The Nerd Who Loved Me

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  "And I never wanted you to." She clutched his thighs and arched upward. "Ah, this is so ... so—"

  "Necessary," he finished, his voice thick. "Ab­solutely ... necessary." In spite of her tight grip, he man­aged to move, thrusting in short, intense strokes.

  "Uh-huh." She closed her eyes and concentrated on the incredible pleasure of having Harry back inside her. "Necessary."

  "You know what really knocks me out?" He pumped faster.

  "No." She gasped, hovering on the edge of her climax.

  "That you ... ah, I'm starting to ..."

  "Me... me, too. There, Harry. There!" She catapulted over the edge.

  One more thrust and a mighty groan later, he joined her. His body shook with the force of it, and he mur­mured her name as he quivered in her arms.

  The connection between them was so electric that she wouldn't be surprised if they glowed in the dark. She held him and rocked him and wished the moment would never end.

  "What really knocked you out?" she whispered as they lay locked together, seemingly molded from a sin­gle piece of clay.

  His chuckle was soft and intimate, his voice lazy with satisfaction. "That you're still wearing your shoes."

  * * *

  Harry's goose was well and truly cooked, he concluded some time later as Lainie paraded around the time-share unit wearing her shoes and nothing else. She thought it was hilarious that seeing her naked except for those high-heeled red sandals had such an effect on him. Therefore she deliberately kept them on and even in­cluded a few dance steps.

  "I'm going to make us another pot of coffee," she an­nounced, prancing into the tiny kitchen.

  "Coffee's good." Great idea, in fact, because he didn't want to waste time sleeping. Not when Lainie was wear­ing those red shoes. He followed her into the kitchen so he could watch her make coffee naked.

  She emptied the old grounds into the plastic-lined wastebasket, her breasts bobbing around as she worked.

  "You know," he said, leaning against the sink. "I've decided naked is the best way to brew coffee."

  "Oh, really?" She peered down into the trash can.

  "Uh-huh. And I love the view when you lean over like that, and I get the most excellent look of your—"

  "Harry, I see a bug."

  "Leo's been listening to us?" Harry nearly had a heart attack. "Leo! Forget it! I was making a joke! Lainie and I are fully clothed and making some coffee so we can sit and discuss... the history of modern dance! That's it! Lainie has some interesting theories. We—"

  "Lots of bugs," Lainie said. "The kind with six legs. This trash can is full of ants."

  Harry stared at the trash can and slowly sagged against the counter. "Oh. I thought you meant you'd found a bug!'

  "I did. A bunch of bugs. Now what do we do about this?" She scanned the kitchen counter. "Here's their trail. They're coming through this crack in the wall, and they're overrunning the trash can."

  Harry took a look and confirmed her assessment. "Yuck. It must be the burger bag they came after. I need to take this trash can outside."

  She glanced at him. "Looking like that?"

  "Good point." Reluctantly he started toward the pants he'd left lying on the living room carpet.

  "I have some astringent in my purse. I can pour some in the crack, and maybe that will discourage them." She went into the living room and glanced around. "Where did I toss my— Oh, there it is." She picked her purse up off the floor beside the rag rug. "And this thing has been crooked ever since we got here." She straightened it and began to laugh.

  "What?" Harry zipped his pants and came over to look. The rug had been covering a huge purple stain on the carpet. "Isn't that lovely? Can you believe they are so­liciting business for this place? It should be condemned!"

  "I know." Lainie grinned at him- "But I'm starting to like it a whole lot."

  He smiled back. "I know what you mean. It's ugly, but it's ours."

  "So are you taking the trash can out the front or the back?"

  "Good question." Harry hadn't gone back through the sliding glass doors ever since the rattlesnake incident. He didn't relish going out there now, considering that snakes loved the dark, or so he'd been told. But Leo was proba­bly watching the front. Still, Harry hadn't ever met a rat­tlesnake on that side of the building, and he guessed Leo was better than chancing a snake encounter. "The front."

  "Then you might want to put on your shirt, too."

  "Right." He located it dangling from the bedroom doorknob, where it must have landed when he tossed it aside.

  "Unless you want me to get dressed, and do it."

