Page 39 of Lonely Heart

He shrugged and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. We can do it another time.”

Another time.

It was like he knew just how much I wished I could have joined him. Either that, or maybe he was just as eager as I was to have a lunch date.

“That sounds great. I’d love that.”

Smiling at me, he asked, “Can I get you anything while I’m out?”

“No, thank you. I brought food with me, so I’ll be good.”

“Oh, lucky you. Was it more of that homemade chicken dish I haven’t been able to forget since you made it for me?”

I tipped my head to the side, smiling back at him, and felt the warmth flood my veins. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who’d spent the time since our dinner together on Saturday night recalling everything I liked about it. “It is not that chicken, but I’m happy to know you enjoyed it that much.”

“It was incredible.”

Following a beat, I said, “Well, I won’t keep you from getting your lunch. I just wanted to ask you if you had plans for tonight.”

Marco’s brows shot up, silently questioning me. “I do not.”

“Well, I looked into the woodcarving classes like you mentioned, and there’s a beginner’s class tonight at seven, if you still want to go.”

His eyes gleamed. “Yeah. Yeah, I definitely want to go. I’ll pick you up by six-thirty. Will that work?”

“That’s perfect.”

“Hey, Marco. Ivy.”

Marco and I tore our attention away from one another and faced my mom. “Hey, Mom. What’s going on?”

Her eyes shifted between the two of us. “Everything okay here?”

Before I had the chance to respond, Marco said, “I was just telling Ivy about the progress on the villas. She helped select a new tile pattern for the bathrooms after we were sent the incorrect sizes.”

“Oh, I heard about that from Tate. Have the new ones arrived yet?”

Marco shook his head. “Not yet. But I’m expecting them later this week.”

“That’s great. I really need to get out there and check out the progress on the villas. Malcolm told me he saw them last week and was really impressed with how great they look.”

Tossing his thumb over his shoulder, Marco offered, “I was about to head out for lunch, but I can take you on a quick tour before I leave.”

My mom shook her head. “No, no. You go have lunch. I actually need to sit with Ivy to discuss one of the upcoming events we have.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll be back in a little bit if you want to come check them out after you finish with Ivy.”

“Sounds great, Marco.”

Marco glanced at me, looked back at my mom, and smiled. “You ladies have fun.”

My mom didn’t hesitate to reassure him. “We will.”

As Marco walked away, I couldn’t miss the way my throat had tightened. Sure, he and I had been talking about the villas, but that hadn’t been the full extent of our conversation. Did he not want my mom to know we were taking a class together tonight?Obviously, I hadn’t made mention of it to anyone yesterday when they visited me at home, but that was mostly because it would have been completely random.

This was different. Marco and I were both here, and he didn’t seem to feel compelled to share what the brunt of our conversation had been—him asking me to lunch or us making plans to get together tonight.

Was he embarrassed? Did he not think it was a big deal? Or, worst of all, did he not want anyone to know?