12. Marco

12

MARCO

“Hey, man. Are you okay?”

I’d just arrived at work and had exited my truck to find my best friend had done the same. But Cooper looked like he had something weighing heavily on his mind. “Hey, Marco. How’s it going?”

“I’m good. But you look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Is something going on?” I pressed.

Cooper shook his head, letting out a sigh of frustration as we made our way through the parking lot. “It’s… well, it’s Skye. She’s just been feeling so lousy with this pregnancy. And she’s been sick for the better part of the day, every day, over the last week.”

“That’s got to suck, Coop. I can’t imagine what it’s like to see her go through that.”

“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “The worst part about all of it is that there’s nothing I can do to fix this for her. The doctor said it’s normal, and within a few weeks, it should subside. But it’s the worst thing I’ve ever had to witness. I feel so helpless.”

I still couldn’t believe my best friend was going to be a dad later this year. If I sat back and thought about it, the whole thing was crazy. Cooper went from not even being interested in finding anyone to even date to suddenly being married and months away from having a son or daughter.

“I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help.”

“You are,” he insisted. “That you’ve taken the lead on the villas has lightened my load tremendously. With all the maintenance the machines in the chocolate factory have required recently, it’s been a relief to know I don’t have to worry about the villas, too.”

Nodding, I confirmed, “Yeah, I guess it’s all under control. Liam and the handful of other guys I have working over there with me have been putting in a lot of work, and they’re doing a phenomenal job.”

We made it to the spot where Cooper and I were going to have to go in separate directions to get our days started. So, we stopped there, and he said, “I’ve heard they’re looking great, especially now that the tile has come in. I’m hoping to stop in either today or tomorrow to check them out.”

I offered a nod of understanding in return. “Yeah, if you get a chance, you should stop over. Though, I’ll say that I won’t blame you if you can’t make it. If I were you, I’d want to rush home after work to be with Skye. How’s she managing with the bookstore?”

“I’m so glad she hired people a few years ago. Her staff has really been helping her out and picking up the slack, so she’s been lucky there.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. I should probably get over the factory, so I can be done at a reasonable time today and get back home to help her. I’ll catch up with you later, Marco.”

“Sounds good. Take it easy, Coop.”

With that, the two of us turned and walked off in separate directions—Cooper to the factory, and me to the hotel. The moment I stepped inside the lobby, my eyes went toward the registration desk and scanned it.

It was early.

And while there was staff on hand, Ivy hadn’t arrived yet. Then again, her schedule wasn’t exactly a normal nine to five, considering she had evenings or weekends that she worked if there was some event happening in the hotel.

Though it was rare for me to see Ivy when I arrived here in the mornings, I found I was growing more and more needy when it came to her. Until recently, I’d been able to walk through the hotel or attend a Westwood celebration without experiencing this feeling. But now, she was all I seemed capable of thinking about. Ivy was constantly on my mind, and the more time we’d spent with one another, the more I wanted to be around her.

Sometimes, seeing her as I passed through the hotel—even if she was busy with a guest and couldn’t talk—was just enough to ease that feeling, that ache, in the center of my chest.

Today, that wouldn’t be the case. So, I’d spend my morning working hard and getting things accomplished despite the heaviness that overwhelmed me. And in a few hours, I’d head out for lunch in hopes of catching a glimpse of her and lifting that unbearable weight off my shoulders.

On the bright side, there was plenty to keep me busy. We’d been pushing hard to get the villas completed, and it was our hope they’d be done within the next few weeks, if we could continue to work at the pace we had been.

I’d gotten right down to it, and while I wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed, I knew it had to have been a couple of hours after I’d arrived when the door to the villa where I’d been working opened and I heard that sweet voice. “Knock, knock.”

In an instant, I felt lighter, happier. A thrill moved through me, my hands suddenly itching to do something, touch something.

I turned toward the sound of her voice, and the second my eyes landed on her, warmth spread through my body. All the anxiousness I’d felt when I hadn’t seen her this morning was gone, replaced by overwhelming contentment.

As usual, she looked fantastic. Today, she was wearing a pair of slim-fitting charcoal gray suit pants with a cream-colored sweater that landed right at her waist and a pair of black pumps on her feet. What I would have given to ask her to turn around for me. No doubt those pants were hugging her impeccable ass perfectly.

I smiled at her. “Hey, you.”

She beamed back at me. “Hey.”

It was now the end of the week, days since we’d gone to that woodcarving class together. And while we’d had a few quick chats in the lobby over the days that followed, this was the first time we were alone like this.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

Ivy nodded. “Yes, I just wanted to come out and check on the progress of the villas. I know the tiles arrived this week, so I wanted to see if they looked good. I didn’t know if you got around to installing them, though.”

