Mark stood confidently with his legs and shoulders width apart; hands crossed over his chest, peering down at Lexie Grey. What kind of a proposition would Grey have to offer him? he wondered idly. He figured he would have been the last person she would turn to if she needed something. They could barely stand each other long enough to sit through a simple lunch date much less anything else.
Lexie started tapping her foot anxiously while staring back up at Mark. Her brows were furrowed and she silently debated the sanity of what she was getting ready to do. It was now or never. If she was going to 'bite the bullet' so to speak, this was the time to do it. Blowing a sigh of relief, Lexie spoke.
"Dr. Sloan," she said directly pointing to the empty chair that was sitting beside him. "Why don't you have a seat?"
Mark's mouth twitched when he glanced at the chair and quickly back towards Lexie.
"I think I'll stand," he stated gruffly. "I kind of like this view from up here," he said as quiet laughter danced around in his eyes. Lexie shrugged her shoulders disturbingly.
"Alright," she said in a rather non-committal tone. "Whatever it is that floats your boat or toots your horn, more power to you."
Mark smirked before lifting his head and meeting her brown coffee colored eyes.
Lexie took notice of how studiously Mark was watching her.
"Alright, spit it out. What's this proposition that you want to discuss?"
Lexie inhaled deeply, taking in a pretty good whiff of an unforgettable fragrance, she had come to know as Mark Sloan.
"Grey," Mark called out to her again waiting for her to tell him about this proposition of sorts.
"Yea, uh…right," she began and suddenly clapped her hands together bringing her back to the heart of the matter. "How would you like, Dr. Sloan, to go to Hawaii?" she spilled out quickly. Mark couldn't help but notice her cheeks flushed a pretty pink color that actually complimented her skin tone. Then the question she asked finally registered and he did a double take.
"Hawaii?" Mark repeated the word curiously. "Why would you ask me about Hawaii?"
"Well, I have an extra ticket and all traveling expenses would be paid, so would you like to go or not?" Lexie said tensely. She couldn't understand what was so difficult about answering the question; it was a simple yes or no.
Mark narrowed his inquiring gaze on her. Something was definitely up. Lexie Grey, the one woman he knew would not come out and ask someone like him to accompany her on a trip to Hawaii without reason.
"What's the catch?" Mark asked inquisitively.
Lexie tried to play out the innocent routine. "Why does there have to be a catch?" she asked resounding offended by his question. "Can't one co-worker invite another co-worker on a trip? Think of sweltering sandy beaches, crystal blue water, and pleasant sun rays," she added, hoping to further entice him.
"No," Mark said, dragging out the word. "Not when the co-workers are you and I," he replied, deliberately pinning her with his stare. "You want to tell me what the real deal is, Dr. Grey?" Mark wasn't raised a fool. Lexie wanted something that evidently only he had. Otherwise, there was no way that she would have come to him.
Lexie sighed and glanced up at Mark. "I need a husband," she blurted out quickly, so quickly that Mark was sure he had to have misheard her.
"A what?" He jumped in a shocking reply.
Lexie scooted her way around the front of the desk leaning against it so she was left facing Mark. "I said I need a husband," she repeated with supreme confidence. "It's my sister's wedding and I need to be married or a least convince my family that I'm married so they will quit setting me up on dates with every single yahoo they find. The trip consists of all expenses paid. I know you didn't need a money coz you have a lot of those but I'll even kick in some if you can play the part convincingly enough to get my parents, as well as, the rest of my family off of my back."
Mark stared back at Lexie. She had to be jerking his chain. She could not seriously be considering him as husband material. He started to laugh, not some stifled laugh but one of those deep belly boisterous laughs. He pointed at her mockingly and shook his head. "That's rich," he said between laughs. "You…you…" he taunted with roaring laughter. "Grey needs…needs a husband?" He was beside himself squirming over the mere absurdity of the idea.
Lexie glared back at him. Mark Sloan scoffed at her as if she had just told him the world's funniest joke. This was serious business to her. If he said no, she could wind up with another Joe Blow with some irritating idiosyncrasy she wouldn't be able to tolerate. Mark had to agree with her idea, no ifs, ands or buts about it. So, she sat there quietly, waiting patiently for him to get it all out of his system.
After a few minutes, his howling laughter simmered down, as Mark strained to compose himself. Repositioning his stance, he realized Lexie was dead serious. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach. "You're not kidding, are you?" he asked her guardedly.
Lexie casually shook her head back and forth. "I'm serious like an inoperable tumor. I need a husband and I need one fast with no strings attached. You attend a few dinners, make a few other casual appearances, take me to the wedding and we pretend to be one happy couple, that's it. My parents are off my back," she said brightly. In her mind, she already had everything figured out. "You get a free trip to an exotic island where lots of women go gallivanting in tiny bikinis and I can attend my baby sister's wedding in blessed peace."
Mark was taken aback. This woman was clearly delusional. "Look, Lexie," he stated, already backing up towards the door. "I don't think I'm the man that you want for this kind of thing. I'm not the husband type of guy," he professed, still inching his way reaching for the door. "You need a good man, someone like…like Jim Nelson."
"Dr. Nelson?" Lexie cried. "The guy brings his lunch in the same recyclable bag every day and counts out his peanuts to make sure that he has exactly 22. Hell, the guy looks like from the movie 'Revenge of the Nerds!'" There was no way that she would go near him with a ten-foot pole. He even smelled like boiled eggs, she remembered, scrunching up her nose.
Mark wanted to smile at that. She had a point about Nelson. But the simple fact remained; Mark Sloan wasn't her guy. There was no way he was going to be the man she wanted him to be.
Lexie saw the indecision written all over his face. She knew that she had to talk and talk fast or he would be out of there. "It's free, Mark! Please, you have to do this. I have no other choice," Lexie begged. If he rejected her now, she didn't know what the hell she was going to do.
Mark felt for the woman. He hated to see her look so forlorn but he couldn't help her out, not in this situation. "Lex, Hawaii sounds tempting but I don't need your money and I am not the man for this job. You're a beautiful woman," he said, trying to appeal more to her common sense. "Surely you can find a more suitable guy to pretend to be married to you, even without that generous offer."
Lexie grunted. "Not someone conventional who could take the deal at face value, no strings attached." She looked up at him and reached out to touch his arm. The touch was a small thing but it was warm and almost felt as though she was branding him in some strange sort of way. It made him feel damn near uncomfortable. "Please," she said in such a saddened voice, that Mark knew he had to get out of there fast before he said something stupid like agreeing to this crazy idea of hers.
Dropping his head, Mark pulled away from her. "Look, I can't and I'm sorry," he replied and before she had the chance to say anything further, he turned around hastily and walked out of the room. He refused to turn back because he knew that if he did, he might change his mind. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take.
Lexie stood at the corner of the room and wanted nothing more than to go home, crawl into her bed and have a good cry. She had just been rejected by Mark Sloan of all people, the one man that never says no, the one man that with any other woman, he would have handily agreed. Any woman- except for her.
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