Page 34 of Lonely Heart

He said he’d have been content sitting here with me for hours. I suddenly didn’t care about rearranging furniture. But since I wasn’t quite sure I was prepared to hear him say more of the things he’d been saying, I thought it might be good for us to move some furniture. It was unlikely he’d continue to say such wonderful things to me.

With that, the two of us stood from the table, cleaned up everything from our dinner, and made our way to the living room to get to work on the furniture.

Surprisingly, Marco had great ideas for how to rearrange. I got the distinct feeling he could have moved most of the furniture on his own, but he didn’t seem to mind accepting my help with it. Doing something like this wasn’t normally my thing, but I couldn’t say I didn’t enjoy being able to do it with Marco. He made it fun, and just like I’d been saying for days, he treated me like normal.

Or, perhaps, better than normal, considering all the sweet things he’d said to me.

Hours after he’d initially arrived, Marco said, “I should probably get going. We’ve both got work in the morning.”

“I sure hope all of this work you did here with me won’t leave you feeling sluggish tomorrow,” I joked.

He chuckled. “Not a chance. This required minimal effort. And considering I had someone helping me out, it was even easier than I’d anticipated.”

I smiled at him. “I’m glad.”

The two of us made our way to the front door, and as we did, the nerves built in my belly. Marco and I had such a great time with each other tonight, and while there had been moments that felt like we’d entered some uncharted territory, the rest of it had been what I’d grown accustomed to with Marco. He was fun, relaxed, and just enjoyed having a good time.

How would things end tonight? Did he feel any of the same emotions as me? Was he feeling a sudden attraction that had never been there before? Did he wonder about things he hadn’t considered before when it came to me?

Once we made it to the door, we stood there in an awkward silence as Marco’s eyes roamed over my face. My heart was pounding so hard, my belly trembling with anticipation.

This felt so much like the end of a date, and suddenly, all I could think about is what it would be like to have him haul me into his arms, so he could kiss me.

“This was a lot more fun tonight than I had anticipated,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “I had expected we’d be poring over tile choices for a while, and nothing would have been more boring to me.”

“I’m glad I could help you with a decision quickly, then. I had a lot of fun tonight, too. It was nice to have some company.”

Marco smiled at me, shifted forward slightly, and held out a single arm. I took a step toward him, allowed his arm to come around me, and relished the way it felt to have him give me that squeeze while wishing he would have added his other arm to the mix.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ivy.”

After he released his hold on me, I took a step back to control the urge to plaster my body to his, wrap my arms around his waist, and inhale his scent. “I’ll be there.”

Marco opened the door, stepped outside, and looked back at me with a satisfied look on his face. “Have a good night.”

“You, too. Drive safe. And thanks, again, for dinner.”

His features softened, the corners of his mouth slowly curving up into a smile. “It was my pleasure.”

A moment later, Marco was gone.

But that look lingered in my mind for quite some time afterward, and I desperately wanted more.

10

IVY

If there wasone thing in my life that had never been called into question, it was my sense of self. I’d always been confident in who I was and what I could do.

Feeling any sort of uneasiness whenever a situation arose, no matter how unexpected it might have been, was rare for me. In fact, I was the kind of woman who faced situations head on, believing it better to tackle issues, resolve conflicts, and address concerns before they became bigger problems.

For that reason, everything I’d been feeling for the past two days was strange, foreign. I didn’t know how to deal with this new sense of apprehension.

Or perhaps it was anticipation—I didn’t know.

It all started after Marco left my place on Thursday evening. Barring the slightly awkward goodbye we’d endured at the front door, I hadn’t really noticed that anything felt off. I’d merely gone about my regular evening routine, getting myself ready for bed, in preparation for work the next day.

But then I crawled into bed at the usual time and found myself unable to drift off to sleep. My mind replayed my interaction with Marco over and over. And when it seemed I was tired of recalling every single word we’d spoken to one another,my thoughts drifted to what might happen when he returned two days later to have dinner with me.

---