liked it, too. A lot. A whole lot.”
“Enough to invite me home tonight?”
“If we do...does that mean you’ll expect, you know.”
“Sex?”
“That.”
“No. I’m not going to expect sex from a woman too nervous to say the word sex to me.”
“Sex. Sex, sex, sex. I’m not nervous. I’m just...”
“What?”
“Nervous. Yes. You got me. I am nervous. I feel like I know you really well because of Ruthie and everything she’s told me about you. But you and I don’t actually know each other that well because...”
“Of Ruthie. I know. I get it,” he said. “I would like to get to know you a lot better. Especially if it means more kissing. Et cetera.”
“Do you want to spend the night at my house? I won’t guarantee there’ll be more than kissing but there’ll definitely be kissing. And lots of it.”
“I’d like that,” he said. “I would like that very much.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it. Her hand trembled. She really was nervous. More reason to spend as much time together as possible. Nobody would believe they were a real couple if she was this nervous around him.
“Okay. You have my address in your pocket. I’ll head home and you come by whenever you’re ready. You know, after you find a twenty-four-hour UPS store.”
“Ruthless will have to wait for her phone until Tuesday. Serves her right for setting her old man up.”
“You’re not an old man. You’re only thirty-eight, right?”
“Yeah, but in parent-of-a-teenager years, I’m ninety-eight.”
“You look great for your age.”
“You look great, period.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. It was the only part of his hand soft enough to touch a soft part of her.
“You’re too good at making me blush,” she said. “I hate being so pale.”
“It’s fun. I can see when I’m getting to you. It’s like an indicator light.”
“I think my indicator light says, ‘Engine needs servicing.’”
“God, I’d love to service your engine.”
She groaned in horrified amusement.
“I don’t even know what that means,” he said, “but I’m pretty sure it was dirty.”
“I kind of hope it was,” she said.
“Can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?” he asked. “No sex necessary. Just sleep. I’d like to get comfortable with you.”
“I would...yeah. I would like that, too.”
“Great. I’ll be right over after I get some stuff at my house. An hour. No later.”
He hopped off the desk and walked to the door.
“Erick?” Clover said.
“Yeah?”
She walked over to him and put her hand on the back of his neck again. She was a good height, perfect height for kissing while standing, which he discovered when she kissed him once more.
“Okay,” he said when she stepped back.
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, I won’t be over in an hour. I’ll be over in half an hour.”
“Don’t rush,” she said. “I want to take a shower and change the sheets on the bed.”
“Take your time.” He kissed her on the cheek and went to leave again. But he stopped and looked back at her.
“Ruthie and I drive each other crazy but she’s my daughter and she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. She doesn’t need to know all the dirty details about her father’s personal life, but I wouldn’t feel right keeping this a secret from her. It would really hurt her if I didn’t tell her something.”
“You’re absolutely right. She may act like she’s thirty-seven, but she is still seventeen. She should hear it from you.”
“I’ll call it a date. Can we call it a date?”
“Yes, you can call it a date.”
“I’m glad she forgot her phone,” he said, putting “forgot” into quotes.
“She’s a smart girl.”
“Sexist,” Erick said.
“She’s a smart fellow American,” Clover said, laughing. “Even if she can’t mind her own business.”
“Better me than Sven,” Erick said. “I’ll give your money back at the end of the week if you’re not satisfied.”
“Sounds like a very good deal especially since I’m not paying you.”
He zipped up his coat and patted his pocket to make sure Ruthie’s phone and Clover’s address were still there. “You need me to pick up anything before I come over?” he asked. “Food? Wine? Whips? Chains? Condoms?”
“I’m on the pill,” she said. “Heavy periods. Sorry. TMI.”
“I have a teenage daughter. You’re going to have to do better than heavy periods to TMI me. And I’m buying condoms, anyway. Not because we have to use them. Just because I want someone to know I might be getting laid this week.”
“I’m allergic to latex.”
“It’s okay. I’m so clean it’s depressing.”
“We’ll talk about it. Later. We’re just sleeping tonight. Right?”
“Right. Just sleeping. And kissing.”
“That, too.”
He started to leave.
“But maybe more than kissing,” she said.
He didn’t answer. He just walked out the door before he walked back to her and kissed her for a good three or four hours. Soon as he was in the cold night air on the way to his truck he pulled his own phone out of his pocket and sent a text message to Candace, his ex-wife.
Give your daughter a message for me, he wrote. Tell her she’s in trouble.
For what? Candace wrote back. She should know better by now than to ask that question.
She’ll know what I mean.
I’ll
