Channel 20 Something

by Amy Patrick

  “Oh sure. Of course—that’s what I was thinking anyway. I just have to get my… Whoa. Hey boy. Hey, how’s my main man?”

  A large golden retriever bounded down the stairs and burst out of the apartment straight at me. He leapt on me in a rush of blond fur and pink tongue, nearly knocking me off my feet.

  “Thor. Get down.” Aric ran toward us, shouting.

  The dog obeyed immediately, crouching in front of me and bobbing up and down with the suppressed desire to attack me with his friendliness. Aric reached me and put his hands on my upper arms.

  “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Sorry. I should’ve thought that through better. He’s usually well-behaved, but he loves girls.” Aric reached down and rubbed Thor’s head, sending a huge smile spreading across the dog’s face. “You’re a ladies’ man, aren’t you, boy?”

  “Like father, like son,” I muttered.

  “What?”

  “I remember you said you had a dog.”

  “Yeah. He’s been cooped up too long today. The Deerings usually let him run around all day when I’m working, but they’re out of town.” He nodded toward the dark main house. “Come on, let’s go around back.”

  Aric led me to the rear of the house where a large stone patio overlooked one of the golf course’s fairways. Thor followed him at first then streaked past his master as he spotted a squirrel near the base of one of the tall pine trees in the yard. Aric invited me to sit on a padded chaise lounge near the patio’s center fire pit as he chose a few logs from a wood bin. He tossed them into the pit on top of some charred wood from a previous fire then added some small pieces of kindling and lit a match.

  “So, how do you know the Deerings?” I watched him blow and poke at the blossoming flames.

  “I didn’t know them before I got here. They’re friends of the Pattersons. When I talked to Janet about taking the job, I told her about Thor. I was worried about having him in an apartment, and I didn’t know what to do. I adopted him from a shelter—it took him forever to trust me—I wasn’t going to abandon him, you know?”

  A lump formed instantly in my throat and I had to swallow it before answering. “You’re lucky to have found such a great place for him.”

  “I really am. Mr. and Mrs. Deering love dogs. Theirs died a few months ago, and they’re planning to get a puppy, but they wanted to wait until they got back from Europe. That’s where they are now—a month-long trip for their fortieth anniversary. I think that’s another reason they were looking to take on a renter—so somebody would be around the house when they were gone. They like to travel.”

  “Perfect.” I meant his living arrangements, but as I watched him squatting by the fire, adding small pieces of wood, the description fit Aric as well. The firelight turned his hair into bright gold, the smooth skin of his face and forearms glowing as he worked. When he glanced up at me and smiled, a heat that did not come from the fire pit curled low in my belly. Help.

  Aric stood and brushed bark and splinters from his jeans. He turned his head, obviously searching for Thor.

  “He’s right over there.” I pointed at the shadow of his dog sniffing through the pine straw at the border of the yard. “Are you worried he’ll run off?”

  “No. He likes to stay pretty close to me,” Aric said.

  Smart dog. “So… here we are.”

  “Yes. Here we are. We can finally talk. Would you like something to drink first? Water? Beer? Wine?”

  “You have wine?” A drink sounded like the perfect thing to get me through this conversation… and delay it a few more minutes.

  He smiled. “I’ll be right back. Don’t be afraid of the dark—Thor will take care of you.”

  I glanced over at the dog who was attempting to climb a tree in pursuit of the elusive squirrel. His paws scratched at the pine bark as he whined in frustration. After a few minutes, Aric reappeared with a blanket draped over one arm, carrying a wine bottle and two glasses.

  “Hope you like Chardonnay. It’s all I had.” He set the bottle down, handed me the glasses, then opened up the blanket and draped it over my shoulders.

  “Thanks. I do. I’m impressed you had more than a couple of Buds in your fridge.”

  “Oh, well. I grew up too close to California wine country not to like wine. And my mom and my step-dad like to go to tastings and bring new ones home to try. I’ve picked up a few things.” He filled our glasses and set the bottle down behind us, away from the fire. He held his glass up, the golden liquid gleaming in the glow of the fire. “Cheers. To a great day and successful partnership.”

