The Chemistry of Love(64)

“Not really,” I confessed. It wasn’t as much fun as I’d assumed it would be. Maybe if there were some virtual-reality version where I could brush Legolas’s hair, then I might feel different.

“Okay, so besides watching movies and creating makeup, what else do you enjoy doing?”

“I really like board games.”

“Do you want to play one?”

Marco had board games? Interesting. “Do you have Monopoly?”

His eyes lit up. “I do. I got it as a present last Christmas. Hang on.” He went into his room and came out carrying a black box, still wrapped in plastic. When he got closer, I saw that it was the Star Wars Complete Saga Edition. “I got it from my younger sister.”

More shocking revelations. “I didn’t know you had a little sister.”

No wonder he treated me like one. This also meant that Craig had a sister. It reminded me how little I knew about the Kimball family before I’d met Marco.

“I haven’t mentioned her before? Lindy. She’s amazing. I think you’d like her.” Marco set the game down on the coffee table and handed me a plastic tray that had all the playing pieces. He opened the board, and all the properties were planets from Star Wars, and we had to build X-wings and TIE fighters instead of hotels.

This was definitely my kind of game. All thoughts of his sister went out of my head. I grabbed the Kylo Ren figurine to play with. Marco took Han Solo, and that made perfect sense, given Marco’s personality. I could definitely see him as a smuggler, captaining a spaceship and . . .

Cutting off my overexcited imagination, I focused on helping to set up the game. He said, “You’re playing the Empire; I’m part of the Rebel Alliance. Which means I’m going to win.”

“Famous last words,” I said.

He grinned at me. “We’ll see.”

“Does Craig like board games?”

His eyes shuttered briefly, his smile slipping. “I don’t know. We’re not that kind of family.”

Was he talking about playing the board games or spending time together? Knowing each other’s likes and dislikes?

He added, “I’m guessing that means your family is the kind who sits around and plays board games.”

“Yes, but my grandparents always crap out after three rounds of Monopoly. I’ve never been able to play it all the way through to the end.”

“I’ll be happy to introduce you to your first official defeat,” he said.

“You think I won’t beat you?” I asked as I moved my token to the starting point. “I think you’re severely underestimating my competitive nature.”

“And you’re forgetting that I’m a CEO of a company and my real life is already like Monopoly. I even own a hotel on Park Place.”

“You do not!” I gasped, in shock. Why did that make him even more attractive?

“You’re right, I don’t,” he said with a smile. “But you believed me for a second, didn’t you?”

“That’s because I’m very trusting.”

“Yes. You are,” he agreed, his eyes glittering in a way I didn’t understand. “I do own a house in Tuscany that my mother left me. I’ll have to take you there sometime.”

Why did he do that? Was he just making conversation? Being polite? Or did he envision me being in his future in some way? Married to his brother?

And why was I always reading so much into everything he said?

Shaking my head, I announced, “Since I’m your guest, I get to roll first. I’m sure you want to be a good host.” I picked up the dice and tossed them onto the board.

“Cheating already?” he asked as I moved my Kylo Ren token eight spaces.

“Going first isn’t cheating. It’s just taking advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Landing on Kashyyyk, I said, “I’ll buy it.” I picked up my credits. “Wait. When did we decide that you were the banker?”

“Because of the two of us, I have a savings account in real life,” he teased. “I think that qualifies me as the better person to handle the money.”

“You better be honest,” I warned him.

“I’m not the one who grabbed the dice first,” he retorted.

“Then know that I’m keeping an eye on you.” Not like that was a hardship or anything.

“What I know is what a stickler you are for rules.” He paused. “Why are you such a fan?”

Shrugging, I took the property card from him and put it in front of me. “I like the idea that I can impose order on chaos. I know I can’t control the world, but sticking to rules makes me feel like I can.”

“I get what that’s like,” he told me.

There was a charged moment between us, our gazes locked, until I reached for the dice and handed them to him. “I hope you land on Kashyyyk.”

At that, he laughed, and we teased and joked as we continued to play, in a race to see who could accumulate the most properties first. Marco was better than I’d expected him to be and definitely kept me on my toes.

Once the trash-talking died down, we settled into a comfortable rhythm, swapping stories as the night went on. We shared our childhood nicknames.