Talk Nerdy to Me (41 page)

She
laughed. "You sure know how to get a girl hot, Charlie Shepherd."

Much
as Eve longed to get it on with Charlie, she wanted to wait
until the Subaru pulled away from the curb and they were completely alone. So
she put him to work checking out the hovercraft's electrical system while she
fired up her converter for the cooking oil they'd brought home from the bakery.

She
left the kitchen door open because the sun was shining and the house's oil
heater hadn't clicked on in some time. With the door open she could glance out
once in a while and watch Charlie going over her hovercraft with a fine-tooth
comb. She loved how he looked in his prescription safety goggles.

She
also loved his thoroughness. She especially loved it when they were having sex.
And they would be doing that before too long. She'd tucked a condom in the
pocket of her sweat suit.

This
arrangement, with Charlie in the garage and her in the kitchen, felt strangely
traditional. She might be whipping up some biofuel instead of dinner, and he
might be checking out her hovercraft instead of changing the oil

In
the family station wagon, but even so, Eve had a cozy feeling as the two of
them attended to their separate chores.

She
wouldn't mind if their chores had been more traditional. If she had Charlie
around all the time, she might even learn to cook. He could be the kind of guy
who would appreciate a lavender cake with dark purple frosting.

From
the other end of the house came the scraping and clunking sounds of Denise and
Rick maneuvering the washer down the hall and out the door. Eve hoped they
didn't scratch the hardwood floors doing it, but knowing Denise, that wasn't a
worry. Once the washer went out the front door with a thud, there was silence
for a few minutes.

Then
the front door opened and closed as they came back in to package up Eve's
discarded hobby supplies. Eve couldn't listen to that front door close without
remembering the creepy feeling of hearing it while she was in bed with
Charlie. She didn't want that intruder to have been her sister. In point of
fact, she would love to have dreamed the whole thing.

"Eve?"
Charlie's voice coming from the garage had an uneasy quality to it.

"What?"
She walked over to the doorway. "Did I screw something up?" She'd so
hoped he'd give her a clean bill of health.

"I
wish I could say that, but this doesn't look like something you'd do."
He'd taken off the hovercraft's dashboard and was gazing at the wiring behind the
panel. "Is this how you set it up?"

She
looked at the wiring and felt a chill run through her. "No, I didn't. I'm
positive of that."

"Then
somebody disconnected everything and reconnected it to the wrong terminals. If
you had the motor installed and started it up, you'd have a fire on your
hands."

Eve
gazed at the wires, then up at Charlie. She was picturing herself getting into
the hovercraft, closing the hatch, strapping herself in and turning
on
the
ignition. The cockpit was snug to conserve space. Getting in and out of it took
some agility. Would she have been able to climb out before getting burned?

She
swallowed. "I thought they were after the invention. I never thought they
were after me."

"They
might not be, specifically," Charlie said quietly. "My guess is that
they don't want this thing to take off before they can sell the concept to the
highest bidder."

"Maybe they've already
done that."

Charlie
shook his head. "I don't think so. Whoever it is wouldn't hang around once
they'd clinched the deal. None of our suspects are AWOL."

"We
don't know that." Eve could think of one person she hadn't seen since last
night. "I'm assuming Eunice went off to work this morning, but we don't
know that for a fact. She could be on her way to the Grand Caymans."

Charlie
stared at the wiring. His voice was tight. "Call her."

Trembling,
Eve hurried into the kitchen and grabbed the Middlesex phone book. She'd never
called Patriots Independent Insurance Agency before, and she spent precious
time tracking down the number. It wasn't made any easier because adrenaline was
raging through her system.

She
was furious. She'd worked so hard on this hovercraft. How dare anyone think
they could steal the concept and get rich? How dare someone fool with the
wiring and risk a fire that could bum her?

Finally
she found the number for the agency
and
dialed
it. Charlie came into the kitchen and put his arm around her shoulders. She
wondered what she would have done without Charlie.

It
was obvious that she'd been far too naive. Someone was willing to do whatever
it took to keep her from profiting from the hovercraft design, and they didn't
care what happened to her in the process. She hated to think someone she knew
was that screwed up, but it looked as if they were.

"Patriots
Independent Insurance Company. This Is Eunice Pivens. How can I help
you?"

For
a moment Eve wasn't sure what to say. In the time it had taken her to find the
number for the insurance agency she'd convinced herself that Eunice had made
off with the hovercraft specs and was now headed to the tropics with her
ill-gotten gain. "Um, Eunice! Hi! I was just... wondering if you were
coming over tonight." She rolled her eyes at Charlie.

"Is that
stud-on-a-stick going to be there?"

"You mean Rick?"

"Who
else? I spent my lunch hour going over my notes from Gonaug. If you happen to
see Rick, you can tell him I have a whole new repertoire lined up, if he's interested."

"I'm sure he will
be."

Charlie
abruptly moved away from her and glanced toward the kitchen doorway. "You
guys about ready to leave?"

"We
are." Denise stood just outside the kitchen while Rick hovered in the
background, a bulging trash bag in each hand.

