The Cupid Touch

The Cupid Touch Chapter 21 - Deepest Red

It hadn't been hard to decide where to take Joe-Moe for the evening. There was a place I'd been meaning to go back to ever since I'd stopped off there in the middle of a bike loop and not wanted to leave. 

 It was an old hunting-lodge at the edge of Breakheart Reservation, the collection of lakes and woods out towards Salem. It had become an eaterie at some point, and my guess was that the decor had changed a lot. It looked how you felt a hunting-lodge should look - all dark colours, fireplaces, bare stone and wood. It had tapestries on the walls and occasional trophies (though not enough of them for it to get uncomfortable for the squeamish. I mean, who wants to eat something with a stuffed example of the animal looking down at you off the wall?). You also ate your food sitting in high-backed, red leather easy chairs that were comfy enough to live in. 

"Are we going to kill and eat a bear?" Joe-Moe asked me as we followed his Sat Nav to the postcode I'd punched in. A dose of rain had turned into hail-stones, and it was difficult to see anything but trees. "If so, I volunteer to guard the car." 

"You can stay in the car if you like," I told him, "while I eat all the food and fall asleep in a corner."

 "While you snore?"

 "Possibly." "I'd better come in," he said, nodding. "You're pretty hot when you snore." 

 "I'm not rising to that," I said, scratching my nails gently along his arm. 

 Joe-Moe shivered in response. "You are the most distracting passenger I know." 

 "Distracting? I haven't even started on distracting." 

 The lights of the Old Hunter loomed out of the hailstorm and Joe-Moe gave me a grin as he drew the car into the lot. 

 "I just realised I recognise this place." 

 "You do?" I asked, a little disappointed. 

 "Yeah. But when I knew it, it was a fishing-shop. My Dad came here a couple times when fishing the lake. It was really depressing, and there were flies all over everything because they had the bait out in tubs. I used to hate coming in with him." 

 "Don't tell me that!" I protested. 

 He laughed. "Am I ruining the atmosphere for you? Is Miss Morgan being sentimental?" 

 He took off his seat-belt to give me a patronising kiss, both hands on my face, so I nipped him lightly on the lower lip. 

 "So spiky," he said, with a sigh. 

 "Weird how much you seem to like it," I said, and climbed out of the car. I kept my face well down against the storm and ran for the door, Joe-Moe hustling in after me and finishing up standing behind me with his arms around me. I was in no hurry to move as we waited for someone to come and seat us. I leaned back against him and felt that warm contentment that seemed to happen around him.

 "See? I'm not always spiky," I said, tilting my head back towards him. He was in the middle of giving me a really inappropriately sexy kiss when one of the waitresses rocked up and tried to pretend it wasn't awkward. 

 I waited for Joe-Moe to look around the place, which he finally did after we'd ordered. "Is it... non-good being reminded of your Dad?" 

 He glanced back at me, quickly. "No, it - actually, it doesn't remind me much. It's so different. And it's a really nice place now. My Dad would never have come here. He was a fast-food and liquor kind of guy." 

 "Does Axel know?" I asked. "About you, and... and what happened." 

 "Ah, no, he doesn't." He suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "I mean, it's not an easy one to confess as you'll know. And aside from the likelihood he'd think I was crazy, I didn't want - he's my kid brother. I'm supposed to protect everyone. I didn't like the idea of him looking at me like I was a killer. You know?"