My Funny Valentine

by Rhonda Nelson

  Gray’s eyes widened, then he chuckled. Bella’s outraged “Ethan!” only made Gray laugh harder.

  Amazingly, Gray had to check the “yes” response that rose in his throat. “I’m afraid I can’t come today,” he said instead. “I’ve got quite a few things to do.”

  Bella looking delightfully flushed all over again, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then capped the sunblock. “Perhaps another time.”

  “Perhaps,” he told her consideringly.

  Bella glanced at her son. “Ethan, go see if you can rouse Dog. If she’ll get up, she can go with us.”

  “Dog?” Gray asked, smiling, as Ethan flew out of the room at warp speed. “Original name.”

  Bella had moved to the table and began to pack snacks and juice boxes into a basket. Her lips twisted into a wry grin. “Well, it was better than the first name that Ethan picked out for her.”

  Gray leaned a hip against the kitchen counter and lazily quirked a brow. Work no longer seemed so appealing. “Oh?”

  “Yeah.” She grinned. “He wanted to name her Cat.”

  Gray chuckled. “I can see your point. Best to keep the name in the species.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” Bella’s blues-smooth voice held a trace of amusement, leaving Gray with a longing to hear it again.

  Ethan streaked back in, without Dog. “Dog won’t get up, Momma.” He heaved a put-upon sigh and shook his head regretfully. “Ol’ worthless bitch, I don’t know what we’re gonna do with her.”

  Gray blinked, then clamped his mouth shut to keep from laughing.

  Slack-jawed, Bella stared at her son. “Ethan! Where on earth have you heard such language?”

  Ethan frowned. “What’s ‘language’?”

  Bella squatted own to eye level with her son. “Those words you just used. Where did you hear them?”

  “What word are ya talkin’ ‘bout?” the little boy asked, the picture of innocence.

  Eyes closed, Bella pressed a palm against her forehead and visibly summoned patience. “All of them.”

  Ethan snagged a cookie from the basket his mother had just packed and glanced up. “Mrs. Maggie. She calls Dog a worthless ole bit—“

  “Okay,” Bella interrupted. “I’ll have to have a talk with Mrs. Maggie. That isn’t a nice word and you aren’t to use it again. Understood?” she asked.

  Looking completely baffled at the workings of an adult mind, Ethan nodded affably. “Okay.”

  Gray’s lips itched with the urge to grin. Bella stood and her simultaneously outraged and amused gaze found his. “Well,” she said, seemingly for the lack of anything better.

  The itch became unbearable, and the grin Gray had been attempting to thwart finally surfaced. He hooked a finger toward the wall phone. “I think I’m going to make that call now.”

  Bella looked momentarily distracted. “Oh, yeah. Go ahead.” She smiled a little and ruffled Ethan’s hair. “Me and the potty-mouth are going to head down to the creek.”

  “Hey!” Ethan blared. “I ain’t a potty—mouth.”

  Gray chuckled. “You know…used in that particular context, it wasn’t exactly…”

  “I know,” Bella told him, the grin there again. “Still for obvious reasons, it’s not a phrase I’d like him spouting in public.”

  “Momma worries about the public,” Ethan confided knowingly. “I’m not allowed to go to the bathroom in public or stick my finger up my nose like this—” He obligingly demonstrated for Gray’s benefit.“—in public, or—“

  Red-faced, Bella herded her son toward the back door. “We’re going now. Say ‘bye,’ Ethan,” she told him.

  “Bye!”

  “Bye,” Gray returned, bemused.

  As soon as Bella and her son had closed the door, Gray succumbed to a deep belly-rumbling laugh. And it suddenly occurred to Gray that this might be his most successful research mission ever.

  Strangely, he had the undeniable feeling that Bella Valentine and her son had a lot to teach him.

  Chapter Five

  “So what’s he done for the past couple of days, Bella?” Maggie wanted to know. “Have you seen much of him?”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Bella murmured.

  Actually, she could see quite a bit of him right now, Bella thought as she gazed beyond Maggie and into her side yard.

