Masks (8 page)

“You’ve got about three and a half minutes left and then I’m going back to my classroom before the kids kill Zoe. And I’ll only be rescuing her because I want to kill her myself,” she warned him. “So you’d better get talking. How did the two of you cook this up? Or was it just Zoe’s idea?”

“It was her idea but I went along with it.” The look on his face was shame now, shame and regret so profound that it threatened to melt her heart again but Chloe was determined to be strong.

“So, let me guess, you were one of her
clients
?” she said, putting the roses down on a nearby desk and crossing her arms over her chest.

Mark gave a short, startled laugh. “Hell, no! She was one of mine.”

“Excuse me?” Chloe raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

“I told you I’m a computer geek, right?”

She nodded.

“Okay, so I have my own company—computer installation, troubleshooting, repairs. It’s called ‘Geeks for Hire’.”

Chloe’s jaw dropped despite herself. “You’re
that
Mark Jacobs? But…I see your billboards driving home all the time and I’m always humming that stupid jingle you have for your TV ad…”

“Yeah, yeah.” Mark looked pained. “
Think your computer has a leak? Time to call the computer geek. Computer crashed or you lost a wire? Better call the geeks for hire
,” he sang, in a surprisingly melodious baritone. “Don’t get me started on that.” He grimaced. “That was the ad people’s idea. But anyway, one day while all my guys were out, your sister called because her computer had crashed—the one in her townhouse, you know?”

Chloe nodded stiffly, wondering exactly where he was going with this. She was almost afraid to find out.

“So,” Mark shrugged. “I ended up taking the call myself, though I mostly run the place behind the scenes. When I got there, I saw her ‘dungeon’ room and couldn’t help
asking what in the world she did for a living.” He laughed. “Man, was
I
surprised. Never met a real-live dominatrix before. Your sister’s really something.”

Chloe could just imagine what had happened next. “So you went to her ‘office’ and had a ‘session’ with her and then you decided you’d like to try the other sister too, is that it?”

Mark looked shocked. “Of
course
that’s not it. Look, if that’s the problem, let me assure you right now that Zoe and I have never been anything but friends.”

“Is that right? And why should I believe you?” Chloe tapped her fingernails against her arm impatiently. After all, what man
wouldn’t
want to have sex with her exotic, free-spirited twin?

“Look,” Mark spread his hands in front of him. “I think your sister’s great, don’t get me wrong. But she’s
definitely
not my type. Call me old-fashioned but my idea of a good time
isn’t
being tied up and flogged or having someone walk all over me in spike-heeled boots.”

“No, but I guess you don’t mind tying other people up, do you?” As soon as she said it, Chloe wanted to take it back. But it was too late.

“Honestly, that was the first time I ever did anything like that.” Mark reached for her hand again and this time Chloe let him hold it. “I swear to you,” he continued, in a low, earnest voice. “I didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did. The idea was just to get to know you a little. See…” he cleared his throat self-consciously. “It’s hard to meet women sometimes, looking the way I do.”

Chloe wanted to say she thought he looked fine—very handsome in fact, but she bit her tongue and let him continue.

“It’s hard until they find out who I am and what I do.” Mark sighed. “Then they’re all over me because, well, my company’s been doing okay lately. But that seems to attract all the wrong kind of women.”

Chloe knew his company was doing more than “okay”. Geeks for Hire had recently been named one of the most successful new companies of the year in a prominent financial magazine. Mark was probably worth millions—no wonder the wrong kind of women were attracted to him.

“Anyway,” he continued after a moment. “I got to talking to your sister and told her my predicament. I just wanted to meet a woman who wanted me for me and for once I didn’t want to have to deal with this.” He motioned to the left side of his face. “She told me all about you—how sweet you were and how totally different the two of you were and it sounded like a perfect match.” He shrugged unhappily. “So I agreed to be set up on a blind date.”

Chloe looked down at the strong hand holding her own. “Well,
you
knew more than
I
did. Zoe told me she needed me to do her a favor and meet with a ‘client’ she didn’t want to lose. I had no idea about you being a friend of hers or being set up or any of it.” She frowned.

