A Life Less Ordinary (5 page)

Zeke
cocked his head to one side and considered her thoughtfully before he
answered.  “Oddly, I don’t think we’d have a miserable time, although I have a
sneaking suspicion we’d fight a lot.”

Manny
chuckled slightly.  “That assumes I’d care enough to argue with you.  Look, if
we agree that you’re the one, then I suggest you think of me as an older sister
– or...or your aunt.  If we go on this trip together, I don’t care what you
do.  If you decide at some point to not continue, then I’d like to know as soon
as possible so I can make other arrangements if necessary.”

Zeke
leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed as he considered her carefully. 
There was a speculative gleam in his eyes that puzzled her although it didn’t
alarm her the way Isaac’s had.  Whatever was going on in his head, Manny
instinctively believed he would never hurt her.

“What
do you expect from me,” Zeke asked slowly, “if I go with you?”

Manny
shrugged.  “Companionship, mostly.  I don’t mean we’re joined at the hip.  I
mean, what I’m hoping is if I want to take a tour of an historic site, for
example, that you’d go with me – at least occasionally.  Basically do things
with me while we’re travelling.  I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone, try
new things, meet new people.  I’d like somebody to be with me while I do that. 
I can do it alone but it’s sometimes more fun with someone else there.”

Zeke
frowned.  “Don’t you have any friends?”

Manny
shrugged but she couldn’t quite meet his eyes.  “Sure – but they all have to
work, or they have families, or they just have no desire to bum around for six
months.  Or they don’t have the money to bum around for six months.”

“No
boyfriend of your own?  Or – I’m sorry, I shouldn’t assume – no girlfriend?”

Manny
chuckled again.  “Neither one.  And it’s boyfriend, by the way.  I haven’t had
one of those in...decades, I think.  It certainly feels that way.  And I was
never any good at all that...” she waved vaguely, “
stuff
anyway.”

“Stuff?”
he asked, amused.

“You
know.  Relationship stuff.  I guess it didn’t help that I never wanted to be
married or have kids – but I did expect to at least have sex on occasion.”  She
shrugged.  “I was wrong.”

“Is
that on the agenda for this trip?”

“Sex?”

“Yes.”

“Well,
I’m not intending to have sex with anyone.  And like the ad said, no sex is
offered or expected from whoever I take with me.”

“That’s
good to know.  I have to tell you – I...I like younger women.”

“You
and every other straight man on the planet.  So, you’re trying to say my virtue
is safe with you?”

“Like
you were my sister,” he said with a charming smile, “or my aunt.”

Shit
– and he’s got a great smile, too.  I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Those
are just hormones.  Remember them?

...I
can’t believe I created you.

“Well,
that’s a relief,” Manny said drily.  “Now, are you going to tell me the truth?”

Zeke
sighed and shrugged, but avoided her eyes, “Women problems.”

Manny
hummed.  “Well,” she said, finishing her latte, “I think you’ll do.”  She met
his gaze steadily, seriously.  “I’m leaving in two weeks – you can let me know
any time up to the night before I leave if you’d like to go with me.  Think it
over, try to work things out with your girlfriend, and let me know.  You have
my phone number and my e-mail address.”  She stared hard at him.  “I won’t be
chasing you down for an answer,” she warned.  “I’m not going to phone you in a
couple of days asking if you’re going to come with me or not.  Let me know – or
don’t.”

Zeke
blinked at her, then raised his eyebrows in amusement.  “Pretty cut and dried.”

“I’m
too old and tired for games,” Manny said, “even if it’s only to go on a trip.”

They
stood and headed outside.  She smiled and held out her hand.  “Either way, it
was nice to meet you, and if I don’t see you again, good luck with your
girlfriend.”

“Thanks,”
he said.  She watched him walk away.

Told
you he’d have a great ass.

Never
doubted it for a minute.

~~~~~

Leah
watched with amusement as Zeke paced around her boardroom.

“I’m
telling you, she won’t last a week!  A more...prudish, repressed woman I have
yet to meet!  I doubt she’s done anything just for fun in her life!”

“Doesn’t
mean she won’t go the full six months,” Leah replied mildly.

“Oh,
please!  She wears her hair in a bun!  A
bun
!  And if her face has seen
makeup in the last ten years, I’ll eat my socks!  She’ll get scared at the
first loud noise and skitter home to safety.”  He shook his head.  “This is a
non-story.  Trust me.”

“Well,
I think you should still take the trip.  You can write this blog you’re
currently working on if you want to – but you’ll probably be wrong.”  She
frowned thoughtfully.  “You know...I wonder if she’d be interested in writing a
guest blog.”

Zeke
stopped in his tracks.  “
What
?”

“Sure,”
Leah said, gaining enthusiasm.  “That’s not a bad plan B.  She could write
updates of her journey – I mean, my subscribers are absolutely rabid about this
– and absolutely passionate about you going with her if the poll results and
the comments are anything to go by.  Half want you to expose her as pathetic;
the other half want you to be surprised and humbled and knocked off your high
horse.”

“Hey!”

“Some
love you; some love to hate you – but they all want you to document this
woman’s adventure – no matter how long it lasts, or what you learn.”

“Well,
it’s a non-story – I’m telling you.  She probably won’t even make it out of
town.  I doubt she’s ever been anywhere!”

“That’s...actually
kinda sad.”

Zeke
shrugged.  “Yeah, well – those were the choices she made.”

Leah
frowned at him.  “You don’t know what she’s faced in her life.  You shouldn’t
be so judgemental.”

Zeke
grinned at her.  “Hey, that’s why you pay me the big bucks, you know – because
I’m so judgemental.”

“You
know, if I didn’t know that sometimes you can actually be a really nice,
understanding guy, I’d think you were the biggest jerk that ever walked the
planet.”

He
shrugged again.  “People don’t want to read the blog of a nice guy.”

“But
they would love to see you taken down a peg or two.”

“Oh,
like any tightly wound old lady could do that!” he scoffed.

Leah
gave him a reproving look as she stood and walked over to him, a hand cupped
around her ear.  “Do you hear that?  That’s the sound of fate taking aim right
-” she poked him hard in the middle of the forehead - “
there
.”

Zeke
rolled his eyes as he rubbed the spot she’d poked.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Look, I
gotta go.  I have an interview in an hour on the other side of town.”  He gave
her a wicked wink followed by an equally wicked grin.  “Believe me, my next
blog is gonna be a scorcher!”

“Yeah? 
Dixie gonna be okay with that?”

“Hey
– what she don’t know -”

“Won’t
hurt you?” Leah asked drily.

“Exactly.”

