"Now you tell me." She spit on the ground then blew raspberries.
Still sniffling and gagging, they both turned and headed toward home at a much quicker pace than they'd taken on the way to Hazel's. The revolting stench followed them like a persistent stalker.
And the relentless horrid taste lingered in her mouth. She shuddered and groaned as she stomped her feet. "Ugh! I can still taste it!"
Rudy shook his head. "And you call me dramatic!"
Scowling at him, she started walking again. She couldn't wait to get home. She needed a shower or three. That is if Alice even let them in the house.
Another rustling sound came from the bushes, and Rudy squealed like a little girl. "Aah!" He darted to the middle of the road where he continued to walk.
Eden would have laughed if she wasn't so miserable. She couldn't even give Rudy a hard time, because talking only irritated her throat more.
Then she aimed a second scowl heavenward.
Really? This is how you punish me for giving in to temptation?
CHAPTER13
"You've got to be kidding!" Rudy watched his mom pull the kiddie pool she kept for his nieces out from under the back deck.
She held her nose as she scowled at him. "There's no way you're coming into my house smelling like that." She puffed out her cheeks and held her breath as she dragged a laundry basket full of bottled tomato juice over to the pool. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get in."
"But—"
Eden stepped out of the back door of the garage, and Rudy's protest died on his lips. The air rushed from his lungs at the sight of her in a hot-pink, floral swimsuit, a striking compliment to her dark hair and eyes. The tankini, though modest by most standards, displayed a tantalizing swatch of midriff. It also emphasized her slender curves and accentuated her feminine assets.
She wrapped her arms around herself, and Rudy suddenly felt just as self-conscious. It's not like she'd never seen him shirtless before, but now, with his mom expecting them to sit together in this little kiddie pool and bathe in tomato juice, he felt...exposed and vulnerable.
They'd hardly stepped foot into the house before Mom shooed them back outside. "Get out! You stink!" Then she yelled over her shoulder. "Bill, get down to the grocery store and buy all the tomato juice you can."
The next thing Rudy knew, he'd been banned to the shed and ordered to strip. Mom cracked the door open enough to throw in his swimsuit and a garbage bag then quickly slammed it again.
"Throw everything in the bag! It's all going in the trash!"
Eden was ordered to wait in the garage. Mom must have found her swimsuit too. And what a swimsuit it was! She looked incredible in pink!
Eden appeared as skeptical and hesitant to get into the pool as he was. Although this wasn't Rudy's first tomato juice bath. At least when he got sprayed by a skunk at the age of seven, mom let him bathe in the tub. He'd grown a lot since then, though, and he didn't have a pretty woman join him for that tomato bath.
"Okay, in you go." Mom waved her hand toward the pool. "The sooner you neutralize the stench, the sooner you can go take a shower."
Mom's use of the word shower in the singular had all kinds of inappropriate thoughts racing through Rudy's mind. Thought's that took up residence there more often than he'd like to admit since Eden started sharing his bathroom. He wasn't typically one of those men who fantasized about women, but it was becoming increasingly harder not to the more time he spent around her.
It was all too easy to imagine sharing the rest of his life with her, including his bathroom and his bed. He loved the idea of waking up next to her each morning. But as long as she planned on leaving, daydreaming about a life with her was a foolish thing to do.
Kissing her was even more foolish.
People who kissed each other in the passionate way he and Eden had were usually in a committed relationship. Could he commit to her? Was he willing to give up this little town that he loved and move away from his family to be with her when she decided to go back to the city? A move like that would sidetrack all the goals he’d set for himself.
With Mom's repeated nudging, he and Eden both found themselves sitting in the pool. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. He wanted to mimic her posture, but Mom handed him a canning jar with a tight lid.
He caught Eden staring at his biceps as he twisted off lid after lid, and a surge of satisfaction shot through him. Not that there was any doubt after their kiss, but it was nice to know she was as attracted to him as he was to her.
Mom held out an open jar to Eden.
She took it and raised it to her lips.
"No. You're supposed to pour it over your body and rub it in," Mom said.
