The Nerd Who Loved Me

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  "Lainie, it's okay." His grip tightened. "I know you haven't known Leo very long, but I have. For years the guy has made sure that Rona is never in any danger from break-ins, and now that she's keeping Dexter, the sur­veillance is heavier than ever. She's got a top-of-the-line alarm system, but even that's not as effective as Leo's guys keeping a twenty-four-hour watch, which they're doing."

  She looked into his eyes and willed herself to calm down and think rationally. "Except for a babysitter I've hired for the evenings, I've never trusted Dexter's wel­fare to anyone. It's really tough to stay here when Joey's after him. I feel like I need to be there to protect him."

  "I know." He massaged her shoulders. "I'm sure that's a natural reaction, but I'd stake my life on Leo and his guys. They're not going to let anybody into that town house who doesn't belong there."

  She had to believe that or go crazy, but she still didn't like the idea of being separated from Dexter now that Joey had found out his whereabouts. "But I wonder if I should have stayed there, too."

  "No offense, but you're wound pretty tight right now, and I think Dexter would pick up on it."

  She nodded, knowing it was true. "You're right, and I don't want to scare him, but—"

  "Then stay down here until you have a plan. Or do you have a plan?"

  "Uh, well, sort of... no."

  "Then we can talk about it. Maybe if we toss some ideas around, we'll come up with some kind of direc­tion."

  Instead of agreeing, she glanced away. For all these years of raising Dexter, she'd been the only one making decisions. Sure, she hadn't always made the right ones, but she'd become used to the role. After all, he was her kid. But on the other hand, she had no clue what to do about this situation.

  Meeting his gaze again, she vowed to be more flexi­ble. Harry was smart, and he might be a big help in coming up with a strategy. She'd be a fool to look a gift advisor in the mouth. "All right," she said. "I'd appreci­ate that."

  "Good. We can talk while we eat."

  Harry could feel Lainie's resistance when he suggested helping her formulate a plan. He tried not to get his feel­ings hurt over it. She'd been on her own for so long that getting advice from others probably seemed like a mis­take. But if Joey had hired a PI, then he was committed to getting Dexter back, which wasn't surprising, consid­ering the stakes.

  Leo had also warned Harry that the PI might be look­ing for Lainie, too. Or there might be a second guy on the case, depending on how much money Joey had at his disposal. In any case, Harry and Lainie had limited time before somebody figured out where they were. Leo wasn't sure what Joey would do with the information, but he wanted Harry to be aware of the possibility they'd be tracked to Sedona.

  That news could come out later, Harry decided after seeing the way Lainie had reacted to the first bit of data. In the meantime, they could have lunch and maybe talk about a long-range plan for dealing with Joey. A knock on the door told him that lunch had probably arrived.

  "There's our lunch." Lainie started toward the door.

  "Wait."

  She glanced over her shoulder in surprise. "But I heard a voice call out 'Room service.'"

  "That doesn't mean it is room service. Don't you ever watch TV?"

  "Actually, no, I don't. During the day I'm with Dexter and at night I'm dancing. Although I get your point. But if Joey was just at your mother's house, he couldn't be on the other side of the door."

  "No, but... he's hired at least one person to help him, and we don't know exactly what instructions he's given out."

  "You think Joey might have hired a hit man?" She laughed and continued toward the door. "No way. He's an ugly drunk, but he wouldn't dream up some assassi­nation attempt. That's not Joey."

  Harry curbed his impulse to throw himself in front of the door. She was probably right and there were no hit men prowling around Sedona ready to pick her off. "Check the peephole, anyway. Please."

  "If it makes you happy."

  "It does. And let's pray it's not Dudley, either."

  She peered out. "Not Dudley. Thalia. She's holding a tray with a sack of food from the Golden Arches. Shall we assume it's our lunch, or a hired gun in disguise?"

  "Now you're being ridiculous."

  "Just making sure I'm not taking a wild chance by opening this door."

  "All right, already! Open the door!"

  She did, and Thalia walked in.

