Chapter 10

Buffy stared at Marco for a minute. "Jesus Christ, Marco! You scared me out of 10 years growth! What the hell are you doing in my house?"

"Waiting up for you."

"Smartass. Seriously, what are you doing here? Julian is at Mom's."

"Came to see how your date went."

"My date is none of your business," she said as she pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

"Hey, I have the right to know if he treated you okay. Otherwise he has me to answer to."

"He treated me fine. The Cubs won. We went for pie and coffee afterward. He was a total gentleman and walked me to the car. And that is all you're going to get."

"Fair enough. Another date?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

Buffy sighed. "Marco, would you please mind your own business? How would you like it if I drilled you on every date you go on?"

"But that's different. I'm supposed to date a lot. You're not."

"My dating life is my business. Not yours." She got up from the table and walked over to the fridge. She pulled out the iced tea pitcher and poured herself a glass.

"Ok, fair enough. But if he is treating you like crap, you'd better let me know."

"I don't think that's in his DNA, Marco."

As he made her way over to her seat, her phone buzzed. Immediately, Marco reached over and picked it up, staring at the number. "It's Antonio," he announced as he unlocked the phone. "Hey, Antonio, what's up?"

"Marco, did I misdial? I was trying to reach Buffy," came Antonio's voice.

"No, you didn't misdial. She's right here."

Buffy reached out and snatched her phone out of his hand. "Give me that, you nosy son of a bitch." She left the kitchen and went out the back door, closing it firmly behind her. "Hi," she said into the phone. "Sorry about that. Marco grabbed my phone."

Antonio laughed. "I heard you calling him something very unladylike."

"I came home and found him sitting at my kitchen table. He wanted to know all of the details of tonight."

"So what did you tell him?"

"That the Cubs won."

Antonio laughed again. "You know he's only doing it because he loves you."

"Yes, but I don't grill him like a cheeseburger after every date he goes on."

"You do that and you won't have time to do anything else."

"True," she agreed. "So what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to call and see that you got home okay. And to let you know that I had a good time tonight."

"I did get home fine, and I had a good time too."

"I'd like to see you again."

"I'd like that," she said, surprising herself. She hadn't dated much since Julian was born because she believed she should concentrate on raising him. Since he was getting older, she'd changed her mind, but she had still made excuses not to date.

"Ok, I'll call you later and we can set something up."

"Sounds good."

"Talk soon," he said as he disconnected.

She hung up the phone and stepped back inside.