3rd World Products, Book 16 (15 page)

Tanya said, “Okay. I’ll have our drinks ready in a minute.”
 

When I came out she was putting the ice tray back in the fridge. The pint bottle on the sink counter was down considerably more than just two shots. She handed me my drink and I thanked her and sipped. It was good. Strong, but not too strong.
 

Smiling, she said, “Good, I got it right,” and she went to the couch. Moving some throw cushions, she sat down and toed off her shoes, then put her feet up on the coffee table.
 

“Get comfortable, Ed.”
 

I plunked myself into a sofa chair. After toeing off my own shoes, I stretched out my legs and sipped gin.
 

Tanya asked, “You want to watch some TV?”
 

Not really. I shrugged. “Do you?”
 

“Not really. It’s Saturday night. I’d be real surprised if there’s anything on I’d want to see. Want to watch a DVD?”
 

“I’d be more interested in talking a while before I leave.”
 

Sipping her gin, she asked, “If you weren’t here, what would you be doing tonight? Partying somewhere?”
 

“Probably not. I might be at a certain bar, shooting pool.”
 

“Why that bar in particular?”
 

“It’s comfortable. The people are comfortable.” I grinned and added, “The bartender wears short shorts and has great legs to go with her smile. Great to look at or talk to, even with her boyfriend sitting nearby. You know how that is?”
 

Tanya chuckled, “Yeah, I do. One bartender I knew used to be able to talk about anything. He knew a little about everything, I think. And he could mix from memory. Didn’t need the book.”
 

Hoisting my glass slightly, I said, “That’s real talent, ma’am. Some can’t get ‘em right even with the book.”
 

She laughed softly and sipped quietly for a time. I sipped and just relaxed in that big, comfy chair.
 

Tanya asked, “You don’t have a girlfriend?”
 

“Not a steady one. There’s a lady at Carrington Base, but she’s behaving herself to try to make some rank these days. I haven’t seen her unofficially since about June.”
 

Tanya chuckled, “You poor thing.”
 

“Yeah, that’s how I see it, too.”
 

“You haven’t done any local looking?”
 

Sipping, I said, “Looking, yes. Not too hard, though. The ones my age want big fat strings. Security. Family and property mergers through marriage. One played hard for a while, then invited her kids and grandkids for the holidays. My idea of a holiday is something else entirely. Besides, they didn’t like me and I didn’t like them. When I told one to mind his own business, it turned them all against me.”
 

She laughed, “I’ve met some of those. Don’t you want the things other people want?”
 

I shrugged and sighed, “Apparently not, ma’am. I can’t stand kids very long. Wouldn’t own a dog. The only team sport I’ll watch is women’s beach volleyball.”
 

“No hunting or fishing? Hanging out with the guys?”
 

“Most of the time I’m my own best company, and when I’m not, other guys won’t cut it. One of my better friends is a lesbian in Pasco. She and her buds are bikers. We’ll ride around, have a few beers, shoot pool, and when it’s over, it’s over. No hassles, no complications. I don’t get laid, but we have a good time.”
 

Sipping, I added, “Correction; I don’t
usually
get laid, but a couple of them are bi. When they have a certain itch, I get elected. Or appointed, actually. No voting.”
 

Laughing, Tanya said, “Appointed, elected… as long as you don’t get
infected
from their itches, right?”
 

Popping up a field screen, I displayed an info page about Amaran medical nanobots and sent it across to her.
 

“They make me use rubbers. I don’t mind ‘cuz rubbers make a man last longer and they’re worried about pregnancy. But with those ‘bots in my system, infection isn’t a problem. They zap every known disease.”
 

Something a yard tall moved in the back yard. Levering out of the chair, I took two steps to the window and saw a deer chewing on some kind of bush.
 

Tanya joined me and said, “That’s Leaping Lucy. She hops fences and eats anything green. They’ve tried to catch her, but she always gets away.” Nudging me with her shoulder, she said, “You were out of that chair and at the window in about two seconds.” With a grin, she added, “And you didn’t spill a drop. Now
that’s
talent.”
 

