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He cleared his throat, turned his hand over and closed it around hers. “He seems to think Selene is either a Communist, a Satanist, or both.”
She laughed. It came out in a burst, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Then she took a long drink of beer and said, “She’s a vegetarian and a feminist who believes in UFOs, Bigfoot and reincarnation. I suppose that does make her a Communist and a Satanist in Jimmy’s eyes.”
“You have a beautiful smile, you know that?”
She felt her face heat. “Stop changing the subject. What else did he say?”
He drew a breath. “He seems to think one of your other sisters is…uh…cursed somehow. A ‘jinx’ is the way he put it.”
Again her smile didn’t falter. “That would be Kara. She’s somewhat accident-prone—and, I have to admit the men she dates seem to have a tendency to…get hurt But it’s just a string of bad luck.” She frowned. “I hope the jerk doesn’t let her hear him say something like that.”
“If he does, I’ll punch him in the nose for you.”
She smiled. “You won’t have to. Mel will.”
“Mel. Right.f Jimmy thinks she’s a sex fiend. He didn’t say it flat out, but he implied she was into whips and dog collars. A dominatrix type.”
She rolled her eyes. “It would serve Jimmy right if I told Mel what he said. He’s still pissed because she broke his nose last year when he got fresh with Mom.”
He nodded. “Then it’s safe to say you don’t have a sister who’s a porn star?”
Her jaw dropped. “Edie is a lingerie model in L.A. Quite a successful one, too. But no, she’s no porn star.”
“Probably a big relief to your mom,” he said lightly.
“Not really. To Mom, there’s not that much of a distinction between the two. They haven’t spoken since Edie left home.”
She pursed her lips, then sipped her beer and set the mug down. “So? What did our friend Jimmy have to say about me?”
Caleb’s eyes shifted away from hers. “Nothing.”
“Oh, come on, Caleb. Of course he said something about me. What would have been his point in talking to you at all if not about me? Hm? You’re not here with Edie or Mel or Kara or Selene tonight. You’re with me. So what did he say?”
He shook his head slowly. “He…told me I might as well give it up and go look elsewhere for fun tonight. Told me you don’t date, don’t even like men.”
She leaned back in her chair, took a long pull of her beer. “Well now, this is interesting. I’ve been wondering what the locals are thinking and saying about me.”
He licked his lips, looked away from her.
“What?” she asked, coming upright again. “What’s that look?”
“What look?” he asked, still not meeting her eyes.
“That look! There it is again! Jimmy Jones said something else, didn’t he? He told you what they’ve been saying about me around town. Didn’t he, Caleb?”
Sighing deeply, he finally looked at her. “You don’t want to know, hon. Trust me on this one.”
“Of course I want to know. I’ve been bending over backward to become socially acceptable around here. Hell, this is the first real chance I’ve had to find out how my efforts are panning out. So spill it, Caleb. Tell me what he said.”
Caleb pursed his lips. “It’s not gonna make you happy, Maya. And it seemed to me you were starting to enjoy yourself a little bit. You sure you want to ruin all that?”
“Tell me.”
He nodded, took a drink of beer, licked the foam off his lips. Made her tummy tighten in response. She took another drink of her own, and he spoke. “He said that as near as anyone can figure, you must be one of two things. Either you’re frigid or you’re gay.”
Maya choked and sprayed beer like a geyser. It hit Caleb square in the chest and rained down on the table between them.
He jumped up automatically, arms out at his sides as the beer dripped from his borrowed sweatshirt.
