“Do you think he and Marlene will get married?”
“I’m not sure. She’s fiercely independent after being a widow for decades. I’m not sure she’d want to give that up.”
“He’s so crazy about her that she wouldn’t have to give up anything to marry him. He’d give her the world.”
I can’t help but note the wistful tone of her voice. Without looking up from the train station I’m assembling, I ask her, “Is that what you want? A man who’ll give you the world?”
“In part. I also want someone who doesn’t want to change me or keep me from pursuing my dreams.”
“Is that what Joaquín did?”
“That was the least of what he did. He wanted to control my every thought, movement, emotion. He isolated me from my friends, who tried to tell me he was no good. I wish I’d listened to them, but then I wouldn’t have Mateo. He was worth it all.”
“I’m so glad you left him. For many reasons, but mostly because you deserve so much better than that.”
She eyes me over the rim of her glass. “What other reasons?”
“What do you mean?” I know full well what she’s asking but need to buy myself a minute to figure out what to say.
Apparently, I’m not fooling her if the look she gives me is any indication. “What are the other reasons you’re glad I left him?”
“Oh, so you want an actual list?”
Smiling, she says, “A list would be good.”
That smile does it for me, big-time. “Hmm, well… Of course, the fact that you’re single is good news for me.”
“How so?”
My gaze shoots to her, and I find her hiding a smile. “You’re messing with me and enjoying it.”
“I am enjoying it. It’s so rare to see Nico Giordino unsettled. You’re usually very confident.”
“Not around you, I’m not.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m always nervous and off my game with you.”
“Your game… Is that why your sisters and cousin told me to stay away from you?”
I tighten a screw into a train station toy that I would’ve loved as a kid. “I guess.”
“What’s your usual game?”
How can I answer her question without making her think I’m a total asshole? “It’s not a game. At least that’s not the intention.”
“What’s the intention?”
If I tell her my goal has been to remain free of complications and anything that smelled like commitment, I’ll never see her again. Not like this, anyway. Not in her home with her little boy sleeping in the next room. “I’ve just kind of tried to, you know, keep things casual. In the past, that is.”
“Ah, I see.”
I look up to find her watching me closely, a hint of amusement remaining in her gorgeous brown eyes. “Look, I know how that must sound to you, but the truth is… I want to be different with you.”
“Different how?”
“You and your probing questions,” I reply with the hint of a grin.