Oh damn. And she had to call him on the carpet for that one. "I like you just fine, Paige." He said. "Your parents are
good neighbors, and I know they sure are proud of you. Why is it, that if a man doesn't want to sleep with a woman
that means he doesn't like her? Thank god I grew out of that phase. I'd have no friends." Considering his best female
friend was a lesbian.
Paige shook her head, sending her blond hair sweeping across her shoulders. Blue eyes set in 'stubborn'.
"You know what I mean." She stated. Looking at him. "You know I've been in love with you forever. And I get that I
was too young at the beginning. But I'm not too young now. I haven't been for years now. Why don't you like me that
way?"
"Paige," Hector tried being reasonable. "I'm here maybe a few weeks, a month out of the year. I'm not stationed at a
base. Believe me, that's not the ideal for any relationship." But her eyes were still stubborn on her own ideas.
"Look, I'm sure you're all grown up. And that you think you love me. But you don't even really know me. And that's by
design. I'm transient in the scheme of things. You'll get over me. Besides," he said, closing his tool box up. "I'm in
love with someone else, and when you really love someone that strongly, no one else has even a chance of catching
even a corner of your eye. I'm sorry." He offered the last.
It might have worked. One someone a little bit less determined. Or a little bit less stubborn. But Paige had known in
her heart they were meant to be together from the moment she'd set eyes on him all those years ago. Maybe it was
her fault for taking so long to push him about it. But she wasn't going to think that she'd lost her chance at him just
because she'd thought she should be patient. She slipped off the counter and stood in front of him.
"You can't prefer her." She stated quite clearly, voice steady. "She can't offer you anything over what I do."
And then she kissed him.
It wasn't an easy thing. He was amazingly tall after all. But a man was built like a man and certain things a girl just got
used to. So she pushed up on her toes and used him as support as she pressed her mouth to his. Letting all the
curves and softness of her body shift against his as she wound her arms around him, knotting her fingers in his thick
hair. He might have forgotten what a real woman felt like against him but Paige knew whatever voodoo or feminine
wiles the other woman was using it didn't match the feel of a body like Paige's against a man's skin. And she wasn't
exactly a slouch in the kissing department either. She'd had a lot of guys willing to let her practice while she'd been
waiting for Hector.
Because, despite the other boys, she really had always been waiting for Hector.
She had barely finished arranging her body against his when it was over. He pulled away and held her by the tops of
her arms at arms length. His arms length, which was considerable.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just do that." Hector said, sternly. "And you're going to go home."
"You can't want her." Paige protested. "She's only skin and bones. She's pointy and poky and anorexic. She'd not
even from around here. How's she going to take care of your house? Raise your children? Get along with your
family? There's no way she can know you in less than a year better than anyone around here does after a lifetime
with you! She's ugly and cold and foreign and she's just using you to get out of the country she was in! Anyone can
see that! I'm what you need! I've been here all along just waiting for you! Anyone would tell you I'm better than she
is! Why can't you see that!?"
"Paige, that's enough." He said, as if he were scolding one of his nieces or nephews for a temper tantrum they were
throwing over bedtime or a video game. "Just stop it. You're not going to win, because there is no competition." He
released her and stepped away. "If you've been waiting for some idealized version of me to come along, well, I'm
sorry for that. But I never once gave you any idea on that. So the blame for that lies solely with you. Now go home."
"That's not fair!" Paige protested. She wasn't going to lose her dream now. Not now after all these years! "You never
gave me a chance! I'm better than her in every way and you'd know it if you'd let me show you! I'm everything a
southern man wants in a wife and I'm better looking than her even on a bad day! You don't know how many guys I've
turned down waiting for you. It’s not like I haven't had offers! But I was waiting for you to get your head out of the
sand and notice me! You never notice me! And you need to notice me or you'll regret it for the rest of your life! She's
going to be such a disappointment to you and I won't be here anymore! You need to notice me now. Give me a
chance. I'll prove I'm better."
