Talk Nerdy to Me (6 page)

"Let's
take a look at that hovercraft." As Charlie stood, he hoped his erection
had subsided sufficiently to make it unnoticeable.

He
needed to get out of this kitchen full of Eve's underwear, and she obviously
didn't want to let two guys she didn't know wander around in the garage without
her. Charlie was beginning to feel rather protective of this project himself.

Because
he'd been over in the corner, everyone else filed through the door ahead of
him. That gave him one precious opportunity to test the silky fabric of the bra
between his thumb and forefinger. Pure tactile pleasure.

Out
in the garage, Rick whistled in surprise, and Charlie reluctantly let go of the
bra. Manny and Kyle had said nothing, but maybe they'd been struck dumb by the
sight of the hovercraft. Probably not, though. Charlie had an idea nothing
fazed these two, not even dainty purple underwear.

Compared
with Rick's out-there personality they seemed almost stoic. Maybe he'd hired
them to balance his carefree attitude. That was the only explanation Charlie
could come up with, because they sure didn't seem to fit into Rick's
happy-go-lucky lifestyle.

Then
Charlie caught his first glimpse of Eve's hovercraft, and his jaw dropped.
He'd expected it to be interesting. He hadn't expected it to be the same
gorgeous shade of purple as her bra and panties.

It
sat on the floor of her garage like something right out of
The
Jetsons.
He half expected George Jetson to open the
Plexiglas dome covering the cockpit and climb out wearing his space suit.
Charlie was vaguely aware that the workspace was a mess, but after all, she'd
just had an engine explode. Her workbench had a big hole in the center of it
and there was debris everywhere.

He
itched to clean it up and get this project back on track, but that wasn't his
place. So instead he stepped over pieces of metal as he circled the craft and
took note of the design elements she'd incorporated to give the necessary lift
to the fuselage. When he was finished, he sent Eve a glance of silent
admiration.

She
stopped chewing on her fingernail and took a deep breath. "So, Charlie,
what do you think?"

Apparently
his opinion on this subject meant a lot. That thought warmed him. "It's
brilliant."

Her
shoulders relaxed and a wavering smile appeared. "I wouldn't go that
far."

"I
would," Rick said. "How about it, Manny? Kyle? Can't you see these
cruising up and down the beach at Malibu?"

Manny
nodded. "I can already think of a couple of guys who would love one of
these. Maybe not in purple."

"It's
my favorite color," Eve said. "But you could have one in any
color."

"I was thinking
camouflage," Manny said.

Kyle
rubbed his chin. "That would be cool. But you'd need a name for it. Gotta
have a name so people know what to call it."

"I,
um, call it the Skimmer." Eve offered the name tentatively.

Charlie
was ready to support whatever she suggested, just because she looked so unsure
of herself. She'd done something amazing with this hovercraft, but she didn't
seem to have great confidence in her creative abilities.

"That
works," he said. And the more he thought about it, the better he liked the
name. "It's simple, easy to spell, and describes exactly what this
does."

"Or what I hope it will do."

Rick
stepped forward. "If you need a test pilot, you're looking at
him." -

"Thank
you, Rick," Eve said. "That's brave of you, but I wouldn't consider
letting anyone ride in it the first time except me."

That scared the shit out of
Charlie. She definitely needed him as her consultant. For one thing, he had a
private pilot's license. For another, he could get a few tips from some
aerospace types he knew. He'd cover his tracks by telling them he was building
a remote-controlled model.

"Hello,
out there!" A woman's voice drifted from the interior of the house.
"Eve, I saw your light on and your front door was unlocked." A short,
curvy blonde came into the garage. "Oh, hello." Her gaze traveled
around the group.

"What can I do for
you, Eunice?"

Eunice's
gaze made another circuit as she talked. "I'm cooking up the most sinful
fudge. It tastes almost as good as sex feels. But I need to borrow a cup of
sugar."

The
sudden intrusion startled Charlie, but Eve seemed to take it in stride.

"Sure,
help yourself," she said. "But first let me introduce you. Everyone,
this is Eunice Piven, my next-door neighbor."

"I
thought you had visitors when I saw the Subaru parked outside." Eunice
wore a tight black jumpsuit and carried her parka over one arm.

The
jumpsuit didn't look like the kind of thing Charlie's mother baked in. He also
thought Eunice had deliberately removed the parka once she got in the door so
she could show off her figure. He pictured her at her window watching four men
traipsing into Eve's house and being consumed by curiosity.

Eunice
Piven was legendary in Middlesex, although Charlie hadn't realized that she
lived on Elm Street, right next door to Eve, it turned out. But he definitely
knew all the stories about Eunice.

Not
many people believed that she'd been carried off by aliens and taught unusual
sexual techniques, but something must have happened to her. She'd come to town
about five years ago as a conservative, churchgoing woman, sort of on the frumpy
side. Then she'd disappeared for a couple of weeks, and on her return she'd
been mysteriously transformed into one hot female.

Eve
introduced the guys, and Eunice gave each man a dazzling smile that hinted at
the possibilities she could offer. Except for Charlie, of course.

"Oh,
Charlie." She waved a hand in his direction. "Of course I know you.
You're the one who keeps this town humming like a Swedish vibrator." She
winked at Rick. "Although some people don't need wires and transformers
to generate a charge. Tell me, Rick, are you into electricity?"

"I sure know a live
wire when I see one," Rick said.

