Page 46 of The Genius
I gave him a look of complete disbelief. “Why? All we ever do is argue.”
Marco shrugged and exited the drone. “Are you coming?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No.”
I supposed I could have protested harder or refused to get out of the drone. But the prospect of going back to my office or to my room in the city didn’t excite me either. For better or worse, I was still curious about Marco.
“Okay, but I can’t stay long,” I muttered and got out. “It’s already late.”
“I know.” Marco waited for me to walk around the drone and get off the automatic parking lane before he pushed in a code on a key panel. I watched as the drone rolled to the parking area, allowing room for the next drone to land.
“I figured you’d be tired, which is why you’re sleeping at my house tonight.”
“I’m not sleeping here,” I exclaimed and stopped walking.
Marco kept going at an unhurried pace, as if he had no care in the world. “Yup, you are, and tomorrow we’ll talk.” Opening the door, he held it open with his foot, and turned to me. When I still didn’t move, he lowered his brows. “Shelly Summers, I’m done arguing with you for one day. You’re staying with me tonight, and that’s that!”
The stubborn part of my personality dug her heels in, refusing to be ordered around by him. And yet, my body moved forward, controlled by the curious, reckless, impulsive part of me that Marco had a talent for bringing out.
CHAPTER 10
Mutual Arrangement
Marco
Seeing Shelly vulnerable tonight had gotten to me.
Both her harsh rejection last week that she would never marry me, and my anger with her for tricking me by pretending to be a sex-bot, had evaporated the moment I understood she was in danger.
Shelly could have taken on any man at that bar and crushed him in an argument or an academic challenge, but it wouldn’t matter. I’d seen the look in their eyes. They couldn’t have cared less about her brains. To them she was tits, ass, and smooth skin. A live version of what they’d only seen in antique porn from the time men and females were equal in numbers.
“Sorry about the mess. It’s Storm; he’s annoying like that,” I said as we walked into my apartment.
“Storm lives here?”
“Yes, he’s my roommate. Helps pay the bills and all.” I waved for her to follow me down the hallway.
“It’s small, so you won’t get lost.” Pointing around, I said, “Kitchen, living room, bathroom, and down the hallway are the two bedrooms.”
“Do you mind if we check up on Tristan? Maybe you could call Storm. I just want to be sure Tristan is alright.”
I made a quick call to Storm, who told me he’d brought Tristan home and that they had just spoken to Tristan’s father, Finn.
“He wants Tristan to be with someone for the next twenty-four hours, in case there’s a concussion.”
“Why? The paramedic checked him over. There were no signs of a concussion,” I pointed out.
“I know, but Finn is a doctor and he said it wouldn’t be the first time some overworked paramedic made a wrong assumption. He made me promise that I’d stay with Tristan tonight.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yeah. Did you get Shelly home safely?”
“She’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” I put on a t-shirt from my closet since Shelly was still wearing mine.
“What did you mean when you said it was a mess?” she asked when I was no longer speaking to Storm.