"Uh, yeah, because stomping your feet and throwing a tantrum is really the way to a guy's heart." He said, getting
annoyed by this whole scene. "And you're exactly right." He said sarcastically. "All I want in a woman is someone to
mop the floor and pop out babies nine months after I'm home. Not have a life beyond me, and let's not forget, kiss my
sisters' asses in the hopes of getting on my good side. You want me to treat you like an adult, fine. I will. You're not
my type, Paige. Never have been, never will be. I wanted to be nice about this whole thing, but screaming at me in
MY garage first thing in the morning doesn't exactly make me a happy camper. Shut your mouth about Andi, and get
the hell outta my garage."
Paige's blue eyes narrowed.
"She's just an anorexic magazine model and she'll never make you happy." She snapped. "You'll regret losing me
when it turns out she's just using you!" Furious she turned around and stalked back to her house. He'd regret it. He
would! And when she calmed down enough - she was going to take the strand of hair she'd gotten off of him to
Sheila. So they could find out what that amazon had drugged him with. And then he'd apologize for talking to her that
way!
Hector watched her go and calmed himself down before going into the house and starting the coffee maker. Women.
But Paige's words didn't faze him. He'd grown up with enough sisters to know jealousy when he heard it.
But Africa was looking really good right now.
Andi came down from her own shower. Hector had let her sleep in. Which was sweet. But hard to do for too long. His
body heat on the bed didn't last too long once he'd left and once it was gone it just wasn't as comforting laying in
bed. She'd heard him come in and go out and come back in. Wondered if the paper boy had thrown the paper
somewhere really wild that called for a ladder or something. Hair damp and loose, she wandered downstairs dressed
in one of Hector's shirts. Just in time to watch Paige throwing a regular sized stromp in front of her own house. Brows
up momentarily, Andi padded silently into the kitchen on her bare feet. Saw Hector making coffee. Curious she
walked over and slipped her arms around his waist, snuggling in against his back and closing her eyes again. His
skin felt like sunshine.
"Did I miss something?" She asked mildly.
"Oh not much. Paige came over to borrow a wrench, but forgot the wrench." He said with a roll of his eyes. "And I
think I ruined her day, but it’s her own fault. I think you've ruined me for all other women. So, the very American
phrase for that is, it sucks to be them. Did you sleep well?"
He'd been far more programmed than her about not sleeping in. Having people literally dump you out of bed and
scream at you does that to a body.
She laughed quietly against him, before pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades.
"In that case I think I like you 'ruined.'" She murmured against his skin. Pressing a soft kiss to the discolored mark
she'd left on the side of his throat earlier this morning with her lips. "I saw her throwing a strop coming down." She
made a noise against him. "Oh bother. I think I'm turning into a resident. Suddenly I'm paying attention to the
neighbors. Speaking of ruination and corruption." She let go of him but only to shift around in front of him. It wasn't
playing fair to attack a body first thing in the morning. Even if it was rather late in the 'morning'. Gentle she brushed
his hair back from his forehead.
"Want me to go beat her up for you?" She asked cheerfully.
"Well, she made enough noise I bet." Hector said with a frown. "I remember when she was in third grade or so, she
used to throw these horrible fits when she didn't get her way. Could hear it all the way across the street. Grandma
used to say, 'now there goes little Paigie, being all childish again.' Needless to say, she didn't get what she wanted
this time."
She shifted onto the counter top, careful not to disturb the sacred coffee maker. Moving so she could bump a knee
against either of his hips and resting her arms around his shoulders. Watching his face.
She knew what Paige wanted. She could have been blind and halfway across the globe and she would have been
able to pick up on what Paige wanted. Paige wanted Hector. Straight forward, plain and simple. It didn't matter that
Andi doubted Paige really knew Hector at all or would have the slightest idea what to do with him - other than shag
him senseless - if she ever did get her grabby little paws on him. No - Paige wanted Hector because that was what
she'd decided and nothing else mattered. Including, apparently, what Hector wanted.