  "My goodness, but it is warm in here," she said. "Maybe I should send Dudley over, after all."

  "No, we're fine," Harry said. "Perfectly fine."

  "Absolutely fine," Lainie said.

  Thalia looked doubtful. "Well, if you're sure."

  "Very sure." Harry handed her a tip. "Thanks for the lunch."

  "You're welcome. Enjoy. I have to tell you, though, it's cooler outside than it is in here. The clouds are com­ing in and there's a breeze."

  The minute she was gone, Lainie headed for the slid­ing doors onto the patio. "Let's eat outside."

  "I wonder if it's a good idea." Harry reviewed Leo's instructions and tried to decide whether eating lunch on the patio outside their room fell within the guidelines of lying low.

  "It looks safe enough." Lainie gestured through the sliding door. "There's a covered porch and walls on either side, so someone would have to see us from the golf course. That's assuming anyone's trailed us to this point, which I seriously doubt."

  Once again, Harry had to admit she was probably right, and it would be nice to sit out there, catch a breeze, and watch the storm clouds rolling in over the red rock formations. "Okay," he said. "Go put on your glasses, so you're wearing the full disguise. I'll take the tray out there and set us up."

  "Be back in a flash." She headed into the bedroom.

  Harry unlocked the slider and opened it. Eating out here was probably okay. They could go a little stir-crazy if they confined themselves to the room for two days. Or maybe not. Maybe they'd just spend the entire time in bed, having amazing sex.

  The prospect of doing that was incredibly exciting. He seemed to have no limits when it came to Lainie, and if he didn't tone down his response to her, she might think he was fixated on that particular activity. Which he was. He didn't know how a guy could help it with a woman like Lainie.

  The patio furniture consisted of a round plastic table and two plastic chairs. Harry used one of the napkins in the bag to scrub off the table a little. Then he laid out the burgers, fries, and packets of ketchup and mustard.

  Finally he poured two mugs of coffee, but he won­dered if they'd really drink it. Hot coffee didn't sound very good. He took it out anyway, because Lainie had made it. The menial little chores took his mind off Lainie's body for a little while.

  By the time he was ready to sit down, Lainie came out wearing Leo's glasses. The transformation to a stu­dious vamp made him want her all over again.

  The glasses also made him remember that photo­graphic memory of hers, and he wondered if she was smarter than she realized. If all she'd cared about was dancing, then school might not have interested her much. She could be a classic underachiever.

  "This is great." She sat down across from him and opened the lid on her burger container. "Oh, where's the toy?"

  "I guess still in the bag." He rummaged around and came up with a little plastic action figure. He had no idea what it was supposed to represent.

  "Perfect! Dexter's been wanting this one!" Lainie took the toy and set it carefully beside her place. "He'll be so thrilled."

  "Good." Harry discovered he no longer cared about the food. As hungry as he'd been a minute ago, he was ready to forget about eating and haul her back inside. They had seven condoms, which wasn't many for two days, but he was ready to rip open another packet and take his chances on running out.

  She opened the ketchup and mustard and doctored her hamburger, totally intent on her task. What a treat to be with someone who was completely happy with a fast-food burger and a toy for her son.

  After pi
cking up her hamburger, she glanced at him. "Is something wrong? Did I use too much of the ketchup and mustard?"

  "Nope. I just like watching you."

  Her cheeks grew pink. "Oh. Well, you need to eat and stop staring at me. You're making me self-conscious." She took a bite of her burger.

  "Sorry." He opened his burger container. "It's just that you're so ..." He thought of a million adjectives, but none of them quite captured the essence of Lainie. She was in­describable. "Oh, never mind."

  "Eat, Harry."

  "Right." He applied himself to the job. They ate with only the distant rumble of thunder breaking the silence. Yet Harry didn't feel uncomfortable, as if they should be talking. He and Lainie had fallen into an easy com­panionship that he hadn't experienced often. Maybe that was because of their unusual circumstances.

