Chapter 10 #2
He looked at Victoria. “My mom had a way of getting people to tell her the truth. She fainted because she was hungry. She hadn’t eaten in a couple of days.”
“Why not?”
“There wasn’t much food in the house, and she had to take care of Shannon and her own father. She was waiting to get paid
so she could buy groceries.” He shook his head. “It was a long time ago, but man, I still remember everything about that day.
I knew that people went hungry, and I’d seen homeless people, but hearing Cindy talk about it was so real. Here was a grown-up,
living in my town, and she was going hungry. She was thin and scared, and seeing that scared me, too.”
“You were a kid,” she said, wondering how much else Cindy had sacrificed to keep her child. “Makes sense you were scared.”
“My mom insisted we go to lunch right then, even though we’d already had ours. There was a burger place next door, and my
mom marched us both in and ordered the biggest burger they had. After Cindy had eaten, my mom talked to her about the job
she had and some other stuff I can’t remember. The next day Cindy showed up for an interview, and from then on, she and Shannon
were in our lives.”
Victoria wondered how Ava would have reacted in those circumstances. For all her flaws, her mother was practical and did the
work, so she would have gotten Cindy food as well. She probably wouldn’t have put her to work in the foundation, but she might
have helped in other ways.
“Your mom sounds great,” she said.
“She was. She and Cindy became close friends. Shannon and I are tight. My brother is five years older, so I was just a pain
in the ass to him. Having Shannon around was a lot of fun. We’re the same age, and we got along. She’s the sister I never
had.”
“That’s right. You’re roommates now. Her boyfriend doesn’t mind?”
“There’s nothing between us but friendship. She’s family.”
“So you’ve never . . .”
He grimaced. “No. It’s not like that.”
Oddly, she believed him.
“Our families hung out all the time. We celebrated birthdays together, Christmas, that kind of stuff. When my parents went
away on vacation, Cindy and Shannon moved in while they were gone. We’re family.”
What he was saying sounded nice, she thought wistfully. Growing up it had always just been her. While her parents had friends,
they were more sit-together-at-a-charity-function kind of friends. Ava and Milton had never needed more than that. She’d been
an only child, and the only friends she had were the ones she made herself. There were no family connections, no grandparents
or cousins.
“About five years ago my mom started getting headaches,” he continued, his voice quieter now. “Bad ones.”
Her lunch suddenly sat heavily in her stomach.
“A few weeks later she was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Two months after that, she was gone.”
Victoria sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry. That was so fast.”
“Yeah.” He looked away for a second. “We were all in shock. We didn’t know what was happening, then suddenly Mom was in hospice
and then . . .” He cleared his throat. “Cindy got us through. She and Shannon came to stay and helped out with my mom. When
she passed, Cindy handled all of it. My dad was a mess. She kept us going and kept the business running. We couldn’t have
gotten through it without her.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She’s amazing. About a year ago, my dad came to me and said he wanted to ask Cindy out. But he wanted to make sure it was
okay with me and my brother first. Of course we said yes. There’d never been anything between them, so we’d never thought
about them as a couple, but it made sense, you know? I think Mom would be happy to know they’re together.”
“I’m glad you’re okay with them getting married.” She smiled. “Now Shannon really will be your sister.”
“I know. I kind of like that.” He picked up a raspberry. “And now you know everything about me. Let’s talk about you.”
She laughed. “Not so fast. You’ve told me about your family but not anything about yourself.”
He flashed her a smile that had her thinking that she should make the effort to rally for sex. Everything about him appealed
to her. There had to be a way to work around her cast.
“You can see I’m good-looking,” he said easily, causing her to laugh again.
“Oh, can I?”
“I’m also single, honest and charming. That should be enough to get us started. You can figure out the rest as we go.”
“You’re assuming a lot.”
“I’m hopeful. What about you? You’re a stuntwoman. That’s unusual, even in this town.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “Like I said, I’m kind of a person who needs to be doing. I was in gymnastics for a few years until
I figured out I wasn’t good enough to make the Olympic team. Then I started cheerleading.” She picked up a piece of cheese.
