He grins. "Is it working?"
"Maybe."
"Good." His hand squeezes slightly. "Because you've been distracting me all day in those shorts."
Heat pools low in my belly. "These shorts?"
"Mmhmm. You wore them on purpose."
"Maybe I did." I shift slightly, pressing into his touch. "What are you going to do about it?"
His eyes darken. "Watch the movie, Elena."
"I thought you wanted to prove I was ruining it with my commentary."
"I changed my mind. The commentary is growing on me."
We make it through another twenty minutes before the tension becomes unbearable. When the hero and heroine have their inevitable kiss, Marco pulls me fully onto his lap.
"This is not watching the movie," I point out.
"No, it's not." His lips find my neck. "Problem?"
"Not even a little bit."
We don't finish the movie.
Later, after we've thoroughly distracted each other and ordered takeout, we're back on the couch. Different movie. Same comfortable position.
It's about nine PM and Marco has drifted off to sleep, his head leaned back against the couch, still holding my legs across his lap. I watch him sleep and he looks so peaceful. Soft snores, mouth slightly open. He's a dream I never want to wake up from.
As if the universe senses my peace and decides it's time for chaos, the lights and TV suddenly go out.
I look around. The other side of the street still has power.
That's not good.
I carefully remove my legs from Marco's lap. He startles awake. "What's going on?"
"Power just went out. But only our building?—"
He puts his finger over my mouth, silencing me. Every trace of sleepiness is gone. His entire body has gone tense, alert.
He pulls a gun from under the couch cushion.
Jesus. How long has that been there?
He listens, then points down the hall. Mouths:Bedroom. Now.
I start to stand but he pushes me down, showing me he wants me to crawl. I drop to my hands and knees and start moving.
When I glance back, Marco is still by the window, scanning the street. Then I see it—a red laser dot appear on his chest.
"Marco! Down!" I scream.
He drops just as the window explodes inward, glass showering the living room. The bullet buries itself in the wall where his head was a second ago.
"Elena! Go!" He's crawling after me, returning fire out the window.
