“Well, we could do this all day or we could go shopping.” Ford wiped his mouth and threw his crumpled napkin in the cup of ice cream.
I looked longingly at the ice cream he hadn’t finished. “Hey, I woulda eaten that.”
“Actually, I’ll have to skip shopping. I have to go teach.” Jack stood up and stretched. “This was fun though.”
I appreciated the toned muscles of Jack’s stomach. He’d make a terrific dancer. His long, lean body was built for a pole. Would that be offensive if I told him that?
“You better show me what you bought tonight.” He bent and kissed my cheek before waving a goodbye to Ford and leaving.
I lifted my hand to my cheek. Jack liked me. He had said so. He knew I was a stripper and yet he liked me. He never made me feel uncomfortable or stupid either. I liked him, too.
I found Ford was glaring at me and I dropped my hand from my cheek.
“Let’s go home. I have work to do.” He shoved up from the table and walked out. I collected the trash and puzzled over his behavior. It was almost like he was jealous; but he must see that Jack didn’t like me like that. Maybe it was because Ford thought I was trash. He’d made that much clear.
“What about shopping?”
“Another time.”
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled and followed him out the door.
I thought he’d been pleased with my attempts at accents but he was back to being grumpy. I didn’t want to spend time with him anyway. I couldn’t do all the work. He’d have to make an effort. It was going to be a long twelve weeks.
* * *
Thwump!
My hair flew back from the poof of air caused by the stack of books dropped in front of me.
“Let’s start here.” Ford pulled up the chair next to me, his frown in place as he studied the names of the books on the spines facing him.
This was my hell. It’s not that I hated reading; it’s just that I had a hard time focusing. I always have. I’d rather be moving and dancing. I cracked open the first book and flipped through hoping for some pictures but saw only walls and walls of text.
“Remind me of your educational background?”
“None of your business.” I cross my arms. “I don’t have time for this. Let’s do something else.”
“Reading is crucial to development. Not only for the knowledge ascertained but the world experience. Fiction, non-fiction—it doesn’t matter. Knowledge is power. When did you graduate high school? What classics have you read?”
I pushed back from the table. “This is stupid.” My hair was in waves and I played with it to avoid looking at him. “Can’t you just give me the CliffsNotes?” I could just Google it later. But even reading the wiki pages made my eyes cross. I was not a reader. Was that so hard to understand?
Ford looked up at me before glancing at his watch. “We don’t have time for this. Have you ever tried audiobooks?”
“No.”
“We can try that later. That can be your homework as we move on to other things.”
Dread caused me to slump in the chair. “Homework?”
“I’m going to assume, as you’re avoiding the question, that you didn’t graduate high school.”
A small pressure in the base of my skull started to grow. I wanted to grab this table with all these stupid books and flip it over.
“No,” I admitted and heat burned my cheeks.
“Did you get your GED?”
“Ford. I’m too stupid for this.”
