Page 29 of Just a Little Crush
“Because it’s like a fantasy come true, and it’s making me feel nuts.”
He links his fingers with mine, gently flexing my wrist back and forth. “You have fantasies about me?”
“Come on,” I poke him in the chest, “look at you, you must know how every woman round here feels about you.”
“I don’t care how other women feel. I’m asking what you think.”
Welp. “Then yes, if it pleases you to know, I have thought about you that way.”
“Tell me,” he growls.
“No chance. Far too embarrassing. And anyway, too many. You’ll be late for Mary.”
“Write me a list.” Rennie pulls open his bedside drawer and rifles for a notepad and pen.
“A list?”Is he joking?
“A list.”
“Why?”
“Because it will give you something to do,” he laughs. “And because that’s my fantasy.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s my fantasy,” he presses his finger to the paper. “I find a list you’ve written of everything you want, and I make it my job to ensure you get it.”
A list. A sexy wishlist?This goddamn man.I am the luckiest woman alive. And if the things I want don’t push him away, I am about to get even luckier.
15
Rennie
Ishouldhaveknownthis would happen. The drive from Mary’s house to the doctor’s surgery takes less than ten minutes, but every one of those minutes has so far been filled with her running her mouth about Bec. She’s a tiny thing in the seat next to me, hands clasped over the handbag on her lap, but she can talk for England.
“The poor woman, Alistair. Now, if only she had a husband to take care of her, this might never have happened, you know.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Well, she shouldn’t have been out driving that old car in such atrocious weather. What was she even doing out there?”
“That’s what I said!”I want to shout, but I stop myself. Bec doesn’t need me and the nosy neighbours ganging up on her.
In all honesty, I can’t allow myself to think about it too much. The vision of her car crushed underneath that tree is not something I’ll ever forget, and every time that image flashes through my mind I find it hard to breathe. I need to get that under control.
“She was doing her job. The wedding catering, remember?”
“Well, if she had a husband, she wouldn’t have to work,” Mary scoffs. Ha! I’d like to see the fate of a man who would dare try to stop Bec from working. I can’t imagine he’d last long.
“Come on now, Mary, the shop is her life. She’d hardly give it up just for some man.”
“And why haven’t you got a wife yet, Alistair? A whole gaggle of babies. That’s what you need.”
“Mary.” My voice is a warning. Everyone thinks they know what I need and they hardly know me at all.
“Do you prefer men?” she says, a million miles off base. “It’s OK if you do. Men can have children too, now you know. I read an article about it, so many ways. Modern technology is really something, eh?”
I shake my head and pull into the last space in the surgery’s tiny car park. I climb out and walk round to open Mary’s door and help her out.
