Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (195 page)

Mellenda bit her lip.  “Um, the Chinese place if you don’t mind.”

Jude grinned.  “I don’t mind.  I feel like I’m eating dinner with some kind of celebrity and we’re not even on a date.  I think I’d probably come in my pants if you ever told me you’d really go out with me.  Sorry.  I’m a total pervert.  I’ll shut up now, before you decide to drive away in my truck and leave my horny ass standing here like an idiot.”

Mellenda felt herself blushing.  “You really are too nice Jude.  I’m not that pretty, and I really can be kind of a bitch.  I tried to seduce Tony today, even though I already knew he was back with Tory.  He told me to take a flying leap.  I didn’t realize that they were engaged, but it was still a screwed up thing to do.”

“So your boyfriend broke up with you and you were feeling horny.  It’s okay to be horny.  I’m always horny.  I wish a girl would teach me about sex so that I’d be better at it.”

Mellenda’s face was still red.  “I’m sure you’re good in bed Jude.  Some girls don’t feel comfortable telling guys what they really want.”

Jude shrugged.  “Molli didn’t seem like that kind of girl.  I’ll bet she told Ricky what she liked.  She always did want him more than me anyway.  He should have asked her out instead of you and saved us all a bunch of headaches.  It sucks to be cheated on.  I never realized how shitty I must have made Tory feel.  I guess I should probably apologize to both her and Tony, but I have a feeling neither of them really wants to hear it.  Let’s eat.  Let me get the door for you.  It sticks sometimes.”

“Thank you.”

When Jude opened the door, he gave her his hand to help her out of the truck.  Mellenda felt a little tingle when his skin touched hers.  Her face still felt hot and she was starting to think dirty thoughts about Jude.  She was beginning to think that it might be fun to teach him about what women liked in bed, or at least what she liked in bed.  She didn’t like the feelings she was having. 

She could tell that he felt the same tingle that she did when their skin touched.  Jude’s grin was even wider when he slammed the door to the truck.  They walked side by side to the restaurant.  Jude held the door open for her.  They were seated by a pretty young waitress.  Mellenda started to feel even more uncomfortable.

The restaurant had a romantic atmosphere and she was all too aware of the closeness of Jude’s body.  He wasn’t much taller than her, but he had long legs and they were stretched out underneath the table.  She wondered what he’d do if she started playing footsie with him and almost giggled.  Jude gave her a funny look before he went back to looking at the menu and she suddenly couldn’t control her laughter.

Jude looked up at her and gave her a half smile.  “What’s so funny?  Do I smell bad?  I took a shower today.  I promise.”

Mellenda’s laughter faded.  She enjoyed the way that Jude smelled.  Ricky had always smelled nice, but she’d secretly thought that his scent was almost over powering.  She’d always sneezed first thing when she walked into his apartment.  Jude’s scent was much more subtle.  She could catch a trace of cologne when he turned his head or when he’d held the door for her or given her his hand.  She had a sudden urge to sniff her hand and see if it smelled like him and broke out into giggles again.

“What’s so damned funny?  Tell me Mellenda.  If I stink, I’ve got a stick of deodorant in my truck.  If someone at this table smells bad it’s got to be me.  You smell so good that I want to kiss every inch of your neck.”

Mellenda stopped laughing and swallowed hard.  “You don’t stink.  I love the way you smell.  You don’t feel the need to bathe in cologne like some guys seem to.  I thought you smoked.  You don’t smell like it, and your truck doesn’t either.  Tony smells good if you can get around the stench of cigarette smoke.”

Jude shrugged.  “The smell’s never bothered me I guess, because my dad smokes in our house.  Yeah yeah, he probably shouldn’t with four kids.  Don’t tell CPS.  Who knows what reasons they’ll take kids away for these days.”

“I hate CPS.  Mostly because of these two lesbians at Crestview that want to be social workers, but I can read the news.  They screw up way more shit than they seem to fix.”

“Yeah.  Why were you laughing?  Please tell me.”  He paused when the waitress returned with their drinks.  They ordered their food.  He gave her an imploring look as soon as the waitress had departed.  “Please tell me.  You’ll make me feel bad if you don’t.”

