Copyright © 2013 Mary Hughes
All rights reserved
Chapter 11Eleven
The mouth
open
but her eyes not. Then Cliff withdrew. left
hers. “Hey, Vickie, I’m hungry. And this floor is getting hard.”
Vickie
sighed. “You’re a man of creature comforts, aren’t you Mr. Hawkesclyffe,”?” Grudgingly,
she said, openingopened her
eyes. When she saw his playful grin and naked chest, she
lost her reluctance.
“I
do, indeed.” He chuckled. “And you’re“You’re
one comfortable creature.” He skittered away when she took a swat at him.
She
laughed. “I’ve never seen you move like that.”
“I
thought you said you were hungry,”
she.” She blushed. “That’s what you said,
blushing..”
“Well,
since you eat all my food anyway, I suppose that’s only fair. Just kidding,” she said when his .”
His face
fell pitifully. “
“Kidding.
You only eat most of it.”
The
grin returned. “I guess I do. Okay, then. Let’s go!”
“Let’s
get dressed first, shall we?
They
went to a local 24 hour restaurant. Cliff ordered the biggest meal on the menu, and
Vickie did, too, stating.
Vickie
handed the waiter her menu. “Double it. I’ll have everything he’s having.” When
both men stared at her she said, “The best defense is a good
offense.” They also ordered bread sticks and mozzarella balls as appetizers,
and malted milks with the appetizers. Cliff demolished half the bread sticks
and cheese balls in one minute. Vickie timed it.
She
raised teasing brows. “You’re losing your competitive speed,”
she teased..”
“Can’t
help it, eating with you. Now, maybe if you challenged me more…”—”
“What,
by hiding my food? By making it harder to identify?”
“How
about by distracting me?” He waggled both brows.
Vickie
blushed. Why could she only think of one way of distracting him? “Besides, “I would, but that
only makes you ravenous afterward.” She blushed harder.
“Wait.”
Her jaw slacked, and for a moment, she couldn’t answer. “What?”
“Kids.
You know, children. How many are you going to have?”
“I
know.”
She
blushed again. How did they get back on that
topic? “I mean to raise. Two parents to raise kids. I figure by myself, I could
handle one. Maybe if my spouse likes to work with kids, we could have two or
three.”
“And
a dog.”
“And
a house with a white picket fence. But I’d need the husband first. I don’t
think I’d enjoy taking care of all of that by myself. It’s enough to get themy
dishes done every week.”
“Every
week! You dust muffin. My dishes get done daily.”
“Yeah?
How?”
He
shrugged. “I use paper plates.”
“Ah.”
She looked at him, considering. thought
he had a housekeeper, but maybe Hannah was strictly a cook. But even if then
she’d thought he’d have a maid, or live-in companion. He really was quite
complex. “How many kids do you want?”
“I
guess.” She suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the whole conversation. “It’s
supposed to rain tomorrow,” she said, abruptly changing the topic., you
know.”
He
sighed almost inaudibly. “Cold front moving through, I expect.”
Was
that aimed at her? Luckily, their soup and salad arrived then, and Cliff was
momentarily distracted. When he surfaced, Vickie was ready for him.
“Did
you notice Tess today? She was walking around like she was on cloud nine. Didn’t
hear a word I said.”
“Oh,
yes, I’d mentioned our little talk to John. I expect he asked
her out.”
Spoilsport.
What good was an exciting secret if someone knew it already? “Why didn’t you
tell me?” she complained.
“Sorry.
I figuredthought Tess
would tell you.”
She
stabbed her cherry tomato, irritated. “Tess was about as coherent
as brain‑damaged BASIC,” she said, just a bit irked.
“I thought
being
in love was supposed to make you energetic.”
“Only
for certain things.” Oh, howHow
had she gotten on that topic again?
“Speaking
of which, how about we go to my place after this? Much better showers.”
“Is
the mat any softer?”
He
laughed. “Now brace“Brace
yourself, Vickie. . I have a
real, live bed.”
“I
bet it’s a water bed, you being a handsome bachelor, and all.”
“Nope.
Just a plain old bed. I had to argue forever with Mum just to get upgrade
my little twin to a queen size.”
“I
don’t care what kind of reputation I have, Vicky. I’m not a playboy. Most
women wereare just
interested in this body. Later,
they were interested in or the
money as well. . I don’t
need that. I don’t want that. And I certainly don’t bring
that home.”
“Someone
to love me.”
There
it was again. Only this time, she knew he at least returned her interest, if
not her love. . She opened her mouth to say it. I could be that person.
The waitress zoomed up—and dropped
Cliff’s hot plate in his lap. He jumped
up, astonished. Then he yelped as theHe leaped
to his feet, yelping as scalding gravy seeped through his pants
leg. The waitress, embarrassed, tried to blot the gravy
patted his slacks with a napkin, but to blot
the gravy. Cliff pushed her away. He closed his eyes, then,
moments later said calmly, “everything’sEverything’s
fine. I think we’d.”
“But
sir, your slacks—”
“Please,
don’t trouble yourself. We’d like our check now.”
The
manager, at rushed to
the table by this time,without being called.
He apologized profusely. “Your meal“You and
your wife’s meal is on the house, sir.”
As
Vickie helped a wounded Cliff back to the car (they had taken the red sports
car today) she suddenly realized what the manager had said. Your wife. It had sounded so natural,
she had hardly noticed at the time. ‘Grow up Vickie. It’s not natural unless you have a ring on
your finger.’
She
glanced at her left hand, wondering what a ring would look like there.
“You’ll
have to drive.” He handed her the keys, his lips thinned and clamped together.
She
was immediately concerned. “I thought you were okay!”
“No.
I’m in pain.”
“Oh,
Cliff, we should have gotten that leg in cold water, right away.”
“It’s
all right. We’re close to home. I have some first aid things there. You
remember the way, right?”
She
thought, ‘how could I forget anything do to with you?’
But
she just said, “Of course,” and climbed into the driver’s seat. Cliff eased
himself into the passenger side as Vickie attempted to start the damn beast.
She
flooded the engine, so she had to push the accelerator pedal to the floor. Then
it started, roaring to life so suddenly she pulled her foot immediately off the
accelerator. The engine coughed and died. Cliff muttered something about really
being in pain now, but merely smiled at her when she looked at him. A thin
smile, but she wasn’t going to be picky while she was fighting with this
miserable machine. They would have taken her car, but she had been floating in
the afterglow of…the engine hummed into life.
