“The turning,” Basil said suddenly, and she glanced to him with confusion.
“What?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he explained with his back still to her. “I wanted to talk to you about the turning and what Stephanie said about it.”
“Oh,” she breathed, and then tried to recall what the girl had said. Oh yes. “That I didn’t want Leo to turn me.”
“Yes,” he said solemnly, and finally faced her. She couldn’t help noticing, though, that he avoided looking below her neck. The man was still hot for her . . . and she liked that about him.
“Your face,” Sherry gasped, standing up with alarm as she noted the red round circle on his left cheek.
Basil waved away her concern. “Apparently when we passed out after . . .” He waved again rather than say what he’d been doing to her, and then continued, “I think I fell back and smacked myself in the face as I did.” He smiled wryly. “At least it is the only conclusion I can come up with . . . and my hand was on my cheek when I woke up.”
“Oh,” Sherry murmured and settled back in the chair again, supposing there were more embarrassing positions he could have found himself in.
“That was very naughty of you, by the way,” he said suddenly, and Sherry glanced to him again.
Managing an innocent expression, she asked, “Whatever are you talking about?”
Basil snorted, apparently not buying it, and accused, “You deliberately distracted me.”
“All I did was cross the room,” she said with a shrug. “It’s not like I pulled my nightgown down and did the boobie dance in your face.”
“The boobie dance?” he asked with a frown.
“You know, jiggling my boobs in your face.”
Basil licked his lips, a faraway look on his face that suggested to her that he was imagining just that, and then his expression cleared and he scowled once more. “You are distracting me again.”
Sherry stared, the sudden urge to hug him briefly overwhelming her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked warily.
“Like what?” she asked softly.
He hesitated and then admitted, “I’m not sure how to describe it. Either as if you want to eat me up or slap me.”
Sherry burst out laughing at that. Talk about not being able to read expressions. Shaking her head, she smiled and said, “I’d be happy to eat you up. It only seems fair to return the favor.”
Basil groaned. “Sherry we have to talk about this.”
Relenting, she stood and moved to the bed. This time she laid down in it rather than sit, and then she pulled the covers up to her armpits and rested her hands on top. “All right. Talk.”
Basil breathed out a sigh and moved to perch carefully on the bottom corner on the opposite side, about as far away as he could get in the bed. When she simply waited patiently, he finally said, “I think Stephanie is right.”
“That I don’t want to be turned by Leo?” Sherry asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay. I understand that, and you’re right, I wouldn’t want Leo to turn me,” she admitted.
Basil nodded, and then took a deep breath and blurted, “So, perhaps I should turn you to prevent that happening.”
Sherry froze. She was quite sure her heart actually stopped, or at least skipped a beat. She hadn’t been expecting this. She was supposed to be able to just enjoy what was happening between her and Basil and worry about the rest of it later. This wasn’t worrying about it later.
“Sherry?” he queried solemnly.
“I . . .” She paused, licked her lips and then admitted, “I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, Basil. Everything has happened so fast. We need to slow down and think about this.”