“The athletic kind. I didn’t prance.”
“Cheerleading, huh?” His gaze drifted past her.
She groaned. “Stop picturing me in a short skirt.”
“I can’t help the natural response to what you said.”
“At least don’t be obvious about it,” she told him, but her tone was teasing.
He shook his head. “Okay, I’m back with you. So cheerleading in high school. Then what?”
“Then I went to stunt school. My parents wanted me to go to college—my dad, so I’d get an education, but I think my mom was more interested in me making the cheer team.
Who would have thought? But I disappointed them both.
When I finished the program, my dad helped me get my first job.
He made a few calls, and it turned out I was practically a twin for the spunky girlfriend in a big-budget movie. ”
“Lucky break.” He studied her. “And you didn’t need your dad’s help after that first job.”
“No. I got the rest of the work on my own.”
“Do you like the actual day-to-day, or are you a danger junkie?”
An interesting question, she thought. “A year ago I would have told you I’m a danger junkie, but now I’m less sure. I’ve had
a couple of accidents, but this one was the worst. I was doing everything right—it was the truck driver who screwed up. He
should have handled the blown tire better, but we all make mistakes. Unfortunately I’m the one in the cast. I’m starting to
wonder if I should rethink my career.”
She was also enjoying the screenwriting more and more but wasn’t willing to talk to him about that. The only person who knew
what she was doing was her father. And possibly her mother because her dad told Ava everything.
They talked for another half hour while they finished lunch. When they were done, Victoria picked up her crutches.
“You ready to head into the bedroom?”
Javiar’s expression of surprise told her that hadn’t been on his mind.
“You’re offering sex?” he clarified.
“Sure. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“No. I’m here so we could hang out and get to know each other.”
Really? “Why?” She set down the crutches and held up her hand. “I mean why would you go to all that trouble when you could
have just asked if I wanted to have sex? I haven’t since I’ve got the cast on, so we might need to modify a few things, but
I’m sure we could make it work.”
“I didn’t come here to hook up,” he told her.
She stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. “Okay, so you’re here because you hate to eat alone?”
He chuckled. “Why can’t you believe I want to get to know you?”
“Before we have sex?”
“In general. At some point sex would be nice, but not right away.”
“But sex is the purpose of all this.”
“Not for me.”
Oh. He was one of those. “I don’t do relationships. I don’t get involved. I’m not that girl.”
Nothing about his expression or body language changed. “You intrigue me.”
“When we met, I had the remnants of two black eyes. I’m still on crutches, I have emotional issues, and it’s very possible
I became a stuntwoman to piss off my mother. Trust me when I say you don’t want any of this.”
“You’re wrong. Now that we’ve cleared that up, would you like to go to dinner sometime?”
She sighed. Men could be so dense. “What part of I don’t do relationships is confusing?”
“The part where you say it because you think it’s cool and not because you mean it.”
“That’s not true. I totally mean it. I’ve never had a boyfriend. Not even close. I’m in it for the orgasm.”
“You had a good time with me today, and no one had an orgasm.”
“Not yet,” she said. “That could change.”
“Having a broken leg and not being as mobile as you’d like has to suck. How about if I bring by dinner in a few days and we
hang out?”
She wanted to say no because of the whole not-dating thing, but to be honest, she was tired of her own company. Having someone
to talk to could be nice.
“As long as it’s just as friends and not a boy-girl thing.”
“You said you wanted to have sex.”
“I do.” She shook her head. “What isn’t clear? I won’t date you. I’ll be friends, or I’ll have sex with you. Those are my two options.”
“Then let’s be friends.”
His answer stung a little. “I thought you’d pick the sex.”
He offered her a slow, sexy smile. “I definitely want to, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. You’d use me and toss me aside.
If we’re friends, then I get to stick around longer.”
Interesting logic, she thought. Confusing, but interesting.