  Barefoot and bare-chested, Gray leaned over the hood of his car and lovingly dragged a soapy sponge across the gleaming surface. His broad back was a landscape of interesting muscle play, and gazing at the long length of his spine left Bella with the insane longing to trace the indention from top to bottom. The late afternoon sun spilled across the drive and painted blue-black highlights in his damp, tousled hair. Oh, how she would love to get her hands in that, Bella thought with a silent sigh.

  He looked wild and unruly…and untamed. With little effort, she could imagine him in another time, on a Highland moor, rubbing down his steed after a heated battle. A fanciful notion, for sure. Still…there was something very elemental about her newest tenant. It was deliciously disturbing.

  “Yoohoo,” Maggie sing-songed impatiently. She waved her fingers in front of Bella’s eyes. “Are you listening to me?” She scowled, then turned in her seat. “What, pray tell, are you looking at—ohhhhh,” Maggie breathed knowingly. “I see.”

  Mortified, Bell felt the tops of her ears burn.

  Fayrene, having seen Lila’s meaningful grin, frowned and flipped the head back on the stationary dryer. “What are you two looking at?”

  “Mr. Cameron is washing his car,” Maggie murmured dreamily, abandoning all pretense of being immune to his charm. “Come on over here, Fayrene. I tell you…it’s a sight to behold.”

  Fayrene sprang from her seat with an agility that belied her years and joined the impromptu peeping party. “Oh, my heavens.” Fayrene sighed as she sagged against Maggie’s chair. “That man can wash my car any time.”

  “Oh, to be the hood of that Caddy,” Maggie concurred breathlessly.

  Bella stalled the “mmm—hmm” that tickled her lips and stiffened her spine. Honestly, this was pathetic. They were grown women. Maggie and Fayrene, pillars of the community, herself a widowed single mom, and here they were—salivating over the man as if he were the last piece of chocolate in the box.

  Bella swiveled the styling chair around to face her and ignored Maggie’s outraged cry.

  “All right ladies. Let’s act like adults. Maggie, I’ve got to finish your set and I can’t very well do that if we’re all ogling Mr. Cameron.” Bella twiddled her comb at the dryer. “Fayrene, get back under that dryer. Your hair will frizz, then we’ll have to start all over.”

  Fayrene shot her a petulant look, but complied with Bella’s request.

  “You’re right, Bella,” Maggie told her. “Still, I have to say, things have definitely been a lot more interesting since your Mr. Cameron moved in.” She gave Bella a calculating look. “Jim up at the hardware store said that Gray’d been in to buy a phone jack.”

  “And Marlene down at the Piggly Wiggly said he’d been in to get a few groceries,” Fayrene supplied. “Snack cakes, soft drinks and a package of microwave brownies.” She humphed. “Junk food will wreck that magnificent body in no time.” Fayrene’s gaze was innocently shrewd as she redirected her direction her attention to the magazine in her hands. “Perhaps you should invite him over for dinner, Bella.”

  “Fayrene’s right, Bella,” Maggie chimed in. She tsked under breath. “It would be a complete and total waste to see a figure such as that ruined with malnutrition.”

  Though she didn’t care for their matchmaking tactics, Bella secretly agreed with them. She’d noticed the Ho-Ho’s sticking out of the top of his grocery bag yesterday when he’d returned to the apartment.

  From what she’d been able to see, Gray Cameron’s only concession to proper nourishment had been a gallon of milk. And she doubted he’d been thinking about the nutritional value of milk when he’d purchased it. Most likely, he’d onl
y gotten it to wash down the snack cakes. After all, who could eat a Ho-Ho without milk?

  “Oh, look. He’s coming inside,” Maggie said.

  Bella glanced out the window. Gray had rinsed the Cadillac and was presently sauntering across the yard to the back porch.

  “Bella,” Fayrene hissed. “If he comes in here, invite the man to dinner. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some adult conversation at your table?”

  Bella’s initial reaction was to say no. Something about the handsome author appealed to Bella on an instinctive level—something she didn’t understand and had no desire to explore.

  But Fayrene had presented a temping argument. It would be nice to talk to someone who’s primary interest wasn’t how many bites they had to take before they could leave the table. Someone who didn’t think fish sticks were a culinary masterpiece. Someone who’s preferred literary topic wasn’t Dr. Suess.

