Succubs on Top Page 0,75

I resisted the urge to move away. Glancing at his kitchen table, I saw stacks of CPFV pamphlets and brochures.

"Why the interest in cooking?" I asked blandly when no one said anything.

"A bachelor can't live on fast food and frozen dinners forever, huh?" He turned up the dial on his smile. "And hey, I'm always open to new experiences. Next time she's going to teach me to make creme brulee."

I grunted. "You learn to makecreme brulee, and I might have to move in."

Dana turned to me, elegantly crossing her legs, showing that oh-so-wholesome slip obtained during the infamous shopping trip. I'd given up on slips a while ago. They just delayed the main event. "I could show you too."

Hell no. I'd gotten roped into yard work by pursuing a similar vein of conversation with Jody. No more domestic vices for me. Besides, I knew Bastien wouldn't welcome my presence.

"Thanks, but I'll just leave it to Mitch. He's the brilliant one in this family anyway."

Bastien gave the bread a final pat. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we put it in the pan."

She walked over to show him. As she did, he leaned in extra close, supposedly to get a better look. He even reached out his hand to brush hers, following her motions as they transferred the bread. Perhaps it would have been polite to look away, but there was nothing overtly romantic going on, and besides, I felt a professional interest in the matter. Histechniquewas good, I had to admit. Very subtle. Nothing that could be misconstrued as more than a polite accident. Yet, I saw Dana - just as subtly - stiffen and step away once the bread was in its pan.

"Now you just let it rise," she said, in a somewhat cooler tone. "Then it goes in the oven."

Interesting. She hadn't liked Bastien's proximity. That didn't bode well for him. I didn't think he noticed, however.

I would have expected her to leave, but she sat down next to me again. I could never think of anything interesting to say around her; she unnerved me too much. So I let the two of them talk, answering only when spoken to and otherwise letting Bastien run the show. He positively glowed. Dana tried to draw me in a number of times, again asking me things about my life I really didn't want to answer.

When she finally rose to go, she commented, "I'm off to a board meeting to plan our upcoming rally against gay marriage. You two should join us when it happens."

"Absolutely," said Bastien, who probably would have agreed to an anti-incubus rally at this point.

She glanced over at me. My tongue suddenly felt thick, words again eluding me.

"Are you for gay marriage?" she asked with surprise. "I thought when we talked about this at the mall, you had implied you were more in favor of helping them see the error of their ways."

Christ. Had we discussed this on the mall trip? I couldn't remember. The only thing I recalled clearly was the lingerie debacle.

I wanted to argue right then that I didn't think homosexuality was a "choice" for all people, nor did I believe there should be laws about who people loved. Fortunately, my control switch was fully operational. That, combined with Bastien's heavy gaze, made me redirect my answer and evade the question. "I'd love to go to the rally," I said flatly. "It'll depend on my schedule."

She smiled thinly, made a few parting remarks, and then left.

I exhaled. "Sorry about that, Bas. I nearly choked up on you."

"Not a problem. You recovered. Besides, I think things are turning around. I thought of it the last time she and Jody were over. This cooking thing is going to be what does it." He peered into the oven at his now-baking bread before sitting at the kitchen table happily. "Can't you see it? We'll be like, I don't know, baking a cake together, and I'll say, 'Why Dana, you have chocolate frosting on your cheek.' Then she'll say, 'Will you get it off for me?' Then I will, only I'll lick it off - "

"Okay, just stop now, please. I get the picture. I really don't want to hear about you two rolling around in cake batter."

"You'll have to once it's on the evening news."

I smiled, relieved to see him so cheered up after our last encounter. I couldn't bring myself to tell him I didn't think the cooking lessons were making Dana quite as hot and heavy as he