Page 49 of The Perils of Paulie
I cleared my throat and tried to look like I didn’t want him just for his really fabulous body. “I missed you last night, by the way.”
“As did I. I had hoped we could get together, but evidently it was not to be—”
He paused when a knock sounded on my door.
“It’s probably Melody,” I told him, getting to my feet.
Dixon glanced around and moved into the bathroom.“Oh?”
“Yeah. She has no problem getting out of her corset but knows I have a hard time with mine.”
The last words were spoken as I opened the door.
Unfortunately, it was not Melody at the door. Standing with his back to me was Roger.
“—it saddens us all, but I am sure the other members of Team Sufferin’ Suffragettes will continue on gamely. And here is the team mechanic, Paulie, to give us her reaction to this news. Paulie—”
Roger had turned around at that point, revealing not only Tabby and Sam filming him (and now me, in my underwear), but also his expression, which went from slightly worried to flat-out dumbfounded when Dixon emerged from the bathroom, a white towel around his waist.
“Uh...” I said, my eyes huge and my brain going utterly blank. “Um... hi.”
“Hello,” Roger said absently, looking quickly from Dixon to me and back again. “What... er... apparently you’re...”
“Busy,” Dixon said, and calmly came to stand behind me. “Was there something in particular you wanted?”
Roger managed to collect himself. Behind him, Sam rustled in a pocket and withdrew some money, which he handed to Tabby. The latter gave me a thumbs-up.
“Yes, actually, I wanted to get Paulie’s reaction to the news that team leader Louise has decided to step down and return to California, where she will pursue an acting career.” Roger’s eyes had an oddly speculative look.
“Louise left? I can’t say I’m surprised, since she was so clearly unhappy.” I remembered that I was speaking to her father and that a little kindness would not hurt. “Naturally, she will be missed. She was... uh...” I couldn’t bring myself to outright lie and say that she was a good driver, or even good company, and finally decided on, “She was a natural in front of the camera, and very comfortable at being the center of attention. I’m sure she’ll be an outstanding actress.”
“Normally, the production would bring in the backup female driver to replace Louise, but unfortunately our backup has decided she is unable to participate and thuswe’re going to have to leave the suffragette team with just two members.” He put his arm around me and swung around so we were both facing the camera. “It will mean longer hours driving for both you and Melody. How do you feel about that?”
“Just fine,” I said, wondering if he thought I was going to protest the loss of Louise. I’d gladly pick up more time driving just to be rid of her, and had a feeling Melody would be of the same mind.
“Excellent, excellent,” he said, glancing at Sam and the camera. “As our viewers know, in addition to the entire French team, we’ve lost another racer today in the form of Abbie, who had to return home to attend to her ailing mother. It’s been a hard day for the teams who’ve lost a member, but I’m sure everyone will rise to the challenge. And now I’ll let you return to... er...”
“Dixon,” I said, and, disentangling myself from him, smiled broadly at the camera while backing up into my room. “He was helping me with my corset. It’s impossible to take off on my own, you see, and normally I have Melody do it, but she doesn’t have any problem with hers, and sometimes she gets busy and doesn’t have time to help me get rid of the corset, and Dixon was in the hall when I came in, so it seemed only natural to have him help me get it off.”
Behind me, Dixon made a noise that was part laughter and part sigh.
“Er... just so,” Roger said, the speculation still rife in his eyes. Tabby doubled over in silent laughter.
“These corsets are a real pain to wear,” I started to say, but Dixon ended the conversation by reaching around me and closing the door. I turned on him. “Dixon! I was trying to explain why you’re here in my room.”
“Which would make sense if I wasn’t standing here in a towel and nothing else,” he said, his eyes filled with amusement.
“I was coming to that,” I said in a grandiose manner. “I had a whole story lined up about how I spilled coffee on your clothes and you had to take them off because you didn’t want the coffee to stain, and that it looked like we were in a compromising position, but, really, it was all innocent.”
“But it isn’t innocent,” he said, sliding the strap of my camisole down. “It’s not innocent in the least.”
“Dear god, I hope not.” I tugged on his towel, wrapping my arms around his waist and tipping my head back to kiss him.
Another knock sounded at the door.
Dixon swore and grabbed the towel from the floor.
I stalked to the door, annoyed.