It was one of the first things I’d done as soon as the tiles arrived. “I did,” I confirmed. “I finished the ones in this villa last night before I left.”

She bit her lip excitedly. “Would you mind if I go take a peek?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. In fact, I could use a five-minute break. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Waving my hand in front of me, I urged Ivy to walk ahead of me toward the bathroom. And while it hadn’t been my intention, my earlier suspicions had been confirmed. Ivy’s pants did wonders for her ass. My hands balled into fists at my sides as I swallowed down the groan and fought the urge to pull her into my arms.

We made it to the bathroom, and Ivy didn’t hesitate to share her thoughts. “Wow, Marco. This is beautiful.”

“Yeah, it really does look nice. I think you selected an excellent pattern.”

Her eyes shot to mine. “I wasn’t necessarily talking about the pattern itself; although, I will admit it’s pretty. I just meant that you did an incredible job with all the work. This looks stunning. I could never do this.”

“Well, I might be handy, but I could never do what you do,” I reasoned. “The number of details you must have running through your mind at any given time would send me into a panic. The normal hotel operations would be enough for me. You’ve got that, managing the staff, and prepping for events as well. I’m sure there’s more that I’m missing. Plus, despite all of that, I’m not entirely sure I believe you couldn’t ever do this. I’ve seen you at work.”

She swept her hand out in front of her, indicating the bathroom. “The job I do at the hotel doesn’t equip me with the skills to tackle something like this. I promise if anyone was ever foolish enough to entrust me with a project like this, it would fall apart before the first guest could walk through the front door.”

Laughter spilled out of me. “Maybe not right away. But I was referring to your other skills, not the ones you use to run that hotel.”

Ivy shot me a confused look. “What skills?”

My lips twitched. “I’ve seen the determination you have when it comes to woodcarving. Sure, you’re not where you might want to be with that, but I have faith in your ability to get to a point where you can be great at it. In fact, I think it’s purely your desire to acquire new skills all the time that would lead you to be successful.”

“Who said I had a desire to acquire new skills?”

I sent a dubious look her way. “Uh, well, for the last year, you’ve been taking all sorts of classes, haven’t you? All year long, at every gathering I was a part of with your family, I heard about a new thing you were trying out. Woodcarving just happens to be the most recent.”

Ivy didn’t respond. She merely stared at me with questions swirling in her gaze.

When she made no move to ask me those questions, I went on. “Honestly, after joining you on Monday for that class, I can’t say I don’t get it.”

“Get what?”

I shrugged. “I never really thought about it too much until after that class, but you were always trying something new. I can recall you talking about pottery, musical instruments, and calligraphy. If you had asked me why I thought you were taking those classes before Monday, I wouldn’t have come up with a good answer. Now, I know differently.”

“And? What is it you know?”

My eyes roamed over her face, wondering once more why I’d never noticed her before the way I noticed her now. Years. God, there were whole years I’d spent not realizing what had been right in front of me this whole time. I hated to think about all the time I’d wasted.

“That you’re the kind of woman who enjoys learning new things, and taking these classes was fulfilling for you.”

I barely got the words out when Ivy blurted, “I did not take the classes to learn new things.”

I jerked back, surprised by this news she’d just shared. “What?”

As soon as I pressed her to explain, Ivy seemed to realize what she’d said, and I was certain I saw regret wash over her expression. She shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing, that was stupid.”

Did she think I could just pretend she hadn’t said what she did? “Why else would you take all of those classes if you weren’t trying to learn new things?”

She closed her eyes and turned her head to the side. The reaction had caught me by surprise. What had I missed? It couldn’t have just been me. I had to believe that everyone else, especially those in her family, thought she was taking those classes for the same reason that I had believed was the case. How could she say now that it had nothing to do with wanting to learn new things? What other reasons could she have had?

“Ivy?” I called.

Her shoulders fell, and she let out a sigh as her eyes met mine again. “Yeah?”

“Tell me what’s going on,” I urged gently.

“It’s embarrassing.”

Even if I’d had a week to consider the possibilities, I was convinced I wouldn’t have been able to come up with a single thing that Ivy, or anyone else for that matter, could have to be embarrassed about simply for taking some classes.

“Embarrassing?” I repeated.

“Yes.”

“How is that possible? You said you weren’t taking the classes purely to learn new things, right?”

She dipped her chin. “Yes.”

“So, tell me what prompted you to sign up for all these classes.”

Frustration washed over her. “It was the only way I could think of to meet someone.”

“Meet someone?”

She swallowed hard, blinking her eyes rapidly to stave off the tears. As much as I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and tell her she had nothing to be upset about, especially not when it came to me, I desperately wanted to understand what was going on.

