Chapter 26
26
ENNIO
M arnin was in love with me. I’d hoped it, considered it, but I hadn’t expected him to admit it this soon, to be ready for it. The man kept surprising me…in the best ways. I kissed him again, all too aware of the many eyes upon us, then stepped back, though I reached for his hand.
“I think Hadley was about to introduce you,” I said with a smile. “But you had different priorities.”
Marnin shrugged. “Sorry, not sorry.”
“Nor should you be,” Hadley said, grinning widely. “That was pretty spectacular as far as love declarations go.”
“I’d rate it a ten out of ten,” Nordin, one of Hadley’s brothers, said. Hadley had introduced me to his three brothers, and I’d been chatting with them for a few minutes. They were all super nice and welcoming, and I felt immediately at ease with them.
He extended his hand to Marnin. “Nordin Foster, one of Hadley’s brothers. And these two are Lagan and Jaren, my other brothers.”
Marnin shook their hands. “Good to meet you guys. Hadley’s talked about you a few times. Not that I usually listen when he prattles on, but I don’t always manage to tune him out.”
“See how mean he is to me?” Hadley complained to his brothers, pouting.
“In all fairness, I tune you out half the time as well,” Nordin teased him, and I snorted. These guys were a riot. They formed an interesting combination as brothers since they looked nothing alike. Maybe they were half-brothers?
Just then, Hadley looked over my shoulder, narrowing his eyes. “Excuse me,” he said. “I have to go rescue Seb. He’s been cornered by Sharon Willis, and lord knows she drives him up the wall.”
He dashed off, plastering a bright smile on his face.
“The things we do for love,” Lagan muttered.
“Like showing up here.” Jaren pulled his collar with one finger, trying to loosen it. “This is so not my thing. I’d rather be home with Reid and watch a movie.”
“Watch a movie…” Nordin snorted. “I’m assuming that’s code for fucking? Because the two of you are like bunnies.”
“As if you and Tavin are any better,” Jaren fired back.
Nordin shrugged. “We’re not, but we don’t pretend to be either.”
“Your partners couldn’t come?” I asked.
“Reid is out of town for a tattoo convention,” Jaren said. “He’s a tattoo artist.”
“Killian wasn’t feeling well,” Lagan said.
“And Tavin is at home with our six-month-old son. We’re not ready to hire a babysitter.” Nordin’s eyes had grown soft, his whole expression radiating love.
“I wouldn’t leave the house either,” Lagan said, smiling at Nordin. “I want to cuddle that precious thing all day long.”
That was Nordin’s cue to whip out his phone and show off some baby pictures, and I had to admit it was one of the cutest babies I’d ever seen. It was funny, but I’d never seen myself as a father. Even when I was younger, I never imagined myself having kids. A partner, yes, and maybe some pets, but not kids. I loved my nieces and I’d grown to love Keaton’s two sons as well, but what I liked most was that they went home at the end of the day…and not with me.
We chatted for a bit longer with the three brothers, then made our way over to our table as dinner was about to be served. “Is that something you’d want?” Marnin asked softly. “Kids?”
“Funny, I was thinking about the same thing. No, not really. You?” Technically, he had two daughters, of course, but that was different.
“No. I’ve contributed my part, but I’m not father material.”
“I don’t think I am either, and I’m perfectly content being an uncle.”
He played with my fingers. “I’m quite a bit older than you.”
I chuckled. “Geez, I hadn’t noticed.”
“If you change your mind about wanting to have kids?—”
“I won’t.”
“—it will be too late.”
Was he genuinely worried about that? “I promise it’s not something that worries me. I’ve never had the desire to become a father.”
“And the age difference doesn’t bother you either?”
“Not even a little bit.” Why was he asking all this? “Are you having doubts?”
He shot me a puzzled look. “Doubts?”
“About us.”
“Jesus, no. Not at all. That’s not why…” He seemed to search for words. “I want to make sure you don’t have doubts. I’m… I’m scared. This is all new territory for me, and I’m so scared I’ll fuck it up. I want to be the man you need me to be, but I don’t know how.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love this man more, he said something like that, looking at me with big, brown puppy eyes that melted my insides into a puddle. I cupped his face in both my hands. “I love you the way you are, baby. You don’t need to change anything for me.”
He was quiet for a long time, his eyes searching mine as if he needed to make sure. “I guess I have a hard time comprehending why you’d love me.”
“You’re so much easier to love than you think, but I’m happy to tell you every day.”
He leaned his forehead against mine. “I may need that. I guess I’m a lot needier and more insecure than I realized.”
Love would do that to you, but I kept that part to myself. “We’ll figure it out. All I need to know is that you’re serious and committed to this. To us.”
He pulled back, meeting my eyes again. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. This is it, sunshine. You’re it. You have my heart now, and I never want it back.”
For a man who had proclaimed he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body, he sure knew how to say all the right words. “I told you I’d take good care of it. I love you, baby. Nothing’s gonna change that.”
He let out a sigh. “It’s scary business, being in love. I’m not fully convinced I like it.”
That was so quintessential Marnin that I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ll get used to it over time.”
