“I can't believe you're blushing. How old are you?”
Shane was serious for a moment and told her that he was thirty-one.
“You are quite old, aren't you?”
That got her another dirty look, but at least he wasn't blushing anymore. Guys like Shane were not supposed to blush. It was too hard to see, and Vivica was affected by it somehow.
They were back to his house and Vivica was still feeling strange about the situation, but she was feeling more and more comfortable with Shane. Her biggest question was how long this was going to go on. Was he really just going to let her stay there and work for him, without something in return? Although, would something in return really be so bad?
Vivica was still very attracted to him and a part of her was still waiting for him to finally make his move. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do when he did, having no real experience with men, besides pushing them back. Shane would be different in many ways, and she was interested in finding out how it would all pan out.
***
That evening, Maria was surprised to find that Shane was at the table with Vivica.
“You're dining in tonight?”
“I was. Do you have enough, or would you like me to order something instead?”
Mary agreed quickly that she did, but she still wasn't sure what to do. It made Vivica wonder where he was most nights. It, of course, wasn't her concern. She shouldn't care either way, but her mind kept going back to it, wondering. What did a guy like Shane do with his nights? She didn't know what he did with his days either, but from what she had been told and overheard, Shane worked. And worked. And worked.
Maria left to go get whatever it was for dinner and Vivica didn’t care what it was. It was most likely going to be better than anything she had in the last few weeks. If it was anything like the sheets, she was in for a real treat too.
It was hard for Vivica to sit there and not look at Shane. He was staring at her. She could feel the attention and when she finally looked up, his dark green eyes didn't look away. Instead, they swallowed her whole, and she was physically shaking because of it.
“So, tell me about yourself, Vivica.”
Vivica sighed, groaning inwardly. That was the last thing that she wanted to do.
“I've always felt like it is better to have a little mystery. Never a good thing to blab it all out.”
“Since you are living under my roof, I should probably know a little bit about you.”
Vivica knew that would happen, the curiosity. She didn’t think she had answers that he wanted to hear though. Vivica hated to talk about herself. There wasn’t much good to be said. All that was to say, Vivica liked to keep her personal life to herself. It was no one else’s business, and Shane was no different. She didn’t want him to know her truth.
She had no choice though. Vivica wasn’t ready to throw the situation away, just because she was a little scared. A little longer, a little money, Vivica could really stop the cycle she was living in.
“What do you want to know?”
“Where do you come from?”
“I come from everywhere.”
“That's not really an answer.”
“Well, it’s the only one I have.”
“How long have you been in New Orleans?”
Vivica thought about it for a moment. “I guess I've been here a couple of months.”
“And before that?”
“Birmingham.”
“How long were you there?”
“A few months.”
