The Chemistry of Love(67)

“It may be better not to bring them up. He’s never been into that kind of stuff.”

I leaned against the couch, surprised. “I can’t talk about some of my favorite things with him?”

He shrugged in a way that might as well have said, Your fault for being the one in love with him. What he actually said was, “It’s your life, Anna. I’m just trying to give you the best chance for success.”

We continued to have fun as the game went on, but that easy familiarity that had been there earlier in the evening had ebbed away a little, and he was definitely focused almost entirely on Craig and me being together.

Again, letting me know exactly where I stood with him. Friends only. Which was a good thing, I reminded myself. I needed to put aside my inappropriate crush on him.

We finally got to the end of the game, where I had mortgaged every property and had quite obviously lost.

“Go ahead,” I told him. “I know you want to brag. You earned it.”

“Without cheating,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. A few hours ago, I might have attempted a slightly illegal move because I saw that I was losing, but eagle-eyed Marco had called me on it and of course he had to bring it up now.

“I’m just curious,” he said. “Are there any games that you’re good at?”

“Do you know what your problem is?” I asked him.

He folded up the game to put it back in the box. “I can think of a couple of women who could tell you.”

“It’s that you’re not a good sport. I don’t need you making snarky comments about my defeat like some elderly balcony Muppet.”

He laughed at that, clearly getting my reference.

I added, “Gonzo is probably my favorite Muppet. In case you were wondering.” I didn’t know why that was pertinent, but I said it anyway.

“Maybe don’t bring that up on your date with Craig,” he said.

“So I can’t talk about Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or the Muppets? I hate to tell you this, but that’s kind of my entire personality.”

“I guess you’ll have to think of it as another game.”

“Relationship games suck,” I said, crossing my arms against my chest.

“I don’t disagree with you.”

I glanced toward the window. “Hey, when did it get light outside?”

Blinking, Marco reached for his phone. “It’s seven thirty.”

“A.M.?” I clarified.

He nodded.

No wonder I’d brought up Gonzo. It was clearly due to my lack of sleep. “I can’t remember the last time I did something like this,” I told him. It might have been never. We’d had such a good time together, we’d stayed up all night and I hadn’t even noticed.

And I’d finally completed a full game of Monopoly. I’d just forget about the part where I lost.

Marco stood up to stretch, lifting his arms above his head. I had my glasses on this time and was able to fully appreciate the part of his stomach he exposed. The abs were still there, safe and sound. I sighed happily.

“Do you want some breakfast?” he asked. “There’s a smoothie place around the corner.”

“Gross. I don’t even like to eat vegetables. I definitely don’t want to drink them, either.”

He smiled at that. “There’s a diner a couple of blocks over. I could load you up on some carbs and protein.”

Very tempting, but I had to go home. “I had a curfew of midnight when I was in high school. As far as I know, it’s never been updated, so I might be in big trouble when my grandparents realize that I was out all night.”

“Can’t you just tell them you got up early to go jogging?”

I laughed, and he looked confused, so I said, “Oh, you don’t know me well enough yet. They’ll never believe that. I don’t really like moving around a whole lot.”

“You can’t just sneak in?”

“They’re early risers. Not only that, but the birds will alert them.”

“Too bad the birds can’t be bribed.”

I stood up, realizing that I didn’t want to. I was happy where I was. I wanted to stay here. “Too bad,” I echoed, wondering at what point I was going to stop having this crush on Marco so that I could focus all my energy on Craig.

“My dad’s estate had some guard dogs that were big fans of steak. It’s definitely helpful when treats work.” The idea of a young Marco grabbing some filet mignons to tempt angry dogs with was an endearing thought.

Yep, definitely time for me to leave before I started daydreaming about that. “I should go and face the music.”

“Do you have your ticket from the valet? I’ll call them up and have them bring your car around.”

I took it from my pocket and handed it to him. I gathered up the glass and dishes I had used last night and brought them into the kitchen. I passed by the Craig binder, still on the table.

Putting the dishes in the sink, I walked back to the binder and again ran my fingers along the edges. I was surprised that I hadn’t spent a large chunk of last night reading it.

“Car’s on the way,” Marco said as he hung up his phone. “What do we need to take downstairs?”

I showed him the piles of clothes and makeup. He grabbed a couple of laundry baskets, and we were able to get everything down in one trip.