Talk Nerdy to Me by Vicki Lewis Thompson Page B

house,"
he said.
    "Thank you."
    "I guess you must like
the area."
    "I
adore the area." Her expression softened. "When I was house-hunting
there were sappy Halloween decorations everywhere. I could hardly wait for the
cardboard turkeys at Thanksgiving and the plastic reindeer at Christmastime."
    "You're serious."
    "Absolutely.
I love plastic reindeer. My
parents wouldn't be caught dead with one, though. Middlesex is the hokey small
town I used to dream of when I was growing up in Boston."
    "Well...
that's good, then." And they were miles apart. She was settling in and he
could hardly wait to leave. Charlie turned back to the washing machine and
lifted off the rest of her hobbies-gone-wrong material, which included the
easel and her book on drawing nudes.
    "I
made the right choice, that's for sure, although I did expect to get into some
of these hobbies now that I live in a small town. Hobbies and small towns seem
to go together."
    "I guess." He
wished he could stop thinking of her drawing nudes. "Except I don't really
have any." "Isn't playing pool a hobby?"
    "Absolutely
not." He exerted some force to pop up the top on the washer. It didn't
come easily, so he had to put more muscle into it. The effort felt good and
helped get his mind off the image of Eve sketching a live model.
    "It's
not? Well, there goes my only shot at a normal hobby."
    He
gave a mighty heave and the top came up with a metallic bang. "Playing
pool, if you do it right, is a science." He could never pose nude for
someone. Rick had that kind of chutzpah, but he didn't.
    "I suppose it is a
science. That's probably why I like it."
    "No
doubt. You play like a pro." Sometimes Charlie wished he could be more
uninhibited, like his cousin. Rick wouldn't worry about whether he was leaving
town. He'd put the moves on a woman anyway.
    "I do enjoy it."
    For
a moment Charlie lost track of whether they were talking about pool or sex. But
his answer would apply to either one. "Me, too."
    "That stick of yours
is awesome."
    "Thanks."
Okay, it had been pool. He'd been thinking about sex while he talked about
pool. But now he needed to stop all the talking and thinking and fix this
machine.
    He
glanced down into the bowels of the washer and discovered that she was using
the wash basket for storage, too. Right on top was a book called Kill
That Clutter! That made him smile. He left the stuff where
it was because it didn't interfere with the repair work.
    "Now
that I live three blocks from a place with a pool table, I should buy my own
cue," Eve said. "That is, if you'll be willing to play with me."
    He
managed to turn a bark of laughter into a cough.
    Then
he cleared his throat. "Sure." This was the point where he should
explain about his job change, but he couldn't bring himself to do that yet. She
seemed so happy at the prospect of him hanging around for a friendly game of
pool that he hated to tell her he hoped to be gone in less than a month.
    Reaching
down, he wiggled a couple of wires. One was definitely loose. And so were his
thoughts. He fantasized about fixing the washer, ranting it on, and propping
Eve up against it to have sex. He'd heard that the vibrations of a washing
machine could make a woman come in no time.
    "I'm glad there's no hard feelings," she
said.
    "Not
at all." Other parts of him were hard, but not his feelings.
    "Some guys don't like it when a woman kicks
them."
    He
wished she'd chosen a different way to phrase it. "Doesn't bother
me." He checked the hoses, and they seemed to be okay. This might be a
really easy fix, once he had a screwdriver.
    But
once he had a screwdriver, they'd have to go back to the kitchen and join the
party in progress. Although he was flirting with disaster by staying here with
Eve, his ego loved the idea that she found him good company. He hated to give
up that heady feeling.
    "It's nice that we're well matched," she
said.
    He
pretended to fiddle with the hoses. "Even if we weren't, that would be
okay. It would be a learning