Page 76 of Drawn Together

His expression shifted at my response. I imagined he was accustomed to having his offers immediately accepted.

“I get the feeling I’m going to have a lot of fun with you, Marfil Cortés.”

Something in his blue eyes told me that his definition of fun would be very different from mine.

CHAPTER 21MARFIL

We finally returned to the balcony and were able to watch the last race. Marengo came in fourth place, but the horse belonging to my father’s principal racing rival, Mathew Byrne, came in sixth. Knowing Alejandro Cortés, that was victory enough. My father introduced me to other friends of his, as if it were my debut into society, and I was thankful to Marcus for sticking by my side to help ward off all the guys vying for my attention.

Finally, the time had come to say goodbye. My father and Emilio Kozel walked ahead, and Marcus pulled me aside, out of earshot.

“Marfil, agree to dinner with me,” he said for the eighth time, in what had become something of a running joke for the last hour. “I’ll hand you a glass of champagne if you have dinner with me. Want me to get rid of all these men drooling over you? Have dinner with me…”

I smiled, still uncertain, and just as I was about to decline the offer again, Sebastian appeared.

“We should go,” Sebastian said, curt as always. But his expression of extreme distaste as he looked at Marcus suddenly made me more interested. Was he jealous?

“How’s it going, Moore?” Marcus stretched out a hand.

Sebastian was a bit taller and more muscular, and he stared at Marcus’s outstretched hand for a few endless seconds. “Kozel,” he finally said, offering the briefest of handshakes.

“You’re in good hands, Mar,” Marcus said, calling me by the nickname only my friends and family used for me, but I didn’t mind. “I’m sure Sebastian will take care of us the best he can on our date.”

Sebastian remained impassive, but I thought I saw a certain tension in his posture that made me think he disliked seeing me with Marcus.

This could be fun, using Marcus to make Sebastian jealous. What could go wrong? Marcus seemed like the kind of guy who had a different woman in his bed every night; he wouldn’t take it too hard when I ultimately rejected him. Sebastian, on the other hand… I could tell he wanted to punch Marcus in the face and get me as far away from him as possible.

I turned to Marcus with a wide smile. “Fine, I’ll have dinner with you.”

The waves of hatred emanating from Sebastian were undeniable.

Marcus looked pleased. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven?” he asked, completely ignoring my bodyguard, as if he were a houseplant.

Sebastian had said what he had to say, so why was he still standing there, in the middle of our conversation?

“All right,” I said.

I could do dinner with Marcus and still have time to hang out with Gabriella all day before she left for her mother’s house. With the accident and the visit to the racecourse, I’d hardly spent any time with her.

Marcus took me by surprise when he leaned over, grabbed me by the waist, and pulled me to his chest as he planted a kiss on my cheek.

“See you tomorrow, Miss Cortés. I want you to get all dolled up for me,” he said to me, then to my bodyguard, “Moore.”

Sebastian didn’t respond, and I turned to him as soon as Marcus was out of sight. Sebastian was staring blankly at me without any hint of emotion. “We should go now,” he said simply, and started to walk ahead of me.

I followed Logan, who was coming up from behind us, feeling a stab of pain in my chest. That was it? Did he really not care that I was going to have dinner with Marcus?

I got home, and my sister greeted me excitedly, wanting me to fill her in about the day at the races.

“Oh, Mar, you’re finally going to have a boyfriend!” she exclaimed as soon as I finished telling her about Marcus Kozel.

“No one said he was going to be my boyfriend—we’re just having dinner,” I clarified as I took off my pearl earrings and set them in a jewelry box on my dressing table.

“Will anyone ever want to date me?”

I looked at her, surprised. “Of course, you’re incredible. How could anyone not want to date you?”

“You’ll always be the prettier one, you can’t deny that,” she said, pointing at her pulled-up hair and pink satin pajamas, as if emphasizing her point.