Page 70 of Checkmate
He laughed with her, though it sounded hollow to his ears. The thing was, he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to be joking or not.
“You sure you don’t want me to come in with you?”
They sat outside Alex’s house, staring up at the window where he was watching the car with a thunderous expression.
“No, it’s fine,” Erica insisted. “I’ll be fine.”
“And you’ll call me if you’re not?”
“You’re on speed dial,” she said with a reassuring squeeze of his arm. “Don’t worry so much, Marcus. It’s you he wants to kill, not me.”
She smirked up at him before leaning in and kissing his cheek. “Thank you for the past few days. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
He pulled her in for a hug, his arms secure around her as he cherished the feel of her against him.
Oh, this was not good.
This was dangerous fucking territory. He liked this woman. Far too much. Way more than he was supposed to.
He risked a glance at the upstairs window, frowning as he noticed Alex missing. Releasing Erica, he cleared his throat to cover his reluctance.
“He’s gone,” he murmured, pushing his hair back from his face. “No doubt coming down here to kick my ass.”
“No doubt.” She sighed. “Okay, I’m gonna head in. I don’t want him storming out here.”
“Promise you’ll call?”
“Promise. I have no interest in staying with him when he’s in a good mood. I won’t put up with a shit one.”
“Okay,” he said, not sure what else he could say. He wanted her to leave with him so he could take her away from everything and everyone who wanted to hurt her.
All he could do was say goodbye and watch her walk back into the home she shared with another man.
He didn’t think it would bother him as much as it did.
“I’ll see you in a couple of days, yeah?”
“Absolutely,” she agreed. “I already can’t wait.” Blowing him one more kiss, she left the car, slinging her overnight bag over her shoulder. He watched from the car as she walked up the drive and hesitated at the door.
She turned to wave to him and Marcus clutched the bottom of his seat to keep himself in place. Everything inside him was telling him to go to her and stop her from going inside that house.
Stop her from going to Alex.
He didn’t start the car until long after she walked into the house, giving her every opportunity to come back to him.
Eventually, he conceded and pulled out onto the street, driving towards a home that didn’t feel like home anymore.
They may have spent most of the time working, but he couldn’t remember the last time he had so much fun with another person with clothes on.
Erica made him laugh effortlessly, even in the most serious of moments. She had an infectious personality, and he couldn’t help but be in a good mood around her.
“Ah, you’re a fool, Marcus Crowe,” he muttered into the silence. “A damn fool.”
A fool he was.
He wouldn’t see Erica again until after the weekend when they had a meeting at City Hall for new permits.
Was he really that starved of affection that he was clinging to the first woman that crossed his path?
