Page 54 of Lonely Heart
I shrugged slightly, tipping my head to one side. “I don’t know about you, but I barely slept at all last night.”
“I slept okay. Did you have nightmares?”
“No. No, not at all. I couldn’t sleep, because I couldn’t stop thinking about having this with you tonight,” I explained.
“Well, I’m glad to know that didn’t cause you nightmares,” he teased. When I smiled at him, he asked, “What about tonight had you unable to sleep, though?”
I shook my head. “Tonight wasn’t all of it, I guess. I think it’s just the whole thing, everything that’s sort of happened over the last couple of weeks and what you said to me last night. I never expected any of this between us, not after all these years.”
He nodded his understanding. “That makes two of us. And while I didn’t have difficulty sleeping last night, I won’t lie and say I haven’t experienced some of what you have.”
“In what way?”
A contemplative look washed over him, like he wasn’t quite sure if he should reveal the truth. Fortunately, he didn’t hold back and admitted, “I’ve found it difficult to think about anyone or anything ever since that night in the hotel with you. And it’s come as quite the shock to me.”
My brows shot up. “What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve known you for years, Ivy. Why am I just now noticing you like this?”
I could have beat around the bush and fished for him to share more explanations that would lead me to feeling confident about where Marco stood, but it was unnecessary. I already understood where he was coming from.
“I don’t think you should feel bad about it.” I sent a reassuring smile his way. “I’m just now noticing you like this as well.”
He reached his hand out and covered mine with it. “Are you worried?”
“About us doing something here that could go south and ruin everything?” I countered.
Marco winced, his chin dipping slightly.
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I think I’ve been too caught up in the fact that we’re actually here, that you’ve asked to bring me out for dinner tonight. Why? Are you worried?”
He swallowed hard, the look in his eyes cautious, tentative. “I can’t see the future, Ivy. Looking at this now, at the way I feel when I’m around you, I don’t see how it’d be possible for things to ever turn sour between us. But I would be lying if I said there isn’t something that concerns me.”
Okay. So, I hadn’t been expecting that. “What worries you?”
“Cooper.”
My brows knit together, and I jerked back in my seat. “Why?”
Marco hesitated. “I’m not sure I should say.”
“Why not?”
“Because even if in all the years I’ve known you, I haven’t noticed you in the way I do now, it doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about you. I know what kind of woman you are, Ivy. And I’m worried that if I share my concerns with you, you’ll?—”
“What did Cooper say to you? I thought he apologized.”
His hand squeezed mine. “He did. I promise you that. But I didn’t get the feeling he’d ever be okay with you and I becoming something more than we’ve always been.”
That made no sense.
If there was anyone in this world that Cooper should have wanted to see me wind up with, Marco would have been the best choice. We knew him; we knew his family. If it was up to Cooper, I would have thought he’d think his best friend was the only option for me.
“Did he say that?”
“He didn’t come right out with those words, no. But it was clear I didn’t get that blessing from him, either.”
I sat back in my seat, attempting to digest all of this. “So, are you concerned more about feeling something between us and not being able to act on it, or are you worried that you won’t stop yourself from acting upon the way you feel and things getting sticky with Cooper?”