We chatted with the people at our table during dinner. Well, I chatted, and Marnin made the occasional remark to prove he was listening, but he was clearly distracted, and I couldn’t blame him.
The bachelor auction was a hoot, with the emcee playing up the bachelors’ qualities, having everyone in stitches with his antics and furiously bidding. It was followed by a charity auction, where everyone could bid on items and services donated by various people. Reid, Jaren’s husband, had donated his tattooing skills, for example, and so one woman ended up paying five thousand dollars for a tattoo that would’ve probably cost her three hundred bucks if she’d gone to Reid directly. Rich people were funny.
Marnin ended up paying three thousand dollars for a gorgeous framed photograph of a pod of orcas donated by a wildlife photographer. He’d captured them mid-breach, and the level of detail was astonishing. After Marnin won the bid, he headed to the stage to collect his prize. When he came back, he handed it to me. “For you.”
“For me?”
He shrugged but didn’t quite pull off the nonchalant look. “Because you love orcas.”
My heart melted all over again. “Thank you. It will always remind me of our orca trip together.”
His face cracked into a smile. “That was a good day.”
I leaned in for a kiss. “It was. We’ll hang this in our bedroom, hmm?”
Our bedroom. It was the first time I’d said those words aloud. Marnin must’ve realized it too because his smile widened. “I love that.”
After the charity auction, a DJ started playing and the dancefloor opened. I loved dancing, but I doubted Marnin would be up for it. But he surprised me, reaching for my hand and pulling me to my feet. “Wanna hit the dancefloor?”
“You dance?”
“No, but that’s never stopped me before.”
I was still laughing when we hit the dancefloor. Marnin hadn’t been exaggerating: he really wasn’t much of a dancer, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Mostly, he was content letting me do my thing and observing me with a goofy smile.
When the DJ played “Havana”—one of my favorite songs—I started dancing a salsa. I’d taken dance classes way back when, but I’d done salsa for much longer, always loving the rhythm and the sexiness of the sultry moves.
“Teach me,” Marnin said.
I blinked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t look that hard.”
The basics definitely weren’t. I put his hands on my hips. “Mirror my moves.”
It took him a few tries, but he had a surprisingly good sense of rhythm and no trouble counting the beats. Maybe the DJ noticed me trying to teach Marnin because he played two more salsa songs, and I had an absolute blast dancing with him.
“That was tolerable,” Marnin said as we were in the limo back home. He hadn’t let go of my hand, playing with my fingers in an absentminded way that had a thousand butterflies fluttering in my belly. “I actually liked being there this year…thanks to you.”
Aww. “I loved dancing with you.”
“You’re beautiful when you dance.”
The funny thing was that he said it so casually, as if he were stating a simple fact. He didn’t even mean it as something romantic, probably—though, of course, it was to me. “Thank you. And thank you for dancing with me.”
We were quiet for a while. “Was I wrong for telling you I loved you in front of others?” Marnin eventually asked. “In hindsight, I probably should’ve waited until we were alone.”
“Why did you decide to tell me? No offense, but it seemed you had a certain urgency.”
He laughed sheepishly. “It was because Sebastian told me that fucking up with you was almost a certainty…but you’d forgive me.” He must’ve seen the confusion on my face. “I realized I was in love with you the day after your father’s birthday party. But I was terrified of what it meant because opening myself up to love also meant opening myself to the possibility of heartbreak.”
“Oh, baby…”
“I don’t want to be dramatic because you know that’s not me, but my own mother walked out on me and never looked back. As much as I’ve pretended I’m fine, it left a mark on me…and I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what damage that did to me.”
My whole heart went out to him. “I can’t even imagine.”
“I can’t lose you, sunshine. I know it’s not fair of me to tell you that because it may make you feel trapped, like you can never leave me, and I’m sorry for that. But I have to say it. I’m not sure what losing you would do to me. I don’t think I would ever get over that.”
How had anyone ever thought this man was tough and untouchable? Auden had told me once that Marnin’s heart was made of gold, pure and vulnerable, and now I understood what he had meant. At his core, Marnin was a softie, a man desperate to protect himself…and after what he’d been through, who could fault him for that?
“I’ve waited a long time to find you,” I said softly. “All my life, I’ve dreamed of finding my Prince Charming, the man who would love me exactly as I am, with all my glittery, sparkly bits included. Now that I’ve found you, I have no intention of ever letting you go. This is the real thing, Marnin. The forever kind of thing.”
I doubted I would’ve had the courage to go this fast, this deep with anyone but Marnin, but he needed it. And he deserved it.
“Prince Charming, huh?” His eyes shone. “I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of being charming.”
“You can be hella charming when you want…which doesn’t happen often.”
“True.” Then he leaned in for a long, slow kiss. “I like the idea of forever with you.”
“I like that too.” I brought my mouth close to his ear. “Oh, and just so you know… Those sexy, lacy white panties you got me yesterday because you ruined that other pair?”
“Yeah?” His voice was a low, sexy rumble.
“I’m wearing them.”
He growled. “Not for long.”