  Our glasses clinked, and I took a sip of the sweet, oaky wine. It was delicious. Its fragrance mixed with the wood smoke and the pine-scented outdoor air. The scents, the taste, the crackle of the fire pit, the soft texture of the blanket around me—all of it tempted me to relax and enjoy myself. But I couldn’t allow that. This wasn’t a date. Already I feared I’d made a mistake by agreeing to the wine or even to coming here. I should have insisted we talk at the station.

  “So,” Aric began, “…you kissed me today.”

  “Yes, uh, sorry about that—”

  He chuckled. “Please, don’t apologize.”

  I sat up straight. “I have to because, well, it was a mistake. I didn’t mean to do it, and it didn’t mean anything, and… well, it doesn’t change the situation.”

  “Which is what?”

  “You and I are co-workers and friends—and nothing more.”

  “Really?” Aric leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and dangling the wine glass between them. He turned his head toward me. “That’s what you want? Nothing more?”

  I nodded, unable to even get the confirming lie out of my mouth.

  “That’s interesting.” He lowered his eyebrows and rolled his lips inward then out, looking as if he was puzzling out a tricky equation. “Why do you suppose you kissed me then?”

  “I… don’t know. I guess I was caught up in the moment, and your face was right there, and you looked so good, and…” I was flustered by the amused glint in his eyes as he watched me squirm.

  He sat looking like some kind of pagan fire god with the warm glow of firelight reflecting off of his face and his neck and the top of his chest where the first two buttons of his dress shirt were opened—oh sugar. I wanted to lean over and kiss him again. What the hell was wrong with me? I should never have come here.

  I stood abruptly and punched out my words. “It was just a kiss. You of all people should know it meant nothing.”

  He rose to his feet as well, towering over me and standing much closer than I would have preferred. “You’re going to have to enlighten me on that one. Why me, ‘of all people?’”

  “Well… because of the way you are… all the girls.”

  “What girls?”

  He truly looked confused, bless his heart. This guy was good. He had some major game. I was getting sick of the innocent act, though. “What’s in your pocket?” I bit out.

  “My pocket?”

  “Yes. Reach into your pocket and pull it out.” At his dumbfounded expression, I continued, my voice acidic. “The number, asshole.”

  Aric’s eyes widened at my rudeness, but he slid his fingers into his front jeans pocket and pulled out the tiny slip of paper the cheerleader had given him.

  I gave him a so-there glance.

  “So?” He took a couple steps toward the fire and tossed the scrap into it. The paper floated over the blaze then made contact and was immediately consumed in a tiny burst of yellow flame. “I didn’t ask for it. She just handed it to me.”

  In response I folded my arms across my chest and dropped my chin in the universal gesture for oh please. “I’m sure you hated that.”

  “Well, I didn’t love it. It gets old. Really, Heidi. Is that what this is about? You’re jealous?” His expression changed. He looked quite pleased, in fact. “I thought you acted strange the day we did the Rebelettes story.”

  “No. I’m not jealous.
What this is about, is I’m not one of your groupies, and unlike every girl you meet everywhere you go, I’m not eager to become the next name on your list.”

  “My list,” Aric repeated. Then his voice rose in tone and volume. “Heidi, I can’t help it if girls come up and talk to me or give me their numbers. It’s not a big deal. It happens all the time. And it’s not like I call every number I get. Do you think I’m some kind of man-whore or something, is that what you’re trying to say?”

  Now that he put it into ugly words, it did sound rather insulting. “Well…”

  “Do you want to know how many girls I’ve been with?” Aric’s face was flushed. “Do you? You could’ve asked instead of assuming you know everything about me.” He held up his fingers. “Two. Two people—is that number too high for you?”

  I stood for a minute taking in the furious, wounded look on Aric’s face. I’d called him an asshole. I was the ass. It was sort of impossible to believe he’d been with only two girls, but it wasn’t my business anyway, and I’d had no right to accuse him of sleeping around.

