Marc was grinning when I turned to face him.
“What?” I asked as I passed him the creamer.
“Nothing.” He took it, shrugging. “Just happy.”
Despite myself, I flushed. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Marc’s smile widened as he poured creamer into his coffee, deepening the dimple in his left cheek. “I had a good night.”
“Is that so?” I teased. “And what made it so great?”
He flicked the creamer closed and set it on the counter, then turned to face me, mug cupped in his hands like he was trying to warm them. His brown eyes were sparkling, making him look younger. And cuter. God, I liked this man. So much.
“Well,” he said, leaning closer, his voice low, “I got laid, for one. And let me tell you, she was hot.”
I laughed and swatted him. I felt giddy. Young. Carefree. It was so opposite of how I’d felt for the last five months that it made me dizzy. It made no sense that I should have found someone like Marc in the middle of all this, but I had, and I was so grateful.
“She sounds great,” I said, playing along.
He lifted the mug to his lips, and just before he took a sip, winked and said, “She is.”
I watched him drink his coffee, smiling so wide my cheeks hurt and so satisfied just to be in his presence that I couldn’t come up with a single thing to say. It was like I’d reached the ultimate state of Zen.
Marc stared back at me, drinking his coffee, apparently as content as I was to just be together because he didn’t say anything either. He couldn’t stop grinning, and I felt like I was glowing. We were that enamored with one another.
The spell was broken too soon.
“Yo, Ramirez!” a deep voice yelled from the other room. “You in here?”
“Shit.” Marc glanced toward the front of the kitchen. “Meet me tonight?”
“Of course,” I said in a low voice.
He smiled, his focus on me as he called, “Be right there!” Marc took another look around, planted a quick kiss on my lips, and whispered, “I can’t wait.”
Then he was off, hurrying through the kitchen and disappearing without a backward glance.
“Where you been, man?” the soldier who’d called to himasked a few seconds later.
“Getting some coffee,” Marc replied. “You know the stuff on our side tastes like shit.”
“I hear that,” came the response.
The man kept talking, but he and Marc were headed out of the dining room, and his voice grew quieter until I was unable to make out the words. Not that it mattered. All I’d needed to hear was that Marc wanted to meet again tonight. I couldn’t wait.
After finishing in the kitchen,I headed back to the third floor. I wasn’t overly concerned about Bette’s absence since I knew how tired she’d been and it was totally possible she’d decided to sleep in, but since her due date was just two weeks away, I wanted to check on her.
Apparently, I’d been more worried than even I’d known because when the doorknob turned a few seconds after I knocked, I let out a sigh of relief. Confusion quickly replaced my relief, though, when the door opened to reveal Hilary and not Bette.
“Miss Murphy,” my minder said when she saw me, her mouth, as usual, pressed into a displeased line.
I tried to look past her into the room, but she’d only opened the door a crack and was blocking my view.
“Is Bette okay?”
“She and the baby are resting,” Hilary said in a tone that made it clear I wasn’t going to be admitted.
Despite my minder’s chilly attitude, I smiled. Bette’s baby had arrived. It was shocking how thrilled I was since I wasn’t a baby person and the idea of having to go through that myself was repulsive, but also not surprising because I knew how much my friend had wanted this.