"Just
a second, Eunice." Eve put her hand over the mouthpiece. "Thanks for
taking care of that, Denise."

"No problem. Did
someone call?"

"My
neighbor." Glancing beyond Denise, she could see Rick gazing up at the
ceiling. She hoped he was having a massive attack of conscience.

"Oh."
Denise eyed the phone book on the kitchen counter. "I think we should
cancel the exterminator. I won't be here to supervise, so it'll be a waste of
time and money."

Eve
wondered what would happen if she recorded
comments like that and played them back to Denise. Would she hear herself?
Probably not. "I'll cancel the exterminator," she said.

Looking
doubtful, Denise walked into the kitchen, aiming for the phone book.
"That's okay. I can call on my cell, since you're using the phone."

Eve
took her hand away from the mouthpiece long enough to snatch up the phone book
and hand it to Charlie. "Would you please look up the number for Creepy
Critters Exterminators?"

That
stopped Denise in her tracks. She obviously had respect for Charlie's ability
to follow through. "Fine. See you later, then." She backed out of the
kitchen.

"Is
someone there?" Eunice said. "I heard a woman's voice."

"My sister,
Denise."

"Is
that right? Well, if she wants a crack at Rick the Wonder Boy, she's going to
have to go through me. I saw him first."

"Absolutely,
Eunice. Anyway, I'll talk to you tonight, okay?"

Eunice chuckled. "I'll
be there with my antennae on."

"You know, you might
not want to—"

"Just
kidding! I could tell you were freaked when I came to the door like that. You
surprised me, that's all. I try to keep the kinkier stuff under wraps. Well,
here comes the boss man. See you tonight!"

Eve disconnected the call
and turned toward Charlie.

"Creepy
Critters Exterminating," he said. "The number is—"

"Forget
that." She tossed the phone on the counter and launched herself at him,
crushing the phone book
be
tween
them. "Kiss me. Kiss me right this minute."

He
did. They bumped glasses and had to pull them off in the midst of a frantic
meeting of mouths. The phone book plopped to the floor and Charlie kicked it
aside so he could pull Eve tight against him.

But
that wasn't close enough. She worked at his belt buckle while he jerked down
the zipper on her sweat-suit jacket.

"Oh, Lord," he murmured. "The purple
bra." "Just for you."

He took a moment to cup her
breasts, bra and all. "Gorgeous. But it has to go." He quickly
unfastened it and took her breasts in both hands. His breath ragged, he backed
her up against the kitchen counter. "I thought they'd never leave."

"Me,
too." Unzipping his jeans, she shoved her hands under the waistband of his
briefs and pushed everything down over his hips. There. That was what she was
after. She wrapped one hand around his erect penis and cupped his balls with
the other.

He groaned. "You'd
better have something handy to put on that equipment you're playing around
with. I don't think we'll make it to the bathroom cabinet this time."

She
stroked him lovingly. "I came prepared." Releasing him, she reached
in the pocket of her sweats, pulled out the condom and held it up.
"See?"

"When
it comes to those little raincoats, I have twenty-twenty vision." His
voice roughened. "Put it on me."

She
laughed softly. "Is that an order?"

"Yeah."
He sounded desperate. "Do it."

Woo-hoo!
Her mild engineer had become a wildman! "Yes,
sir."
She had him fixed up in no time, and the process of doing that
turned her on more than she could have believed.

"Ah,
good." He pushed her sweats and panties down and lifted her up to the
counter. The pots and pans still sitting there went flying in one direction,
the phone in another.

The
cool laminate of the counter caressed her hot bottom as he yanked off her
sweats and panties and threw them across the room. No man had ever made love to
her on the kitchen counter before. Trust an engineer to figure out how to work
it.

Crouching
down, he hooked her feet over his shoulders. "Wrap your ankles around my
neck."

Bracing
her hands on the counter, she shivered in anticipation. "Oh,
Charlie."

"Hang
on." Grasping her hips, he stood slowly until he was looking into her eyes
again. "I'm coming in."

"I
hope so." She held his gaze as he shifted his hips and thrust forward. She
was so open, so wet and ready, that he had no trouble finding his way. In the
time it took her to take a quivering breath, he was deep inside.

His pupils dilated.
"This is good."

"It
has promise." All her bells and whistles were going off. "Are you
sure we have
the
right combination of lubrication
and friction to create the maximum deployment of our resources?"

"I'm
assessing that data now." He gripped her bottom and sighed. "You have
some of the finest test equipment I've ever been able to get my hands on. Firm,
yet adaptable."

"With
added features." She contracted her muscles to give him an extra jolt of
sensation.

His
eyes widened and he drew
in
a
quick breath. "That's a... valuable extra."

"I
agree." She squeezed again, which ratcheted up her response.

He
groaned. "Maybe we should continue with the test before we lose control...
of the experiment."

"A constant
risk."

"Testing
in progress," he murmured as he eased back and pushed forward again.
"It should be noted that the ...equipment conforms exactly to the
Intruding implement,"