  Bella heard the back door close as Gray entered the kitchen.

  “Go ahead, Bella,” Maggie urged. “It’s just dinner. Isn’t he coming to do his laundry tonight anyway?”

  Another convincing argument. Vaguely Bella wondered how Maggie had known that. She didn’t think that anyone had been listening to that particular conversation.

  “I don’t know…” Bella hesitated. Indecision gnawed at her. Oh, hell. Why not? They were right. It was only dinner and the man had to eat.

  Mind made up, Bella tossed her instruments aside. She’d have to hurry if she wanted to catch him before he went upstairs. She heaved a beleaguered breath for the benefit of her audience—it wouldn’t do to look anxious—and made for the door.

  “Oh, all right.” She sighed. “I’ll ask him.”

  Bella opened the door and ran headlong into a tall, very hard and slightly damp male body. She drew in a sharp gasp, inhaling his scent. Her brain couldn’t function well enough to label the various smells. There was only the simple—minded impression of mmm—wonderful.

  A current of warmth zinged through her as his large hands grasped her upper arms and steadied her.

  “Whoa,” he chuckled. “Where’s the fire?”

  In my blood, Bella thought as his heat engulfed her. She drew back shakily. “I—I’m sorry. I was on my way to…” She looked up and her gaze collided with his. Her train of thought derailed.

  Gray Cameron had the most gorgeous green eyes she had ever seen. She’d seen them from a distance before, but up close… Mercy, they were magnificent. They were utterly and completely clear. She swallowed tightly. And simply beautiful.

  Inviting this man to dinner would be courting disaster. Her courage deserted her.

  “O-on my way to—“she began again.

  “Invite you to dinner,” Maggie supplied.

  Bella managed a brittle smile. She could have joyfully cut out the older woman’s tongue.

  Gray’s disturbing gaze swung back to Bella and he quirked a midnight brow. The twinkle in his eye combined with the lone gesture said volumes about his thoughts, though he hadn’t uttered a single word. It was a blatant challenge—and Bella never had been able to resist a dare.

  “That’s right,” Bella confirmed finally. “That’s is, if you don’t already have plans.”

  Bella enjoyed the flicker of surprise that passed over Gray’s impossibly handsome face.

  “No,” he told her consideringly. “No plans other than my standing Friday night date with your washing machine and dryer.”

  “Then you’ll come?”

  “Sure. Should I bring anything?”

  Bella shared a grin with Fayrene and Maggie.

  “Yeah,” she told him. “Ho-Ho’s.”

  ***

  He needed a haircut, Gray thought as he critically studied his reflection in the bathroom mirror. A haircut and a brain transplant. What the hell had he been thinking when he agreed to Bella’s dinner invitation? Or better yet, what had he been thinking with?

  Certainly it hadn’t been his brain.

  When she’d ran into him this afternoon and her petite little body had momentarily meshed with is, Gray had felt a jolt of awareness so strong it had seared his veins.

  Bella was soft and curvy in all the right places. Her hair had been loose this afternoon, falling about her shoulders like a veil of shimmering platinum silk. Gray could just imagine the silky stuff sliding across his chest. She smelled of sunflowers and lavender. Of temptation.

  Gray humphed under his breath. Obviously, he’d been celibate for too long.

  He shoved away from the sink basin and sauntered naked to his bedroom. For the past two days he’d been so intrigued by his landlady that he’d barely gotten any research done. He’d managed a few preliminary inquiries and that was it.

  The initial edginess he’d felt when he first moved in had dulled and been replaced with an insatiable curiosity about Bella and her son. About their life, specifically. He could hear them at night, laughing, playing.

  Apparently, Ethan’s room was right under his. Via the central heat and air vent, he could hear Bella’s soft murmuring as she read her son a bedtime story. It had affected him in a very disconcerting way.

  He’d labeled the feeling weariness and fallen into a fitful sleep.

  Nevertheless, he’d decided that it would be best to put this peculiar interest in his gorgeous landlady out of his head and just simply avoid her. On the surface that had been a good plan. So why had he abandoned a perfectly good course of action as soon as an opportunity had presented itself? Gray didn’t care to ponder the answer.