  “I’m sorry.” I collapsed back down on the chaise and stared into the fire. On the off chance he was telling the truth… I’d grossly misread Aric and been extremely unfair to him.

  After a minute, he sat beside me again. “Apology accepted. You don’t even have to send me flowers.”

  I turned to study his face. “Is it true? Two? Really?”

  He nodded. “My high school girlfriend, Sarah—we stayed together all through college, and a girl I dated in Mankato. That didn’t last too long.”

  “What happened to Sarah?”

  “She broke up with me right before we graduated from Emerson. We’re still friends. She was ready to settle down. I wasn’t at the time. My dad—he’s always warned me about making a commitment when you’re too young to know what you really want. The breakup sucked at the time. I felt… lost, I guess, right at first. I’d been with her so long. But it was probably for the best. She met somebody else immediately, and now they’re married. Looking back on it, it must not have been the real deal, or I wouldn’t have let her go.” His profile glowed as he stared into the flames.

  “And the girl in Mankato?”

  “Yeah. She was nice. But I knew pretty fast it wasn’t going to go anywhere. She wanted to live in Minnesota and raise a bunch of snow-babies. She was from a big Swedish family, so I thought we’d have a lot in common, but we didn’t, really.” He turned to me. “Okay, your turn.”

  I blushed instantly, thankful to be concealed by the darkness. How much detail would he expect? “My number, you mean?”

  Aric nodded.

  “Well, you’ve got me beat. There’s only the one.”

  “Hale.”

  “No, Hale and I never actually, uh…”

  “Really? The way he acted with you, I would’ve thought…”

  “Really. There was, you know, fooling around or whatever, but I wasn’t exactly…” God this was awkward. “receptive to going further. And Hale didn’t push it.” I felt a sudden urge to protect Hale’s manly reputation in the face of another guy’s scrutiny. “He had a difficult family situation, and he grew up very religious. I think that’s probably why he was content with, you know… and well, he’s a gentleman. He was pretty good at reading my signs. Maybe that’s why we’ve lasted so long.”

  I looked up to meet Aric’s eyes. He held my gaze, patiently waiting for me to continue.

  “Before I dated Hale, there was a guy freshman year in college… at Brown.”

  “So then you were a good girl in high school,” Aric said in a lightly teasing tone.

  “I guess so. I dated, but I was planning on waiting until I got married to, you know, get serious, to go all the way. I wanted my husband to be the first and only.” My neck and face grew warm, and it wasn’t an effect of the fire. “Sounds old-fashioned I know, but, well, I guess it seemed really romantic to me at the time.”

  “Don’t be embarrassed. It is romantic. So… you were planning to wait, but then you met this guy freshman year, and what—he swept you off your feet?” Aric dipped his head and craned around to see my face.

  “Pretty much.” I couldn’t look at him. I turned my gaze toward the trees at the edge of the firelight.

  “I see. So what happened to him?”

  “We had… irreconcilable differences. I thought he was my destiny, and he thought it was fun to go around putting his penis into other women.”

  Aric barked out a laugh, startling Thor, who’d found a nice napping spot on the other side of the fire pit. He raised his furry head to look at us then, realizing his services weren’t needed, rested his muzzle on his front paws again.

  “Sorry. You caught me off-guard. He sounds like a complete tool.”

  “Understatement of the century.” I’d given him the short version of the story. I’d die before telling Aric all the gory details. It had been humiliating enough to share them with Mara, much less with a guy I hoped would find me something other than pathetic.

  “So what made you think I was a womanizer?”

  “Well, usually when a guy looks like you…” I left it at that, giving Aric an apologetic raised-brow look.

  He adopted a tone of mock-offense. “You’re judging me based on my appearance? That’s not very fair. I thought you were a journalist. You’re supposed to be unbiased, get both sides of the story, right?” he teased. “And if we were going strictly on looks, morals aside, I’d say your number would be… hmmm… in the thousands, at least.”

  “Aric.” I laughed and pushed at him, but instead of removing my hand, I left it there on his arm for some reason. His bicep flexed under my fingers, letting me know he was just as aware as I was of the physical contact.

