Page 64 of Marcus

“When you just … stare at me,” she said, reaching up to cup the side of his cheek with her palm. The warmth of her skin soaked into his, and he was more caught up in that feeling than anything else at the moment. “Your eyes soften, you just smile, and I wonder what’s going on in your head when you do it.”

“You see all that when I’m staring at you, hmm?”

“Yes.”

Marcus nodded. “When I stare at you …”

Cella’s gaze stayed locked on his, and Marcus winked the longer she stayed quiet. Because frankly, she had answered her own question, and he didn’t think she really needed for him to add his own explanation. Not when it was obvious.

He looked that way when he stared at her because it was her.

And she was amazing.

Cella let loose a quiet sigh, her gaze breaking away from his as her throat flexed with a swallow. Her attention went to the girl that was still snoring lightly away on Marcus’s shoulder, and her smile grew a bit wider. “She must be getting heavy.”

“Not really.”

“She doesn’t usually sleep so hard—I think today really tired her out.”

“Good. And she had fun, so that’s what matters.”

“Too much fun, maybe,” Cella replied, snorting under her breath.

“No such thing as too much fun, Cella.”

“Have you never seen a toddler that’s had just too much? Too much sugar, or stimulation … whatever? They’re like—”

“Little monsters on steroids, yes I know. I have nieces and nephews, one of which is my godson who I take on the weekends pretty regularly to give his mother and father a break. He was named after me, but we mostly just call him Marc.”

“Right, I met them at the dinner party.”

Marcus grinned. “Mmhmm, so I do know. I just think they’re only kids once. And they’re little, so they don’t understand. Is it really their fault if the adults around them indulge them too much? Can they be blamed, then?”

“The kids must love you, huh?”

“Well …”

Basically, yeah.

Cella’s gaze drifted back to her daughter as she said, “You know, she’s not forgotten at all that you promised to take her to a maple syrup farm. In fact, she mentions it at least once a day.”

“I’ll take her. We have a farm in Eastern Ontario that is actually open to the public, so people can do tours and whatnot. We’re not in the season right now, won’t be for a while, but they have a small staff that keeps certain things open for tourism in the summer. She can still see the basics, even if she won’t be able to tap a tree and see it all from start to finish. I’m working on it. And then when we are in the maple season, I’ll take her out again, so she can do everything that she wants.”

Cella cleared her throat, quieting.

Marcus didn’t miss it. “Did I say something wrong?”

“When is the season?”

“Beginning of the year.”

“It’s summer now.”

“And?” he asked.

Cella looked his way. “I just … you expect we’re going to be around then?”

Oh.