Page 27 of Shy Girls write it Better
“Can I borrow it?”
The answer should have been yes, of course.Have at it.Enjoy.
Instead, he found himself saying, “I was going to watch it today.We could do that together.”
He pleaded insanity.No other explanation seemed sufficient.
No woman had ever set foot in his home, other than his mother, Lucy, and his cleaning lady.It was his and Buddy’s place; when he wanted toentertain, he went to the women’s homes or a hotel room.
But he’d invited her.Worse yet, he didn’t want to take it back; on the contrary, he looked at her, willing her to say yes.
“Sounds good.Shall I cook, or should we grab a takeout?”
“I don’t mind calling for some food…” but as he wasn’t a saint, he added, “but if you really don’t mind cooking, hell yes.”
“Okay, no worries.I love cooking.”
The very thought of her in his kitchen, preparing food for him, was making him want things he shouldn’t think of.Things he couldn’t have.
“We’ll probably need to go grocery shopping first, though.I use my fridge for beer, and that’s about it.”
She rolled her eyes, muttering something probably unflattering about men.
“Okay, so shall we go right after work?”
Cassie wrinkled her nose.
“I like to have a bath at six, I always feel icky.And get into comfortable clothes – you know, yoga pants.The usual stuff for movie-watching.”
He should have said it was fine, they could meet up later.
“You have to come shopping with me, I’ll have no clue what to get.How about, I send Lucy out to get you yoga pants, and you can take a bath at my place, mh?I’ll need to feed Buddy and take him for a quick walk before the movie, anyway.”
“Buddy?”she repeated.
“My puppy.He’s a German Shepherd.He’s four months old and weighs more than your average Labrador.He’ll probably be bigger than you in a year or so.”
He wondered if that would be it, what he really needed: a concrete reason why this thing between them was not going to go anywhere.If she couldn’t stand dogs, he knew he’d write her off.
She yelped – actually yelped – and started a series of “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!I’m so jealous, I’vealwayswanted a dog – a big one, too!They are the police dogs, right?The ones with black and gold?”
The universe hated his guts.
“Buddy is sable, but yes,” he sighed, wondering if he should just throw in the towel and marry the damn woman.
Then, he remembered what happened the last time he’d tried that.
Cassie
“The packaging is just a ruse to convince you to pay more for the same thing,” Carter insisted.
“But this one looks so much better!I’ll pay the damn bill.”
“You’ll do no such thing, Cassandra Franklin,” he growled.“I just can’t believe you want to spendthirtydollars on a strawberry bubble bath when there’s one for five on the same shelf!”
“Well, the cheap one might give me spots.”
“Chocolate might give you spots.”
