Page 48 of Trophy
For just a moment it felt like she tensed up, but when he pulled back to check her face she was smiling.
“Is that all right?” he asked, wanting to make sure he hadn’t accidentally said something wrong. Surely a woman wouldn’t mind being called gorgeous.
“Of course it’s all right.” She pulled him back into a kiss.
He was really getting into it when a voice interrupted them. “Rob? Rob?”
They jumped apart, but not soon enough. Rob was pretty sure that Cali had seen them as she entered the kitchen.
“Cali,” he said, darting a quick look over to Allison, hoping she wasn’t going to freak out. “What are you doing here?”
“The door was wide open.” She wore jeans that were way too tight and a halter top that showed far too much cleavage. Her makeup was very heavy—as heavy as Dee usually wore. Rob wasn’t her father, though, so he couldn’t say anything about it.
“I had a cookout earlier, and people were just leaving. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah.” She was peering at Allison curiously. “Mom’s not going to be happy about this.”
Rob had to stifle a groan. He stopped himself from acting worried or urgent, though, since he knew that would encouragethe girl to do exactly what he didn’t want. “She doesn’t have to know.”
“She’ll find out soon enough.”
“No one knows yet.”
Cali’s eyes widened. Then she laughed in a decidedly naughty way. “Nice. So it’s a secret, then.”
“Up to you,” Rob said with a shrug. Allison was obviously letting him handle this, since she hadn’t said a word or moved a muscle.
“I won’t tell her,” Cali said, suddenly looking much younger than she usually looked. Even her makeup looked more like dress-up than anything else. “You’re that waitress from Dora’s.”
“Yes,” Allison said. “I am. And you’re Cali. I’ve seen you around.”
“Only when my mom is making a fool out of herself,” Cali said. “I love your shoes.”
Allison was wearing red sandals that looked very fancy to Rob. “Thanks,” she said. “They’re my favorites.”
“Did you need something?” Rob asked. “To make you come over, I mean.”
“Oh yeah. I ran out of gas just down the block there. Do you think you can help me?”
“Sure,” Rob said, relieved it wasn’t any sort of real crisis, particularly one involving her ass of a boyfriend or Dee. “I can run down to the station and get you some. Do you want to come with me?”
“I can stay here with Allison.”
Rob shot Allison a quick look. They weren’t supposed to be in anything like a serious relationship. The last thing she was going to want was to spend time with his rather pouty ex-stepdaughter.
At least Cali seemed in a reasonable mood today. That might help.
“Sure,” Allison said, smiling at Cali and then nodding at Rob. “That would be okay. She can help me clean up the last of the trash.”
Rob felt a little nervous about this, but there was nothing he could do. So he left them in his house and drove as quickly as he could to the gas station at the end of town to put two gallons in a tank, then drove it back to where Cali’s little car was pulled over on the side of the road.
He wondered if she had genuinely forgotten or if she’d just run out of money. He wondered if that Nelson boy was taking her money.
Either way, he’d put enough in to get her through the evening, and now he needed to get back to make sure that Allison was all right.
He was never more surprised than when he walked into his house and found Allison and Cali talking enthusiastically about shoes and jewelry as Allison swept a pile of dust into the pan Cali held steady.
Cali was smiling for real. Rob hadn’t seen that expression on her in years.