  "Are you kidding? Don't change a thing. I'll be right back." He grabbed his shirt and put it on. "I'm setting this trash can out in front and totally ignoring the fact that Leo's Jag is parked out there. Totally ignoring it."

  "Okay."

  And he tried to do that, but once he'd opened the door to set the trash can outside, he couldn't help notic­ing who was in the parking lot. Leo's Jag was there, but no gold Escort. That was a good thing. There was, how­ever, a battered pickup. It had Dudley written all over it.

  Closing the door, he came back into the kitchen, where Lainie was busy eradicating ants. "I think Dud­ley's out there, too."

  "I thought you weren't going to pay attention?" She squashed another ant with a napkin.

  "I couldn't help it." But he also couldn't help noticing how nicely her assets jiggled every time she went after another ant. The longer he watched, the less he cared about Dudley and Leo. He began taking off his shirt. "You about done, there?"

  She glanced over at him. "Just about."

  "Good." He tossed his shirt over his shoulder and started unfastening his slacks.

  "I thought you wanted coffee?"

  "Not anymore." He stepped out of his slacks and caught her hand. "Let's do it on the couch. We've never tried that."

  She laughed and allowed herself to be led out of the small kitchen. "Just don't move that blanket they have over the back. No telling what we might find."

  "I have a feeling we're going to be way too busy to worry about the condition of the couch. Just pray it doesn't collapse on us." Sex with Lainie, he'd discovered, could block out lots of things, including the knowledge that in a few hours, their time together would be over. Harry planned to focus on sex.

  Leo had arranged to meet Dudley in the parking lot di­rectly across from Lainie and Harry's time-share unit. No more than ten minutes after Leo had parked the Jag, Dudley showed up in his ragtag pickup with a camper shell on the back. The guy was prompt. Leo appreciated promptness.

  He climbed out of the Jag and winced. That flying tackle from Harry might have bruised a rib, and it had definitely done a number on his hip. Keeping those in­juries from Rona would be a real trick, especially con­sidering the bedroom gymnastics they enjoyed.

  "Howdy-doody!" Dudley called out as he hopped down from his pickup and strapped on a gun belt like Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. "Any sign of the bastard?"

  "Uh, Dudley, it might be best if we kept our conver­sation quiet." Leo eyed the six-shooter. Probably had a kick like a mule. "I doubt the resort would appreciate knowing there's surveillance going on."

  "Oh, sure, sure." Dudley reached back into the truck and pulled out a duffel bag. "I'm not up to speed on this line of work, so you'll have to fill me in, let me know where I'm going wrong."

  Leo wondered what was in the duffel bag. Probably a lasso. "Basically, we have to cover the next three hours until the Phoenix boys arrive. Then we can both get some sleep." Leo couldn't believe how exhausted he was.

  "You planning on sleeping in that fancy-dancy car of yours?"

  "Guess so. I need to stay close by in case something happens."

  "You'd be welcome to share the back of my camper. I got a couple of sleeping bags in there. At least you could stretch out."

  Leo imagined what the back of that truck would be like versus the semi-reclining position in his Jag. Sure, his c
ar seats were cushioned leather, but he'd never been good at sleeping in a semi-reclining position. Still, if the sleeping bags were in the same condition as the truck, they'd be marginal at best.

  "I snore some," Dudley added.

  "Me, too." Leo made his decision. Sleeping was more important than cleanliness. He wasn't all that clean, any­way, after the way Harry had worked him over. "Thanks, Dudley. I'll take you up on that."

  "No problemo, partner. So now what?"

  Leo handed him a two-way radio. The match to it was on the dash of his Jag. "We'll use the radio to communi­cate, and each of us needs to stake out an entrance."

  Dudley nodded and tucked the radio under his free arm. "Then you'll want me on the golf course side, on account of my boots."

  "Your boots?"

  "Yep." Dudley lifted his leg to show what he was talking about. "Genuine emu."

  "Emu, huh? I've never seen that before." In spite of himself, Leo was impressed with the boots. He'd always had a thing for expensive footwear.

  "I don't skimp on my boots. Emu's comfortable, but it can also take a snake bite."