“Do you know what it’s like to want something so bad and feel like you’re never going to get it?” she asked.

At that moment, I knew how badly I wanted her. And while I hadn’t exactly expressed those feelings to her, I didn’t think it was out of the realm of possibilities at some point. “Not particularly. Are you telling me that you do?”

“For years now, I’ve sat back and watched my older brothers fall in love and get married. Cooper is going to be a dad soon, for crying out loud. And I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I’m so happy for them. I love them and their wives. But I want that, too.”

“You’ll get it,” I assured her, feeling something tighten in my chest.

Her brows shot up. “Yeah? You think so? How would that happen when I can’t even get someone to ask me out on a date? It’s been years, Marco, whole years since someone has asked me out to dinner because they were interested in getting to know me better. I have this family and my friends, but I’ve never felt so alone. Not like I have for the last couple of years.”

As the burn started in my gut, Ivy continued. “That’s why I started taking classes. I was trying to put myself out there, trying to be in places where I could meet new people. But I realized the classes I was taking didn’t have a lot of men in them. So, that’s why I signed up for the woodcarving class. And that’s why I wound up being assaulted. Because I’ve been so desperate to find someone, anyone , who might think I’m worth getting to know.”

My throat had clogged, my chest now painfully tight.

I felt like such an idiot.

“I had no idea,” I admitted.

“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly the sort of thing I go around announcing to the world,” she returned, an edge of humiliation in her tone. “Like I said, the amount of effort I’d put in over the last year is embarrassing, and it didn’t even work like I had hoped.”

How had I not known this?

As much as I’d been around Ivy over the years, I hadn’t realized this was how she’d been feeling. Sure, I guess I hadn’t seen any boyfriends coming around, but I didn’t think that meant she hadn’t gone on any dates.

Or, perhaps, I hadn’t been thinking about it at all.

If one thing had become painfully clear to me ever since I’d spent that night in the hotel room with Ivy, it was that I hadn’t been paying nearly enough attention to her. If I had, it was possible Ivy and I might have already been together.

The regret I felt consumed me.

Ivy had always shown the world this tough woman, one who didn’t take crap from anyone and was always on top of getting things done. But beneath that facade, Ivy was such a sweet, beautiful woman just looking for love. Maybe that was why she’d poured so much effort and energy into the other persona—she needed some kind of control over some aspect of her life, especially when she’d been trying so hard to find the one thing she’d wanted most.

It killed me to think of all she’d been doing to alleviate the longing and loneliness she felt, never finding what she was looking for in the process. Of course, now that I was here with her, there was a part of me that was relieved it hadn’t happened for her, and at least I could do something about it now.

I took in a deep breath and was about to give Ivy what she wanted by asking her on a date, when the door to the villa opened, and our attention was pulled in that direction.

A moment later, Liam appeared at the end of the hall. He seemed surprised to see Ivy and me standing there. “Oh, hey. I didn’t realize you were here, Ivy.”

Despite how upset she’d been only moments before, Ivy effortlessly moved in her brother’s direction and responded. “Yeah, I came out to check on the tiles. Marco had asked for my help in selecting a new pattern, and I knew they came in this week. I wanted to see how they looked.”

Understanding dawned on his face, his eyes briefly sliding to mine. He must have been recalling the meeting where we’d all agreed to keep an eye on Ivy. It was likely Liam assumed I’d done that very thing just to check on his sister. I wonder how he’d feel if he knew there was more to it than that for me.

“Ah, okay. And what’s the verdict? Do you like them?”

She grinned, the sight of it nearly knocking me on my ass. “I think they look fantastic. The entire villa does. You guys are all doing an excellent job.”

I was suddenly aware of why Ava had gone to Tate with her concerns. She knew Ivy better than anyone, and she recognized what others couldn’t, because Ivy was an expert at hiding how she really felt. She’d done it for more than a year when it came to the loneliness she felt in her personal life. And she’d done it just now.

Liam didn’t seem to pick up on anything being out of the ordinary, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. If I were him, I’d have been just as blind to it.

“Well, Marco’s been doing a heck of a job leading this project. We’re all just doing our best to get them done on time. I’m glad you like how they’re turning out.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked him, wondering what had prompted his visit.

He nodded. “Yeah. Nothing major, but I did have an issue in the villa next door that I wanted to get your input on, if you have a minute.”

Before I could respond, Ivy moved toward the door and declared, “Okay, well, that’s my cue. I’m heading back into the hotel. You two enjoy yourself.”

“Later, Ivy.”

“See you, Liam.” Her eyes shifted to me. “Later, Marco.”

I lifted my chin in her direction, but she was gone before I could even say a word.