Barbara Dunlop - Overheated

“Zane?” asked her mother.

“Zane’s back,” Crystal said. “You can’t give Amber any money while he’s in town.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Amber growled.

“Jennifer,” Harold quickly put in, “Why don’t you and David go into the den. I’ve got a new DVD there for you.”

“Which one?” asked Jennifer.

“Can we take the chocolates?” asked David.

“You can take the chocolates,” said Harold. “The movie is on top of the player. It’s a surprise.”

The kids jumped from their chairs and scampered down the hall.

Amber polished off her wine. “Zane’s changed,” she stated, with a frown for Crystal.

“There’ll be some money in a trust for each of you,” said her father.

A satisfied smile came over Amber’s face, while Crystal’s dinner turned to lead in her stomach. Amber would never get rid of Zane if there was money in the offing.

“You can access it when you’re thirty-five,” Stella finished.

Amber’s face fell. “What good does it-”

“That’s very generous of you,” Crystal quickly put in, relieved on at least one front. On every other front, her life had just taken a hairpin turn.

IT WAS NINE-THIRTY BEFORE Larry’s cell phone rang. He had the new bed set up in his bedroom, along with crisp new sheets and a copper-colored comforter that brought out the wood grains in the oak bed.

“Larry Grosso,” he answered out of habit.

“Hey, Larry,” came her sweet, melodic voice.

He smiled. He loved that voice. “Hey, Crystal.”

“How’re you doing?”

“Better now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Dinner’s over.”

Great. “Where are you?”

“I’m in my car.”

“On your way here, I hope?”

“I’m on Springford, crossing the overpass. Your directions are perfect.”

“Where’s Rufus?”

“He’s with me.”

“Good.”

There was a thread of laughter in her tone. “You missed Rufus?”

“If he’s here, we know he’s fed and walked.” They also knew Crystal wouldn’t have to leave early. In fact, Crystal didn’t have to leave at all.

Her voice was husky over the phone link. “You read my mind.”

“Oh, I hope so.”

“Be there in ten minutes.”

He didn’t want her to sign off. There was no reason they couldn’t keep talking. “How was dinner?”

She gave a sigh.

“What?”

“My parents dropped a bombshell.”

“Yeah?”

“They’re selling the business.”

“What business? Softco?”

“That’s the same question I asked. Yes, they’re selling Softco. They’re moving to Florida.”

Something twisted in Larry’s chest. “You going with them?”

“No. I’m not going with them. I’m twenty-eight years old.”

Damn. There it was. And it was worse than he’d thought. “You’re only twenty-eight?”

“That’s plenty old enough to leave my parents.”

He paused. “Crystal?”

“Yes?”

“I’m fifty.”

There was silence at her end, just the rumble of the motor and hum of the tires.

“I guess it’s about time we stopped dancing around that,” he said.

She still said nothing.

“You have a problem with it?” he asked.

“I’m still driving toward you. Why? You got a problem with it?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a big problem with being the luckiest guy on the planet.”

“I’m turning onto Alder. The light’s green. I’ll be there in two minutes.”

Larry’s heartbeat deepened in anticipation. “Is Rufus going to need anything right away?”

“Not a thing.”

“I bought a new bed,” he told her. “Moved the old one into the guest room. Spent the whole day redecorating.”

“For me?”

“For you.”

“I’m passing number three-fifty,” she told him.

“Can you see my car? Under the streetlight?”

“I see it. Three houses. Two.”

Larry headed for the door and opened it. “I can see your headlights.”

“I’m turning in.”

“Watch out for the hedge.” He heard a scraping sound.

“Wasn’t crazy about that paint anyway,” she told him.

He chuckled low. “Didn’t sound too bad.”

Her headlights died, and she shut off the engine.

Then she was opening the door. The interior glow backlit her hair. Her face was dark, but he could picture it in his mind. She was wearing a green tank top and a short, denim skirt.

She turned to open the back door.

“You’re gorgeous,” he breathed into the phone.

“So are you,” she responded.

“You haven’t seen me yet.”

“But I remember.”

“So do I,” he rumbled. “So do I.”

Rufus leapt out of the car, sniffing his way across the bark-mulch garden.

Larry called his name, closing the phone as Crystal strode toward him.

Rufus shot through the doorway, with Crystal right behind.

Larry closed and latched the door, pulling her into his arms and backing her into the entryway wall.

“I missed you,” he whispered, framing her face with his palms.

She smiled, and he leaned in for a kiss.

Her lips were warm and sweet, malleable beneath his pressure. She snaked her arms around him and tipped her head sideways.

One of his arms went around her waist, then he smoothed her eyebrow, stroked the slope of her nose, her soft cheek, her chin, and he ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “Twenty-eight, eh?”

“Get over it.”

He scooped her into his arms. “I intend to try very, very hard to do just that.”

She laughed as he swept her up the stairs to his waiting bedroom.

LARRY LAY AWAKE IN THE DIM light from the moon that filtered through his sheer curtains, while Crystal’s chest slowly rose and fell beneath the cream-colored sheet. The strange thing was, it seemed perfectly natural to have her here. He wasn’t sure if it was the redecorating, the amount of time that had passed or simply his feelings for Crystal. But he could keep her here, in his room, in his bed, forever.

He placed a gentle kiss on her smooth, bare shoulder.

It was four-thirty. He’d usually be up and showered by now, but he didn’t want to risk disturbing her. Regular people needed eight hours’ sleep. Which was an advantage to him on some days, and a disadvantage on others. Today, he didn’t want to wait three more hours to talk to Crystal.

