The Chemistry of Love(104)

Catalina had, obviously, been my first hire.

Well, after Marco. But he was my partner, working as CEO, so I didn’t count that.

“And what do we say to our best friend?” she asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“Catalina is always right. And I will never doubt her again. And I will name my firstborn child after her.” This had started after I’d found out just how much I owed to her. Marie-Angelique and Catalina were friends, and when the whole pitch-meeting-gone-wrong fiasco had happened and Marco quit, Marie-Angelique had immediately called Catalina to fill her in.

At which point Catalina had told her to make things seem urgent, as if Marco were planning to leave right away, so that I would be motivated to act. Marco’s flight to Italy had actually been scheduled for four days later.

“But if you’d known that, you would have talked yourself out of it, and then you wouldn’t be so happy right now!” she had insisted. “It’s not a rom-com ending unless you stop him from going to the airport,” and I was inclined to agree with her. I figured a little lie was okay if things turned out so well in the end.

Catalina said, “Okay, well, have so much fun on your date tonight. With whatever it is that you have planned.”

It was an odd thing to say. “Okay, weirdo. See you tomorrow.”

When I hung up my phone, he reached over to stroke the back of my head, and I smiled at him. “What did Catalina have to say?” he asked.

“She was verifying that we were going to make that offer to Zhen tomorrow. I think he’ll be a good fit. He’s a great chemist and a nice person.”

“I meant before. That thing about Leighton.”

“Oh! Catalina follows Leighton on Instagram, and apparently she eloped with that kindergarten teacher she’s been dating.” Craig and Leighton had broken up not long after the Vermont trip. Catalina’s direct message to Leighton might have played a part in that, but we weren’t sure. Craig had claimed that they’d broken up because Leighton had “issues,” and I assumed one of those issues was that she didn’t want to marry a lying scumbag cheater.

Anyway, she’d met a great new guy who her family didn’t approve of, and they’d disowned her, but she seemed ridiculously happy. It turned out that Marco wasn’t quite the judge of character he had believed himself to be. I delighted in teasing him about that.

Craig, meanwhile, was apparently working his way through all the sorority houses of Southern California. Each girlfriend seemed to be younger and blonder than the last. Ken had not made Craig CEO of Minx and had brought in someone new. Tracie was apparently livid but hadn’t done anything beyond express her anger. There was no way she would ever leave her husband or her lifestyle.

Lindy told her father that she planned on becoming a cosmetic chemist and was currently working this summer as an intern at Aviary. Her love of chemistry was contagious, and she was so great to have around.

It was also nice that she could work for free. Marco had lined up several investors, but we always seemed to be worrying about money. He was sure that once our first product line launched, we would be ridiculously successful.

And I’d learned a long time ago to not doubt Marco.

“Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked.

“Nope. It’s what we in the industry like to call a surprise.”

“So annoying,” I said, but there was no conviction behind my words. I kissed his palm, and then he threaded his fingers into my hair so that he was massaging my scalp. He knew how much I loved that and that it would most likely keep me from asking too many questions.

He was right.

I held up my phone to show him the text my grandpa had just sent me. “Grandpa’s got a new rescue. Meet Eggolas.”

He glanced at the photo. “Tell your grandfather that I’m disappointed in the name. He should have gone with Orlando Plume.”

I laughed and sent the text. Grandpa sent back a thumbs-up emoji. “I think you convinced him.”

Marco pulled the car over. We were in a nice neighborhood—the kind with big houses and tree-lined sidewalks. “Where are we?”

“So many questions.” He shook his head. “Come on. There’s something I want to show you.”

I was thoroughly confused and curious at the same time, which I loved. I got out of the car and followed him. He put on a backpack and took me by the hand. There was a sidewalk that led between two houses. “Are we allowed to be here?” I asked. This definitely seemed like a HOA type of place, and with our line about to launch, we did not need a headline that the owners of Aviary Cosmetics had just been arrested.

Maybe that was the point. Marco was trying to drum up some extra publicity. He was willing to do whatever he had to do to make our dream a reality, and I loved him for it.

We got to a locked gate, and I decided that if Marco wanted me to climb it, I was probably out. “That’s trespassing, right?”

“Not if you have a key.” He unlocked the gate, and it led into a massive park. There was an expensive-looking playground that resembled an actual fort. Trees everywhere, lush green grass, gorgeous flowers in every hue.

I had to shade my eyes as we walked toward the middle, and I realized that in the center of the park there was a large man-made lake. The path we were on wound around it.

“This is so pretty,” I told him.