Talk Nerdy to Me (15 page)

"I don't think
so."

Eve didn't think so,
either, but she didn't want to start accusing people. "If you're so intent
on playing Joe Friday, you can grill my sister tomorrow night. I'll get out
the rubber hoses and the spotlight."

"Your sister's coming
to visit?"

"Yeah."
Then Eve remembered Denise's reaction to the hovercraft. She'd told Eve to stop
working on it immediately. Surely Denise wouldn't drive down here, use her
key, and steal notes in a misguided attempt to save her baby sister from bodily
harm. Surely not.

"Does she know about
the hovercraft?"

"Uh-huh."

"What does she
think?"

"Oh,
she loves the idea." Eve wondered if her nose would grow. Charlie would
find out soon enough what Denise thought of the project, but at the moment Eve
didn't want to give him information that would land Denise squarely on his list
of suspects.

As
she climbed the steps to Eunice's snow-covered front porch, Eve wished Rick
hadn't mentioned the hovercraft Monday night at the Rack and Balls. Everything
had been running smoothly, with the slight exception of the explosion, until
she'd unveiled her project. Now her notes had disappeared. No matter how much
Eve wanted to believe otherwise, she didn't think that was an accident.

Charlie
rang Eunice's doorbell and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand, but
instead he kept thinking about those missing notes. He was convinced someone
had swiped them. The project was a potential moneymaker that had no patent
protection yet, and now several people knew about it. That put Eve and her
invention in a vulnerable position.

Eunice
came to the door wearing a pair of glow-in-the-dark antennae and not much else.
Her black thong and tiny black bra might get her kicked out of a nudist colony,
but she'd still be booked on charges of indecency if she stepped out of her
house looking like that. The
X-Files
theme
song floated from somewhere inside.

Eunice looked startled.
"What is this, a posse?"

Although
distracted by the bobbing antennae and the vast expanses of goose-bumpy bare
skin, Charlie managed to stay on topic. "One of Rick's important clients
wants to talk to him."

"And
it took four of you to deliver that message? Oh, never mind. It's too cold to
stand here and discuss this. Come on in." She stepped away from the door,
shivering

Charlie
stomped the snow from his boots and took off his jacket as he walked into the
dark living room. A shaft of bluish light from an open door down the hall
indicated where the action was. No telling what kind of action involved green
fluorescent antennae, though. The music came from that room, too. Charlie was
afraid to speculate.

Once
everyone had gathered in the cavelike atmosphere, Eunice closed the door,
which shut out the light from the porch and made the room even darker.
"Rick's tied up at the moment, so make yourselves comfortable while I go
get him." She hurried down the hall and everything that could bounce, did
bounce.

As they all stood around in
the living room, the only sound besides the
X-Files
music was the rasp of zippers on everybody's coats. Charlie
figured they all were busy processing the sight of Eunice in that getup. He
started to take off his glasses to clean away the condensation and then stopped
himself. Sometimes a little protective condensation was a good thing.

Finally
Manny cleared his throat. "Seeing her reminds me of a
Star
Trek
convention some woman dragged me to years
ago."

"In
that case, sign me up, Scotty," Kyle asked." 'Cause I could go for
some of that, especially after painting those cookies. They got me in the mood,
you know?"

Manny
snorted. "Give me a break. You are
always
in
the mood."

Charlie
edged closer to Eve. "Does she wear those antennae a lot?"

"I've
never seen her in them. I'm guessing they're reserved for special
occasions." Eve lowered her voice to a murmur. "Do you think Rick's
tied up as in busy, or... ?"

"Could
be both." His cousin had never been able to resist a wild woman, and
Eunice definitely qualified.

Rick appeared more quickly
than Charlie had expected.

Thank
God he'd at least pulled on his slacks and wasn't wearing antennae or trailing
any velvet ropes. Too bad he hadn't grabbed a shirt, though. A shirt would have
spared Charlie a view of Rick's nipples adorned in concentric circles of
fluorescent green paint. Charlie's glasses had chosen this moment to clear up.

A
few steps behind him came Eunice tying the belt of her black silk bathrobe. She
continued to wear the antennae. Charlie wondered if she'd skipped the bathrobe
on her first trip out because the tie had been in use.

Rick
barely glanced at Charlie and Eve. All his attention was focused on his
assistants. "What's up?"

Manny's gaze, which had
been directed at the fluorescent circles, moved slowly upward. "It's, uh,
Peterson."

"Yeah,
Peterson." Kyle continued to stare at Rick's chest. "I'm not so sure
you should go painting things on yourself, Ricky. The skin absorbs whatever's
in that paint, you know. Most paint is loaded with toxins. You could be
poisoning yourself."

"Kyle,
forget about the damned paint," Manny said. "Rick, Peterson wanted to
make sure we were still on for that deal next week."

"Absolutely!"
Rick stepped closer to his assistants. "You told him everything was in the
works, right?"

"He
wanted to hear it from you," Manny said, "but it seems you weren't
answering your cell."

"Oh."
Rick looked around, as if trying to locate his phone. "I might've
accidentally turned it off. Want me to give him a call?"

"I
think you'd better," Kyle said. "You know how he gets."

"I
do know." Rick turned toward Charlie and Eve as if finally realizing they
were in the room. "Temperamental chent. It's important to keep guys like
this happy, though."

