The Box (17 page)

Albert walked Brandy to her car. Some clouds were moving in, and the eastern horizon was beginning to glow with the first traces of dawn. They said little as they walked across campus. Both of them were thinking about the eyeless man and the gold coins.

“Do you think that guy was the one who gave you the box?” Brandy asked as they crossed into the lot where her car was parked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Seems logical.”

Brandy fished her keys out of her wet purse and unlocked her car door. She slid into the seat and reached over the visor for the pack of cigarettes she kept there. “Thank god,” she sighed and punched in the cigarette lighter on the dash. “I need one of these so bad.” She opened the pack, took one out and put it in her mouth. She then leaned back while the lighter warmed up.

Albert couldn’t see anything through her heavy sweatshirt, but he knew she was not wearing a bra or panties and though he’d had intercourse with her and spent the past several hours looking at her naked, this knowledge still turned him on.

“That was an incredible adventure,” she said. The lighter popped out and she paused to light her cigarette.

“Yeah. It was.” And it was even more incredible because she had gone with him. Being with her was the best part of it all. He almost wished that the adventure could go on forever, just so he could continue to be with her.

She looked at him through the smoke, her eyes sharp and sexy behind her glasses. “Think we should keep this to ourselves?”

“Definitely.”

“Maybe we’ll go back sometime,” she said. She took the pouch from Albert’s hand and opened it, looking at the miniscule treasure within. It was by no means a gangster’s hideout, but it was pretty cool. “Maybe learn a little more about that place.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” But he did not think they would. “I’ll do some research on those coins. See if I can find out what they’re worth.”

She handed him the pouch and then leaned back and stared up at the sky while she smoked. Albert did not like cigarettes, considered them poison, but there was something about the way she smoked that was very sexy. Or perhaps it was only the sex room, the lingering after-effects that made everything she did sexy. Or maybe he was just naturally infatuated with her. It was difficult to tell for sure.

“So,” Albert began, feeling nervous. “Think maybe we could go out sometime? See what things are like on this side of the dirt?”

Brandy released a soft, smoky laugh. “Right now, Albert, I don’t want to think about life. I just want to go home, take a hot shower and go to bed.”

“Oh.” Albert dropped his eyes.

Brandy watched his expression darken. “I’ll see you in lab tomorrow. Or…today I guess.” Their class was at ten, so she had time to grab a few hours of sleep before getting back to reality. But there was no way she was going to make it to her early class.

“Yeah. I’ll be there.” He forced himself to look at her, forced himself to smile.

She stepped out of the car and kissed him, her arms around his neck, cigarette glowing in the fading shadows of the breaking dawn. Her tongue slipped between his lips and a spark shot through him from his mouth to the very core of his brain. A moment later, when she pulled away, she said, “Ask me again then, okay?”

“Okay.” He was stunned, unable to even smile. He thought his heart might explode in his very chest, and he knew by her smile that she could see that in his eyes.

“Goodnight, Albert. Sweet dreams. I’ll see you in class.”

“Goodnight, Brandy.”

Brandy returned to her car and drove away. Albert watched until she was gone and then walked home, his head spinning, his heart swelling. It had been one hell of a night.