There was a point where you shrugged it off and than there was a point where it got too annoying. Hector looked like
it had worked its way over into annoying.
Did anyone in this entire country NOT mind the fact she and Hector were together?
She moved a hand to gently rub it against his cheek.
"Made her play for you, did she? Got ugly?" She asked softly. Having been wondering when the women would start
getting aggressive in response to her being in Hector's life.
He laughed. "I haven't been kissed like that since I was in sixth grade and we were playing spin the bottle." He said.
"If that's her idea of practice makes perfect, I sure do feel bad for the guys she's been practicing on. So she's off the
invite list to the wedding. If she was ever on it. I'm sticking to that, no convincing me out of that one for good neighbor
relations."
Andi's eyes did change than, fire kindling in them for a moment and her chin lifted a notch. Kissed him? Little girl or
not, Paige was going to get a very short lesson on touching what didn't belong to her.
"She kissed you?" Andi's tone indicated things had just moved to an entirely different level and her eyes shifted to
look over his shoulder at the house she couldn't see across the road. "Now I can't be havin' with that." It was a mild
phrase except it was starting to be flavored with a touch of her father's rough accent.
"Hey." Hector said. "Remember her stomping off after a bit of screaming?" He reminded her, recognizing the steel
behind the roughened words. "Obviously it didn't go over very well, it's over. I told her to get the hell outta my garage
and she left."
"Mm." Andi made the noise, a flat sound. She could put up with being called a manipulative whore by his favorite
sister. She could let her family's pushy interests slide off her back like water on a duck. She could even ignore for the
most part the amazing amount of people who seemed to hate the very concept of her and Hector together. But there
was a line you simply had to draw at some point.
Andi suspected they'd just found that spot. And she was getting tired of being nice.
And then her eyes shifted to Hector. And she softened. Lips moving from their thin line to curve at their edges. She'd
still give Paige a trouncing if the girl came back but - bugger, it was hard to stay angry with Hector around. Gentle
she cupped his face with her hands. Lowering her head to brush her nose against his. Shifting as if she was going to
kiss him but not quite touching her lips to his.
"I'm not exactly an expert snogger myself." She admitted softly. "Just - specialized." And then her lips touched his.
More than willing to wipe any other trace away with their touch. Which started soft and sweet and tender and slowly
slipped deeper through the levels.
"I like specialized." He said in between light, tender, deepening kisses. "Especially you're specialization." He said,
Paige pushed right out of his mind, that whole scene forgotten about for the moment. All there was now was her and
he was fine with that. He preferred that actually.
There was something blithely wonderful about a half naked man in your kitchen sharing kisses, Andi thought with a
vague, pleased muzziness. Her bare legs shifted to wrap around his waist and her hands, nails lightly trailing, moved
across his warm, wonderful back as her mouth answered his. Oh.. she'd been - angry about something... she was
sure of it. But this was nicer. Much, much nicer...
"I love you. I do." She whispered it against his lips. "Always you."
Hector drank his coffee black. Sometimes if he was in the mood, he added sugar. Anything else diluted the caffeine,
and then what was the sense of drinking it in the first place?
His preference for caffeine turned out of be a good thing as he easily picked her off the counter, her legs helping to
hold her up as they were wrapped around his waist, leaving a free hand for coffee cup, settling in a chair at the
kitchen table. "So what do you think? Should we head on out of the country before either your family, my family or
the neighbors get downwind of our scent again?"
She settled in against him, delighted with being lifted. And noting with a chuckle that he'd still managed to grab his
cup of coffee. She saw no draw whatsoever to the dark bitter brew. But she was going to make sure it was always on
hand from this point on.
"That would give us - what? five minutes to pack and be out of the state?" She asked with a grin. Leaning in to kiss
him again. She wasn't fond of coffee. But she did like the way it tasted on his lips. But - she thought he might be
serious about that question. Or at least starting to feel it out. So she did draw back at the end of the kiss.