  "Oh, shit. I forgot about the snakes." Leo took a quick look around and didn't see anything slithering to­ward him, thank God.

  "You don't need to worry so much here in the park­ing lot," Dudley said. "They like the golf course side better. More rodents for 'em to eat over there."

  "Oh. Then I'll take the parking lot."

  "Figured you would." Dudley unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out a thermos with Spider-Man on the side of it. "I brought coffee. Here's yours."

  "God, what a wonderful idea." Leo was starting to re­ally love this guy.

  "And sandwiches. Hope you like tuna." He handed over a fishy-smelling paper sack.

  "Love it." Leo would have been overjoyed with stale bread and peanut butter at this point. Eating on the run, which he'd been doing since morning, had meant eating very little. "This is great, Dudley. Thanks."

  "No problemo." Dudley looked pleased with himself. "Seems as how we needed something to sustain us."

  "Good thinking, Dud." Then he realized Dudley might not be partial to a shortening of his name, but there was no taking it back, now.

  To his relief, Dudley laughed. "My ex-wife used to call me that. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was a dud because she'd turned ugly as a fence post after ten years. Anyway, that's all behind me, now, but you call­ing me Dud put me in mind of it."

  "Sorry." Leo really was sorry. The guy was a dia­mond in the rough. Well, maybe a cubic zirconia in the rough. "I won't call you that anymore."

  "It's okay if you do, partner. I have a thick hide. Now I guess we'd better get motatin'."

  "Right." Leo gave Dudley a quick description of Joey and the rental car and sent him on his way. Then he set­tled into his car and opened the Spider-Man thermos. The coffee smelled like heaven and tasted like motor oil. Just the way Leo liked it.

  He'd just taken a bite of the tuna-fish sandwich when he heard a car. A glance in the rearview mirror told him the gold sedan had just pulled into the parking area, dammit. Wouldn't you know, Joey would show up to ruin his meal. He got on the radio. "Dudley, our guy's here."

  "Roger."

  "You don't have to say that. Just talk normally."

  "Oh. Okay. Want me over there, partner?"

  "You can start moving in this direction, but don't show yourself yet. Keep to the shadows. I want to see what he's going to do."

  "I'm on the move. What's he doing?"

  Leo peered at the gold sedan. "Nothing. Just sitting there with the motor turned off."

  "Thinking, most likely."

  "I don't know how much of that he's capable of." Leo took his night-vision binoculars out of the console and trained them on the car. "Looks like he's drinking, not thinking. I hear he's a heap of trouble when he starts hitting the bottle."

  'That's okay. I've got me an idea. I'm coming around. Don't worry, I'll be casual."

  "Hold it. I'll meet you halfway, at the side of the building."

  "Roger. Over and out." Then the radio crackled again. "Forget the 'Roger' part."

  Leo sighed. Amateurs. He left his car as quietly as he could, not bothering to close the door tight. The heavy-duty coffee was probably eating away at the lining of his stomach, but at least he was alert. As he walked, he al­ternated between looking at the gold sedan and scanning the ground, in case Dudley had misjudged the snake sit­uation and one had ventured out to the parking lot.

  "Pssst! Over here!"

  Leo rolled his eyes and headed over to the shadowed area where Dudley stood beckoning wildly. If Joey had his window open and had any instincts at all, he'd proba­bly hear Dudley acting like some demented secret agent. Leo was counting on Joey's lack of instincts and general stupidity to see them all through this.

  "I've got the perfect solution," Dudley said the minute Leo stepped into the shadows at the side of the building. "Got it right here in my duffel."

  The duffel bag rattled, and Leo jumped a mile. "Je­sus! Is that what I think it is?"

  "Just a baby." Dudley put the duffel down and the rat­tling stopped. "I found a forked stick so I decided to get it now, as long as I was here. Plopped it right in my duf­fel. Then I got the idea about how to get rid of Joey for the time being, anyway."

  Leo had trouble concentrating on what Dudley was saying because he was too busy squinting at every inch of ground. "Are those things everywhere?"

