Chapter 12

"Yeah, then I can treat you like a normal boyfriend. Laying in bed and cuddling is all well and good, but I want to experience something I've never done before with you." He chewed nonchalantly.

"You've never been on a date?" I couldn't hide my surprise.

"No. Have you?" He asked hesitantly.

"No. I've never been with someone. 'Loner' remember?" I said pointing at myself.

"Not a loner, an introvert maybe," he winked.

"Well, since neither of us have been on a date, what are we supposed to do? I don't want to go off the movies, but that's about all I got." I laughed at myself inwardly.

"Well, we could do what they do in the movies then. I'm assuming that means dinner?" He smirked. "It's a shame, I like cooking for you." He glanced up at me through his lashes.

"Well, we could do something like that, then. We could cook dinner together and watch a movie or something typical like that." I waved my hand at the idea.

"Typical? I don't plan on doing typical things with you Alexandra." His eyes darkened at whatever thought crossed his mind and that look made my heart sputter.

"We could do something a little more innovative then instead of actually watching a movie." I did my best to breathe slowly.

"What did you have in mind?" A smile playing at his lips.

"For the movie?" I asked shakily.

"That is what we're talking about, is it not?" He grinned. I gulped. He knew what he was doing to me.

"Yeah, right. Um, we could mute the movie and come up with our own dialogue." Stupid idea.

"That sounds pretty hilarious. Let's do it." He was beaming at me, his teasing demeanor gone.

"What? Seriously? You like that idea?"

"It sounds fantastic." He stood and smiled down at me and collected our plates.

"Okay," I squeaked out. "I should probably tell my family that I'll be doing this so they don't come home in the middle of dinner." I swallowed and stood to go to my room for my phone. I heard a deep chuckle come from his chest as I headed up the stairs.

 

After letting my family know on such short notice of my date, I headed back downstairs. I walked past the bathroom door and saw Marcus inside through the mirror. He took off his shirt and had his back to the mirror. As I was taking in his flexed back muscles I came across a scar reaching from his left shoulder blade to his right hip. Before I could start to head back downstairs, Marcus swung the door open and had a boyish grin plastered on his face.

"Enjoying the view?" He teased.

"I- um, sorry." I turned beet red and looked down at my feet. 

"Why are you sorry Alex?" He grabbed my chin and made me look up at him.

"For peeping." I blurted.

His laugh was full and true and brought a light to his grey eyes that made my skin tingle. "Peeping. Yes, of course. Alex I don't mind that you see me like this. I'm glad that you like looking at me." 

"Well, I didn't think it was okay, considering we've only been together for a day, if that." I bit my lip, God this was embarrassing.

"Alex, I already explained to you the depth our relationship and what it means. And don't do that, it's distracting." The look was back from earlier.

"I know, but that doesn't mean we can jump right in and pretend we've been together forever. We have to take this slow. This is new territory for both us. I think we need to pace things." I continued to worry my lip subconsciously.

"I know. I understand." He stroked my cheek. "Should we start to prepare for our date?"

"Yeah, depending on what we want to cook, we should probably go shopping." I ran my hand through my lion's mane for hair and started to head downstairs.

"Grocery shopping?"

"Yes, Marcus, grocery shopping. I need to make a list of what we need so you better hurry up and start suggesting meals." I shouted up the stairs. "I'll pick a movie."

 

As we walked through WalMart I couldn't help but get a little agitated at every girl and woman gaping at Marcus. Then came the looks of confusion when they looked at me. Marcus could tell I was slightly more than irked so he took hold of my hand and we strolled through the store picing up ingredients for dinner.

"Do you want to have spaghetti? It's one of the only things I know I can make without burning down the house." I asked, kind of embarrassed about my inferior skills to his.

"Spaghetti sounds delicious. I love Italian." He smirked down at me, the height difference is almost unimaginable.

"Do you want salad and garlic bread?" I asked, picking up the ingredients for spaghetti.

"Sounds good." He kissed the top of my head as we walked along. 

"Alex?" I heard a familiar shrill voice ring out. Oh God.

Marcus and I turned to see Marcia standing at the other end of the aisle. "D****t." I muttered under my breath. Marcus squeezed my hand tighter.

"Why weren't you at school today, Alex?" She asked coming up to me and Marcus, standing closer to him than I'd prefer.

"I didn't feel well." I tried to ease up on the annoyance in my voice.

"That's a shame. How are you Marcus? I haven't seen you since the party." She rested her hand on his arm.

"That's because I've been spending every moment with Alex, which also means I've been fantastic." he gave her an icy smile. She removed her hand and placed it back at her side.

"Oh. That's nice. Are you two together?" She seemed surprised. I would be too.

"Yes." We both answered her.

"Oh, well. Okay. I need to get back. See you around," she said as she openly looked Marcus up and down.

"Well, that was agonizing." I breathe.

"For you and me both. I don't like that she did those things to annoy you. And I don't really like being touched by random people in grocery stores." He wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked away to get the rest of our groceries.

When we got back home I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I don't know how much longer I would have been able to stand women gaping at Marcus.

"Right, well I guess you can take over the spaghetti and I'll handle the salad and the garlic bread." He smirked at me, mocking me slightly.

"Hey, my spaghetti is the bomb diggity, so hold your tongue." I gave him a pointed look.

"Or what?" He asked as he stalked towards me, that dark look back in his. 

I gaped at him as he stared down at me, smirking. He leaned down to my ear. "Cat got your tongue, Alexandra?" He asked as he kissed right below my ear, sending a shock wave of desire through my body. He continued to kiss down my neck and my shoulder. "I thought you were going to start cooking?" He asked between kisses.

"I'm busy enjoying myself." I said before I could stop myself. I felt him smile against my skin. I gripped the edge of the counter willing my body to remain upright. He continued to kiss my shoulder. He finally stopped after circling the tip of his tongue on my shoulder, making a moan escape from my mouth. 

He pulled away, smirking down at me. "Let's make dinner." He said, kissing me lightly on the lips.

It's going to be a long night.