“Careful, ma’am. I might get the idea you’re interested.”
 

She barked a laugh. “I already
know
you’re interested. You said you’d lick me silly at the first opportunity, remember?”
 

“You’re paraphrasing a bit, but it’s close enough.”
 

“Good. I’m going to have another drink. Want one?”
 

I glanced at my glass. It was down to a small splash in the bottom. “Sure. This one seems to have disappeared.”
 

Tanya took my glass and headed for the kitchen.
 

Chapter Ten
 

I glanced at the deer again. It heard something and practically flew over the board fence. When I turned around, I saw Tanya unbuttoning her blouse by the sink.
 

She glanced at me and said, “Spilled something on it.”
 

As she put her blouse in the sink and ran water on it, I walked over to the sink and offered to finish making the drinks. She protested.
 

“No, just give me a minute. I’ll let this soak a while.”
 

She was being very matter-of-fact, which had to be an act given her behavior the rest of the day. Unless, of course, that had been an act and this wasn’t. I shrugged mentally and noted she filled her bra without overflowing. Very nice. Shoulders were very nice, too. And arms. And throat. In fact, everything I could see was very nice.
 

But I’ve learned caution. A woman who feels comfortable enough with a man can sometimes overstep and not realize it, especially after a strange, tiring day and a dose of booze. And I couldn’t figure out why she’d have suddenly become so comfortable with me out by the car.
 

This time she added a dash of lime juice to each drink before she handed me one and mock-toasted. I dutifully clinked my glass to hers with a smile. Tanya sipped hers as I sipped mine, then canted her head and grinned at me.
 

“You want to know if I’m for real, don’t you?”
 

I nodded. “Yup. You weren’t like this before we came back from dinner. Now you’re all cheery and taking off clothes. What happened?”
 

“You did. You asked, ‘What will I win or lose?’ and I realized right then that it didn’t really matter a good goddamn to you what I thought about anything. You’re here for my mom. And you don’t really need me to help you, do you?”
 

Sipping again, she said, “And then I realized something else. You didn’t waste any nostalgizing over the pictures you found. They were just pictures of people in places to you. Except for that one Leipzig story, you didn’t bend my ear about mom or what things were like when you worked together. And when you saw my dad’s picture, he was just another guy. Not an old friend or an old enemy. Not the guy who stole your girl or anything like that. So mom isn’t an old flame. Right?”
 

I nodded. “So far, yes.”
 

Taking a breath, Tanya hoisted her glass to me and said, “Well, anyway, here’s to you, guy. I haven’t figured out why the hell you really want to help me — or my mom — but here you are, and I’ll damned well accept.”
 

Watching Tanya’s face until her grin became artificial and her eyes locked on mine, I said, “It’s because she was one of us, Tanya. Something horrible happened to her and I might be able to help her. That’s all there is to it.”
 

After a moment, Tanya said, “You know, I expected you to say something like ‘
because she’d do the same for me
‘.” Pausing, she added, “But you don’t think so, do you?”
 

“I probably wouldn’t count on it.”
 

“Not at all, then.”
 

I sighed, “Okay. Not at all. We didn’t get along well back then and we haven’t spoken since ‘73. I’ve no reason in the world to think she’d do the same for me. Or that Will or Connie would if they could. Hell, they didn’t even tell me about their investigation or her accident.”
 

Sipping her drink, Tanya said, “After I knew about you, I wondered why you didn’t show up. That’s one of the reasons I was trying to be careful about contacting you.”
 

Sipping again as she studied my face, she said, “And then you said what you said out by the car. I think that’s when I decided you’d sleep here tonight.”
 

Laughing, she said, “Maybe I’m just plain damned stupid, Ed. I had this idea about seducing you to help. Turns out I didn’t have to, but I ended up seducing myself for you.”
 

I took a drink and said, “I’ll play along if you want. You’d never know I didn’t do all the seducing.”
 

