King of Her Desire

4

She hobbled along next to me for a good little piece. Holding onto my arm, trying to be brave.

But I finally said, "Gettin' kinda late. And I gotta be up on a goddamned roof tomorrow damned near all day. Yankin' out this cooler that drips water all down into the house."

And she gave me a look and said, "If you're bored you can just say so, you know."

"Where the hell did that come from?"

She laughed. She really loved it when I gave as good as I got.

And she said, "It's okay! Don't keep her waiting."

"Her who?"

"Oh, please. I bet you've got all kinds of little Mamacitas fighting over you up top."

"I don't go up there much."

"Good call. Cause the guys'll chop you up and use you for chum or something."

"Yeah, they would. That's why."

We hobbled for a few more steps. And then she said, "Well, it's sweet of you to worry about me."

"You just seem sorta tired, I guess."

She nodded and said, "Cramping up a little bit. Wind's a little chilly."

"I get cramps sometimes when I get cold."

"Oh, stop it."

"I do."

"Just...walk me back to the house."

I put her arm around my shoulders and my arm around her waist. She must've had bird bones, that woman—hollow, you know? Because she was so light I could've just carried her back, no problem.

Shorter than she felt, too. Sounds weird, but her attitude made her seem bigger than she was. In truth, I towered over her. Didn't register until I was holding her like that. My hand fell closer to her breasts than her waist. But she didn't say anything.

She just gave me this little head butt when we got to her deck and said, "Adios, muchacho! You're free to go."

"You good?"

"At most things," she said. Giving me a little wink.

And I said, "Yeah, I bet you are."

She smiled, and then reached up and touched my face and said, "God, you've got the same dimples, too. Right where Sean's were. When you smile."

"Sean. Cool."

"Well, he was British. Scottish by ancestry but raised in England."

"Wow."

"Madman," she said. In this way that told me that she liked madmen.

I just gave her this little timid hug and said, "G'wan in now. Take a load off."

And she nodded and said, "Yeah. I don't wanna be that bitch."

"How do you mean?"

She hugged herself against the chilly breeze off the water and said, "You know what I mean. The rich bitches who go on vacations looking for somebody to play with. I don't wanna go out like that."

"I've been with women your age."

That almost made her forget about her cramps, I think. The shock.