He explored her lips, tongue, the planes of her mouth. Dipped his tongue against hers. Her blood pounded in her temples, breaths coming quick, fingers gripping his sides.
“Who the fuck hung penises from my fucking trees?” Scotty’s voice broke the moment.
Marlee gasped, breaking up the make-out session.
“Son of a bitch.” Scotty’s words pierced through the night. “There’s dog poop on my shoe.”
“I think Babushka left a little something extra for him.” Eli tucked a strand of hair behind Marlee’s ear.
“I’m pretty sure it’s legal for me to hang penises from my trees,” Marlee whispered. “I’m not sure of the legalities of dog poop.”
“We’ll just consider that a parting gift from Lothario.” Eli used his body to block her from the backyard, but she was already slipping out of the gate and quietly skirting through Mrs. Morris’s yard to the street.
His hand gripped in hers, she pulled him behind her, emerging from the greenbelt between the homes to where they’d parked the cars.
Scotty would be calling neighborhood security right about now. The dog poop had probably bought them a solid five minutes. He couldn’t stand it when he accidentally stepped in Lothario’s poop. He’d always insisted on cleaning it immediately.
She needed to round everyone up so they could all go for ice cream. No way was she going to miss a date with an Oreo Cookie Blizzard with the fudge center to explain the legalities of hanging Halloween decorations in her own trees.
Her feet seemed to stop on their own when the cars came into view.
Everyone was already in them, waiting.
“How’d they all get here first?” Eli asked.
Marlee didn’t answer. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were all accounted for and it was now time to go, go, go.
She ran to the driver’s side of her SUV, pulling open the door and slipping onto the welcoming leather seat.
“I can’t believe you had the keys.” Heather huffed, but her eyes sparkled with laughter. “Next time, we need to be sure there are two sets of keys.”
“So you can leave me?” Marlee turned over the engine, checking in the rearview that Eli was in the Jeep, ready to follow.
“What took you so long?” Etta asked, digging through her purse and emerging with a yellow butterscotch candy.
“They were canoodling.” Dottie took the candy Etta offered. “You know, Eli and I canoodled once, too.”
Marlee raised her eyebrows in Heather’s direction. Not that she didn’t believe that Eli had been intimate with other women, but she’d never pegged him as one who scoped out retirement homes for dates.
“It’s sort of true,” Heather confirmed. “At the senior ‘senior’ dance. Dottie hijacked him to dance with her.”
“We never made it past third base.” Dottie shrugged.
Heather dropped her forehead to her palm. “Do you think she properly understands the bases?”
“You didn’t get to that stage of the canoodling?” Etta asked, totally serious.
“Close, but no cigar.” Dottie scanned the neighborhood through the back window.
Marlee tucked that tidbit aside to ask Eli about it later. Right now? They had ice cream to eat.
Chapter Fourteen
Two Nights Later
“Lothario, no.” Marlee scurried after Lothario into the darkened living room. He’d taken her midnight need to use the facilities as an opportunity to bolt to his favorite human. Tonight, that favorite being Eli since Babushka wasn’t around. Her dog was a traitor.
Eli lay totally zonked out on the pullout sofa bed, his breaths even. Lothario tossed Marlee a haughty glare before scooting his little butt under the bed, pulling one of Eli’s running shoes between his teeth.
