Bound and Determined by Anara Bella

him at eight.”
    “Well, that explains why you’re here instead of with him.”
    Lexi broke in. “Hey, isn’t that Marcus over there?”
    “Where?” Asia turned, and as soon as she spotted him her stomach plummeted. A leggy redhead was leaning into him, giving him a front-row seat to a full-on viewing of her overflowing boobs.
    Jealousy roared to life. “Yeah, that’s him all right.”
    Thea reached out a hand. “I’m sure it’s all her. He doesn’t look at all interested.”
    Lexi agreed, but Asia wasn’t listening to them anymore. It didn’t matter how uncalled for the jealousy was, she felt it anyway. “Excuse me.”
    She headed over and fought down the green-eyed monster roaring within her. She had no claim on Marcus. She barely knew him. They hadn’t even gone on an official date yet. It was ridiculous for her to feel this way. With each step she took, she stomped the jealousy down until it simmered in the background, but the fact that she couldn’t dismiss it both annoyed and worried her.
    It was crazy. Was she going to spend the rest of her life feeling this way every time another woman spoke to a guy she was seeing?
    When she got close enough, she stopped to listen in. Sure enough, their conversation was about as innocuous as it could get. The woman was an unpublished writer who had recognized Marcus and was asking him for advice. The fact that she was flirting outrageously was beside the point. She’d seen what Marcus looked like when he was into a woman. He’d given her that look often enough. Right now he was showing nothing more than polite interest in what the woman had to say.
    She could handle this. She could. She just had to remember that she didn’t want forever with this guy anyway. She was just having fun. Her heart was untouched, intact. Safe and sound.
    At last, the monster slithered away and she made herself known. “Hey, you’re here already.”
    Marcus immediately turned from the redhead. His eyes lit up when he saw Asia, giving her the warmest, most intimate smile, the impact of which went straight to her toes. Something the redhead didn’t miss. Seeing she wasn’t wanted, she quickly excused herself and left.
    He took Asia’s hands and gave her a brief, but hot kiss. “Hey, beautiful. I missed you today.”
    Something tight and wounded unfurled from the warmth of his welcome. He was so obviously happy to see her and didn’t even give the redhead a backwards glance.
    “I missed you too.”
    He waved her into the booth he’d saved for them.
    Sitting beside her, he leaned in closer. “So what did you do today?”
    “Nothing extraordinary. Took care of the shop, sold a few things, arranged for your piece to be picked up. You know, the usual. How about you?”
    “I had a great day. My mother was thrilled we were all there for her birthday. She loved her gifts, we had a great time together and then she shocked us by telling us she had a date tonight.”
    Asia laughed. “You’re kidding.”
    “I’m not. Turns out she’s been seeing a man she went to high school with. Could’ve knocked me over with a feather. We’ve been trying to get her dating for years.”
    “That’s great.”
    “Yeah, it is. She deserves to find someone special. Anyway, I got home an hour earlier than I thought I would, so I decided to get in a bit of writing before our date. I don’t think the writing has flowed this well for me in years. I’ve decided you’re my new muse.”
    Asia laughed. “I’ve never been somebody’s muse before. Strange, I don’t feel any different.”
    He brushed a finger along her cheek. “I should hope not. You feel great just the way you are. In fact—” he abruptly stood and held out his hand. “—it’s been too long since I’ve held you in my arms. If we have to be here instead of somewhere private, we need to dance so they don’t throw us out for indecent behavior.”
    She took his hand and followed him to the dance floor.
    There was nothing better