She laughed and shook her head. “Nope. Too late. The whole seduction thing is all fucked up
now that we both know about it. I guess we’ll just have to skip the stupid games and go straight to bed.”
 

I gallantly sighed, “Well, I’ll do my best anyway, milady. Just for you, because you’ve been so nice to me and gave me some booze. It’s only fair.”
 

With another laugh, she asked, “Doesn’t it bother you that I’m the daughter of an old acquaintance and co-worker?”
 

Pretending to give that thought, I said, “Nope. We weren’t that close and you look edible. Besides, you aren’t some eighteen-year-old twinkie. You’re a full-grown woman who hopefully knows what it takes to ring your bells. Don’t be shy about telling me what you like.”
 

Tanya was enjoying our banter. She grinned as she said, “I don’t think we’ll have a problem if you’re for real.”
 

“For real? In what sense?”
 

Standing straight, she gracefully raised an arm to point at me and said with great solemnity, “I fully expect you to lick me silly, just like you said.
Fail at your own peril
.”
 

She then laughed so hard she almost fell into a chair by the table and gasped, “I saw that in some movie the other night. ‘
Fail at your own peril.
‘ It was so
corny!
I
loved
it!”
 

Laughing with her, I said, “Yeah, it is pretty effective. Promise me one thing, Tanya.”
 

“What’s that?”
 

“Don’t be a guilt-ridden, hung-over basket case in the morning. We’ll have enough to do without me having to punt your ass across the field to get you going.”
 

With a huge grin, she marveled, “OOOooo, a tough guy, huh?! Okay, tough guy, I promise. Good times only. No guilty hangovers. Good enough?”
 

“It’ll have to do, I guess. Suddenly I can’t even envision the idea of leaving here without doing my absolute best to ruin you for all other men.”
 

That cracked her up again. She tried to repeat the phrase twice before she managed to get all of ‘
ruin you for all other men
‘ out at once. When her laughter wound down some, she got up and pulled her blouse out of the sink. After sloshing and rinsing and wringing it, she said, “Back in a minute,” and headed for the bathroom.
 

I heard her conversationally say, “Damn,” and she crossed the hall to the bedroom, recrossing the hall a moment later with a fat black plastic coat hanger and a small paper bag. The bathroom door closed and I heard water running.
 

I glanced at the gin bottle. Just over half left. Survivable, between two people with full stomachs. We’d feel it in the morning, but not too badly. There was a time I’d have hit the door rather than deal with the typical aftermath of an event like this, but… Tanya seemed to need to blow off steam.
 

And she looked and smelled delicious. And I really, really wanted her. No self-delusions. Simple lust, the best kind. If she dragged ass tomorrow, I’d just deal with it. No way was I going to pass her up because of a little booze. If it turned out she was a lush, I’d just make myself less available later.
 

Ages ago we’d teased Marie about being the real Batgirl. She’d looked a lot like the actress from the Batman TV series, so we’d pooled fifty bucks to buy her an old blue Vespa. We then offered to have the Mainz motor pool trick it out like Batgirl’s bike on the show. Big or small ruffles? Stick with purple or maybe try gloss black?
 

She’d actually been interested in the bike. After riding it around the parking lot, she’d said, “Thanks, guys,” and put it in the impoundment room.
 

We didn’t have a title for it, but we had a valid receipt. Someone at a JAG office fixed that for her. She green-tagged the Vespa and had it painted bright red. I wondered what happened to it. The image of Marie on her bike somehow changed to Tanya sitting on her scooter above the tree, framed by the bright blue sky and a streak of white clouds.
 

Somewhere in the midst of my reveries I’d sat at the table. Suddenly a hand landed lightly on my shoulder and Tanya asked, “What are you thinking about?”
 

I turned to see her wearing a dark blue teddy. Trim, tight, and gorgeous. I stood up as I said, “I
was just thinking about how good you looked on the scooter today. Above that tree with the sky at your back.”