Tasha nodded.
“Eat some more and finish your beer and we’ll watch some crappy TV.”
Jim had apparently regained his composure and although Tasha wasn’t entirely convinced, his breathing and general demeanour had returned to normal. Her phone interrupted her finishing her beer and crappy TV. She looked down at her phone and saw a message from Abby.
“Shit! It’s Abby,” she said to an obviously amused Jim.
“Abby or Abigail or even Daddy’s Best Girl, your former bosom pal.” He laughed.
“Don’t,” cried Tasha as she stared at her phone.
“Just read your message so we can watch TV.” Jim still smiled as he watched Tasha nervously toying with her phone.
She opened the message and read it aloud.
Tasha and Jim both laughed at Abby’s message before Tasha text a simple reply of:
“I told you Bobby and I were alike, didn’t I?”
“You certainly did,” she replied with a smile then suddenly said, “I guess Q & A is over for tonight, but can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“You and Bobby are alike, and I know you’ve had at least one girlfriend in common, but you wouldn’t ever—you know—want to play—erm—mixed doubles, would you?”
“Mixed doubles?” Jim almost choked on the mouthful of beer he’d just swigged.
“You know what I mean,” she protested, laughing too as she blushed.
“If by your tennis reference you mean do Bobby and I go in for wife swapping or swinging, the answer is a big, fat no. I told you when we first met that I don’t share and that means with anyone, including my brother, especially my brother,” he replied seriously.
Tasha laughed again, relieved, but not entirely surprised that swinging wasn’t her jealous fiancé’s thing. “What about Daddy for our safe word?”
Jim almost choked for a second time, this time at her suggestion and expression before replying with a firm and definite, “No.”
Tasha laughed again but was inclined to agree. “Maybe not. I don’t want to think of Abby and Bobby during sex, ever.”
“Nor me,” agreed Jim.
“Right, crap TV please, Mr Maybury.” Tasha allowed Jim to embrace her tightly and warmly as he reached for the remote control.
He hit a button that revealed a TV emerging from the bottom of the bed.
“We have a TV in our bed,” cried Tasha, surprised.
“Yes baby, I know. I chose the bed while we were apart and I did think that if we ever wanted to watch porn in bed the other TV is too far away.” He grinned.
“Porn? Really?” She felt slightly shocked, but wasn’t opposed to viewing porn with Jim.
“Or crap TV, but we do have some porn channels on here.” Jim wore an amused smirk at Tasha’s shock and suddenly realised again that she was in many ways still naïve and in need of protection and guidance that he knew he would be only too happy to provide.
Chapter 34
Tasha was sitting with a latte, people watching, whilst waiting for Abby, who was running late to join her. She looked around at her fellow patrons and tried to figure out who they all were and what stories they had; the secret liaisons, the lovers, the couples, the parent and child and the singletons, all with different reason for their status. She smiled as she witnessed a young man of about eighteen join a girl of a similar age and thought how sweet the scene was as he presented her with a small, hand tied bunch of flowers.
