It was a step and a half to wind her arms around him and snuggle in close in a hug. Being here was a safe haven for
him too. But she wondered if there were sometimes shadows in the night even here for him too. She closed her eyes.
Tired but not feeling as shaky as she had.
"Growing up I was both. There were no secrets or hiding how you felt between my parents and the tribe. Everyone
lived too close. And when I was visiting my Grandmother I quickly learned that children were to be seen and not
heard." Her lips twitched. "I wasn't always so good at the second. Though that might have had more to do with the fact
that the games I was always luring my cousins into tended to be outdoor games even when inside and my natural
clumsiness tended to lend itself to something expensive broken eventually." Which she'd always taken the blame for
whether it was her fault or not. She shook her head against him slightly. Not sounding particularly ashamed of her
behavior. "What I didn't realize until I was much older was that, at my Grandmother's, if you phrased things right - you
could get away with saying anything. It was a game they liked to play. Being cruel and clever." Her arms around him
tightened briefly in a soft hug. "I much prefer your approach. Or Jolanda's because she says what she says out of the
way she loves you." She chuckled quietly against him. "I even prefer Paige just because I'm used to so much worse."
"Families. Can't live with them....and most of the time don't even want to try." He said with a chuckle. "As for Paige, I
don't know. Maybe I'll sic Pete on her. He's a little younger than her, but I think they'd get along." He and Pete were as
different as night and day, but he'd give Paige more than a fraction of his attention. He moved her to the table and sat
her down.
"How about....food. And then...I can't believe I'm saying this....sleep?" He offered. Just the whole reintroducing himself
to the neighborhood was enough to tire a body out. "And with the gumbo, we don't even have to cook for a couple of
days."
She tipped her head back to look up at him. She didn't know why God apparently loved her more than any other
woman in the world but by slipping Hector into her life, He apparently did. She reached up to brush fingers along his
cheek and gave him a smile, soft and warm. One of the smiles that only Hector ever saw. Then the edges of her lips
started to quirk.
"Promise me Mrs. Johnson isn't going to make an appearance the way your nephew did and you've got yourself a
deal."
"Mrs Johnson doesn't have a key." He said with a grin. "So a simple bolt should keep the spry widow out. Along with the
rambunctious co-ed...locks are beautiful things. Now if you think you're tired now, wait until after a good Louisiana
dinner, guaranteed to make everyone somnolent. Add in some....whatever Jo packed....and we're set. They know I'm
here, they know I'll make appearances, usually I get left alone if my door is locked and the shades are pulled."
Andi chuckled and gave him a grin.
"Locks and hot water. You were right. This house really does have everything." She paused and her eyes danced.
"One day I'd really like to see the rest of it." She glanced over at the pot on the stove. "Maybe tomorrow though. Right
now dinner and bed sound like heaven."
He smiled and grabbed two large bowls and dished out the gumbo, put them on the table, grabbed the bread and
brownies, two glasses and the sun tea. "Here we go." He said, pouring her a glass. "You wanted to suddenly immerse
yourself in Southern life, remember?"
The silent prayer she added during grace had to do with hopefully actually liking the gumbo. She couldn't say that
Hector would disown her if she didn't. Just that he might feel the need to throw her out of the house. But it smelled
delicious and reminded her, even before she tasted it, just how hungry on a famished level she truly was. But she still
took the time to actually taste the soup.
After the first spoonful she paused. Gave the flavor some thought. Gave Hector a look and wrinkled her nose.
"That's terrible." She declared. And then, eyes starting to dance: "As your bodyguard I really can't let you eat that.
You'd better give it to me for your own safety."
A hurt look passed over his face for a moment at her comment, until she reached for his bowl then he laughed. "Oh I
think I'll take my chances." He said with a chuckle. "Nice try though. Got a whole pot over there if you want more,
usually a pot lasts me two days....somehow I think it will be lucky to get past the night."
But he was....so completely touched that she liked his gumbo. As gumbo recipes were personalized as to who was
making it, it was a deeply personal thing, as superficial as it sounded.
She'd seen how much he made. But she'd also seen how much he could eat. And - well, she was very hungry herself.
