“…so if you can afford it, we can get right on that, we just need to order the kit and…”
I tore my eyes away from her chest. “Wait, wait, what? I kind of missed some of that.”
She smirked. “My eyes are up here, dude.” She gestured to her face with her free hand.
“Can I help it if I was admiring a beautiful thing?”
“Oh, and he’s a charmer, too. It’s my lucky day.”
“Maybe it is, baby.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she blushed some more and looked down—and then I cursed myself again. I had no business flirting with this woman, especially if she was the mother of Keith’s baby. Damn, I had to get myself under control.
Getting back to the point, I repeated, “So we do this test first, right? You okay with that?”
She didn’t look thrilled—I got the feeling there was something more she wasn’t telling me—but she nodded shortly and directed me to a website for the testing lab.
After placing the online order, I didn’t let her off the hook. Leaning back in my chair, I leveled my eyes on her across the desk. “So, what aren’t you telling me?”
She looked surprised, like she thought she was being sly and that I wouldn’t have noticed. She had a lot to learn about me. I didn’t get played. If she thought she could fool me, she had another thing coming.
“I…I don’t know what you mean…” She fidgeted with the baby blanket, which didn’t need adjusting. The kid had fallen asleep.
“Get real, babe. There’s something.”
She flinched at ‘babe’—oh, no, was she one of those feminist ballbusters?—but otherwise kept her mouth shut. Pursed, in fact.
“Okay. Be like that. When do we get these results?”
“In about two weeks, I’m pretty sure. So, the kit should arrive tomorrow…I guess I’ll see you. We’ll come back here in the afternoon, okay?” She started to get her shit sorted again, and looked like she was beyond ready to leave.
Oddly, I didn’t want her to go—not just yet. I wanted a few minutes of…I wasn’t sure. Maybe just more time with her. I liked her presence.
Okay, fuck. I liked her. I was totally attracted to her—which could prove problematic—but hey, I was a red-blooded American man. The woman was hot—beautiful-hot. I scrambled my brain for something to continue the conversation.
“Hey, listen, we should exchange numbers, in case anything comes up. I wanna know I can get in touch with you. And for you, too, if you need anything.” Damn, I was babbling. I shut myself up, but looked at her expectantly.
“Oh, yeah. Um, I don’t actually have a phone, so that won’t work. Um, I guess I could find you here at the shop if I need you, right?”
“You don’t have a phone? Who doesn’t have a phone? It’s basic life and security. You’re a mother, woman. You gotta have a phone. Fuck.”
She was ready to go, so I stood up and started following her through the shop. “Yo, Trini, I’ll be back in a while,” I called out as I caught up to Ellie and put my arm across her shoulders, pinning her to my side so she couldn’t just run away. No way was she going to up and disappear on me now. Not like this. She didn’t have a phone. WTF.
“Is this a money issue?” I looked down at Ellie, but I mostly just got a view of her hair and phenomenal cleavage next to the baby on her shoulder.
“Um…yeah, right now it is.” Clearly, she was not excited to share the reality of her financial straits, but she was smart enough not to try to lie to me about it. She had said she came to me because they needed my help. I figured it had to be money. If Peter really was Keith’s son, I was more than willing to do what I could. Scratch that—I’d be damn proud to do it.
“All right. I’ll take care of that, first thing. We’ll get you a phone, right now. Shit, I came in on my bike. Where do you live? I’ll go pick up a phone, bring it over to you.”
By this time, we were outside the shop and headed down the sidewalk toward where I assumed she had parked her car. She stopped, though, and turned to me, taking a step back at the same time. She would not meet my eyes. “Um, that’s really nice of you. Petey and I can just wait here, in my car, if it’s all the same to you. You don’t have to go more out of your way.”
She gestured to a silver mid-eighties Buick sedan that had not seen a good day in decades. The thing was a clunker on its last hope and prayer. I got suspicious, and my voice went hard. “Tell me where you’re staying, Ellie.”