She didn’t move, so he pulled her into the room with him. She let go, and walked back down the hallway to the living room.
“Whatcha’ lookin’ for?” Renie asked when he walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, as though he owned the place.
“Somethin’ to eat.”
“I told you to meet me at The Hideout.”
“Why would I do that? You’re a great cook, Renie.” He pulled out a container, and put it in the microwave.
Was there a more confident man on the planet? If so, she hadn’t met him. And she’d been looking. First at Dartmouth, and now here in Fort Collins. She looked and looked for a man to help her forget about Billy Patterson. She hadn’t found one yet.
Wherever he was, Billy owned the air. It belonged to him, and he took it. He used as much as he wanted, and figured if you needed any, you were on your own.
He opened drawers until he found a fork.
“Did you eat?”
“It’s almost eleven o’clock at night, Billy. I ate hours ago.”
“I didn’t.” He set the dish and fork down on the counter. “Wanna know why not?”
She shrugged.
“Cause you had me all wound up, Renie.”
“Sure you weren’t just hung over?”
His eyes flared open wider, and in one long stride he stood in front of her, and pushed her back against the counter.
“No. I wasn’t,” he said, getting his mouth close to hers, without touching her lips.
He had her trapped. If he got any closer, every inch of him would be touching every inch of her.
He shook his head, stepped back, and picked up his food.
“Would you like to sit down while you eat?”
He motioned to her table. “Doesn’t look as though there’s much room at your table, sugar.”
Dish still in hand, he looked at the books. “Intense.”
“Stuff you’d know in your sleep.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Horses. You know more about them than I do, Billy.”
“Not all this stuff I don’t.” He picked up a textbook on anatomy.
“You may not know all the scientific terminology, but everything else?” She sat down on the couch. “I’ve never met anybody who understands them the way you do.”
He put the dish in the sink. “We gotta talk about the other night.”
“You were drunk, Billy. I get that.”
“You think that’s why I kissed you?”
She shrugged.