“I can’t tell you.  It’s too bad.”

“Is it something mean about me?  You don’t have to eat dinner with me.  I can take the food you ordered home to my brother and I can take you back to school right now.  My sisters don’t like Chinese food and neither do my parents, so I wouldn’t have to worry about buying them anything.”

“It wasn’t something mean.  You’ve been so nice to me tonight.  I was feeling really shitty, and now I feel way better.  With all of the things you’ve said you’ve probably given me an ego boost for a year.”

“They were true.  If it wasn’t something mean about me what was it?  Was it about me?”

“Yes it was about you, but it wasn’t a very nice thought.”

Jude frowned.  “If it wasn’t mean, but it wasn’t very nice. . .   Holy shit were you thinking dirty thoughts about me?”

Mellenda’s face felt like it was on fire.  “No.”  She turned away from him.  “Yes.  But it doesn’t mean anything.  I’m horny and lonely.  Damn that didn’t come out right.  Look Jude, even if I think you’re a nice guy and I kinda like you, we can’t go out.  I don’t think I need another boyfriend before I leave Crestview after what I went through with Ricky and Tony.”

“Damn you were with Tony too?  What does that guy have that I don’t?”

“Nothing.  Thank you for buying me dinner and giving me a ride back to school.  But we shouldn’t see each other again other than to say hi in town and stuff okay?”

“Who are you trying to convince Mellenda?  You or me?  You sound way more unsure than you did when you asked me if I thought you were beautiful.  You know you’re beautiful.  It’s okay because you don’t let it go to your head.  You worry that you’re fat or that guys will think you’re fat, because you’re not as skinny as some girls like Tory or Molli, or some of those anorexic looking bitches that you go to school with.  You’re not fat.  You’ve got a beautiful body.  I would treasure every inch of it if I was ever lucky enough that you decided to share it with me.  If you even kind of like me, why not give me a chance?” 

Jude paused as the waitress returned with their food.  He gave her a smile and a ‘thank you’ and then turned back to Mellenda when she’d walked away again.  “We both got dumped so I’m betting that neither of us wants anything serious right now.  So we hang out, go to the movies, go out to eat, whatever.  I’ll let you my drive my truck whenever you want to.  I think it is so hot when girls drive pickup trucks.  We take the physical stuff as slow or as fast as you want to.  Believe me, I wouldn’t turn you down if you told me you wanted to have sex right now, but if you don’t want me to even kiss you, I won’t.”

“You didn’t get dumped.  You dumped Molli didn’t you?”

“I never really talked to her.  I think she’d been planning to dump me for a while, and I was avoiding her on purpose.  I bragged so much about going out with her that I didn’t want to admit that she kicked my ass to the curb.  About the other stuff, will you at least think about it?  I’d feel good to know that you liked me enough to even hang out with me.”

“I don’t know Jude.  I do like you but. . .”

“Can I give you my phone number?  Then you can call me if you decide you want to hang out or even if you want to drive my truck.”

“That sounds okay.”

“Awesome.  You made my day.”  Jude grinned widely at her.

“Thank you.  Or you’re welcome.  Both?”  Mellenda shook her head.  “You’re not the kind of guy I thought you’d be Jude.”

“Really?  You’re even better than I thought you’d be.”  He gave her another grin.  Then they both started to eat.

The food was good.  Mellenda was starting to feel a lot more comfortable.  She knew that Jude was probably still thinking dirty thoughts about her, but it no longer bothered her because she was starting to rather enjoy her dirty thoughts about him.  They both finished their meals since they’d both ordered the small portions.  Jude gave her a choice of which fortune cookie she wanted. 

She chose the one in his left hand and let her hand linger on his a bit on purpose.  She could see that he was trying not to smile and felt a blush rise to her cheeks again.  She opened the wrapper and cracked her fortune cookie in half and pulled out the slip of paper.  When she read it, the blush didn’t leave her cheeks.

“What does it say?  Mine’s kinda corny, but I’ll tell you if you tell me what yours says.”

Mellenda cleared her throat.  “It says ‘you will soon find the love of your life in an unexpected place.’”

“No shit?  That’s what mine says too.”

“It does not.  Let me see it.”