Charlie
stifled a groan. Not only was that a corny line, but Eunice grinned as if she
thought it was the cutest, most original comment she'd ever heard. Charlie
glanced at Eve to get her reaction to this nonsense.

She
met his gaze and rolled her eyes. He winked back. And there it was again—the
intimate connection that was pulling him deeper into an attraction that was
doomed. His goal was to leave town, and soon.

"So,
Eve." Eunice swept an arm to encompass the people gathered in the garage.
"Does this tempting array of manhood mean you're ready to go public with
your spacecraft?"

"Hovercraft," Eve
said. "And not quite yet."

"It's
my fault," Rick said. "I asked her about it this afternoon, not
knowing the project was top secret. Charlie got kind of excited about seeing
it, so here we are. Manny and Kyle just came along for the ride."

Eunice
frowned. "You asked her about it? Don't tell me you're gorgeous
and
psychic."

"Nope."
Rick looked pleased with the compliment. "She talked about this machine
years ago, before she'd started building it."

"Rick
and I worked together for a week in L.A.," Eve said. "We had a
shooting delay so I had some wine and ended up spilling my guts to Rick. I
didn't think he'd remember." She shrugged. "He did."

"Oo."
Eunice wiggled her shoulders. "Does that mean we're all sworn to secrecy?
What happens in this garage stays in this garage? I love intrigue."

Charlie decided to take charge.
"I can't speak for Eve, so feel free to contradict me if you want, but I
think we're looking at a potentially valuable patent, so we should keep this to
ourselves."

"I
don't know." Eve looked skeptical. "I just blew up an engine. The
biofuel concept is important to me, so I'm afraid I'm not that close to a
working model."

"Charlie
can fix anything so it works right," Rick said. "I'll help too for
that matter."

Charlie
didn't think that would be a plus, but he couldn't shoot Rick down in front of
his assistants. "Are you going to hang around Middlesex for a while,
then?"

"Oh, I hope so."
Eunice put her hand to her heart.

"The
schedule's fairly loose." Rick glanced at Manny and Kyle. "We haven't
booked a return flight yet."

"Not
yet." Manny crossed his arms over his chest. "We had to see how
things would go first."

"Exactly."
Rick cleared his throat. "I need to find the perfect location for this
shoot. I dunno. Ten days?"

Manny
looked over at Kyle. "You think ten days is okay?"

Kyle
shrugged. "It's cutting it close, but if everything works out here, ten
days should be okay."

Charlie
listened in wonder. Apparently Rick really had turned his calendar over to his
assistants. "Then let's see what we can get accomplished. We have the
evenings, and next weekend." He decided not to mention that he was leaving
for a job interview the week after that.

"I'm
taking the train into New York in the morning for a photo shoot," Eve
said. "I won't be back until Wednesday about five. But that gives me time
to order a new engine and have it express shipped to the house." She
looked at Charlie. "If you and Rick would be willing to come over and
bring pizza around six, we could get started."

"Sounds good,"
Charlie said.

Rick
turned to Manny and Kyle. "Will you guys be okay if I spend a few nights
over here helping out?"

Manny
nodded. "Just don't forget to take your cell, in case something comes
up."

"I always have my
cell," Rick said.

"Then
it's settled." Charlie took one last look at the hovercraft.
"Wednesday night we'll start getting this baby ready to test."

And
the sooner the better. The longer Charlie hung around Middlesex with Eve, the
more he was liable to question whether he should leave at all. But he had to
leave. He'd dreamed of working at a major hydroelectric plant for years. Eve
might be delicious, but he had to pursue his dream or live with regret
forever.

Eunice
stayed until the guys left, which didn't surprise Eve. That whole cup of sugar
thing had been bogus and they both knew it. Eunice couldn't tell one end of a
potholder from the other, just like Eve.

"So
that's Charlie Shepherd's cousin." Eunice peered out the peephole in Eve's
front door as the men headed toward their car. "He even looks good
distorted."

"That excuse about a
cup of sugar was lame, Eunice."

"I
know, but it's not every day a hunkmobile pulls up in front of your house. I
had to quickly finish up my phonesex client and come over to
investigate."

"I
hope you didn't leave the poor guy hanging." Eve figured she was the only
one in town who knew that Eunice moonlighted as a phonesex girl. Eunice's day
job as the receptionist for Patriots Independent Insurance Agency didn't pay
enough to keep her in designer accessories, so she supplemented her income by
giving phone sex on nights and weekends. She considered it a stress-free way to
make extra money now that she'd been relieved of all sexual inhibitions by her
alien abductors.

"Nan,
I wouldn't end a call before the guy gets his jollies. I'm not that mean."
Eunice pressed her face to the door. "Ah, will you look at the fluid way
the Rickster climbs behind the wheel? Yum."

"I
can't look. You're hogging the peephole." Eve wouldn't have been
interested in watching Rick, though. She only had eyes for Charlie, the guy who
liked her hovercraft. His body movement was fine, but she was especially
drawn to the fluidity of his mind.

"Well,
they're pulling away, so you couldn't see anything, anyway. But if the Subaru
designers offered Rick as an optional accessory, they'd sell a ton of cars."
With a dramatic sigh she turned back to Eve. "Thank you for introducing
me to such a fine specimen of manhood. Even if it doesn't work out, I have
someone new to use as my fantasy guy during phone sex."