Scorching Heat Down South

Chapter 8

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the following week.

It was late in the morning when Claire arrived at Levi's house, which was situated in a very upper class part of town, and parked in the drive way. She looked at the house and couldn't help but admire its sleek, sophisticated beauty. It was an elegant, dark grey double story modern home, with massive windows that let in a lot of sunlight. There was a large porch, a double garage and driveway. The huge yard was adorned with a well kept green lush lawn and lots of flowers. Claire loved the house on sight.

The weather was cool and crispy, but Claire knew it wouldn't last long. It was bound to get warmer as the day progressed. She sat in her car for a couple of minutes and asked herself for umpteenth time what in the world had possessed her to agree to tutor his daughter. Judging from the way he made her feel, it was a wonder how she was ever going to survive being in his presence for long periods of time without making a complete fool of herself.

Claire recalled again how her insides had twisted at the sound of his voice late last night when she'd called to ask him for directions to his house.

After taking a long pleasant shower and wearing her cool nightdress, she had sat down on her bed and searched for his number in the phone directory hoping that he had a listed number. She felt foolish for not having taken down his address the last time she'd seen him. But it hadn't even crossed her mind, not much had. She'd been too preoccupied with how good he'd looked and how breathless he had made her feel.

Feeling apprehensive about talking to him again she'd searched under P and had thankfully found it. As she'd dialled the phone she had taken a deep breath and waited for it to ring. After the third ring he'd answered in a brisk, slightly annoyed, "Yes." which had immediately gone through her like butter on warm toast. Her mouth had suddenly become dry and her mind had gone blank. When she'd been unable to promptly reply he'd said, "Hello!"

"Hi ... hello, it's Claire." She'd quickly blurted out and his voice had hardened even more, "What's the problem? You haven't changed your mind have you?" She had considered saying 'yes' and canceling the whole thing. It would have certainly saved her a lot of anxiety. But then she had thought twice about it, she'd already made a commitment and it wasn't like her to go back on her word.

"No, I haven't changed my mind. I called because ... well I realized I don't know where you live so I called to ask for your address." She rumbled.

"Right." His voice hadn't lost its edge as he'd gone on to tell her his address.

"Okay, I got it." She'd responded after jotting it down.

A few seconds passed before he said, "Was there something else?"

His deep voice been like a soft, fleeting touch along her spine and she'd whispered, "Yes there is."

"Well?"

She had smiled to herself in disbelief, amazed by the unsettling sensations churning in her stomach. "Right ... tell me about your daughter."

She could almost picture the frown on his face when he asked, "Why?"

"I need to know a bit about her so I'll have an idea on how to approach her. What is she like?"

She had imagined him scratching his forehead before saying, "She's like all little girls I suppose. She likes playing with her dolls, coloring, running around outside. That sort of stuff. Her favorite color is pink and she's currently obsessed with mermaids, it's all she watches on tv. She's a happy kid although stubborn as hell."