still out and about, so they wouldn’t be out for long.
He took her hand and they went out to the back to walk for a little while. They reached the pool, and Marie decided to stop there to watch the lights dance in the water.
“It’s mesmerizing, isn’t it?” he asked her as she stared down into the depths of the pool.
“It is, yes. I know it’s all artificial, it’s a pool with electric lights, but it’s still so beautiful to watch.” She didn’t want to admit that his was the only fancy in-ground pool she’d ever seen at night.
“It’s not as beautiful as you, Marie.” He pulled her to him then and she melted into his side with relief. That relief mingled with desire the minute their lips touched, and she moaned against his mouth.
“That’s enough of that,” he whispered as he pulled away suddenly, his hands on her shoulders to gently push her away. “Want to watch a movie?”
“I’d rather you took me upstairs, Matteo.” She’d decided to go with blunt and to the point. She wanted him, he wanted her, they were both adults, what could possibly be the problem. They’d only had that one night, so far, but she wanted a lifetime of nights like that, of those kinds of moments. She pleaded with him with her eyes, put off the talking, let’s do the going to bed.
“I need to talk to you first, baby. Let’s get in, away from the mosquitos.”
She didn’t think her heart could sink any lower than it had already, but when he took her hand to help guide her back into the house, she found out it could. He was serious. She’d thought he was joking. Who wanted to talk when you could have sex? And talk? Dirty talk was nice, she’d learned, and the way he did it?
Even that memory couldn’t put a smile on her face as she followed him into the house. He took her into the living room, and she sat down on the couch while he filled two glasses. One with scotch and the other with the ginger ale she’d asked for. He brought the glasses over, set them down on the table in front of them, and then turned to her.
“I need to tell you some things, things I probably should have told you already.” He tried to take her hands but her fingers were too numb to close around his.
“You’re married, aren’t you?” She knew this was all too good to be true. Damnit!
“What? No, we’ve talked about that already. I’m not married, darling.” He tugged at her fingertips, but she could only stare at him, waiting for the hammer of doom that he was about to drop on her.
“It’s nothing like that, it’s more about the past.” He pursed his lips suddenly, and she could see that he was trying to figure out how to proceed.
“What do you mean the past? You mentioned something about my mom at her funeral. What did you mean?” Dots started to connect in her brain, dots from her hometown here in Louisiana to a place far away, in New York. “You’re not my cousin, are you?”
She pulled her hands away and brushed at her arms as her skin began to crawl.
“Fuck no!” he said harshly but cringed. “Sorry, no we’re not related. Not really.”
“Not really?” Marie’s left eyebrow arched elegantly over her eye as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Not really? I need more information than that, Matteo.”
She didn’t berate him any more than that and didn’t demand anything more, mainly because she was afraid of the truth. She didn’t want to know what he had to say, what he was about to reveal to her. She didn’t want to hear it. She got up from the couch, ready to leave but he followed after her, turned her to him, and back her up into the wall.
“Marie, please? Hear me out? This is going to be huge.” He paused, swallowed, took a deep breath, and tried to erase the look of shame off of his face, but failed. “My aunt is your father’s widow.”
“Who?” She tried to pull away from him, but he was pressed into her and she couldn’t move, her body refused to even try when he was that close. The smell of his cologne, his natural scent filled her nose, and her head began to spin.
“Come back to the couch?” He pulled away, and she had to wonder if it was because he was