don’t hate you,” she said softly. “You just got…too excited, that’s all.”
“That’s for sure.”
“It could happen to anyone.”
“You’re just so beautiful and…I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.” As he caressed her face, his other hand gently rubbed her upper arm. “I’ve been thinking about you night and day…dreaming about what it might be like to…to be with you.”
“Can I sit up now?” she asked.
“I like you like this.”
“Okay.” She stayed down. The front of his shorts now felt sticky under her face.
“We’ve gotta figure out what to do,” Toby said.
“Whatever you want is okay with me.”
He caressed her cheek. “You’re so wonderful.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Take you to bed.”
Big surprise.
Though the idea of it disgusted her, she said, “I’d like that, too.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Sure. I think it’d be wonderful.”
He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “The question is, where?”
“How about my apartment?” Sherry asked.
“Nah, I don’t think so. You’re too friendly with everyone over there. If they saw me show up with you, they’d figure something was wrong.”
“Not necessarily. I can say you’re my kid brother or something.”
“No good. Anyway, I can’t have anybody seeing me.”
“What about your place?” Sherry asked.
“No way.”
“I thought you wanted to take me there.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. That was just talk. I can’t take you there.”
Let it go, she warned herself.
“Then how about a motel?” she asked.
“How am I gonna check in at a motel without somebody seeing me?”
“I could check us in.”
“By yourself?”
“Sure. It’d be easy.”
“Yeah, and easy to tell on me.”
“Why would I tell on you?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“I wouldn’t. I like you, Toby. I like you a lot.”
“Sure you do.”
Don’t push it.
“I won’t tell on you,” she said. “You pick the motel. I’ll get us a room…I have credit cards. We’ll go up and spend the night together. How would that be?”
“It’d be great. Only thing is, you’d tell the desk clerk you’re a prisoner and I’d be up to my asshole in cops.”
“I wouldn’t tell.”
“Yes, you would. I know you, Sherry. I know exactly what you’d do.”
I doubt it.
But he was right in this case; left alone with a desk clerk, she would either blurt out the truth or call the police herself.
Phones aren’t working.
Maybe they are by now, she thought.
“There’s Duane’s place,” Toby said.
“What about it?”
“He has a bed, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“Nobody knows anybody in that building,” Toby explained. “We could just walk in. Even if we got seen, nobody’d be suspicious of us. They’d just think we live there.”
“They might get suspicious when they hear us kicking open Duane’s door.”
“Haven’t you got a key?” Toby asked.
“No.”
“That’s okay. I can get us in.”
“Okay. Duane’s place sounds great to me.”
“Good.” Toby gave her arm a pat, then took his right hand away and started the engine. He pushed the gear selection lever to reverse. “I guess you can sit up now,” he told her. His other hand went away, and the car started to roll backward.
Sherry pushed herself up, gritting her teeth but making no sounds. On her way up, the chest harness rubbed across her sore right breast. She pulled the strap away.
“Leave that alone,” Toby warned, swinging on to the street.
She eased the strap down against the middle of her chest. “It was hurting me,” she said.
“Just keep your hands away from your seat belt.”
“Fine.”
He stopped the car, shifted to drive, then stepped on the gas. Ahead of them, the traffic signal at Venice Boulevard was red.
The pavement just in front of Toby’s car was dark with the shadows of windblown tree limbs.
He hasn’t got the headlights on.
She resisted an urge to tell him.
No headlights is reason enough for cops to stop us.
Like that’s gonna happen, Sherry thought.
It might, she told herself. This time of night, there’re plenty of cops around and not much traffic. A car without headlights might actually get noticed.
Toby flicked on his signal for a right turn.
In front of the car, an amber glow lit the darkness, went off, came on, went off…
Toby put on his headlights.
Terrific.
Just before he reached the intersection, the traffic signal changed to green. He glanced to the left, then pulled out and made his right turn.
Venice Boulevard was bright with streetlights.
And nearly deserted.
Toby turned his head and smiled at Sherry. “You know what?” he said.
“What?”
“We’re gonna have a really great time.”
Nodding, she tried to smile. “Yeah,” she said.
“Only it won’t be so great if you do anything to ruin it.”