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“Yeah… everyone has big dreams. What’s yours?”
“Paris,” I answer without missing a beat. “Someday, I’ll travel to Paris.”
“It’s beautiful there. I can’t believe you have never been.”
“My mom never had much growing up.” My throat goes dry as I share more personal information than I want to right now. For a fake date, we sure are sharing a whole lot of real shit with each other. “Don’t get me wrong, I never went without. She made sure of that. I’m an only child so the two of us lived in a very small college town. She was the manager at the only supermarket in the town. My dad walked out on us with hismistress, and he never paid child support. Everything she ever had, she gave to me to make sure I had the best life possible.”
Marc remains silent at the admission of my life growing up. I never want to open up like this with someone. The girls know a little bit about my childhood, but we avoid oversharing because it makes me feel extremely vulnerable. Like I do right now.
“Needless to say, I would love to take my mom to Paris. I took too much of my teenage years with her for granted for all she did for me. Even now, she’s working so hard just to make ends meet. I hate that I’ve barely spoken to her since I’ve been back because she had to pick up a second job. Stupid disability barely paid her when she was out.”
“You should’ve told me. I would have found a way to help you both out.”
“You’re myboss, Marc. Why in the world would I ask you to do that?”
He doesn’t answer me but lifts a shoulder to his ear with a shrug before he takes a sip of his whiskey.
“Anyway, someday I’ll earn enough to help her with her own bills the way she helped me for all of those years, and then bring her the trip of a lifetime.”
“I like that.” He smiles.
Not just any smile—an award winning, panty dropping one.
There’s something about it that makes my insides flutter being on the receiving end of this particular smile. It’s real. It’s genuine. It’sperfect.
I shift in my seat, until my body is facing him. “Okay. My turn. I have a random question for you now.”
“Hit me.”
“What’s one thing you’ve never seen before and one place you’ve never been?”
“Hmm,” he hums over his glass of whiskey. “You’re right. That is random.” I watch intently as he thinks about his answer, eyes boring into mine. “I’ve never seen a dinosaur.” He laughs.
I can’t help the cackle that comes out of me as my body shakes with laughter. “That’s really the answer you’re going with?”
“It’s the truth.” He shrugs. “And I’ve never been to Florida.”
“Florida? Hasn’t everyone been there like once in their life?”
“Not me.” He winks.
The laughter and my smile come so easily with him. Before I get lost in his charm any more than I already am, and the way my body is reacting to it, I decide to change the subject before he tells me more. “So, what are the plans for this summer? Do we have parties and meetings to attend or something? How are we making this happen? When is the expiration date for this?”
Marc's head jolts back as if my words just offended him.
“Well,” Marc starts, but pauses to clear his throat. “Bill would like to just get to know our relationship. He’s not here to work, he’s here on a vacation of sorts. This will probably include a couple of dinners with him and his wife.”
“Is that douche, Todd the toad, going to be there too?”
That earns me a laugh. “Unfortunately, yes. He will probably be at one or two of them. He mentioned inviting Bill to his lake house for the day. I’ll probably be inviting Bill and Cathy to my penthouse one night for dinner to show some effort too.”
“Great. We’ve got this.”
“Do we?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“I just worry…” He stops his own thoughts and takes a sip of whiskey.
