Page 59 of Conail

"The place is immaculate. Do you cook?" She propped her chin on her palm and watched as he searched for the items she wanted.

"Not if I can help it." He found the peanut butter and grapes. "How about this?"

"Too big. Half of that. And I'm going to need a bowl. What can you cook?"

"Steak." He handed her a bowl and a spoon along with the grapes and small jar of peanut butter.

"Just steak?"

"And roast chicken." Filling a glass of water from the tap, he turned to watch as she scooped out peanut butter and actually started to spread it on the grapes. "You meant it."

She looked up and laughed at the expression on his face. "Of course I did. Be grateful I'm not craving things like chunks of coal or graveyard dirt."

"That's disgusting."

"Or pee."

"Now you're trying to scare me."

She shook her head and took a bite of the concoction, closing her eyes in delight. "You would not believe the things I read. It's unbelievable. One woman said she had a craving for chalk the entire nine months." She grinned. "Fortunately for her, she was a teacher."

"They no longer use chalk in classrooms." He sat on the stool across from her.

"She found a way." She toyed with the rest of the grapes. "Boy or girl?"

"Pardon?"

She loved the aristocratic way he phrased the single word, and it hit her then how far apart they were in the social stratosphere. He had been to private prep schools and Ivy League colleges. She attended the local high school and even though her education had been at a prestigious institution, she was still out of his league. It was depressing and it brought her down to earth.

"Do you want a boy or a girl, or does it not matter?"

He sipped water and eyed her for a few seconds. In the initial stage, he would have answered differently, but things had changed.

"What about you?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"What's your preference?"

Her heart started to thud rapidly, and she had to concentrate hard to stop her hands from shaking. "Why are you asking me that?"

He shrugged and was wondering the same thing. Draining the glass, he rose to fill it some more. His back was to her, and he was staring at the elegant chrome pipe fitting. He had poured the water but had not taken a sip. It was crunch time now and he was scared spitless. This was the second time he was confronted with a situation like this. The first time, he had been so excited, he had hardly been able to contain it. Plans had been put in place, like a proposal, the selection of a ring and the purchasing of a house.

He felt the sweat forming in his armpits and the panic settling in.

"Conail?"

"Yes?" His voice was terse, but he could not help himself.

"Why did you ask me that question?"

"Forget it." Taking a swallow of the water, he put the glass in the sink. Schooling his expression, he turned to her, ignoring the pensive look on her lovely face. "Finished?"

She looked down at the almost empty bowl. "Yes."

He took it from her and put it in the sink. "Ready?"

"I want to know what's going on."

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