Britten

CHAPTER 11

Britten beeped the car open and they got in after Orion got his coat out of his car. She kept quiet for a while. She thought about what Orion had said and done and it didn't add up. They had almost kissed on Saturday. If he was gay why would he want to kiss her?

She took off out of the parking lot. She got through three lights before she said, "You lied."

"Of course I did." She stayed quiet again. Why would he lie? How did he know to lie? And how did he know to have pictures?

She had way too many questions and it was eating at her. She got three miles before she couldn't handle it any more. "Why did you lie?"

"I wanted to keep my job." She licked her lips and stopped at a red light. "How did you know to lie and how did you get those pictures. I thought you didn't have friends."

He took a deep breath. He was hoping what Manny had planned up was going to work. He was smart in knowing she was going to ask these questions. He just didn't know that she was going to know he was lying. She was a lot smarter than he had given her credit for. Manny reported that she was smart, Orion just didn't know how smart.

She looked at him when they stopped at another red light because he hadn't answered her question yet. He looked at her and smiled. "I knew because of the way he freaked out on me Friday. I wanted to keep my job, so I came up with a good reason for him to let me stay."

She licked her lips then looked back at the road. The light turned green and she took off again. She eventually made it to the interstate to head into the city. "What about the pictures and the friend?"

"My best friend came in to town to visit me for a couple weeks. He got laid off from his job and wanted something to do while he drew unemployment for a while."

He was still avoiding the picture thing. He noticed that she was driving under the speed limit and people were passing her like crazy. "You okay?"

"Just taking my time. Pictures?"

"My best friend is gay. He's the one that came up with the picture idea, so he helped me set everything up." She actually smiled. It was the first true big smile that she had given all day. He loved that smile, how the edges of her lips curled up and how she slightly parted her lips as if she was getting ready to laugh.

He watched as she licked them then bit her bottom lip. She was so cute and looked so innocent in that one gesture. She looked over at him with her electric blue eyes. He slowly got lost in them, but she ended up having to look back at the road.

He wasn't sure how she was going to react, but he was going to try it anyway. "Why is it you don't leave him?" She let out a sigh. He watched, and she tapped her steering wheel with her fingers, thinking whether or not if she should answer the question.

When she didn't answer he changed the subject. "Did you see the basketball game last night?" She shook her head no. "I don't watch tv." He thought that was odd, most everyone watched tv. "How come?" She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel again.

When she didn't answer him, he sighed. What else could he try? "So, since Giovanni told me I had to follow you around everywhere unless you were with him, does that mean I get to go to the club with you on Friday?"

She snickered. She remembered him saying that he didn't know how to dance. She wondered how that was going to work out. Would he try and dance or would he just sit at the bar and watch her? Then she began to wonder if Casper was going to be there or would she have to open or close.