Love Resolution

In black sweats and a grey sweat stained t-shirt, hair still damp from his workout, Marcus stood over her. She lay sprawled out across the middle of the bed on her stomach, one arm over her head, both bare shoulders peeking out above the line of the grey silk sheets. He clenched his teeth so tight together that a muscle spasm twitched in his jaw. A web of her flame colored hair covered all of her face except for her full lips which were parted. Even as furious as he was, she tempted him. He took a couple of deep breaths before sinking down on the mattress beside her.

She stirred.

Avery,” he said but she didn’t move. “Avery,” he tried again, a little more forcefully.

She moaned and covered up her face with the feather pillow.

“Wake up.” He placed a hand on the creamy soft skin of her shoulder and swallowed before gently shaking her.

“Ugh. What time is it?” she asked voice muffled underneath the pillow.

“Ten.” He sighed. “Get up. I need to talk to you.”

She tossed the pillow aside, flipped over, and leaned back on her elbows, squinting over at the clock. Marcus’ gaze automatically drifting down to her bare breasts and tapered waist. His mouth went dry. Maybe talking her into sleeping in the nude hadn’t been such a brilliant idea. He forced himself to look away.

“Come back to bed,” she said, moving over to the edge on her knees and wrapping her arms around his middle.

“I’m all sweaty from working out,” he grumbled, untangling from her arms. “And anyway, that’s not why I woke you.”

The ominous tone of his voice must have gotten through to her. She sat up straight and clutched the sheet to her chest. A worried frown thinned her full rose tinted lips. “What’s going on?”

“You tell me.” Marcus tossed his cell on the bed next to her and stood. She picked it up. “What,” she started and then stopped as she saw the picture on the display. She flipped through the rest. She glanced up at him with her auburn brows drawn down into a v. “Who sent you these?”

“Beth. Apparently we have a bit of a PR issue on our hands.” He looked at her, blue eyes narrowed. “You wanna tell me what that’s all about, Avery? His voice rose. “What exactly were you doing in Ty’s hotel room?”

She swung her legs off the bed and stood wrapping the sheet around her like a sarong. “It was nothing, Marcus. I can’t believe you’d buy into that crap. Especially considering we made love after I got home last night.”

“Those pictures certainly lend a different impression.” He stood, spine stiff, arms crossed over his chest. “Looks like you were flirting with Ty at the Venue. You had your lips less than an inch away from his neck.” His expression turned dark.

She shook her head vehemently.

“Avery. You were photographed going into a hotel room with that man whore. Are you saying you didn’t?” he asked, his voice rough with emotion.

“I did!” she shouted, hands fisted tight. “But I was with Justin and the rest of the band the whole time. We just wanted to jam out with them.” She gave him a steady level stare. “You should know better than anyone how the media likes to misconstrue things.” She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them, her voice no longer defensive. “I guess I should have thought about that before I agreed to go.” She took a hesitant step closer to him. “I’m sorry. I’m still not used to being followed around by the press.”

He studied her beautiful face for a moment. Her emerald eyes were wide and shining with emotion. He snaked out an arm and crushed her hard against his chest.

Her breath blew out in a rush.

“I believe you. I’m sorry I got so mad. It was just a real sucker punch in the gut to get those pictures from Beth first thing this morning. And,” he swallowed, “just the thought of you with another guy makes me crazy.”

She snorted and leaned back to run her fingers down the defined line of his jaw. “Like another guy could compete.” She took a step back, arched an auburn brow, and unfastened the sheet from around her breasts.

Marcus watched it billow to the floor before his eyes returned to her body, taking in each and every sensual curve and contour of her naked form. His lips tilted into a slow smile. He reached for her but was surprised when she took another step backward further out of his reach.

She gave him a mischievous grin just before she darted past him. “Meet you in the shower.”