  "Nah. It's unusual that two showed up in the same day. Could be the storm we had brought 'em out. Any­way, I was thinking if I took this duffel over to Joey's car, we could—"

  "No, Dudley, you're not going to dump that snake in his car. I have strict instructions on this guy. We don't want him getting bit."

  "I wouldn't do that. Wouldn't be fair to the snake. No, I'll just go over, let him hear the rattle, and tell him we've had a real epidemic in the past couple of days. Didn't you say he's a city boy?"

  "Yeah." And so was Leo. He wasn't used to thinking of snakes as weapons. "But I really—"

  "This'll work. You watch. I'll tell him I'm the resort snake expert, which is the God's truth, and that we're evacuating people on account of this extreme snake sit­uation. There's no point in him staying around if he's afraid to leave the car."

  Leo had to admit the plan had merit. "Then what'll you do with the snake?"

  "Just keep him in my truck for the night, take him out somewhere in the desert tomorrow mornin'."

  "You expect to keep that thing in the front of the truck or the back of the truck?"

  Dudley grinned. "I keep forgetting you're a city boy, too. I'll keep the snake in the cab. Then we can catch us some Zs in the back. I figure you don't want to leave the parking lot, even if Joey takes off."

  "That's right, I don't."

  "So what do you say?"

  Leo eyed the duffel bag. "Exactly what do you mean by this thing being a baby?"

  "Oh, it's less than two feet."

  That was about twenty-four inches too many for Leo. "So can it get out?"

  "I put the little padlock on the zipper tab. I've never met a snake yet that can pick a padlock."

  "Then I guess it's worth a shot."

  Dudley nodded. "It's definitely worth a shot. Be right back."

  As it turned out, Dudley's plan worked like a charm. Joey left, laying some rubber in the process. On the strength of that exit, Leo decided to call the Phoenix boys and advise them to get a motel room instead of heading on over to Crimson Canyons. They could meet in the morning to discuss strategy.

  Finally, when all was quiet, Leo and Dudley crawled in the back of the pickup. Leo spent a few seconds wor­rying about the snake in the cab up front, a few more seconds wondering what kind of bugs might be living in this musty sleeping bag, and another few seconds listen­ing to Dudley snore. Eventually, however, even the snake, the bugs, and the snoring weren't enough to keep him awake. His last thought as he drifted off was that he was most d
efinitely getting too old for this.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Athough he'd only slept a couple of hours, Harry woke up before daylight. He didn't want to wake up, but there he was, wide-eyed and fighting a sense of dread. Lainie would probably be seeing Joey today.

  With the backup from Leo and his contacts in Phoenix, Harry wasn't worried that Lainie could get hurt. He was afraid she might be manipulated, though. She'd do most anything for Dexter.

  As he thought about that, he marveled at her devotion. She was willing to deal with a creep like Joey because it might ultimately benefit Dexter. He really admired that. Plus she was smart and funny, great company.

  He'd found the perfect combination—a woman who stimulated him both mentally and physically. Unfortu­nately, he was afraid she wouldn't want him, a nerdy person who worked with numbers all day. And that made his heart ache, because it looked like he'd fallen in love with her.

  She might never return that love, but he could be running out of time to find out if she would or not. To­day she might have to make a deal with Joey that in­cluded leaving Vegas. Leaving Harry.

  The thought made him so restless he couldn't sit there anymore. He climbed out of bed as carefully as he could and moved through the suite, gathering his clothes. He wouldn't go far, because he still felt responsible for pro­tecting Lainie, but he was really curious to see if Leo was still parked outside and if that was Dudley's truck he'd seen.

  Finding his glasses was a trick, but eventually he lo­cated them on top of the TV. After grabbing a key, he opened the door very quietly. Instead of birds twittering, he heard some kind of machinery. Maybe the grounds crew was hard at work. Hah. Like this place could afford a grounds crew.

  He saw the Jag immediately, and the old truck was still there, too, a few spaces away. No gold sedan, though. Harry walked toward the Jag, expecting to find Leo asleep in it.

  The Jag was locked and empty. But he noticed the back window of the camper shell was open, and the sounds he'd thought belonged to gas-powered landscape tools seemed to be coming from there.

  Walking behind the truck, he peered in, blinking in surprise. "Leo?"