  He'd told her they'd toss around solutions to her problem with Joey, but he hated to bring Joey into this peaceful setting. Sitting here eating a hamburger with Lainie would most likely turn into one of his favorite memories.

  She'd finished off most of her hamburger when she spoke again. "I've been wondering something. Would you ever have asked me out? If this hadn't happened?"

  He paused, a French fry halfway to his mouth. "I don't want you to take this wrong, but probably not."

  "Because I'm a showgirl?"

  "Well, yes and no. It seems like whenever I'm physi­cally attracted to a woman, the relationship never works out."

  She looked puzzled. "Why not?"

  He didn't have the faintest idea how to explain it with­out insulting her by implying she wasn't his intellectual match. And he was beginning to suspect that might not be true, anyway. She was plenty smart. But she'd asked if he would have asked her out, and he'd given her a truthful answer.

  "It's okay, Harry," she said softly. "I'll bet you want a wife who's home at night with the kids. I understand that."

  "That's not really it. Besides, you've done a hell of a job with Dexter."

  "I'm not so sure. He's lonely. But I'm not trained to do anything else, and I couldn't make good money at another job. Plus, for a single mom, it's actually easier to be home during the day and get a sitter at night. I see more of Dexter than I would if I worked days."

  He nodded. "That's true."

  "Never mind, Harry." She reached across the table and stroked his arm. "I get it. The main problem is that we like each other so much, but I would be horrible for you, especially now that I'm in this mess with Joey."

  "Not horrible." Not even close, he thought.

  "But not what you want."

  Right now she was everything he wanted. But still, he was nervous. His erotic impulses had always landed him in trouble.

  She smiled. "I just have to say, though, that you have one heck of a package, and you're not afraid to use it." He choked on his French fry. "Well, it's true."

  He coughed into his napkin. "Nobody's ever said that to me before."

  "Are you offended?"

  "No, I'm flattered." He looked across the table at her. "Not to mention turned on. Do you think we've given enough attention to this meal?"

  "Could be." Behind the dark-rimmed specs her eyes sparkled. Then she leaned down and glanced under the table as if checking the condition of his lap. "Are things happening I should know about? Maybe we—" She paused, and her eyes widened.

  "What?" He looked down at his lap. Sure, he was tent­ing the material of his slacks a little bit, but not enough to send her into shock. "Is something wrong?"

  "Harry, don't move. There's a snake right behind you."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Harry felt the rush of pure terror. A snake in front of him was bad enough, but a snake behind him? Holy shit. But he was sitting with a woman he hoped would think well of him, a woman he hoped to have great sex with in a little while, unless snake fangs sank into his leg and he had to be airlifted to the hospital and shot full of anti-venom.

  In any case, he didn't want Lainie to think he was afraid. He wasn't afraid. He was petrified, literally unable to move. Clearing his throat, he managed to say the only words his brain would spit out. "How big?"

  "Pretty big. Listen, it might be Gertie again, the go­pher snake we saw before."

  He latched on to that suggestion like a drowning man. "Yeah. Heh, heh. I'll bet it's old Gertie, come to pay us a visit." But logic quickly doused that hope. Considering the distance old Gertie would have to cover, the chance was slim that this snake was the same one they'd seen before.

  "Harry, you're white as a sheet." He gulped. So much for making her think he was the soul of courage. "I'm not. . . real good with snakes." Most people aren't."

  But it seemed to him she was a lot calmer than he was. "And I seriously doubt this is Gertie."

  "I told you that to calm you down. But the fact is, I don't think it is, either."

  "Why not?" His voice squeaked.

  "I can see something that looks like rattles on its tail. And besides that, I just have a gut feeling that this one's the real deal."

  "Go inside." He was shaking like a leaf and he might end up getting bit, but he'd be damned if she would. Not on his watch.

  "Harry, we've had this argument before. I'm not going inside and leaving you out here with a six-foot rattler."

  "How long?" He hoped he wouldn't pass out, although then if the snake bit him he wouldn't know about it. There were some compensations to being unconscious.

  "About six feet, give or take a few inches. At least that's my best guess."

