She clicked the end call button and when she looked up found Jim staring at her seriously. Unsure why he wore that particular expression she decided the last thing she needed now was a lecture or a bollocking.
“If you are going to say a single word about my mouth or my language, don’t, or I will pack my bags and leave immediately.” Her tone was strong and determined, and her agitation obvious.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He ignored her irked demeanour and words.
“Not really. But I’d like a drink.”
“Dinner is done,” he told her as he set down two plates on the small table in the kitchen and poured them both a glass of wine.
She joined him at the table with a small smile and a slightly lifted mood. “This looks lovely, thank you.”
She wasn’t sure if it was something specific, but she could see it was salad and chicken with pasta. She began to eat in silence. She knew too many words would be her undoing and the last thing either of them needed was for her to reveal all about the mess she’d left at home. The same mess, maybe a bigger mess that awaited her upon her return.
“I was thinking,” said Jim. “When we were texting we were finding things out about each other. I want to know you, Tasha, really know you. I know we don’t have much time right now, but maybe we could talk about things over dinner and find more stuff out face to face.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “That sounds like a good idea. I want to get to know you too.”
“So, you can go first. Ask me something?”
She thought for a moment. “Have you married all of your wives in Vegas?”
He laughed. “No, none in fact. They were all fairly traditional ceremonies, although only the first was in a church.”
“So why Vegas for lucky seven?” Despite her own protests at her status as lucky seven she was voluntarily getting drawn back into it.
“Why not? It started off as a joke, but I’m rather taken with the idea now. Also, the connection between lucky seven and the gambling thing amuses me.”
“Do you gamble?” A sudden seriousness took over her with her three-word question, a seriousness that unnerved Jim slightly.
“Occasionally. Sometimes I go to the track or I get invited to join a poker game, but rarely.”
She had no idea why, but she believed him. The truth was that for some unknown reason she seemed to be pre-programmed to trust and believe him in everything.
“Good. Do you—”
“Tasha, do I get a turn at a question, baby?” he interrupted, preventing her launching into yet another question.
“Of course, sorry.”
“Why are you so sad now?”
She stared at him and sighed. There was a split second where she considered making up some kind of excuse for her sadness and an even shorter period of time where she thought she might simply refuse to answer. She did neither because she was truly incapable of not answering him. For as much as she believed the things he told her, it was impossible for her to do anything but answer his questions. She really did trust him, a lot. So much that it might be dangerous for her wellbeing and yet she seemed to have no choice where he was concerned.
“Because, my father is a complete and utter fuck up. The other night you said to me that you weren’t my daddy wrapped around my finger. Well, my daddy is not and has never been wrapped around my finger, Jim.”
He put his cutlery down and moved so he was knelt at her side. “Maybe it would help to talk.”
She shrugged. “I doubt it. Next question, Mr Maybury.”
He hesitantly took his seat again, almost considering his options on pushing for answers but one more look at her face and her uttering the single word,please, he decided against it and concentrated on his own question. “Who is Dan?”
She smiled at the mention of his name but any negative feelings on Jim’s part disappeared when she spoke. “My brother. He is eighteen-years-old and adorable.”
He smiled at her description. “And Pippa?”
“My sister. She is fifteen and a mouthy, argumentative, stroppy madam, but she is also kind and sweet, and I love them.”
“Where does she gets that from, I wonder?” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled and teased Tasha, but she liked the teasing.
