I know. I’ll make sure, though. You did really good, Duke. Really good. Are you going to be home later?”
“Yeah, sure, I think so.”
“I’ll call you around nine. We’ll get together tonight. Just you and me. Before the trolling.”
“Okay. Great!”
Tanya hung up.
Jeremy hung up. He stared at the phone. His mouth felt as dry as paper; his heart drummed and he panted for breath.
I did it, he thought. Oh, man, oh, man! Just you and me.
Even before they started up the narrow road into the hills, the houses looked big and expensive. Robin knew that higher up—where Nate was taking her—the homes must be fabulous. She didn’t find the notion comforting.
Her family hadn’t been poor. With both her parents working, they’d gotten by just fine. Then there had been the life-insurance money. But they’d never been rich. Not even close to rich.
“Something the matter?” Nate asked.
“I’m feeling…a little bit out of my league.”
“I don’t get it.”
“You live up here in a huge house. You drive a car that must’ve cost more than my Dad made in a whole year.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Robin shrugged. “I don’t know. Shouldn’t you be going with a debutante or something?”
He laughed. “Well, you’ll do until a deb comes along.”
“What happens if your parents find out about you and me?”
“What do you mean, if?”
“What do you mean?”
“They’ll find out Wednesday,” he said. “No if. I’ll introduce you.”
“Great. They should be delighted to find out you’ve taken up with a street musician.”
“We’ll tell them you’re a debutante.”
“Right.”
“You’ll knock them dead, Robin.”
“Yeah. I’m sure I will. Cardiac arrest. Their son and the bum.”
“You’re not a bum. You’re an employee. And you weren’t a bum before you were an employee. You’re an artist, a poet, a musician. They’ll love you.”
“That I doubt.”
Nate swung the car to the side of the road and stopped it. The road was deserted, shadowed by overhanging trees. Ahead on the left was a mailbox and the grated entrance of a driveway, but no homes were in sight.
He switched off the engine and set the emergency brake. He turned to Robin. Reaching out, he curled a hand behind her neck. His hand rubbed her gently while he stared into her eyes. “Just because my family has money,” he said, “it doesn’t mean we’re bad people.”
“I know that, but…”
“Nobody’s going to dump on you. Especially not my parents. All they’ll care about is whether you’re a decent person, and you are. They’ll love you. Same as I do. Well, not exactly the same.”
“I should hope not.”
“We won’t announce that you’ve been staying over. That’d be pushing it. I mean, they’re terrific, but they are my parents. They’d bounce off the ceilings if they found out about that. Even then, I’d be the one to catch hell and they’d figure you were my innocent victim.”
“Yeah?” She smiled. “You know that from experience?”
“Oh, I’ve been caught a couple of times doing what I shouldn’t.”
“Caught with girls in the house?”
“Once or twice. None that ever stayed over, though. You’ll be the first. You’re the first in a lot of ways.”
“How?”
“You’re my first banjo picker.”
“Creep.”
“You’re the first I’ve ever fallen in love with.”
Robin’s throat tightened. “Really?”
“Really.” He drew her toward him by the hand on her neck. She turned on the seat and leaned closer. As they kissed, his hand moved up the back of her head. She felt his fingers slide into her hair. His other hand closed gently over her breast. She moaned into his mouth.
“I love you so much,” she whispered.
“Would you love me more if I were poor?”
“Probably.”
“Now who’s the creep?”
“I wish we’d met a long time ago,” she said, and squirmed as he rubbed her breast.
“Me too. God, I do wish that. It would’ve made…such a difference.”
“But I almost feel as if I’ve always known you. Does that make sense?”
“No.”
She laughed into his mouth, and kissed him again. “Yes, it does,” she said.
“If you say so. You’re the breakfast expert.”
“What does breakfast have to do with anything?”
“Makes sense to me.”
“Are you making fun of me?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He kissed the tip of her nose. As he stroked her hair, his other hand slipped away from her breast. “Ready to go?”
“Let’s went.”
He started the car and steered it back onto the road. Shortly after they rounded a bend, the road split into a Y. The lane sloping down from the left had a stop sign. A white Triumph was waiting there. The girl in its driver’s seat was a blonde wearing sunglasses. Nate