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I groaned, my body deliciously tender, and turned over, my hands searching for Mark. The duvet was pulled back, his side cold. I sat up, squinting against the bright morning sun reflecting off the snow outside of the large picture window, having forgotten to close the blinds.
The room was empty.
“Mark,” I called out. No answer.
Naked, I threw back the covers and crossed to the bathroom. The door was open, no sound from within, but there was nowhere else he could be inside the room. It was empty.
I peed quickly and hastily brushed my teeth before searching for my phone. Rationally, I knew Mark was probably getting breakfast or checking on something, but nerves knotted up my stomach before I could stop them, worried he’d somehow regretted last night.
The door to our room opened as I was about to press call. Mark entered wearing a thin white tee and a pair of worn sweatpants carrying a tray. His face lit up when he found me standing naked in the middle of the room. He crossed to me, kissing me hard. I returned the kiss just as passionately.
“Good morning,” he said, his lip curling against mine.
The smell of coffee surrounded us and I groaned, pulling back.
“Thank God you brought coffee,” I croaked. “How long did we sleep last night? A couple hours?”
I blinked up at his handsome face and drew in a sharp breath, my smile falling away.
“Mark, you're hurt!” I gasped, wide-eyed, reaching for his face, stopping just short of touching him. A slight bruise was forming on his cheekbone, and his eye was starting to swell.
His face hardened, his fingers blanching where they gripped the tray. The knuckles in on both hands were broken and bleeding.
I gasped, taking the tray from him and placing it on the dresser with my phone before taking his hands in mine and inspecting them.
“What happened?” I looked up at him questioningly, my stomach sinking.
“I ran into Charles.” His jaw locked as he ground his teeth.
I drew in a sharp breath. “He did this to you?”
“I let him get a hit in,” he said, his eyes pinched in anger. “But he won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“Mark, what the hell happened?”
“He was running his mouth about you to a bunch of weasels downstairs. I put a stop to it.”
“So you started a fight with him? I asked you to let it go.”
“I set his story straight. He didn’t like it and took a swing at me. I knocked him out, probably broke his nose.”
I gasped. “Oh my God!”
“There was an older woman down there, Mrs. Carr, who overheard the whole interaction. She said she was the council president.” I nodded, remembering her. She ran the youth group when I was growing up. She must be in her eighties by now. “Well, she didn’t take too kindly to the fact that he’d been harassing you your whole life. Told me to tell you she’s sorry you’ve had to deal with that alone all these years, but that she’d make sure the town knew the truth and will back you up with whatever course of action you'd like to take. It’s too late to press charges, but I think she’ll help clear your name.”
Tears sprang to my eyes, hardly believing this was real. “That can’t be all it takes.”
He shrugged. “If it’s not, the cops have asked for the camera footage from the lobby. It will now be public record. Charles punched me first and said enough to incriminate himself. He won’t be able to talk himself out of this one, no matter the influence he claims to have in this town. This is the end of his reign as mayor of Coal’s Lake. Emory’s business will be safe.”
I choked out a cry. Even if nothing came of this, and Charles remained the mayor, his influence would definitely be lessened and we would have a fighting chance against him. I’d need to tell Em, warn her, but this gave me hope.
Mark took me in his arms, holding me against his chest, and ran his hands up my bare back.
“He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Thank you, Mark. I can’t believe it’s over after all these years.” I tilted my head back, asking for a kiss, and he melded his mouth with mine.
“I will always protect you, Boss Lady.”
I chucked and pulled back, “I know. Now let me take care of you. I want to clean you up, get the blood off your hands, and then show you how thankful I am in a much more pleasurable way.”
A wicked grin spread across his face. “I like the sound of that.”
I smiled and pulled him to sit on the bed. “Me, too.”
I only got through cleaning one hand before he flipped me over onto the bed and had his way with me—my standing naked before him was too much for him to handle. There were no complaints from me.
This thing between us was still new and fragile, and there were lots of issues we needed to work out, but for the first time, I didn’t dread the commitment; I didn’t want to throw up my walls and keep my distance. I wanted to hold tight onto Mark Charming and see where this crazy thing took us.
Something told me that work on Monday was about to get a lot more interesting.