He supposed a man took the good with the bad. His sleep cycle had enabled him to earn his PhD and teach fulltime at the university, with the occasional consulting job for NASA, while managing the math department so perfectly that it kept the president of the university more than happy. Still, he wished he could just stay and gaze into Crystal’s jade-green eyes.

As if reading his mind, she blinked them open.

“Hey,” she yawned, her ruby lips curving into a smile.

“Hey, yourself.” He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek.

“What time is it?”

“Four-thirty.”

“You should be asleep.”

“So should you.”

She extracted her arm from beneath the sheet and ran her fingers over his beard-roughened chin. “I was.”

“Did I wake you?”

“I don’t think so. I was dreaming about apartment hunting.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It wasn’t. But I have to do it.”

“Today?” He supposed with her parents’ impending move, she didn’t dare waste any time.

She nodded, eyes fluttering closed. “I should have an early breakfast.”

“What time is early for you?”

“Seven-thirty.”

“I’ll make breakfast.”

She smiled.

“What do you like?” he asked.

“Anything.” Her expression relaxed. “Anything,” she whispered, and her breathing went even.

“Anything at seven-thirty,” he mumbled. Then he kissed her on the forehead and slipped out of the bed.

He pulled on a pair of gym shorts and a clean T-shirt, then trotted down the stairs where Rufus met him. The pool didn’t open until six, and he really needed to clear his head.

“What about it, buddy?” he asked the dog. “You up for a jog?”

Rufus wagged his tail and followed at Larry’s heels into the kitchen. After a quick cup of coffee for him and a bowl of kibbles for Rufus, Larry donned his runners. They locked the front door and headed out to the street. It was still dark, but a faint blue glow had appeared on the eastern horizon, masking the stars.

They jogged down a deserted Versluce Street and onto the Bridge, then they headed into the park to do a lap around the pond on the bark-mulch trail. Rufus settled into the pace and seemed happy to stay at Larry’s heels. Larry enjoyed the company, even if the dog did scare the mallard ducks paddling in the reeds near the shore.

When they made the wide turn at the end of the pond, the sun was peeking up over the hills. Larry’s thoughts turned from gamma ray burst astrometry to the image of Crystal sleeping in his bed. Despite his vehement denial to Steve, Larry had thought a lot about the midlife crisis angle.

Was there some hormonal or genetic programming that attracted him to younger women at this stage? He hadn’t ever noticed it before. He’d certainly met his share of twenty and thirty-something women in the past year, and he hadn’t felt a spark with any of them, not a single flare or glow of desire.

This was all Crystal, plain and simple. And though he knew he should care about the age difference, he was falling too hard for her. And he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

He found himself picking up the pace. He glanced at his watch. It was six-thirty, and he wanted to get home in time to make her something special for breakfast. Maybe waffles. Nice, crispy Belgian waffles with berries and whipped cream.

He’d have to stop at the store for whipping cream, but that was fine. There was a mini market on Waverly. It was only a small detour.

They’d sit out on his back deck, sipping coffee and watching the dew burn off the ferns and flowers in his garden. Larry smiled to himself, while Rufus barked at another flock of ducks.

They rose into the air, wings beating, the water rippling behind them. The day suddenly seemed full of promise. Larry’s life seemed full of promise.

As soon as breakfast was over, he’d start planning their weekend in Pocono. Now that they were officially dating, he figured he could spend as much money on her as he liked.

“YOU’RE JOKING,” SAID CRYSTAL, staring at the Web page of an ultra-luxury hotel suite in Pocono with a castle-like exterior. The suite had high ceilings, massive windows, a polished-wood chandelier, a corner fireplace, along with deep-cushioned couches, all complimented by a giant whirlpool tub and a canopied bed.

“You don’t like it?” asked Larry, turning the laptop back toward him on the breakfast table out on his deck.

“I think it’ll cost a fortune,” said Crystal. She was sure there were several lovely family motels near the track.

“So what?” he asked.

“So are you made of money?”

“I’m a mathematician.”

What the heck was that supposed to mean?

“And you said I could spend money on you once we were dating.”

“I didn’t mean you should take out a second mortgage.”

He grinned. “I don’t have a first mortgage.”

“Neither do I.” Crystal stretched her arms over her head.

She was wearing one of Larry’s white dress shirts. It slipped up her thighs, and the cool morning air flowed over her skin. “Which reminds me. I have to get out there and apartment-hunt.”

She polished off the remainder of her coffee. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“You want some help?” he asked.

“I’m sure you have better things to do. Maybe some research to finish?” The last thing Crystal wanted was to become the visitor from hell. There was nothing worse than a sleepover guest who didn’t know when the night was over. She needed to give Larry space.

“That’s the thing about astrophysics research,” he said.

She waited.

“I can’t solve all the mysteries of the universe, I’ll die long before my work is ever finished.”

She leaned forward. “Then you better get started.”

He grinned. “I got started when I was fifteen years old. And I’m really not all that much closer to any answers.”

“Well, there’s the ion propulsion engine thingee.”

“Thingee?”

She nodded. “I believe that’s the technical term.”

“We’re still working out the bugs on that. Aiming for 2010, actually. I think I can afford to take a day off.”

“And you want to spend it looking at low-rent apartments in Charlotte?”

His eyes went flirty as he stared into hers. “Yeah.”

“You’re crazy.”

He finished his own coffee, rising to his feet. “Statistically speaking, genius and insanity are very closely linked.”

She stood with him. “Good to know.”

“You want me to drive?”

Crystal really wasn’t thrilled with the idea of taking Larry along. The kinds of apartments she could afford were going to be depressing and embarrassing. She was thinking about a one-bedroom basement, or maybe a third-floor walkup bachelor-something to keep expenses down while she looked for a new job.