“We’ve been talking about me too long. How about we talk about you?” she asked and he leaned forward.
“You can ask me anything. I’m an open book,” he said and she nodded.
“I looked you up,” she said and he forced a smile.
“So you know my big dirty secret, huh?” he asked and she shook her head.
“I am not sure how being part of a power family is a dirty little secret.”
“It’s a long story ,but I will make it short…my parents wanted me to join the family business, law. But I had never wanted to be a lawyer,” he started. “So, when I told them that I quit the Ivy League they had enrolled me in to get a fire science degree, they were furious. So they cut me off.”
Macy raised an eyebrow. “They what?”
“Yeah…you heard right. They decided to cut me off and I have been on my own ever since.” He forced out a laugh. “They didn’t even come for my graduation.”
“This is none of my business, but I have to ask…how can you even afford this place?” she asked and he looked around.
“This is the only sober decision I ever made in my youth,” he said. “The building used to belong to my grandmother and she hated how much money I spent in hotels when I was in town, so she got me this place. At first I didn’t really want it because I thought my parents were trying to keep tabs on me or something, but as it turns out this was the one security I had.” He looked around and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” she said and he shook his head.
“Oh come on,” he said smiling at her. “I have this whole living alone thing figured out. The world is my oyster.”
Macy nodded and smiled.
After dinner, the two walked back to the living room where Victor brought out a pumpkin pie, and Macy had to admit, she was impressed. His culinary skills were off the chains.
“You bake too,” she said in a soft voice when she had the last bite of her pie.
“Yeah, I do,” he said smiling.
Just then, Macy heard her favorite song on the album. A smile played on her lips, her eyes closed. And without even realizing it, she was humming.
“Love this song?” he asked and she nodded.
“My foster mom used to sing this song all the time,” she said and he leaned back as he looked at her.
“Sing,” he said and she opened her eyes.
“What?”
“Go ahead. Sing,” he said in a soft voice.
“Why do you want to hear me sing?” she asked and he shrugged.
“I don’t know. I just do,” he said and she bit her lower lip, wondering if she should do it. But her will was stronger than she thought, and before she knew it, she was belting out the tune to Marvin Gaye’s “You,”and he was watching her sing. It was almost a full minute and a half later when the song ended and she opened her eyes to find him seated dangerously close to her.
“You have a beautiful voice,” he said in a soft voice.
“Thanks.” She was whispering and she didn’t really understand why.
“That night you came over to the station…” he started and she wanted to pull away, but he didn’t want to let her get away. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “No, eventually, we have to talk about this.”
“Talk about what?” she asked.
“Talk about what happened in the captain’s office.”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know…” she started and he held the side of her face.
“Yes, you do,” he whispered. “I know you do.”
He was so close to her, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
“Leo told me that the only reason I…that the only reason you got to me so much was because deep down, I liked you.”
“So that’s the theory you were testing?” he asked and she nodded. “And how did you conclude everything?”
She shrugged.
“I didn’t know then…and I don’t know now.”
“Why not?” he asked and she bit her lip.
“I don’t do relationships. I have never had one…so I don’t know how this whole thing works.”
“You have never had a boyfriend?” he asked, a little surprised and she nodded.
“I don’t even know how it works…having one, I mean…but with you, things are different. And it scares me.”
“How different?” he asked and for a moment, she felt her heart heavy. Like she was about to cry.
“I don’t know…I want you, again. And I have never wanted to be with someone more than once until you came along.”
“There is nothing wrong with that, you know,” he said and she shrugged. “I have wanted you for a very long time. Long before you even came to the station that night.”
“But…I’m scared I will ruin this before it even begins,” she whispered and he smiled. He stroked one side of her face as he looked into her eyes.
“What does your heart tell you?” he asked and she shook her head.
“I don’t know. I have never made decisions based on what I felt…I don’t even know if I feel anything.”
“Everyone feels something,” he said in a whisper. “And I know you feel the same way about me as I feel about you.”
“How do you know?” she asked and he leaned even closer.
“I know because if you didn’t, you would have pushed me off a long time ago,” he whispered before he leaned in even more and claimed her lips in a long kiss. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drown in the passion of his kiss. When he finally pulled away, she was panting for breath.
“How did that feel?” he asked and she opened her eyes to look at him.
“Like something I want to do again,” she said in a whisper and he smiled.
“Good, because I have wanted to do this for a long time,” he said again as he kissed her softly.