Page 34 of Whatever You Need

“Have you seen the new movie yet?”

Nicky started moving his hand animatedly. “I’ve seen everything. My parents are taking me and my sister to Disney. We are going to Galaxy’s Edge and my sister wants to go on the new Frozen ride.”

“Wow, that sounds like fun.”

“My dad is going to help me build my own lightsaber. Maybe you could come with me? We are going to stay in a hotel with a swimming pool and me and Isabella are going to have our own room. You can even sleep in my bed with me.”

Oh my God. I brought my hand up to my heart. This kid was so adorable.

“Easy there, my little Casanova.” Marco laughed while running his hands through his nephew’s wavy hair. “Don’t go trying to steal my girl.”

His girl? Even though this was pretend, I really liked the sound of that.

“Why don’t go you find your sister and tell her that I have someone I want her to meet.” Nicky started to run away but Marco stopped him. “Did your mom make her chocolate-pistachio biscotti?”

“Yeah, but she told me not to tell you where they are because you’ll eat them all.”

Marco feigned shocked while I stood off to the side watching this adorable exchange. He leaned in and whispered something in his nephew’s ear before he took off down the hall.

“Come on.” He reached for my hand. “It’s showtime.”

Right. That’s what I was here for, so he wouldn’t have to face his cousin and his ex-girlfriend alone. Not because I was actually his “girl.”

After introducing me to a few cousins, aunts and uncles, we settled into the comfortable loveseat in the main family room. I noticed that Marco’s mom and his aunts stayed busy in the kitchen while everyone else sat around drinking and socializing. The tables were littered with veggie trays, chips and dips, and every kind of homemade dessert you could imagine.

“So, how did you guys meet?” his cousin Peter asked while passing around pictures of his granddaughter who lived in Tampa with his son and daughter-in-law. Peter was a corrections officer at a local penitentiary, and I noticed that he and Marco liked to sit around and talk shop.

Marco grinned in amusement. “I guess you could say I was at the right place at the wrong time.”

His sister-in-law, Nadine’s, forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What does that mean?”

I shifted in my seat. Talk about an awkward moment.

“We were stranded together in the middle of a snowstorm.” He stroked his thumb over my palm gently. I’d been so distracted that I hadn’t realized that he had kept his hand over my knee the entire time. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t been able to keep his hands off of me since he picked me up. “We bonded over drinks and nachos.” Those brown playful eyes came back to me again. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss him for teasing me or strangle him. Oh, who was I kidding? It was the former.

“That’s so sweet,” Nadine gushed like she was clearly happy for him. He told me that his family was going to make a big deal out of him bringing someone home. I’m sure they were probably getting all kinds of crazy ideas about me. I felt guilty for tricking these nice people into thinking we were something more. What was even scarier was that I was wishing that we actually were.

“You’ll have to excuse us for being so nosy,” his brother, Matteo cut in. “We’re just curious about the woman who caught Marco’s eye.” He winked and sipped his wine. “Speaking of eye, I need to stop by and look at the renovations.” He turned his focus back to me. “What do you think, Amelia? How does everything look so far?”

I smiled, having no clue what the hell he was talking about. “I think it looks great.”

“That’s an interesting way of putting it. When I was there the other day, it didn’t look much different from when he first started. As a matter of fact, you were still framing the room. How much progress have you made, bro?” He looked between us suspiciously.

Marco’s hand spread out along my knee, giving it a tight squeeze. “Great. The drywall is up and sanded down, just needs some primer and paint.”

“I wish you would have let me send a crew over to at least do the rough work,” his uncle Frank added as he sipped his beer. “You know I wouldn’t charge you a cent.”

“I told you, Uncle Frank, I won’t let your guys do the work for free and you refused to accept my money. Don’t forget, before you bought my dad’s business, I worked there every summer during high school. I’m perfectly capable of hanging a few sheets of drywall and nailing a few boards. Now if you want to come over and have a beer with me when it’s finished, I’d loved to have the company.”

Frank clinked his drink with Marco’s. “Sounds good, just make sure it’s on a Sunday, you know I save Friday and Saturday nights for the ladies.”

Everyone around us laughed and Marco bumped my arm and whispered in my ear, “Uncle Frank is a serial dater.”

I looked at his uncle who had to be in his mid-fifties; he was handsome and certainly didn’t act his age. He was dressed in a Harley Davidson long-sleeve Henley, with a pair of faded jeans with a hole in the knee. He had the bad boy vibe with a baby face written all over him. Marco’s family was an interesting bunch for sure, and I was surprised by how much I found myself enjoying their company.

Matteo tilted his head to the side; he had been watching me and Marco very closely. “So, Amelia, what color did my brother end up going with?”

My back went rigid. I felt Marco’s stare out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t dare look at him because it would be too obvious. My heart starting racing and palms started to sweat. I didn’t have time to think this through, so I blurted out the first color I could think of. “Dark blue.”

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