Chapter Fourteen
Reasons to date Rio:
1.
His MacGyver hands
2.
Laughs at my jokes
3.
Likes me better—period
4.
His car
Reasons to date Barry:
I got up bright and early the next morning at ten o’clock. It was a perfect morning. No alarm clocks going off, no rabid sister making a racket in the kitchen.
Hopping out of bed, I took a luxuriously hot shower and got dressed in what I thought was an outfit that would fit anything Rio had planned for today: jeans, a sporty tank top, and my funky red tennis shoes. I tossed a sweatshirt on the bed so I’d be ready to go and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. Yeah, I did all that before I had coffee. Amazing what you can do when you’re motivated.
I expected to find Daphne mixing her vile beverage, but there wasn’t any sign of her in the kitchen, not even a washed cup. Odd. I looked toward her room. The door was still closed. Maybe she hadn’t gotten up yet? Was that possible? She was always up at dawn.
I shrugged and set a pot on the stove to heat for coffee. I’d measured the beans and started grinding them when the office door slammed open.
“What are you
doing
?”
I whirled around, relaxing when I saw it was just Daphne.
A demonic looking Daphne. Her hair was matted to one side of her head but stuck up in a messy clump on the other. She still had on her plain white bra and wool pants, wrinkled beyond acceptable Daphne standards. But it was the crazy look in her bloodshot eyes that really inspired fear.
She looked a little too unstable to trust her at my back, so I kept an eye on her. “How’s it going?”
She growled—really. I almost dropped the grinder I was so shocked. I’d never heard her make a sound like that. Ever.
My good mood must have made me sympathetic because I said, “Hungover, huh? I’m making coffee.”
She growled again, stomped into the kitchen, and pulled out a new container of instant coffee, all the while glaring at me.
I shrugged. Hey, I tried. I readied my press pot, poured in the water, and leaned against the counter to watch my sister fix the crap she called coffee. I didn’t grin, though I wanted to. Especially when she opened every cabinet looking for the mugs and still couldn’t find them.
Finally, I couldn’t help myself. I pointed to the cupboard to the right of the sink. “In there.”
She scowled daggers at me and pulled the cabinet door so forcefully it banged open and instantly shut again. She muttered something—Daphne never cursed so I’m sure she didn’t say what I thought she did—and opened it again, this time managing to actually get the mug out.
I watched in morbid fascination as she made her coffee, wondering how someone so smart could drink Folgers. Shudder. “You have any plans today?”
She barely glanced at me before she stalked into the living room and huddled on the couch.
I followed and plopped down on the other side of the couch. “I take it you feel less than optimal this morning.”
“Philomena,” she barked.
I raised my brows.
“Shut. Up.”
I pursed my lips and considered her. “Are you saying you don’t feel like the attention? Because last night you sure wanted some.”
She narrowed her usually lovely eyes that, this morning, looked rusted over.
“Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you. It’s not like anyone poured those Sexual Trances down your throat.”
She moaned softly and buried her face in a pillow.
Oh, bother. With a huff, I got up and went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I poured four Advil onto my palm and went back to Daphne, who hadn’t moved an inch. “Here.”
When she didn’t look up, I shook my hand in front of her. At the rattling, she peeked. I held out my open palm and, when it registered what I offered, she pounced.
I sat down again, sipping my coffee and studying her. Her head was still lowered, but the expression on her face was more one of waiting, like she was counting the seconds till the ibuprofen kicked in.
I shook my head. “You’d think you would have learned in college.”
“When?” She tilted her head enough to scowl at me. “When I was sixteen and a senior in college? Because I know the other seniors really wanted to hang out with a teenager. Or when I was studying twenty hours a day?”
She had a point. I’d never thought of it that way. “Is that what this is all about?”
Daphne moaned. “Mena, just leave me alone.”
“Something’s wrong with you. You come here and don’t want to tell Mom and Dad. You want to go out. You drink exotic drinks.
You dance on a bar
.” I frowned. “Are you terminal?”
“SHUT UP.”
I opened my mouth to ask her more questions, but she got up (slowly, probably because of her head), threw the pillow at me (it missed—she has abysmal aim), and stormed off to her room (closing the door softly, once again probably in deference of her head).
Interesting.
I scrounged around till I found my cell phone and called Matt.
“Hello?” he asked on the fourth ring.
“Do you think Daphne’s dying?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because she’s acting weird.”
“If that were the precursor to death, I could argue that you’re a breath away.”
“Ha, ha. You’re so funny.”
“Want to come over today? I was thinking of rebuilding a server I got from work. You can bring over a couple of Philly cheesesteaks.”
Of course this was about his stomach. “Sorry. I’ve got plans.”
“What kind of plans?”
“The kind that are none of your business.” I didn’t want him to know I was going out with Rio. Matt didn’t like the guys I went out with. Plus I really had no clue what we were doing. Rio was very mysterious about it.
He audibly bristled. “What the hell do you mean, it’s none of my business?”
I hummed. It’s unholy, the pleasure I get from harassing my loved ones.
“If you don’t want me to know your plans, you either don’t know what you’re doing—”
Matt knew me so well.
