you were divorced but appeared to be on the verge of reconciling with your husband. Or at least your recent trip to a marriage counselor seemed to suggest that.”

“Oh, my God,” Crystal gasped, before jumping to her feet. “They told you that?” When he nodded, she put her hands in her hair, more embarrassed than she’d probably ever been in her life—and that was saying something. What kind of person must they think she was to be dating their son while trying to get back together with her husband? A harlot, that’s what they think. Probably the gold-digging variety, no less. As she paced the kitchen, she muttered to herself, “Their son finally has a girlfriend, and she’s a bona fide tramp. Boy, that’s just something you want to put on your family newsletter and holiday cards. Oh look, here’s Mark and his slut of a lady friend. They’re very happy together—when she’s not dating her ex-husband.” Crystal paused in her rant when it registered that Mark was laughing so hard he was shaking. “What in the world do you find so funny?” she yelled. “This is a disaster of epic proportions, and you’re amused?”

He held up a finger as if asking for one second while he fought to control his mirth. “Sorry, Angel,” he managed to get out. She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring, which didn’t seem to faze him at all. He got up and walked to where she was standing and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her into his arms. She stood stiffly before letting out a huff and melting into his embrace. “I’m sorry they did that to you, Angel, and I promise that it’s been dealt with. But you do owe me an explanation, don’t you think?”

“You’re right. I do,” she answered quietly. “Can we go in the living room and sit down?” Instead of answering, he tucked her under his shoulder and they walked down the hallway together before he dropped down to the sofa and pulled her into a similar position.

“Now, what’s going on?” he asked, not sounding angry, but rather determined.

“This is why you took off without telling me, isn’t it?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“That’s correct,” he replied, without hesitation. “I was pissed and uncertain as to how to handle it. It seemed better that I take the adult version of a time-out, so to speak, than stay here and say something stupid.”

“We’ll get back to that in a moment,” she said before telling him exactly why she had agreed to attend the first counseling session with Bill. He remained quiet, letting her talk until she reached the part of her telling her ex-husband that she wouldn’t be accompanying him again and that she wished him well.

“So that’s what brought on the visit from your mother this evening?” he guessed correctly.

“Yep. I wasn’t taking her calls, so she must have decided to corner her other daughter, probably in hopes that I was there hiding from her. Most people might have left it for another day when they saw a driveway full of strange cars, but not my mother. She’s not shy at all about causing a scene, as you witnessed firsthand.”

Mark dropped his head back, looking up at the ceiling. “Even after everything you told me about her, I still never expected her to be as bad as she was. I may have joked about it before, but she truly is the female version of my father, and you have no idea how much I hate that for you, Angel.”

Crystal stroked a hand up and down his chest, enjoying being close to him once again. “It’s not a good feeling to know that I’ll probably never have many peaceful moments in my life because of her. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll eventually just crack under the pressure of it all.”

His arm around her had tensed before relaxing once again. “You’re stronger than that, baby. Your mother is a bully and needs to be put in her place.”

Looking up at his handsome face, she quirked a brow in wry amusement. “And how’s that working out for you with your father?”

“Touché.” He winced. “Possibly, this is one of those instances when you need to do as I say and not as I do. Believe me, I know how hard it is, Angel. I’ve lived it for most of my life. And I don’t want that for you.”

Allowing her hand to slide downward until it reached the bulge behind his zipper, she lowered her voice and told him, “What I want is to not think of parents at all for the rest of the night. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Fuck, I’ve missed you too,” he hissed when she unbuckled his belt, before dealing with the fastening and zipper on his pants. He was already semihard when she lowered the material of his boxer briefs, releasing his heavy weight. “Angel,” Mark shuddered, thrusting his hips upward to meet her stroking touch.

His mind was still on everything that had happened earlier at Ella’s, but his body was firmly aligned with Angel. When she wrapped her plump lips around his cock, a groan escaped his throat. He threaded a hand through her hair, guiding her wet mouth up and down his length. “Fuck yeah, baby,” he moaned. “Relax your throat and take it all.” She gagged as she attempted to go too far. The vibrations were enough to nearly make him lose his load far too soon. It took her a few more attempts, but then she was working him exactly the way he needed. “That’s right, Angel,” he praised. “You feel so goddamn good.”