Page 43 of Love Me Carefully
Chapter Nine
Leah rolled her bologna and cheese into a log before taking a bite. In no way did it compare to a real meal, but it would have to suffice. At least she wouldn’t starve.
“Why’d you roll it like that? Does it make it taste any better?”
“Not really, but when I was a little girl my mother bought only bologna, I guess because it was cheaper than other lunch meats, and she had so many of us to feed.” She didn’t know why she’d added that last statement, but shrugged, since it was already said. “Anyway, I didn’t like the taste of it, but if I didn’t eat what she prepared, then I didn’t eat. So, I would roll it with the cheese, which for some reason was always sliced as thick or thicker than the bologna back then. That way, I’d taste more cheese than I did bologna. I’d fill my stomach and not get yelled at.”
“Oh, I see.” He didn’t really. Since he didn’t have any siblings, food had never been rationed in his house. There had been times when it wasn’t his mother’s pay week and they’d had to eat leftovers three nights in a row, but Rosie always cooked more than enough for the two of them.
“How many sisters and brothers do you have?” Mimicking her movements, he rolled his meat with his cheese and took a test bite.
“I have four brothers, all of them younger. Two are still at home.”
“That’s why you’re so bossy.” Terrell decided that the bologna was much easier to stomach when accompanied by the cheese and took another bite. She was right again.
“I’m not bossy,” she pouted. “I just know what I want.”
“And what is it that you want, Miss Wedding Planner?” The last was said in a prissy voice that made her giggle.
“I want my business to be successful.” Unaware that she was still smiling at him, she stretched out on the blanket on her stomach.
“That’s all you want?” The bologna and cheese almost got stuck in his throat and he coughed. Did she have any idea how seductive she looked right at that moment? Her long legs stretched across the blanket, leading up to a magnificently round ass.
“Yeah, for right now anyway. Why? What do you want?” She stuck the last of her bologna concoction into her mouth and chewed.
“We’re not talking about me.” At least not anymore. He’d told her enough already. “You don’t want to get married or have a family?” Finishing his bologna roll, he took another drink of water.
Adamantly, she shook her head in the negative. “No. Definitely not.” Even as she answered she wondered how truthful she was being.
Taken aback by her response, he stifled the disappointment coursing through him. “Why not?”
“Marriages don’t last,” she said simply.
“Some do,” he countered.
Her eyes remained steady on his. “Mine wouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” she answered, hoping that would be enough.
“Because what?”
She should’ve known he’d be persistent, payback for her inquiry into his personal life. Figuring it didn’t matter one way or the other, she answered, “Because my mother can’t seem to stay married, so why would I be any different?”
“That’s stupid.” Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he frowned at her.
Offended, she tried to remain calm. “Why’s it stupid?”
“Because you and your mother are two different people, and maybe your mother just hasn’t found Mr. Right yet.”
“There’s no such thing as Mr. Right. You date people, you sleep with people, and you marry people. Then you argue, you fight and you get divorced. That’s the way the world turns.”
“That’s the way your world turns. If my dad were still alive, I’ll bet he and my mother would still be married.”
“Then they would’ve been the exception to the rule.”
“What makes you so sure you won’t be the exception to the rule?”
