Page 20 of Doozer

“So, you just came by to make a drop off, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah, well…” Doozer said, sheepishly. His boyish smile sending another bolt straight through me.

“Cowboy lives over there,” I said, pointing to the house next door. “So whatcha doin’ here?”

He laughed. “You’re really gonna make me work for this, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

“Alright, here it is. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the other night.”

“Have you tried?” I teased.

“I can’t say that I have,” he said, taking a step closer. “In fact, the more I think about you, the more I want to think about you.”

“Look,” I said, “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression about me. Like I said, I don’t normally do that kind of thing and I’m not shopping for a fuck buddy or anything.”

“That’s good to hear, ’cause I was just gonna ask if you wanted to grab lunch with me.”

“Lunch?” I said, my voice cracking.

Oh, shit. This is worse than him looking for a fuck buddy.

“Yeah,” Doozer chuckled. “You know. Lunch. It’s a meal some folks eat around the middle of the day. I’ve been on the go since five A.M. and was gonna grab a bite at Sally Anne’s.”

“Are you talking about a date?” I asked, unable to hide the panic in my voice.

“Well, yeah.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, taking a step back.

“Whoa. Wait a minute. Did I say something wrong?”

I shook my head. “It’s not you. I just don’t really do the whole dating thing, ya know?”

Doozer must have thought I was nuts. Less than forty-eight hours ago I was begging for him to pound me into the headboard, and now I was afraid of going to lunch with him. If he did think I was crazy, however, he wasn’t letting on.

“I’m not asking for your hand in marriage, Trouble. I’m talking about sitting down over a couple of Caesar salads and a pitcher of iced tea,” he said, sweetly.

“I get that,” I said. “And I’m not trying to make things weird, I just think it would be best if we left what happened the other night in the past.”

“The mind-blowing sex, you mean?”

“Shhhhh.” I pulled Doozer away from the front door. “Yes,” I whispered. “But let’s not announce that to everyone in the house.”

“I had a great time, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but that’s not the point.”

“Right. The point is, you fascinate me, and I’d like to get to know you more.”

This time the electricity inside my stomach was so strong it frightened me. Every one of my internal organs wanted to run away, but my skin kept them in place, frozen on my front porch.

“Doozer, you seem like a great guy, but I really think we should make this the end of the road for us. Let’s just part ways here before either of us gets hurt.”

“That might be a bit of a problem.” Doozer’s hand went to the back of his neck and his face began to flush.

“Why?”

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