Page 24 of Seasoned
He chuckled. “Being able to relax does have its advantages.”
The food arrived ten minutes later and Renee bit into the burger. It was juicy, the guacamole clearly freshly made, and the toasted bun was just the additional added detail to make the meal even better.
“Well?”
Renee swallowed and shook her head in disbelief. “You were right. This is one excellent burger.”
“Don’t ever doubt me again,” he said, and bit into his burger.
“Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Next time, we’ll go to Habanero. I think you’ll like it.” She’d experienced a bit of nerves as the sentence left her lips because it meant she saw them doing more of these kinds of activities.
“I promise to consider it,” he said.
“Thank you,” Renee said.
Then she enjoyed the rest of her burger.
11
She was either a new fool or an old fool. Either way, Renee was a fool for enjoying the time she spent with Clive way too much.
Covering her nakedness with a robe, she slid her feet into fluffy pink bedroom slippers. In a few minutes, Clive would exit the bathroom and she’d escort him to the front door. That had been their routine for the past couple of weeks.
Tonight they’d gone to the burger joint again. He loved to eat there and she had to admit the food was good. On each date she was surprised by his chivalry. She’d come to expect men to be the opposite of chivalrous, and as a woman who made her own money and took care of herself, it was a nice change to be taken care of.
Renee was smiling to herself when Clive exited the bathroom.
“Guess I’ll head out,” he said, lifting his white shirt from the foot of the bed.
“Got to go home for the girls?”
Clive buttoned his shirt. “No. Margie’s spending the weekend at her cousins’ house, and Chelsea went out with her coworkers.”
“So you don’t have to go home yet?”
“Not really.” Clive paused, eyeing her with something akin to suspicion. “Why do you ask?”
“I thought if you wanted to stay and watch a movie or something…” Renee shrugged.
“Or something?” He cocked an eyebrow and a lascivious smile spread across his lips.
Renee rested her hands on her hips. “We already did something. Maybe we can watch a movie. Of course, if you’d rather go home to an empty house…” She shrugged again.
Actually, she didn’t want to stay alone inherempty house. She wanted Clive to stay. They’d become much more relaxed in each other’s presence, and on the days they didn’t see each other—she hated to admit—she missed him.
“My house isn’t empty. Samson is there. But, I don’t have anything else to do. To be clear, are you inviting me to spend the night?”
“You might as well.”
“Is that a request or a demand?”
“Call it whatever you want,” Renee said.
“Can’t bring yourself to say it, can you? That you want me to stay. That you want to spend more time with me.”
