Bodybuilder Barbie’s eyes widened. “No. But I’d sure love to.”
Ingrid reached down inside her bra and withdrew her knife. “Look at this beauty right here.”
The two women put their heads together and oohed and aahed over the knife. Bodybuilder Barbie evidently wasn’t too broken up Jacob wasn’t taking her home. Maybe she’d been hit in the head one too many times with a barbell.
“I guess this is goodnight then?” Robert asked stiffly.
“Yeah,” I said. “I just want to go home.”
“I could take you there,” he gritted out. “This guy doesn’t have to do it.”
“Nonsense,” Mimi said. “You’re just the kind of dancer we need around here. Stay and kick up your heels.”
“Oh brother,” Gilda grumbled.
“You go home and rest up.” Mom leaned down and kissed my cheek before turning to Jacob. “Thank you for taking her home. You’re such a sweet man.”
Jacob flushed under Mom’s praise.
“Make sure she gets tucked in and is well rested,” Mom added.
Now it was my turn to flush. Did Mom not realize how sexual her statement sounded? I glanced at a now-grinning Jacob. He picked up my purse and gently helped me up from the chair.
“You heard your mom,” he whispered in my ear, “I’m to make sure you get tucked into bed.”
We walked outside, and I breathed in the cool, crisp air. I’d had my fill of fun and was ready to go home. Heck, I was ready to give this stupid dating scene up. I just wanted to spend time with Jacob in the evenings, not date a string of losers.
“Are you sure you don’t mind taking me home?” I asked. “It looked like you and Bodybuilder Barbie were having fun.”
Jacob helped me up into his truck. “Bodybuilder Barbie?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know her name, but that’s what she looked like to me. Like she could crush to death another human being.”
He laughed, shut the door, and jogged over to his side. Starting the truck, he winked at me. “I liked her. In a scary sort of way.”
“She was pretty…in a scary sort of way. Why did she call you Rush?”
He chuckled. “Because during dinner we found out we both like heart-pumping, adventurous activities.”
“You like the adrenaline rush,” I said. “So Rush for short. I like it.”
He turned the truck toward home. “Other than getting brained upside the head, how was your date?”
“Seriously?”
He chuckled and we drove in silence the rest of the way home. I wanted to ask him about his date, if he wanted to see her again, if he found her attractive, but I was too scared of the answers.
He pulled into the driveway and led me around to the back of the house. Flipping the latch on the fence, he escorted me deeper into the backyard.
Thor lay sleeping under one of the lounge chairs.
“Are you going to see her again?” I asked softly.
He turned me to him. “No.”
“Why not? She seemed great. Nice, beautiful, and built.”
“I didn’t like her laugh. It was too high pitched.”