Mark groaned and covered his face with his other hand. “I thought you knew—that you were just playing along. Zoe told me to call you ‘Mistress Sensua’ and that you’d be wearing a mask too.” He moved his hand and looked at her. “But I never meant for things to go the way they did but when you started acting, well, the way you were acting—the way you were touching me…”

He shrugged and Chloe felt herself blushing again, remembering the wanton way all the wild things she had done. Things she never would have done under normal circumstances.

“I was trying to act like a dominatrix,” she admitted, looking down at her shoes. “I didn’t have any idea what I was doing, though—Zoe threw me in the deep end to sink or swim. To tell you the truth, I was terrified.”

Mark laughed gently. “I could sorta tell that. ‘Assume the position!’” he imitated, in a mock stern voice. He lifted Chloe’s chin so she had to look him in the eye. “That’s why I took over. Because I thought you wanted what I wanted but weren’t quite sure how to get to it.”

Chloe pulled away from him, blinking back tears. “I guess I wasn’t sure what I wanted until…until we were actually…” She shook her head, unable to continue. “Stupid, huh?” she said with a little sob. “I can do it but I can’t say it.”

“Look, it was my fault—all of it. I never should have assumed that you…” Mark broke off, shaking his head.

“It doesn’t matter now anyway.” Chloe pulled her hand away and used it to swipe the tears from her cheeks angrily. “It was just a one-time thing, wasn’t it? I guess Zoe thought she was doing us
both
a favor. No-strings-attached, anonymous sex with a hot stranger—that’s everybody’s fantasy, right?”

“Not my fantasy.” Mark’s voice was quiet and sad.

Chloe looked up at him through her tears. She saw such a mixture of pain and misery on his face that it stopped her from saying anything else.

“My fantasy was to meet a woman who wanted me for who I was, despite this,” he gestured to his face. “And not because of my company’s net worth. I wanted a woman who liked science fiction and jazz and hated Thai food and wanted me to take dance lessons with her. One who was a cat person and a morning person and was willing to let me teach her how to play chess.” He cupped Chloe’s wet cheek in his large, warm hand and smiled at her sadly. “Sound familiar?”

“Mark…” She looked at him, uncertain of what to say. Could he really mean all of this? Was he for real?

“Look, all I’m saying is, can’t we give this a chance? You’re the woman I want, Chloe, and I’ve been looking for you a long time. I know we started backwards but—”

But she cut him off with a kiss. Grasping a thick handful of his black hair she pulled him down and took his mouth the same way he’d taken hers on that first fateful night when they met. Before she knew it Mark was kissing her back, holding her close in those warm, muscular arms she’d been dreaming about for the last two and a half weeks.

When they finally came up for air he grinned at her. “I guess that means you’re willing to give it a try?”

All Chloe could say was, “Yes.” And then she kissed him again.

* * * * *

“So, I’m forgiven?” Zoe smirked at her over her steaming mug of hot cocoa. They were both lounging in their pajamas on Chloe’s small but comfortable living room couch, having what Zoe had dubbed as a “sister day”.

After the near disastrous last time they’d gotten together, Chloe had decided it would be a good thing if she and Zoe spent more time with each other and kept up on each other’s lives. If her sister wanted to become, say, a parachute tester, Chloe wanted to know it before she herself ended up ten thousand feet in the air about to be pushed out of an airplane.

Now she frowned at her twin and took a sip of cocoa herself. “Yes, you’re forgiven,” she said. “For now anyway. But only because things worked out in the end.”

Zoe sighed dreamily and batted her long lashes. “I just love happy endings. Now if only I could find a nice, submissive man to settle down with myself.”

Chloe swatted at her. “You’re incorrigible!”

Zoe grinned back. “I know it. Aren’t you glad?”

Chloe looked at the familiar, mischievous twinkle in her twin’s green eyes and couldn’t help laughing. “Yes, I guess I am. But, Zoe?”

“Hmm?” Her twin looked up from taking another sip from her mug.

“Do me a favor, okay?” Chloe leaned over and gave her sister a quick peck on the cheek. “Don’t ask me for any more favors.”

Also by Evangeline Anderson

Secret Thirst

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