  He felt dizzy. But before he slid right out of his chair in a dead faint, he needed to get her out of harm's way. "Damn it all, Lainie, get inside. Let me deal with this …this..." This monster from the bowels of the earth. Yeah, like he was going to deal with it. But at least she'd be out of harm's way and wouldn't continue to watch him cower.

  "I'll do no such thing. I can see what the snake's do­ing, and you can't. So how about if you start slowly get­ting out of your chair while I watch the snake?"

  "I... um … don't know if I can." He was shaking so bad he wasn't sure he could stand up. Hell of a thing to have to admit to the woman you had the hots for.

  "Sure you can, Harry." She looked into his eyes. "Think about how nice it will be when we're both inside, all safe, and we can take a little siesta in that king-sized bed. Wouldn't you like that?"

  He nodded. But first there was a damned snake to deal with.

  "Then slowly get out of your chair and walk toward the sliding door."

  His heart was beating so loud that he could barely hear her, but he could read her lips. He concentrated on those lips, thinking of all the wonderful things she could do with that mouth of hers, once the snake was on the other side of a solid glass door.

  "The snake's lying there quietly, Harry. I don't think he cares about you. He probably ate something a while ago, and he needs to sleep it off."

  "Uh-huh. Well, I can promise you one thing."

  "What?"

  "Dudley just lost himself a sale."

  She laughed. "See? You're making jokes. You'll be fine. Now get out of the chair."

  Harry thought about Lainie, naked. Unless he got out of his chair, he might never see her that way again. He and this snake would have a Mexican standoff that could go on for hours. Then eventually the snake would get bored and bite him, and that would be the end of fun and games with Lainie.

  Bracing his hands on the top of the table, he eased out of the chair. "What's the snake doing?"

  "Lying there."

  "Do they have to be coiled up to bite?" "I don't think so."

  "There goes another tiny hope blown to smithereens." He straightened and accidentally bumped the chair. It scraped on the concrete and the noise seemed to echo. His hair stood on end as he waited for razor-sharp fangs to sink into his calf. When they didn't, he swallowed and checked in with Lainie. "Still the same?"

  "So far."

  Harry took a stiff-legged step toward the door. He felt like Frankenst
ein's monster, lurching along. "How's Mr. Snake?"

  "Motionless."

  He took another awkward step. "You need to stand up, too."

  "Right." She carefully rose from her chair while she kept her attention on the ground behind him. "Keep go­ing."

  "Come with me."

  "I will." She backed up a step. "I... cripes! It's mov­ing!"

  Harry grabbed her and threw open the sliding door. They leaped in together, falling to their knees. Harry reached back and slammed the door closed so hard the glass shook.

  "We made it!" Braced on her hands and knees, Lainie gasped for air.

  So maybe she hadn't been as calm and collected as she'd looked. He took comfort from that. Still on all fours himself, he drew in several long, shaky breaths.

  Now that they'd made it inside and the snake hadn't,

  Harry was filled with a morbid curiosity. He had to see exactly what had spooked him so bad. If it was only Gertie, he was going to be pissed.

  "Let's see what it's doing now," he said.

  "Okay."

  They both rotated on their hands and knees until they were facing the door. With a loud yell, they scuttled back­ward, far away from the door.

  The snake was poised, head lifted, staring right at them. Its forked tongue darted in and out.

  "It's a rattlesnake," Lainie whispered.

  "Damn straight it is." Harry swallowed hard. "It's Jaws of the Desert, that's what that is, come to terrorize us." He shivered, even though he knew the snake couldn't get through the door.

  "What should we do?" Lainie murmured as if afraid the snake might be able to hear her.

  "Call housekeeping?"

  She started to giggle.

  "What's so funny?"

  "First of all, I doubt there is a housekeeping depart­ment. Thalia's probably all the housekeeping depart­ment they have. And what would you say, anyway? 'Hello, housekeeping? Could you send a maid over right away? There's a gigantic rattlesnake cluttering up our patio'?"