“Helps me know where the line is. Though, I’m surprised that’s a button of yours.” He suddenly leaned forward. “Blake, you’re not some religious zealot, are you?”
I blinked.
Where did that come from?
“Can’t say I’ve had my fair share of churchgoing. Why?”
He shrugged, settling back into the couch. “Just curious.”
He kicked one leg up over his knee, resting his barely touched beer on top of it. Compared to me, and my half finished bottle, he was looking like a regular Sober Sally. There was a possibility he’d already drank plenty down at the bonfire, though given the lack of slurring in his words, I was going to go with a no on that one.
Not a big drinker, then?
That also seemed surprising. Marlow had the perfect personality type to get anyone hyped up at the bar and feed shots to as many victims that happened to cross into his line of fire as possible. Not to mention, wasn’t there a big drinking culture around finance?
I did tell him to detox while he was here. Maybe he was taking it literally.
“I’ve been wondering... you’re from Ellington Heights, aren’t you? Why come all the way out here? You’ve got a lake your way.”
He gasped. “Not you exploiting your power and looking at my file.”
“Guilty. Arrest me now.”
He rolled up onto his feet. “I’m calling the cops.”
“Good luck getting a signal.” I tilted the rest of my bottle back, draining it.
His eyes twinkled, a bemused smile stretching across his lips.
My mind was growing fuzzy with each passing second.
What was it about Marlow that made me feel so relaxed?
This felt like old times, like we’d been shooting the shit for centuries and this was yet another tally to add to our endless list.
I’d never in my life met someone I clicked with so easily and so quickly. To the point where it was beginning to worry me. I’d had plenty of relationships in the past, platonic and sexual, and none of them had ever made me feel this way.
Not even close, in fact.
I wanted to soak in his presence. To let him keep me here, trapped in this ridiculous back and forth, for as long as humanly possible. The planning for next week could wait. The paperwork continuing to pile up on my desk could wait. Hell, even my weekly phone calls with my siblings could wait.
If it meant staying here for one minute longer.
“To answer your question, I wanted to come here to get in shape,” Marlow said.
I raised my brow. “Bit of an odd way to go about that.”
He shrugged and then surprised me by settling down onto the couch next to me. His back sunk deep into the cushion, the plush material wrapping around his wide shoulders like an embrace. Strangely, he wasn’t looking at me, instead choosing to stare down at his beer bottle while fiddling with it in his hand.
When he finally spoke, he wore a strained smile. “My dad died late last year. Heart attack caused by four blockages. Quite the tragic end.”
Shit...
“I’m so sorry.”
His expression turned bitter. “Sad thing is, none of us saw it coming. He seemed healthy as a damn horse but clearly thatwasn’t the case. My mom woke up one morning and he was cold to the touch. What a way to go, I guess.”
Jesus. Tragic, indeed.