  Instead, he pulled on a T-shirt and thrust his legs into a pair of jeans. He snagged a box of Ho-Ho’s from the counter, then dropped them on the top of his laundry basket. Cursing himself for a fool, Gray ignored the annoying anticipation that worked its way through him.

  It was dinner—not a date. Hell, who took their dirty laundry on a date?

  The mouthwatering aroma of fried chicken hit him as soon as his feet hit the stairs. When he opened the door, the first thing Gray saw was Bella’s heart-shaped derriere. His gaze zeroed in on her delightful backside as she tested the strength of the seams in the denim jeans. Bent low to open the oven, Bella was completely unaware of the provocative pose.

  Presently, the chicken had nothing to do with the moisture gathering in Gray’s mouth. He swallowed thickly and cleared his throat.

  Bella turned slightly. A smile that could only be described as radiant shaped her soft lips. Her face was flushed a healthy pink and a few strands of silvery hair had worked their way loose of her complicated braid. “Oh, you’re here.”

  Gray nodded. “Mind if I go ahead and take to the utility room?”

  “Oh, sure. Go ahead. Dinner’s not quite ready yet.”

  Gray started a load of whites, then returned to the kitchen just in time to see Bella simultaneously jump and squeak in dismay. Vaguely, he noticed the odd odor that had permeated the air.

  “Damn, damn and double damn,” she muttered heatedly under breath as she peered worriedly into the oven.

  Hearing curses from her angelic mouth brought a smile to Gray’s lips. “What’s the mat—“

  Suddenly, flames burst from the oven’s interior, stalling the words on his lips. Bella stumbled back and muttered an even hotter oath. She frantically searched the kitchen counter for some unnamed solution while Gray leapt into action.

  In half a second, he’d snatched the flaming pot-holder from the oven. He turned to toss his fiery prize into the kitchen sink, but drew up short as a chillingly cold liquid smacked him square in the chest. The frigid wetness made him inhale sharply as it descended over his abdomen, sluiced down his pants and puddled in his boots. Stunned, Gray could only gape.

  “Oh…oh, no,” Belled fretted nervously. “A-are you all right? Of course , you’re not all right. You’re all wet.” Bella snatched the sodden potholder from his fingers, and it landed in the sink with a dull thwack. Then she grabbed a dishcloth and started to furiously dab at his equally sodden clothes.

 
“Oh, look at this mess. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I dropped the potholder and it burst into flames.” She frowned thoughtfully as she continued to swipe at Gray’s chest. “Must’ve had grease or something on it to have caught fire like that.”

  Her hand took a downward swipe that fell a mere tantalizing inch from his groin. Gray’s semi-aroused anatomy responded immediately. Propelled into action, he stalled her had just as it was about to glide over his zipper.

  “I think I can take it from here,” he murmured through a smile.

  Twin spots of red burst onto Bella’s pinkened cheeks. “Oh. Of course.”

  “Whatcha doin?” Ethan asked as he bounded with his usual energy into the room. His face was scrunched in distaste and e sniffed at the foul odor. “Eww-eee! What’s that smell?”

  “It’s…uh, dinner,” Bella told him, her voice brittle with feigned enthusiasm. Her back ramrod straight, she crossed to the sink and rinsed her hands. “Doesn’t it smell good?”

  “Naw, it doesn’t. Smells awful.” The boy’s curious gaze landed on Gray and the child studied him with an intent eye. “Why are you all wet?”

  Feeling as though he should do something to ease the palpable tension in the room, Gray squatted down and stage-whispered into Ethan’s attentive ear, “I told your mother that dinner smelled awful.”

  Ethan’s eyes rounded first in horror, then delight and he clapped his hand to his mouth. He darted a tentative look at his mother, then quickly averted his bug-eyed gaze.

  Beneath hooded lashes Gray watched as Bella’s lips tilted into a tentative smile.

  “She threw her iced tea at you?” Ethan whispered.

  Gray nodded sagely. Ethan pondered this for a moment, then inhaled deeply. His small chest puffed beneath his shirt with the effort. “Mmmm, somethin’ sure does smell good. Reeeaaaallllly good.”