  Eyes narrowed, lips curving into a sexy smile, he dared me to admit my attraction to him. His voice lowered into a soft tone he’d never used with me before. “So then… I guess all the unfair, judgmental stereotyping means you like the way I look?”

  “Aric.” My tone had changed, too, taking on a pleading note. I inhaled deeply and let the breath out. “I should go.”

  I started to get up, but he wrapped a hand around my wrist and gently pulled me back down next to him.

  “Will you, pretty please with Cool Whip and rainbow sprinkles on top, stop running away from me? Do you still not trust me?”

  “I don’t trust myself. To read things accurately, to know if you’re—if you’re really what you seem to be.”

  “What else do you want to know? I’ve already admitted to having a number so low it could get my man card revoked.”

  I gave a weak laugh. “Obviously not all guys are like Josh.” Now I felt terrible for lumping Aric into the same category with him all this time.

  He took my hand and entwined his fingers with mine. “Listen, I get you’d have a hard time trusting someone new. I really do. But what you said is true. All guys aren’t like that. I’m not like that. And I’m guessing this last guy—Hale—he must have been okay for you to stay with him so long.” He paused. “I know it’ll probably take you a while to get over him.”

  I shook my head. Time to come clean. “We’ve been on a break. Hale and I—we’re not together now. We haven’t been for a while.”

  Aric’s brow furrowed. “Oh. Okay, well, that’s…” There was a long pause, then his eyes lit up. “Good. That’s good. Because… well you have to know how I feel about you by now—I haven’t exactly been subtle. And it’s just getting worse. I’ve never met anybody like you, Heidi. I think about you all the time.” His eyes came up to meet mine, holding the most vulnerable expression I’d ever seen.

  I stayed completely silent, trying not to hyperventilate. Trying to look normal. Had I blinked in the past five minutes? Should I? I should blink. Normal people blinked several times a minute, didn’t they?

  Was it a line? If so, it was a damn good one, and Aric was an Oscar-caliber actor. I wanted to believe him, but I was afraid to.

  �
�When you kissed me today,” Aric continued. “I don’t know how it was for you, but for me, it was amazing. I seriously wanted to blow off the job right then and there and carry you away somewhere and—okay, well now I’m sounding insane.”

  “No,” I whispered. “Not at all.” How was I supposed to keep resisting this guy? My heart racing, I reached up and slipped my hand behind Aric’s neck, exerting a light pressure, pulling his face down to my level. It was all the encouragement he needed. His lips met mine softly at first then took on more urgency as my mouth opened to welcome him.

  Aric kissed me greedily, like a kid on Halloween night who’d finally been given the all-clear to dive into his Trick-or-Treat haul. And I kissed him back, pushing aside my doubts for the moment and finally allowing myself to do what I’d wanted to for so long. My fingers came to the side of his face, stroking it as our mouths explored each other.

  With a soft grunt, Aric scooped a hand under my legs and pulled me onto his lap, kissing me intently for long minutes, his hands rubbing up and down my back. He tasted like wine and something even more appetizing. His tongue moved with mine, leisurely exploring and sparking each intimate region of my body to life as if he were flipping the switches in a circuit breaker.

  A few minutes of this and I was fully electrified. I kissed him back deeply, my fingers roaming over his chest and shoulders and neck, burrowing under his hair. After holding back for so long, touching him was intensely satisfying and maddeningly frustrating at the same time. I wanted more.

  Sitting in his lap as I was, I became aware Aric was also ready for more. The pressure of him felt so good, so right against me. As he shifted his attention from my mouth to my jaw to the side of my neck, I couldn’t keep from squirming from the pleasure of it.

  He responded with a primal-sounding noise from deep in his throat and lifted his hips. Then he slid me off his lap and eased us both down onto the open chaise, covering me and pressing his thigh between mine.

  I thrilled at the delicious alignment of our bodies, his so hard and powerful above me, mine trembling and growing heavier every minute with lust. I pressed up, unable to get close enough to him.