Jude handed her his fortune, not bothering to try to hide his smile anymore.  Mellenda read the fortune and it did indeed say the exact same thing that hers did.  She shrugged, wanting very badly to appear nonchalant.

“So what?  They probably all say the same thing in that batch.  These things are so silly anyway.  Let’s get out of here.”

Jude met her eyes.  “They don’t all say the same thing because then people eating together would get pissed off.  It’s fun to tell each other what your fortunes say.  Maybe it’s fate.  Maybe this whole thing is fate.  Maybe you’re my true love and I’m yours.”

Mellenda rolled her eyes.  “Do you believe in shit like that?  You’re a guy.  Guys are only romantic when they want to do something dirty to a girl in bed.”

“Damn, Ricky really broke your heart didn’t he?  Guys can be romantic without it having to be about sex.  What if your woman had a bad day and you want to make her feel good?  Sex is great, but sometimes it’s really cool to wake up beside a girl.  I can’t wait until I get married.  All the sex I want and a woman to wake up with every day.  Kids, a nice house and a dog.  And a nicer truck.”

“Wow, you and Tony are way too much alike.  No wonder Tory was so into both of you.  Well, not at the same time.  Okay, maybe at some point it was at the same time, but you know what I mean.  A lack of sex breaks up a lot of marriages.  Sex isn’t the same after you get married.”

“Why not?  I know I’m gonna mean it when I say ‘til death do us to part.  When you’re married you shouldn’t be afraid to say ‘hey honey, I don’t like that thing you like doing to me in bed anymore so let’s try something different.’  I think money breaks up a lot more marriages than sex does.”

“I doubt it.  Maybe people weren’t meant to be monogamous.  So many people cheat.”

“How many times is it because they’re not being honest about something they want?  If you don’t love somebody anymore, why not tell them?  Yeah, it sucks. But it feels worse when you find out they’ve already moved on and are doing someone behind your back.  Where sex is concerned, if it gets boring or you’re not feeling as attracted to your partner as you were before, spice it up.  Work out together so that you can both feel better about yourselves.  Or if you want to try something new because what you’re used to doesn’t get you off like it did before, tell them.  Even if you bring another person into your bed for the night, what does it hurt if you’re both into it?”

“Yuck.  Can we go now?  You’re gonna make me puke if you keep talking like that.”

Jude laughed.  He left a tip on the table.  She followed him to the register.  She noticed that he tipped almost as much as Ricky did, and she knew that he made a lot less money.  She was so confused about the way she felt about Jude.

Jude paid their check and then held the door for her on the way out.  “You wanna drive again?  I don’t mind.  Sometimes my arms get tired because that damn thing is hard to steer.  I’m surprised that you haven’t had any problems with it.  Most girls would.”

“I um, work out a little.  ‘Cause I am kinda self-conscious about my weight.  I know that I’m not really fat, but sometimes I wish I was one of those skinny girls.”

“Girls always think they’re not good enough because of something that they don’t have that they think they should.  Molli bitched about her hair being so curly, and Tory whined because she thinks her butt’s kinda big.  It bugs the crap out of guys when girls do that.  ‘I wish I looked like her or had her boobs.’  She’s not as pretty as you are, especially not to your man, and she probably paid a lot of money to have perfect tits.  And what’s wrong with inviting another person into your bed for a night or a weekend or even a whole damned year if it saves your marriage?”

Mellenda shook her head at Jude as he opened the door of the truck for her.  They both got in and she slammed the door.  “It’s gross.  I don’t know why guys get so hot and bothered over seeing two girls going at it.  Girls don’t feel that way about guys doing stuff like that.  Or not very often I don’t think.  I sure as hell don’t.  I think bisexual guys are nasty.  Of course, I think bisexual girls are nasty too but that’s just my opinion.  Why would you want to let some other guy have sex with your wife if you’re planning on having this perfect ‘til death do us part marriage?”

Mellenda started the truck.  Jude said “I’d want my wife to be happy.  If having sex with some other guy made her happy, I’d let her.  I’d let my wife have sex with my best friend if she wanted to.  Hell, I’d let you have sex with my best friend all you wanted if you gave me a chance to prove that I can be a good boyfriend.”