Over the Moon

Missy & the Spider - Chapter 7

"Hey, Tino!" Missy yelled.

She had startled him and cringed as he nearly slipped again. Thankfully with the sun out it had melted and dried up most of the ice on the roof.

He stood for second like a surfer riding the rails, until he was certain he got his balance. "Don't you know better than to yell at a man on a roof?" The harshness of his words was completely softened by his grin.

Tino couldn't believe she was here. He thought after last night he'd finish the job on her roof and never see her again.

Missy smiled at him apologetically and held up two cups of coffee and a small white bag in reply. He made his way slowly down to her. "Hi!" he said taking a cup from her.

Missy chuckled. "Hi! Thought you may like a little break," she said hesitantly.

Tino took a sip of the coffee and sighed. "Love to but..."

"I understand, there are some S'More muffins in here," she said handing him the bag, "in case you get hungry later on." Missy handed him the bag looking dejected and turned to walk away.

Tino had to quickly juggle the bag and coffee to one hand, so he could reach out and grab her arm before she could get away. He wasn't going to let her run away that easily.

"Missy, what I was going to say is, love to but actually I'm finished here. So, if you can wait a moment and let me pack up I'd love to take a break with you."

"Oh... okay?"

Tino just shook his head at her. Her replies always sound like a question. She seems so unsure of what she is doing, even though she was bravely taking a chance. It just endeared her to him all the more.

"Why don't you wait inside where it's warm and I'll be right with you?" he offered.

"Actually, I thought maybe we'd take a walk," Missy countered, the last thing she needed was her conversation with him to be interrupted by another spider. At least out here she knew it was too cold for them to be about.

"Sounds good. Give me five minutes," Tino leapt into action scooping up tools and materials and throwing them in his truck. The last was the ladder, which he secured to the top rack of his truck's roof.

Missy stood and watched him. She enjoyed doing so without being too obvious that she was completely checking him out. He was very good-looking but truthfully it was his smile and the way he talked to her that drew her to him.

Missy took a sip of her coffee while holding onto Tino's and the bag of muffins that he handed back to her, so he could finish putting his things away.

He caught her looking at him but purposely refused to meet her eyes knowing it would embarrass her, and instead just enjoyed her looks. It gave him a secret thrill that she was into him, yet he knew he should be discouraging her. He just didn't have the heart to scare her away.

Tino jogged over to her when he had finished. She handed him back his coffee and offered him a muffin. "Your S'Mores Muffins are my favorite," Tino said smiling at her although he declined the offer at the moment.

"I know," Missy let slip and then realized her mistake a moment too late.

"Oh really?" Tino grinned as he threw her a side-glance. "You've been checking up on me have you?"

"Maybe?" Missy said noncommittally as she smiled into her coffee.

"So, what else did you find out about me?" Tino teased.

"I know you have a love of spiders," Missy threw out there, she was too nervous to keep up the pretense.

Tino stopped walking and it took a second for Missy to realize this. She turned back around, and he was just staring at her.

"Missy, I should have... I know it's wrong... it's the reason why?"

Missy was now toe to toe with him. She put her gloved fingertip to his lips to quiet him. "I understand why you didn't, but that's not why I brought it up."

"It's not?" Tino asked, wondering where she was going with all this.

"Nope. I did check up on you, as you put it. I found out from Goldie about your taste in muffins, and she told me about your other interests as well. Which led me to wrangling you a possible job offer."

"I am good in the kitchen, Missy but I don't think I'd be cutout for baking."

"I'm not offering you a job, silly. Mary Shepherd the director of the Chicago Zoo is offering you a job."

Tino almost lost his grip on his coffee, but he had amazing reflexes, and caught the cup the second it left his fingers. Missy however, jumped back so not to be splashed by hot coffee.

"A job? At the zoo? Doing what exactly?"

"Not sure. She wants you to meet her tomorrow at 9 am at the zoo. Then the two of you will go to the bug expo together. I guess she wants to test your knowledge. She is looking for someone who can give her some advice on the bugs and spiders to use for their new Kid's U."

Tino was stunned into silence. This opportunity was beyond amazing. He couldn't believe she had done this for him.

"Tino? Say something," Missy said, for a second she would have sworn he stopped breathing.

This time he did drop his coffee and didn't bother to catch it. He reached out and touched her face. Missy froze into place. He looked at her with such wonder, and amazement she was transfixed.

Then he leaned in and kissed her. She surrendered to him. He felt the trust she had in him and it solidified things in his mind. He didn't have a clue how he was going to make this work between them but being without her was no longer an option.

Her eyes were still closed a moment when he pulled away from her, and he smiled.

"Missy?"

Missy sighed. "Shh!" she said, savoring the moment.

And Tino laughed, wondering where in the world did she come from and so grateful he landed nearly in her lap the other day.

She opened her eyes and the look she gave him, shook him a little.

"S'more?" she said holding up the bag.

"Yes, please," but instead of taking the muffin. He grabbed her for another kiss.

This one wasn't as earth-shattering as Missy had a hard time not giggling through it.

"You liked what I did there?" he jested, before finally taking a muffin.

"I sure did," she said, but Tino had a feeling she wasn't talking about his double entendre but instead was making one of her own.