Marco (The Men of Indecent Exposure #1)(21)

My fingers feathered through my hair-nervous habit.

"It was um …  it was fine. I just think I'll ask for a sheet or something  next time. You know …  to cover up with." When I finished speaking, Marco  stared and I quickly added something else so he wouldn't misunderstand  what I was trying to say. "But I was totally glad you came today. This,  you being here for these milestones, it's really nice." And I meant  that. Hopefully, he knew that was the truth.

A pair of understatedly plump lips, framed in a shadow of  freshly-trimmed facial hair, turned upward and, oh …  the things that look  did to my heart. It was leaping and fluttering all over the place.

"Cover up for what?" he asked, chuckling a bit when the words came out.  Next, his eyes did a not-so-discreet scan of my body before adding,  "What do you have to hide?"

The way he looked at me after those words left his mouth made my face  hot-hotter than the blazing sun already had it. I didn't answer and I  was sure my silence said enough.

Marco turned to face me, casually resting his arm against the side of my  car when he leaned against it. Standing there, under his heavy stare, I  couldn't breathe right. Each puff of air that left my lungs came out  choppy and forced.

"What is it? You shy or something?" he asked, that hint of amusement still heavy in his tone.

I returned a nervous smile and replied with a shrug. " … Or something."

He stared at me for a moment. I still couldn't look at him, though. When  he finished assessing me, reading me, he drew in a deep breath. "Okay,  let's just get something out of the way right now-before you have  another appointment, before the next ultrasound," he said, laughing a  little. "You listening?"

All I did was nod, planning to keep my stare trained on the ground like  it had been; however, a light touch from Marco's finger lifted my chin,  forcing me to look into his dark eyes, eyes that always made me think I  was a breath away from trouble.

Yep …  dirty, satisfyingly sweet, trouble.

"You don't have to be like that with me," he said, forcing me to focus  on his actual words now instead of just his mouth. From what I could  tell, he was being genuine. "I get that you're shy, I get that you don't  really know me all that well, but we're gonna be spending a lot of time  together over the next few months, so you may as well get comfortable."         

     



 

Basically, what he meant was, he wasn't going anywhere and I'd be better  off just getting used to it. I heard him, but it didn't sink in so  easily. I'm not now, nor have I ever been, ashamed of my body. My mother  made sure I saw the beauty in myself regardless of what the outside  world thought. However, I also know that not everyone appreciates a  curvy figure like mine. So, yeah, I guess I was feeling a little  insecure today.

A little.

Marco flashed that half-smile again and I was still very much aware of  his finger touching my chin. His eyes narrowed, apparently sensing my  doubt. "It doesn't look like you fully understand what I'm trying to  say."

I stared at him, mostly because he had me in some sort of …  I don't know …   a daze, one I couldn't break as easily as I would've liked.

He stepped closer, the toes of his shoes almost right to mine. Staring  down on me, he tilted his head to the side and my eyes followed. His  tongue wet his lips and I caught that, too. I caught it all; every  single move he made, down to the slight flare of his nostrils before he  spoke again, sending a surge of heat creeping up my spine.

"Maybe I need to be clearer … " he started, holding my attention with that  deep rasp of his as I hung on every word that left his mouth. "When I  look at you," he went on, "I like everything I see, Brynn. You're  beautiful if you ask me. All of you. Every single inch from head to  toe."

This man was going to think I was mute if I didn't open my mouth, but he stole my words, my thoughts, my breath.

"And I may have had quite a bit to drink the night we hooked up," he  said with a laugh, knowing how bad that sounded, "but I approached you  for a reason." He licked his lips again, a subconscious action that kept  me gawking, but there was just something so incredibly sexy about him.  From his mild accent, to the way his fitted cap kept his eyes shadowed,  to how his sleeves tightly hugged those well-defined arms.

"I was sober enough to know that I liked what I saw," he added, making  me very uncomfortable. These were just compliments, I knew, but he just  spoke with such resolve. A girl could get confused, you know?

Inching back a tad, Marco's finger slipped away from my skin. The  movement was natural enough that he wouldn't have known it was  intentional, but it definitely was. Us touching? Me letting his words  affect me the way they were? It would be easy to skew things considering  our circumstances and I didn't want that. I wanted the lines drawn  between us to stay clear.

"Thank you," was all I could think to say.

He let out a breath beside me and changed the subject, as if the idea just hit him. "I'd like for you to come meet my family."

My heart raced at his suggestion. The thought crossed my mind that this  introduction needed to happen before I went in to deliver, but I tried  not to think about it. Hell, I hadn't even gotten up the nerve to tell  my own brother yet. And having him meet Marco? I couldn't even stomach  it right now.

In my head I imagined this all very differently-I'd date a guy for a  while before deciding to have him meet Ced and Mona, then we'd get  married, then start a family. Clearly, I was nowhere in the vicinity of  that plan, but …  I suppose there was no sense in dwelling on it now.  Things were the way they were and they wouldn't be changing.

"Is that a no?" Marco asked with a lighthearted smile when I didn't answer right away.

"No, no. It's not," I clarified. I considered his suggestion again and  forced a smile of my own when I nodded. "Sure! I'd love to meet them," I  lied. It wasn't that I didn't think they'd be nice people; this was  just a lot to handle.

"Cool. I'll set something up. Maybe you can come to one of our Sunday  dinners," he suggested. "I told them about you a few weeks ago, so, of  course, now they're all blowing up my phone asking when I'm gonna bring  you around."

My heart raced as I experienced a mild freak out, but I hid it. "That sounds great."

Another crooked smile came my way. "Good."

I tried not to be nervous about what was to come.

"And I know you said your brother doesn't live in the state, but I  figured he'd still want to talk to me, feel me out." He paused to laugh.  "At least I know that's how I'd be with one of my sisters, so just let  me know when. The only nights that are bad for me are Thursdays,  Fridays, and Saturdays. Any other day is cool."

I didn't move; didn't say a word.

Marco read my silence as something it wasn't. "Unless …  you didn't want me to talk to him," he said casually, playing it cool.         

     



 

"No, no! It's not that," I assured him. "It's just that … "

A short laugh puffed from between his lips as he reached his own conclusion. "You haven't told him yet, have you?"

Aimlessly scratching the side of my neck when my nerves got the best of  me again, I shook my head. "Not yet. I haven't quite figured out how."

Marco was silent beside me, thinking. "I told my family face to face, but you should be fine since you can do it by phone."

He was right. Cedric wasn't terribly judgmental, but this was still  hard. There was no telling what he'd think. It had to be done, though.

"Maybe I'll give him a call later tonight."

"You'll probably feel better after you do," Marco added.

I turned to glance at a car that entered the parking lot, tearing my  eyes away from him as I laughed a little to myself. "Well, fair warning:  if it doesn't go well, expect a phone call from me, sobbing, later  tonight."

He laughed, too. "I wouldn't mind. I already told you to call whenever you need to."

He had said that and I hadn't forgotten.

Feeling that awkward tension returning, I clutched my keys in my hand.  "Well, I should take off. I only have a sub for the morning, so..."

"Yeah, cool. I uh …  I have stuff I need to get done, too," Marco replied,  seeming a bit off kilter himself when his eyes shifted away from me.

I unlatched my door and set my purse inside on the seat, on top of a  folder with resumes in it, reminding me I had a couple to fax on my way  back to work.

"Well …  have a good day." Oh gosh …  Have a good day? You couldn't think of anything better to say than that, Brynn?

Marco chuckled a bit at the face I made after that statement. "You, too."

I hurried to hop inside my car and took off, needing a break from our  conversation, maybe needing a break from being in his presence  altogether.