"Mum and Da would love to have us to themselves. And I want you to meet my tribe. Very much." She ran her fingers
over his shoulders. Absently testing for tension as much as just to feel his skin. "But I don't want to be driven away
from here. It’s our home. I don't want to feel as if we were forced to go but rather that we'd decided it was time. When
we decide its time." She met his eyes. "I feel better. I do. Not so - shaky inside anymore. It’s not perfect yet. But it’s
better."
"I am an expert packer, I'll have you know." He said with a chuckle. "Not that you've seen any examples of it, really.
Usually we just take off and buy what we need when we need it." He added, thinking of that last road trip they'd taken
to the coast.
"And you're right, this is your home too." He said, pleased she'd recognized that. "I just don't want to keep battling
every day on what is supposed to be my vacation. Remember, I've got a shrink who thinks I'm about to blow up."
She laughed softly.
"Oh yes. The '7-11' scourging. You really should get around to that if you're not going to disappoint him." She could
see why people would worry about battle stress. But if anything it seemed to keep things in perspective for Hector.
What was a driver pulling out too close to him when he was used to people shooting at him instead? And he'd
certainly handled both his family, her family, and a wide array of nosy people much better than she thought anyone
could be expected to.
She pressed her lips together in thought.
"If we go, there will be a bit of manual labor. Da always needs extra hands. There will be long lazy days sometimes
too. Regular church services and I will make a round or two to make sure everyone's healthy and doesn't need my
attention. Mum will cook. The people in the village will cook. Da will pretend to cook. There's no hot water and our
only electric is a generator we only crank on for special occasions. It will be Africa again. And you will be very loved.
Mum will hug on you and Da will invite you to sit in the evenings with him on the front porch and talk about nothing
and everything. The village is full of children who will want endless piggy back rides and follow you everywhere you
go unless you order them home. The men will invite you hunting, which generally consists of a great deal of talking
and dozing in the shade and from time to time accidently stumbling across an animal. And the women will feed you.
And want to squeeze your muscles so they can giggle and/or chide their husbands who will ignore the comments.
Most of them speak English because we've lived there almost all of their lives. And it will be peaceful. Short of my
father glaring at you whenever it’s time to go to bed and you don't head off to a different room from mine." She
smiled at him. "When you want to go, that's what is there. Have we done everything here that we wanted to do first
though?"
"Then I'll call for some airline tickets and things." He said. "I doubt there's a flight out right now anyway. Come on,
manual labor? That was the first thing I did when I got here and was conscious, remember?" He chuckled. "We've
done everything else. Nearly drowned a baby, met the family, met the friends, nearly finished the car...so I have to
take a break from that. Not supposed to finish it in my life time."
"No idea about your father. Should be...interesting." Considering he was a preacher and all. "Course, how am I
supposed to pick up the ring and arrange for some moment that's guaranteed to make you cry....according to Jo
that's extra credit points...if I insist on taking you with me everywhere?" He teased.
He had that silly, soft glow starting inside her again. The thought that he wanted to marry her. That she was going to
be his wife. It was - rather hard not to get foolish and girly whenever he brought it up. And she wasn't sure if he knew
it and brought it up casually just because of what it did to her or if he'd think she was incredibly soft in the head if he
realized what it did to her. So she tried to focus on what he was talking about to combat the fuzzy bubbles in her
blood stream.
"Well, I'd suggest you sneak off while I'm sleeping in the middle of the night to do it but I don't want to risk waking up
without you here and I don't believe any jewelry stores would be open given the odd hours we sleep. But you'll have
to tell Jo I don't cry so that's not a fair condition to put on you." Her smile spread warm and pure. Leaning in she
kissed him. Having to or she'd start to bubble laughter.