“—or you’re afraid I’m going to disapprove.” He paused. “Do I need to be close to a phone in case they only allow you one call?”
I laughed. “I’m not doing anything illegal. At least, not that I know of, though the day is young and you never know.”
“Do your plans have to do with Barrington?”
I rubbed my nose, thinking. Originally, going out with Rio would have had a lot to do with Barry. But this time Barry wasn’t aware we were going out, and Barry wouldn’t be there to see Rio and me interacting.
Also, there was the matter of how Rio played me like a violin last night. He’d had every atom in my body quivering for a kiss, his kiss. And they were still reverberating. I hadn’t thought of Barry once since Rio put his hands on me.
So I concluded, “No. It doesn’t have anything to do with Barry.” It didn’t. It had everything to do with dying to know if Rio tasted as scrumptious as I thought.
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
I frowned. “It’s not like I can lie to you.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t being entirely truthful.”
“Fine.” I huffed. “If you must know, I’m going out with Rio.”
A pause. “Who’s Rio?”
“A guy I met.”
“And this has nothing to do with Barrington?”
I hesitated. “No.”
“You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not.”
Disbelieving silence.
“Okay, maybe in the beginning seeing Rio had a little to do with Barry—”
“Who is Rio?”
“A boxing instructor.”
“A boxing instructor,” Matt repeated. “How did you meet a boxing instructor?”
I made a face.
“Because, correct me if I’m wrong, but the only person you know who takes boxing is Barrington.”
“Fine! God. Interrogate me, why don’t you?” Scotland Yard needed to recruit him. “He’s Barry’s instructor, but I’m not going out with him because of Barry.”
Matt snorted.
“I’m not.”
“You’re lying again, Doc.”
I growled. “Okay, maybe I started seeing him because of Barry, but that’s not why I’m going out with him now.”
“You have absolutely no ulterior motives?”
“Um. No.”
He said nothing.
“All right already! There’s his car, but that’s only secondary.” Mostly.
“What kind of car does he have?”
“A ’67 Shelby Mustang.” I heaved a lusty sigh. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
“You’re so pathetic.” But there was a smile in his voice. “Will you have time for me tomorrow?”
“Want to do pizza and a movie tomorrow night?”
“Yeah. About seven? You rent the movie, I’ll bring the pizza.”
“You’re coming here?”
“Sure,” he replied. “Is that okay?”
“Um—” Daphne was here. My first impulse was to say I’d meet him at his house. But I didn’t want to leave her alone. She’d been acting so strange. “Yeah, come over here.”
“Watch yourself today.”
I stuck my tongue out. He was such a big brother.
He chuckled. “Save that for your date, he’ll appreciate it more. Later, Doc.”
Matt thought he was such a comedian.
I still had a lot of time before Rio was due but I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I decided to take the latest
Wired
magazine and the phone (in case Rio called) down to the stoop to look it over as I sat in the sun and waited.
On my way out the door, I noticed Daphne’s jar of Sanka on the kitchen counter. I walked over, picked it up, opened the trash—
Sigh. I dropped the lid shut, opened the cupboard, and put the jar back where Daphne had hidden it. Smiling faintly, I went downstairs to wait for my date.
I was reading about the latest in wireless gadgets when the side door opened and Magda emerged from the basement.
She cocked her brow when she saw me on the porch. “Enjoying the weather?”
I smiled, eyeing her ever-present bag. Was it my imagination or did it have a monster-sized dildo bulge on the side? “Yeah. Thought I’d wait for my ride out here since it’s so nice for a change.”
She set her bag down and turned to lock the door. “Big plans?”
“Just getting together with a friend. You got anything fun on the agenda for today?” I blinked innocently as if it were a casual question.
She hefted her bag onto her shoulder. “Just work.” She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Take it easy.”
“Yeah,” I said, scooting over so she could ease past me down the steps. “You too.”
I watched her long-legged confident stride go down the block and disappear around the corner. I grabbed the cell phone and dialed Matt.
“Hello?”
“Why do you think Magda parks around the corner?”
Pause. “Does she always?”
“Whenever
I
see her.”
“Hm. Maybe she’s afraid one of her johns will follow her home. Or that he’ll randomly drive by and see where she lives.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I hate taking my work home too.” “Exactly.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I heard Rio’s car come around the corner before I saw it. “Gotta go.”
“Behave yourself,” Matt said, hanging up before I could make a retort.
I closed the phone as I hopped down the steps. Rio pulled up as I reached the sidewalk. Before I got in, I stopped at the mailbox to deposit my magazine in there (no need for Rio to know how much of a geek I was—that’s the kind of thing that needs to be eased into).
He got out and came around the car as I reached it.
My heart rate kicked up and my gut tingled in an ohmigod-this-is-it kind of way. Like the intellectual I am, I said, “Hey.”
He smiled and stopped inches in front of me. I could smell his just-showered scent and was suddenly overwhelmed by this need to burrow into him and sniff his body.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, watching me intently.
He always watched me intently. Like he wanted to peel away my layers and discover what was underneath. Unnerving, yes. Arousing, oh God, yes. I’d never had anyone look at me like that, like I was all the mysteries of the world rolled into one package he wanted to unravel.