Page 88 of The Spare
He stood straight up and crossed his arms. There was a look of indecision before the corner of his mouth tipped up. “If you want information, I can think of much easier ways for you to get it out of me.”
I didn’t say anything. Today, the flirting didn’t make me delirious. It made me suspicious. I left the coffee on the counter and turned down the hallway. I didn’t want to fight, and I knew if I stood there and let the frustration build, we would.
There was a certain amount of built-in trust when it came to Marcus. He wouldn’t do anything to ruin his relationship with Henry. While I hated the idea that the only thing that kept him from being truly deceitful was answering to my brother, it provided some cover. I only wished I was the reason.
“Can I show you something?” his voice called from the kitchen. I stopped for a moment and turned around, taking a few steps back.
“Sure,” I said half-heartedly.
I walked over and stood in front of his laptop. He put his arms along either side of me and leaned forward. His chin dropped to my shoulder.
The screen was populated with a contract, a Swiss deed written in French.It wasn’t what he was looking at when I walked by, but I tried not to overthink it.
It took me a lot longer than Marcus to translate French. After a minute, I realized what I was reading.
“You bought a house?” I asked. I inhaled sharply when I scrolled down to see both of our names were on the deed. “You bought us a house? In Switzerland?”
He didn’t say anything as his fingers moved along the trackpad and opened up another screen. Pictures of a ski chalet in Zermatt.
“You don’t need to buy me ski chalets, Marcus.” I pressed a kiss on his chin. It was sweet, but only made me feel worse. The gift seemed generic, especially from the man who bought me the most thoughtful gifts I’d ever received. “My real estate holdings are more than sufficient.”
His laugh was warm and heavy, a weighted blanket that smothered my insecurities, even if temporarily. “Trust me, Counselor, I know you don’t need anyone to sweep you off your feet with extravagant gifts. You don’t want a Prince Charming. And you don’t need a knight in shining armor.”
I turned back to the screen. “Then what are you?”
“Your future.” His breath skittered along my collarbone. “And this is a small part of it.”
I knew our relationship was serious, but the only future I ever imagined Marcus planning was the one for Sutton Industries. Occasionally he would say something that made me believe he was thinking about one we had together, but I was always too scared to talk about it. Too scared of the possibility that I'd be an afterthought.
My knees trembled, and I leaned back into him. “What does the rest of the future look like?”
I kept my eyes on the screen. My unsteady fingers scrolled down the page as I glanced at the details of the ski chalet.
“Winters spending some time skiing in Zermatt because you love it there. And you love it there because you used to visit Henry when he went to boarding school.”
Henry hated his time there. My grandmother was dead set against sending him but was overruled by the rest of the family. So, she would take me to visit him all the time. The three of us would spend time along Lake Geneva in the spring, and in the winter we’d go to Zermatt.She would bring books in Hindi along to make sure neither of us forgot how to read or write it.
I was sure it came up at some point over all the years I’d known him, but how did he remember?
“Summers in East Hampton. In that blue Cape Cod style house next to your family’s house in Lily Pond. The one you always admire whenever you’re there,” he said. “We can take the jet to Goa because you love Vindalho and the beaches. But you hate swimming in the actual ocean. Stop in Singapore to see Penelope because you’re going to miss her whenever she decides to move back.”
His arms wrapped around my waist and paused. A long, drawn out exhale followed, warming my neck with delightful sparks.
“Then, later, the kids will go to school in Manhattan. I worry about kids who go away to boarding school because…well you’ve met Henry.”
I laughed.
“Did I miss anything?” he whispered.
My words got caught in my throat. A life, built entirely with me in mind. Us in mind.The lingering fear that I wasn’t a priority was finally silenced.
“Yeah.” I turned and ran my hands up his chest and sucked in a deep, shaky breath. “What doyouwant?”
“I already have what I want.”
I paused. I couldn’t place the worry, but it remained. “Is everything okay?”
He nodded. His hand moved from my waist to cup my cheeks. “I’m sorry for how I scheduled the Zurich trip.”
