And I had to admit…I was really liking him. A lot.
At the thought of the karaoke, I snorted in sudden laughter. He looked over at me in surprise, and I shook my head. “I can’t believe you did that last night. You were brilliant.”
He flashed a cocky grin. “Impressed, were you?”
“More than a little.”
“Well, I hope you enjoyed it.” He laughed and shook his head. “That was a one night only show. For your eyes only.”
I giggled as I pictured him grinding up against the mic stand. I highly doubted the little Korean club had ever seen such action. “Oh, honey, I’m afraid it wasn’t just my eyes that got a piece of you. I’d be highly surprised if your little performance wasn’t on YouTube already.”
For the first time, he looked vaguely alarmed, as if the thought had never even occurred to him. “No, it wouldn’t be…would it? Just for that? I didn’t think anyone recognized me.”
I laughed again. “Not because you’re Marcus Taylor.” Struck by a sudden suspicion, I went a bit further, testing my luck. “Because of the little striptease you did.”
His eyes blurred nervously as he tried to remember. “I never…no, I didn’t.” But even as he said the words, the color drained from his face, leaving him pale in the bright sun. “…did I?”
Ah—so the man of steel had a crack after all. No one can drink that much Jack Daniels and get away unscathed.
“Marcus…you weren’t wearing pants by the time you got off the stage. Don’t you…you don’t remember that?”
There was a split-second pause before the explosion.
“No!” He jumped off the bench and hovered in front of me, manically running his hands back through his hair. “What the hell are you talking about?!”
My face grew as pale as his as I dropped my eyes to my lap. “Oh my gosh,” I murmured, “I’m so sorry—I thought the whole thing was planned ahead of time with the club.”
“You thought what was planned ahead of time? What exactly happened last night, Rebecca?”
My eyes roved frantically back and forth between his. “Well, at first it was just a song. You started with, um, ‘The Pursuit of Happiness,’ I think. But after that bunch of sorority girls bought you a round or two of Jameson, you let loose with some Aerosmith.”
“…what?”
“Then came Nicki Minaj—”
“…I would never.”
“I think that’s when the pants came off. And damn, baby, you looked fine.” I bit my lip anxiously and grabbed both his hands. “Marcus, I never would have let you go through with it, but she said she was of age—”
“What? Who said!” He pulled his hands away in horror. “Fuck—you said this is probably already online?!”
“If the health inspector hadn’t burst in to shut it all down, there’s no telling how far you might have gone.”
“The health—” He sucked in a quick breath and ran his hands slowly over his face, his eyes clearing with dawning comprehension.
What? He wasn’t the only one who could act.
I burst out in a fit of giggles that escalated to shrill shrieks as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I gasped, pushing at his arms and struggling for freedom. “But in all truth—there was a bit of gyrating up there on the stage. You could have a very successful career as a stripper.”
“I’ll let my people know,” he fumed, refusing to release me.
“Hey,” I squirmed around to face him, breathless and smiling, “you can’t kill me in a park. Other places—yes. A park—no. It’s basic criminology.”
“Fine.” With a wry grin, he suddenly loosened his arms. Without the support, I fell backward off the bench, landing with a disgruntled oof in the dirt. “Later then.”
I shot a furious hand into the air, demanding he help me up. But he ignored me, dusting himself off and heading nonchalantly back down the path.