"Nothing." She shrugs a shoulder and ventures inside without being asked, her eyes moving over everything with interest. "I'm bored."

"Bored?" I repeat. "And what would you like me to do about it?"

"Want to play a game?" she asks.

I stare at her, incredulous. "I have to take care of your sister."

"She's sleeping," she says. "How about Tic Tac Toe or Hangman?”

When I don’t respond, she sighs.

"Fine. MASH then."

"I don't even know what that is," I answer dryly.

She makes herself at home, settling into the seat across from me, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen from my desk. "I'll show you. It's easy."

Somehow, she ropes me into answering a bunch of inane questions, which she follows up by marking lines into the paper until I tell her to stop. I watch her as she proceeds to count, scratching off items one by one until she's circled a word in each column.

"Okay, you're going to live in a mansion, and you're married to my sister, obviously. You drive an Aston Martin, and you're a math geek for your job. You'll have five kids and no pets."

"This is the dumbest game I've ever seen," I tell her. "What's the point of it?"

She laughs and rolls her eyes. "Um, duh. It's just for fun. Do you know how to have fun?"

"Clearly, I do not."

"Okay, now my turn." She slides the paper toward me, and I consider telling her this is ridiculous. But when I notice how at ease she seems to be around me now, it makes my chest feel strange.

"One game," I say firmly. "And don't expect me to know who Damon Bieber is."

"Those are two different guys." She laughs. "God, you are so out of touch. Okay, let's do this. Put down mansion in every column for me. Pink, purple, blue, and red."

"Isn't that cheating?" I arch a brow. “I had a shack and a normal house.”

"Nah, not really. It’s all pretend, so just go with it."

I suspect she's not being completely truthful, but I do as she asks. And somehow, over the next ten minutes, I end up describing her imaginary future life full of cats and dogs and some vampire named Salvatore for a husband in their pink heart-shaped mansion. I'm too uneasy to admit how strange this is, talking to a child as if I know anything about dealing with them. It isn't until Marco finds us there and he heaves out a strangled laugh at the spectacle before him that I realize it's not just me. I really am unequipped to deal with small humans, and it shows.

"Hey, boss." He wipes the smirk from his face as he steps inside. "Sorry to interrupt. I was just going to give you an update for the night like you asked."