~~~~~

Zeke
smiled at the woman behind him as he waited for Dixie to answer the phone.  “I
don’t know how I let my phone run down,” he said, then turned away when he
heard Dixie’s questioning “hello”.

“Hey,
babe, it’s me.  I’m running a bit later than planned tonight, doing research
for tomorrow’s blog.  I should be home in about an hour, maybe two.”

“Research,
huh?” Dixie said skeptically.

“Yeah. 
Don’t be mad, sweetheart.  I’ll make it up to you when I get home.”

“I’ll
bet.  Fine.”

“See
you later, babe.” He hung up the phone and handed it back to the attractive
blonde holding a glass of wine and smiling charmingly at him.  He grinned
back.  “Thanks for that.  Now, where were we?”

Two
hours later, Zeke pulled in the driveway at the back of the house and headed
towards the front door, whistling cheerfully.  He grinned to himself as he
tried to decide what would be the best way to make it up to Dixie for him
getting home late.  He frowned as he came around the corner and saw the boxes
piled on the front porch.  He took a close look at them and his eyes widened
when he saw his name written in black felt pen on them, with a white envelope
taped to the top one.  He hesitated, swallowed hard, then picked up the
envelope and slowly opened it.

The
message was printed in block letters and simply said, ‘NEXT TIME USE YOUR OWN
DAMN PHONE.’

~~~~~

Zeke
sat slumped at TJ and Leah’s kitchen table, playing with the glass in front of
him.  TJ and Leah watched him, concerned, taking sips from their own drinks as
they listened to his story. 

“How
she managed to get the locks changed at this time of night -” he shook his
head, staring down at his glass.

“I’m
sorry, man,” TJ said.

“Me,
too,” Leah said.  “I really liked Dixie.”

Zeke
nodded and sighed.  “Yeah.  Me, too.  You know the sad part?  I was really
trying this time.  I mean, I wasn’t cheating.  For the first time since...in a
long time, I felt...She’s...she’s sweet, you know what I mean?  I thought we
really had something.”

“If
you feel like that,” TJ said, “then go back tomorrow and try to work it out. 
Explain to her what you were doing.”

Zeke
shook his head.  “I told her I was working.  She obviously didn’t believe me.” 
He paused, running a finger around the rim of his glass.  He glanced up at
Leah. 

“Is
that offer to leave town still open?”

* * * * *

I’m
getting worried.

Manny
glanced over at Harvey, who was currently painting her living room dressed only
in a pair of low-riding jeans.  She took a moment to admire the impossibly
well-defined muscles of his torso as they moved beneath the skin of his back
and sighed.  Who else, she thought, would happily help her paint her living
room and not mind that she herself was sweating up a storm, tendrils of hair
escaping from its tight bun to plaster themselves to her cheeks and forehead,
all while she was wearing the only pair of sloppy sweats and t-shirt Rebecca and
Daisy had left behind after they cleaned out her closets?  Anyone other than a
fantasy man would run screaming for the hills, she thought ruefully, and who
could blame them?

What
are you worried about?

We
only ever seem to talk anymore – or else I’m helping you work.  You haven’t had
me rescuing you from pirates in months.

Hey
– you’re the one who complained about the breeches!

I’m
just wondering if the romance has gone out of our relationship. 

Sadly,
the only fantasy I want right now is somebody helping me paint who looks as
good as you do with his shirt off.

I
aim to please.

I
should hope so – you’re
my
fantasy after all.

The
doorbell startled her, and she glanced at her watch as she headed to the door. 
She opened it to find Rebecca on the other side, dressed in old jeans and a
t-shirt and yet somehow still looking gorgeous, a sparkle in her bright blue
eyes, her auburn hair adding a glow to her smooth cheeks.

“If
I didn’t love you like a second sister, I’d hate your breathing guts,” Manny
said and stepped aside to let Rebecca into the house.

Rebecca
laughed.  “Well, that’s good to know...I think.  What brought that on?”

“The
fact you look gorgeous in anything you wear and I always manage to look like a
schlub.”

Rebecca
laughed again.  “Well, thanks,” she smirked, “but even I couldn’t pull
that
look off.”  She gestured at Manny’s sad outfit then critically assessed the
progress Manny had made in painting the room.  “I’ll start on the opposite
wall?”

“Good
a place as any,” Manny agreed.  She watched as Rebecca poured paint into the
pan and took up a roller.  “I really appreciate this, you know.”

Rebecca
shrugged.  “That’s what friends are for – to help you out even when you’re
losing your ever-loving mind.”

“Thanks
for the vote of confidence there, Rebecca.”

“Hey
– I have a very real worry that this guy – what’s his name again?”

“Zeke.”

“Right
– Zeke.  Look, besides the fact he might turn out to be a serial killer, have
you thought about what you’re going to do when this road trip is over?  You
still need to work, and you’re selling this place, so you’ll need somewhere to
live, and just where do you think you’re going to find another job that paid as
much as that one?”