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“Habit, I guess. She practically raised me. We never knew our father, and when our mother took off for parts unknown, she didn’t have a choice. It was either that or foster care.” She shivered at the thought. “I want to go to that party, though.”
“Why don’t you?”
Tameca sat up and twisted to swing her legs around and her feet to the ground. She glanced around the neat, little tree-lined area outside her office building. The place looked like a mini park, all well manicured with birds chirping in the air. If you looked at it, you would never believe that inside the concrete structure adjacent was a zombie fest. Then again, maybe that was a good thing for the coming holiday. Except that the zombies were the drones who worked for Carrington and Associates, the deadest engineering firm in the world.
“Because a part of me agrees with her.” She tilted her head back and stared with slitted eyes up at the blue sky. “You know that stupid saying you hear loser guys say on TV sometimes, ‘You’re so fine, I would drink your bath water’?”
Pat burst out laughing, which caused her to choke on her roast beef on rye. “You’re not serious.”
“Girl, if you had seen the man. Yum! I want him so bad, it’s not funny. I mean I’ve seen hot guys before, and I’ve felt like, ‘oh, if only.’ You know how I prefer white guys. But
Marcus . . . He goes beyond that.”
Her friend’s eyes lit up. “Describe him.”
“Walking sex.”
Pat snorted. “Seriously.”
“Okay, deep brown eyes that go almost black when he’s excited. Straight, thin nose and full lips. He has this long, rich, dark brown hair that’s like six or seven inches past his shoulders. When I see him, I dream about running my fingers through it while he—”
“Got you!” Pat shrieked.
Tameca laughed. “Well, you asked.” She sighed. “His invitation said there would be a full moon on Halloween night, and the bash at his mansion will start at eleven. I imagine it will go all night. Truth be told, I’m scared. He acts like he wants me, too, but Renee says he goes from woman to woman. What would I look like pursuing a man like that?”
“You’d look satisfied.”
They both dissolved into laughter, Tameca inwardly wishing she had the boldness to do more than look. She had often wondered if Renee had ever slept with Marcus. She’d never asked, and her sister hadn’t volunteered any info. That might explain some of the bitterness her sister displayed sometimes when talking about Marcus. And the thought that she would be getting her sister’s leftovers should have turned her off, but it didn’t.
When her mirth eased, Pat continued. “Seriously, you’re not looking for love, right? And neither is he.”
“Who says I’m not looking for love?” Tameca scowled.
“Not with him.”
“True.”
Pat shrugged. “So, he’s had many different women, has a lot to teach, and maybe this time around, he wants a woman with a little meat on her bones.”
Tameca flared her nostrils, then put her headphones back in place. “That’s your way of saying he’s considering a fat girl.”
“You’re not fat.”
“I’m pushing a size eighteen!”
“Tight sixteen.”
Whatever.”
Pat laughed. “Well, we’re two of a kind. I’m chunky, too, but Ray likes it. Says ‘more cushion for the pushin’.’”
Tameca rolled her eyes. “Original. But Ray will say anything. He’s just glad you’re giving it up to someone like him. Goodness knows none of those other geeky guys in the office is getting any. How much do you want to bet our party is lame again this year?” She groaned. “I just criticized the geeks, and I am one of the ones who doesn’t get any. My life bites big time.”
“Hey!” Pat cried out. “I’m trying to convince myself that I give a flying you-know-what about him and that I’m not just giving it away with no hope of a real relationship.”
Tameca sighed. “All right, I admit it. I’m jealous. Even of you and Ray.”
“Don’t be.” Pat’s downcast expression mirrored what Tameca was feeling. All of a sudden, her eyes went glassy, and her mouth dropped open.