"I
guess so." Charlie found it difficult to think of Rick as a highly paid
professional while he sported green rings around his nipples. But maybe green
rings were all the rage back in L.A.

Charlie
could only imagine the egos that Rick had to work with in the fashion world. He
supposed they expected Rick to be available twenty-four/seven. But the Rick he
used to know wouldn't have been so accommodating, especially if he happened to
be in the middle of a hot episode.

People
changed, though. Charlie had always thought of Rick as calling all his own
shots, yet here he was coddling some prestigious client. Maybe Rick's success
didn't equal freedom, after all.

"I'll
get my cell." Rick headed back toward the blue-lit bedroom.

"Look
under the electronic muscle stimulator," Eunice said.

Charlie's
eyes widened. Maybe he was misinterpreting what he'd heard. He glanced at Eve
to get her reaction.

She
was staring at Eunice in alarm. "Uh, Eunice, I know Rick's a consenting
adult and everything, but—"

"Don't
worry," Eunice said. "It only administers a mild shock, the kind used
for muscle therapy. Gonaug, that was my chief instructor from the planet
Titillium, taught me that certain kinds of electrical stimulation used at the
right moment can be
very
exciting."

Manny
shifted his weight and looked uncomfortable, but Kyle listened in openmouthed
wonder. "Yeah? You got abducted?"

Eunice smiled. "I did.
It was wonderful."

"Damn."
Kyle shook his head. "Why can't I ever have stuff like that happen to
me?"

Rick
walked through the shaft of blue light spilling out of the doorway as he
returned to the living room and

Charlie
shivered. This whole business was getting too weird.

"I
called Peterson," Rick said. "Everything's cool."
"Good," Manny said. "Better keep that cell phone on."
"Will do. Thanks, guys."

Manny
crooked a finger at Kyle. "Let's go. We promised to finish the cookies
tonight."

"I
know we did." Kyle glanced longingly at Eunice. "But threesomes can
be nice. I could work the stimulator for a while."

"Kyle."
Manny's expression darkened. "We're leaving.
Now."

"Right."
Watching Eunice over his shoulder, Kyle followed Manny to the door. He bumped
into the jamb on his way out and stumbled out into the snowy night without
closing the door. Manny had to come back and do it.

Charlie
was ready to leave, too. Not only were the green circles freaking him out, the
whole kinky-sex scene was giving him ideas he shouldn't be having, ideas about
Eve spread-eagled on her round bed. Charlie wouldn't need anything electronic
to turn that into a major experience. Seeing Eve naked on that bed would be
plenty of stimulation.

A
walk through the snowy yard should cool him down some. If not, he'd head
straight for her garage and the hovercraft. Once he immersed himself in that,
sex would take a backseat. At least he hoped to hell it would.

But
Eve seemed in no hurry to leave. Instead she'd left her coat unzipped as she
turned toward Eunice. "I had a few miscellaneous notes on my workbench and
now I can't find them. You didn't happen to see them by any chance, did
you?"

"Notes?"
Eunice frowned. "Gee, I don't think so. Are they important?"

"Not
especially. It's just frustrating that I can't find them."

"I'll
bet. Do you think somebody took them when I accidentally left the door
unlocked? I would feel terrible if I thought—"

"No,
no, I'll bet they're around somewhere." Eve zipped her coat. "I
thought I'd ask, but I'm sure they'll turn up. All set, Charlie?"

"Sure."
He glanced at his war-painted cousin. "Are you going to need a ride
home?"

Eunice linked her arm
through Rick's as she gazed up at him. "No, he won't, will you,
Earthman?"

Rick
dropped into his John Wayne imitation. "Guess not, my little planetary
pilgrim."

Charlie
had to get out of there. If sex was catching, he was definitely coming down
with one hell of a case.

Chapter
Nine

Rick
allowed Eunice to lead him back to the blue-lit bedroom. His cock was ready
for the next alien adventure she'd promised, but his mind was still circling
around the subject of those notes. He'd meant to find a way to put them back on
the workbench without anybody seeing. But then Eunice had poured him a glass of
wine and hovered over him, cleavage at the ready, and he'd lost track of his
plan.

Amazing
about that dress of hers, how a guy could just reach in and flip her tits right
out into the fresh air. She'd promised to keep watch while he nipple-noshed in
Eve's kitchen, but luckily nobody had interrupted the activities. He'd started
feeling reckless after that and had let Eunice give him a blow job while he sat
on one of Eve's kitchen chairs staring at the stainless steel fuel converter.

Needless
to say, the notes had stayed folded and forgotten in the back pocket of his
pants. At least Eve thought she'd misplaced them. Maybe he never had to put them
back, which would make his life a hell of a lot easier.

But
there was another thing he needed to find out. It sounded like Eunice might
have a key to Eve's house. If so, that was some news he could use. Peterson had
graphically reminded him of what would happen if he didn't come up with the
money by next week's deadline. Peterson's voice had been soft and gentle as
he'd described the excruciating way Rick would die.

"Strip
down for the next phase of Project Penis, Earthman." Eunice dropped her
black silk robe in a puddle at her feet.

"You've
got it, Space Girl." Rick was out of his pants faster than you could say
galactic orgy. "By the way, what was that Eve was saying about
notes?"