"As for Da - he'll manage. He's not entirely ignorant of the fact we sleep in the same bed after all." They'd done it
directly in front of him no less before so he couldn't pretend he was shocked. "Though - if we are in the same house
we might have to - be aware of our noise levels." She chuckled. Starting to feel excited about going home to Africa as
well. "Though I'll need time enough to say a proper farewell to the hot water heater. I think I've fallen in love and I'm
going to miss it very, very much."
"You know, you already know its coming, so I should probably just ditch the whole 'special moment' stuff anyway." He
said with a chuckle, pretty sure he couldn't come up with one anyway. Though on TV....some guy did propose to his
girlfriend via a scoreboard....
"If we make too much noise, or any at all, I can see your father coming after me with a shot gun. Easily."
Her face softened and she shifted forward to rest her forehead against his. Slipping her fingers from his shoulders to
rest against his bare chest.
"I love you." She whispered softly. She'd learned a long time ago. You focused on what was important. And what was
most important was that he wanted to marry her in the first place. Not how he went about it. She lightly brushed his
lips with her own. "But at some point, even knowing the answer, you really should at least ask."
"You're absolutely right. I didn't say I wouldn't just said I probably wouldn't hold out for that cute quaint moment that
can be passed down. We can make up a story later." He said. "Besides, I like questions, actually I prefer asking
questions I already know the answer to."
"Mm." She chuckled against him. "Worse comes to worse I can always just drug you again." She teased with a grin.
Tenderly tucking stray curls back behind his ear. "I like telling that story."
"Well, I'm glad one of us does." He tried to fake disgruntled, but wasn't very successful at it. It was hard to be
disgruntled when she was curled up on his lap after all. "And people love hearing about it." Because it was out of
character for him, he knew that's why it went over like a big hit.
She laughed, slipping her arms around his shoulders again.
"It’s a good story." She stated, eyes laughing still. "And that's before I throw in the restraints and sharing a bed in
front of guards and nurses." Though - she could tease about it now. But was definitely in no hurry to ever repeat the
experience again. Not at that price. So her kiss held as much tenderness as it did laughter as she leaned back in.
"I should make us breakfast." She murmured. "Though if we're going to Africa maybe I should let you eat Twinkies
and soda so you can fill up on them now before they're not around anymore."
"I'm Delta, I'm remarkably resourceful. I'd find Twinkies and Pepsi, don't you worry." He said with a grin. "Though if
you really wanted to shake them up, tell 'em I wasn't wearing anything but a sheet for the first few days. Thank god
for the sheet, that's all I gotta say. That place gets cold!"
She laughed quietly against him. Both at his cockiness over finding his addictions no matter where he went - which
she didn't doubt he'd somehow manage. And at the sheet comment. She'd been very good about that sheet.
"You look very impressive in nothing but a sheet, my love." She told him. "I'll have to remember that bit the next time I
tell the story." She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. She liked being in his lap. In honesty she loved being in his
lap. But she was never going to get breakfast in front of him at this rate. And then he really would resort to Twinkies.
She patted both hands against his chest in warning that she was going to get up. "Did you have anywhere else you
wanted me to see while I'm here this first time?" She asked.
"Nope. Mardi Gras isn't till next year. Maybe we can come back for that." Not making promises he'd get the leave, just
that it was an idea they could try to follow up on. "And on second thought, let's leave the sheet out of the story.
Slightly embarrassing to me, not to mention reminds me how drafty the damn infirmary is."
She laughed, slipping out of his lap albeit reluctantly.
"It would have been draftier if you'd made that run for it you were contemplating before you got pants." She teased
over her shoulder. "I haven't told anyone that story yet, you know. And I'm sure Jo would be delighted to hear it. I
suspect she knows you too well."
"Yeah I bet. Even if I hadn't done it, she would have made it up anyway." Hector said and stood up, stretching up on
his toes then back down. "So I'll go call the airlines, then you can call your parents and all that stuff. I'll put off telling
my family till last."
Even if he hadn't spoken to Beth since, well, the party.
.