Page 24 of Luci’s Lullaby

The car ride is extremely quiet on the way to my place. Rae does everything but look at me. She keeps fidgeting, messing with the radio and her mirrors. I check her out once in a while just to see if she’s looking.

She is.

“Do I make you nervous?”

Her head jerks toward me. “No.”

“You act as though I do.”

She side-eyes. “If you must know, I’m wondering how in the hell I got stuck with you.”

“You could’ve said no.” She comes to a stop at a light and immediately turns with her mouth agape. I reach over, pushing her chin up. “Not on the first date.”

Her head spins like the exorcist’s as she steps on the gas. “I can’t wait to get you home.”

“Oh, really? What’re ya gonna do to me?”

Her fingers flex the wheel. “You know something, not every woman wants to sleep with you.”

“Who said anything about sleeping?”

She clinches her jaw as her nostrils flare. “You’re a jackass.”

“Are you trying to tell me something?” I’m pretty sure I see steam coming from her ears.

She begins to trot her left leg. “I’m not having sex with you and if you think I am, you can get out now.”

“I don’t just have sex, I fu…”

She jerks around, glaring at me. “Are you seriously gonna use that line on me?”

“It worked for him.” I shrug.

She rolls her eyes, pressing the gas. “He’s rich, good looking, and can fly a helicopter. Pretty sure that’s why it worked for HIM.”

“He could also fuck.”

“Ha! Are you saying you can do it like he can?” She laughs. But not the way I am. I baited her in.

“Do you want to find out?”

Her faces scrunches. “Ewe, no. I prefer to not test on a regular basis for venereal diseases.”

“Oh, no worries.” I cut my eyes at her. “I always use a condom.”

Her mouth hits her chest. “Do you normally talk to women this way?”

“No.” I grin. “But you make it so easy.”

“I am not easy,” she says through gritted teeth.

“Never said you were.”

She starts chewing her nail as we head down Highway Seventeen. “Do you really take women home every night?”

“No, I don’t. I think it helps with the persona.”

“So it’s an act?” Her eyes flicker to me.