“Don’t worry about that. I can afford it.”
Figuring I’d protested enough to make my grandma happy, I decided I should head back to the main room before they sent out a search party. I came close to Marco, and he stiffened, standing straighter, tightening his arms so that his forearms flexed.
I didn’t understand what his reaction was about.
“Thank you,” I said. “It may be too much, but thank you.”
It took him a second, and I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed twice before he cleared his throat and said, “You’re welcome. I should, uh, get back to work.”
“And I should get back to looking nice.”
I twirled a bit toward the door and heard the sound of my skirt brushing against his leg. He was such a confusing man. I felt like I never really knew what he was thinking and remembered my grandma telling me that women spent twice as long wondering what men thought about as men actually spent thinking.
He was probably focused on his job.
And hoping that this now-very-expensive plan of his was going to work.
I rejoined the women, and Gloria had thought of everything—purses, shoes that actually fit my large feet, underwear to go with each outfit—and Jen was busy attaching pieces of paper to everything with notes. I changed back into my regular clothes, and Gloria took the pretty red dress and put it in a hanging bag.
Once everything was sorted and bagged up for me, they packed their belongings, and I walked them to the door. They all hugged me goodbye, even Gloria. Jen gave me her phone number so that I could call her with any questions, and then they were gone.
I was trying to figure out how I was going to get all this stuff down to Betty without making multiple trips when Marco came out of his room.
He walked over to me, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit mesmerized as he came closer and closer. Like a large cat stalking its prey. Only if I were the prey, I’d lay down and pretend to be dead just so that he would catch me.
“We’re alone?” he asked.
“Yep.” The word unintentionally squeaked out of me.
“Good. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“There is?”
He nodded. “Seduction.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
All the blood left my brain and pooled in unspeakable places. If his plan was to seduce me, I found that I had no objections. “What?”
“You’ve got your armor, all ready to go into battle. Now you need a strategy.”
He picked up a remote and clicked a button. It turned on soft music. He held out his hand to me. Holy Gimli’s beard—maybe I really was about to be seduced.
Still no objections from any part of me.
Even though I knew he couldn’t be talking about us.
“Wait. This is for me to seduce Craig?” I verified. I felt like I needed to make sure that I wasn’t misunderstanding the situation.
Marco dropped his hand. “Yes.”
Why was that disappointing? I couldn’t speak for a moment.
Luckily, he filled in what felt like an awkward silence. “The reason I did all this was because there’s a party next weekend. An engagement precelebration.”
There was a pain from his words, but it was dull and faint. Not like the vivid sharpness I’d experienced every time before when I’d thought about Craig marrying someone else. “But they just got engaged.”
“My stepmother loves any excuse to throw a party. Mostly so that she can drink without being judged. She says if you do it publicly, you’re a happy drunk. Privately, you’re an alcoholic. She does both and fails to see the irony. Anyway, this will be one of the many pregaming events leading up to the actual engagement party that will cost a fortune and be featured in gossip columns and online magazines across the country. And at this first event, there will be dancing.”
“So . . . you’re inviting me to a dance,” I said, trying to ignore the rising flush of excitement. Finally, I was the girl being asked to the dance. That did funny things to my stomach.
“I guess, in a way. We should practice.”
My whole being throbbed slowly at the idea that Marco was going to hold me in his arms again. “I know how to dance.”
“I’m sure you do. But we don’t want it to look like it’s our first time.”
He held out his hand again, and against my better judgment, I took it. He pulled me into his embrace, his right hand going around my waist. I put my arms around his still-sexy neck, and he took my right arm, tugging it down. Then he wrapped his left hand around my right one, and I dragged in a ragged breath.
“I know the last time you danced was probably at some farewell event at space camp, but you’re not in seventh grade,” he said teasingly. “This is how adults dance.”
“Just because I enjoy nerdy stuff does not mean that I went to space . . .” My voice trailed off. “Okay, fine.” There wasn’t any point in arguing with him because I had gone to space camp, but I tried to hold on to that tiny bit of anger. Because despite his assurance that I was wearing armor, I felt way too vulnerable. I needed some kind of defense against him.
Then we were swaying to the music, moving slowly in a circle. And it felt a lot like a seventh-grade dance to me, but an updated adult version with a very hot man.
I willed my hands not to sweat again. It wasn’t going very well, though. I was so aware of him. He was no longer damp, and he was emanating heat everywhere that was seeping into my pores, making my cells tingle in response.
It was nice to dance with a man who was taller than me. It wasn’t something I’d experienced very often growing up.
I was so focused on him and his energy that I knew I needed to redirect myself. “Why do you think I need help seducing Craig?” It felt really odd to be having this conversation with him, given that Craig was his brother.
“You’re the one who said you didn’t have a lot of experience in this area.” His fingers flexed against my waist, and it caused a burning sensation that started at that point of contact and radiated outward.
Marco was kind of acting like I’d never gone out with anyone. I mean, I had dated. Sporadically. I’d even had a few in the last couple of months with Catalina setting me up. But he didn’t need to know just how minimal my experience actually was.
“I get that I’m like . . . not seductive, but what is there to know? Don’t you just generally take off your shirt?”
“You don’t get naked.”
“Says the man who started this afternoon with half his clothes off.”
He smiled down at me and looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. “It would be a little obvious.”
“Obvious doesn’t work?” I was a big fan of obvious things.
“It doesn’t if it seems desperate. People like to chase. To want things that they know they can’t have. It’s human nature. So don’t strip down. We probably just need to refine your flirting technique.”
“That might be a good idea. I’m kind of like a hyperventilating walrus when I attempt it.”
He laughed, and his hand tightened around mine. Which was still, thankfully, mostly sweat-free. My hairline and lower back? Not so much.
“You could practice on me,” he offered. “I’m an attractive man.”