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“I didn’t. I don’t. All I want is for you to be happy. And I want to be the guy who makes you that way, even if—”
“Even if I ask for something you’re not comfortable with?”
Somehow meeting her gaze made it easier to say. “Yeah. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed last night. It was fun and hot as hell. And it felt natural. Tonight wasn’t the same.”
“I know. Cale was off, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah.” He tightened his fingers. “And so were we.”
“You threw me with all your baby talk.”
Tony had to grin. “I never said I wanted a baby. I said it wouldn’t send me into panic mode if you got pregnant. Big difference.”
“Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen. Realistically.” He wondered if she knew she was frowning. That the lines furrowed around her eyes that had nothing to do with age and everything to do with worry. “I’m almost forty and I’ve never been pregnant. The truth is I’m o—”
“You’re not. You’re the most vibrant person I know. The most fun, the sexiest. The most beautiful,” he added, squeezing her fingers. “The sweetest.”
“How much have you had to drink?”
“Just calling ’em like I see ’em. There’s something else you’ll be, if you want to.” He didn’t shy away from her stare. “If you really want to do this advice thing, you’ll make it work. I have all the belief in the world in you. Enough for us both.”
She huffed out a breath. “What about all the things I’m not? Have you forgotten those all of a sudden?”
“I haven’t forgotten anything. Neither one of us is perfect. So what? You make me happy. Even when we used to argue about every damn thing, being with you felt more right than anything ever has before.” He rubbed her knuckles and let his gaze drop to their joined hands. “I want more.”
“I know you do. God. And I want to be the one who can give it to you. I just don’t trust myself. I’m…scared.”
The quaver in her voice proved how hard that had been for her to say. “You scared? Never.”
Instead of flirtatiously tossing her hair and making some joke as she usually would, she shut her eyes. “I’m not the best bet for relationship longevity. Look at my track record.”
“What track record? Other than your marriage, you said you never stayed with the same guy for more than a few months.”
“Exactly my point.”
“We’ve done okay so far, haven’t we?”
“Yeah. Yeah, we have.” She finally opened her eyes. “The likelihood you’ll someday regret throwing your chips in with mine is frighteningly high.”
His mouth curved despite the sudden wild thump of his pulse. “Some things are worth the risk.”
She nodded. “They so are.”
Tony smiled and feathered his fingers over her cheek. “I didn’t think you’d gone home with a guy tonight. Didn’t even consider it.”
“I was pretty pissed.”
“Even so. I trust you, Marcia. I know you wouldn’t do something to hurt me.”
She set down her glass next to her hip. “You’re right, and I know the same about you. I guess that means I shouldn’t ask what was going on with you and Cale and that woman, why you didn’t want me there while you talked to him. But I have to ask. I need to know. Why did you ask to talk to him alone?”
All at once, the long road to bliss that had opened up in front of him started to close in on itself. Marcia never took no for an answer. If he didn’t tell her the whole truth, she’d lose it. And if he did, she’d use the information against Diana in a heartbeat.
Why she hated Diana so much he still didn’t know, because he hadn’t pressed. He hadn’t demanded the big reveal that Marcia would hammer out of him until he gave in.
Diana wasn’t his friend, wasn’t someone he cared about. She was his boss, plain and simple. But what had happened between her and Cale
tonight had crossed a line, even if right now he and Cale were the only ones who knew it.
