Page 77 of Statler

She stopped, purposely avoiding Statler’s gaze, while focusing instead on Sherbert. “You won’t put this in the stuff my father’s going to read, will you?”

“Hell, no,” he assured her, closing his laptop, decisively. “Pop away.”

She would.

But what started out as a tease, was feeling an awful lot like flirting now, although there was only one person whose interest she wanted to tweak.

So why not?

Unfastening her pants, Eliza let the plackets fall open a mere half inch, but the skin of her belly was visible for a few seconds, and she actually caught the quick intake of Statler’s breath.

She didn’t know how to feel about that.

Yes, she wanted his attention. Yes, she was already head over heels for the man. And yes, if he enjoyed her midsection, who was she to object?

But she couldn’t lead him on and let him think there’d be anything to the bit of fun they were enjoying.

Eliza still remained spooked about letting someone new into her life.

Some might call that PTSD, but Eliza liked to think of it as more like, learned caution.

She just knew that if she let herself get carried away by Statler’s attention, bad things could happen. To her and to him. She didn’t know how she was so sure of that, or what those nebulous consequences would be, but she wasn’t taking that risk.

She felt enough love for Statler that she would never deliberately put him in harm’s way.

A loud burp behind her snapped her out of her funk.

“That was delicious,” Tonka expounded, having finished up the last of everything on the table.

He stood. “And since I’m full and happy, I volunteer to do the dishes.”

“Thanks, Tonk,” Blue responded happily. “You know I’m not a big fan of clean-up.”

Eliza wasn’t either, but…

“I can help,” she offered, also coming to her feet.

“Nope,” Pipes retorted. “You fished, so your part is done. I think you should move around because your stomach is feeling so full. Maybe take a walk.”

Pipes made no pretense of who he was volunteering. “I’m sure the boss would be happy to accompany you.”

Blue snickered. “Smooth, Pipes. If that’s indicative of the finesse you use to pick up women, it’s no wonder you’re still single.”

Pipes huffed. “I am single,” he rebutted. “But I’ll have you know that I average at least one proposal every two months.”

Eliza’s mouth fell open. “You offer marriage to women, six times a year?”

Eliza wasn’t hiding her astonishment.

Everyone laughed.

“Hell, no,” Pipes decried, whooping in amusement. “Those women propose to me,” he corrected.

She sighed.

“Of course they do,” Eliza quickly agreed, smacking her forehead playfully with her palm. “What am I thinking. You’re so good looking, how could they resist?”

Pipes visibly preened, and the crew tossed napkins and plasticware in his direction.