She leaned over to give him a light kiss and than went back to her food.
"Maybe enough left for a midnight snack." She agreed after several more bites. She glanced back at the pot and
chuckled. "Maybe not." She allowed.
The gumbo was amazing. She'd never tasted anything with that blend of flavors before. And Jolanda's bread was
excellent too. She had been right, it was perfect for the gumbo. The tea.... Andi wasn't so sure about the tea. It was -
cold. Which was good because it was a warm meal on a warm day and a cold drink was good. But - it was tea and it
was cold. She finished her second bowl of soup and still wasn't sure if she liked the 'iced' tea or not. With an
unconscious pleased hum she set her spoon down and relaxed. Looking over at Hector.
"Okay," she agreed with a smile. "I think I'll keep you."
Hector polished off three bowls before sitting back with some sort of brownie. It was one of Jolanda's special
concoctions, which was probably why she packed it for them. "Yup. Jo likes you. She charges an arm and a leg for
these kind." He said with a chuckle, washing it down with a nice cold glass of sweet tea. She may not be overly fond of
it, being British and all, but he loved it.
So he compromised. She had tried it all, liked most of it, but not all. So he got her a glass of ice water. "I'll keep you
too, and the sweet tea." He said with a grin.
She gave a humming laugh when he set the water down in front of her and leaned over to give him another kiss. He
was spoiling her. And it touched her deep in her heart and set it sighing.
"I think I can live with those terms." She agreed cheerfully. Not sure she could find room for the brownie too but - it was
really too good to waste. Or worse yet, leave undefended and lose to Hector eventually. He was right though. A meal
like this had her having to fight keeping her eyes open. A mixture of satisfaction and peacefulness. She finished her
water and the brownie and than stood up, giving him a chiding smile when he shifted.
"Whoever cooks doesn't clean. That's the rule." She informed him. Leaning over to press a soft kiss to his forehead.
"Which makes things difficult when you live alone. Why don't you make sure the doors are actually locked and your
sister didn't turn the ringers on the phones back on and I'll finish up here?"
He chuckled. "Deal. I have a dishwasher, I just put everything in there until it gets full, then I run it." He said as he got
up from the table. "I'll check the locks." He said and went to the back door, and locked it. Then he pulled all the shades
in the front. And locked the front door, and the screen door. Deactivated the doorbell (always did have a loose wire
that he never got around to fixing.)
He turned off the ringers and went to the answering machine.
"Hey, this is Hector. Yeah, I'm home. On vacation, so if I'm not answering the phone either I'm not here or the ringers
are turned off. Leave a message."
Andi had to chuckle at the dishwasher. That's what her mother called her and her da. The 'dishwasher'. Besides -
there was something soothing about washing dishes. So while Hector made his rounds she cleared the table and
washed the dishes, setting them in the drain to dry. There really wasn't much left of the gumbo and she suspected he
was going to have to make more when Mrs. Johnson came calling. Which was fine with her. Her da would have loved
this meal.
Finished she dried her hands on a dish towel and gave the kitchen a quick glance to make sure everything was in
order before hanging up the towel and heading into the hallway.
The curiosity was there. Growing. Wanting to explore the rest of the house. But she wanted to do it right. To see it
when her eyes weren't crossing. And right now the thought of that big, soft beautiful bed was really far too tempting. So
was the thought of Hector.
Because - she wanted to feel his hands on her again. His arms and his body against hers. They'd always been so well
chaperoned before whether intended or not. And then, when they'd first gotten here, they'd both been so battered and
tired. But this afternoon, wrapped around him in the garden... She knew and yet didn't know what was happening. With
her head - she knew. She was an adult, a doctor for pity's sake. But the actual feelings - those were all new to her.
Something she was still figuring out and getting used to.
She'd heard Hector downstairs so she claimed the bathroom first and got ready for the night. Decided against the
shower with a grin at how spoiled she was getting. Two showers in less than a few hours. Cleaned up and changed
back into her night clothes she let herself out of the bathroom, still brushing her hair. Absently thinking that people that
went on 'extreme' vacations really had no idea what they were missing.
Hector made the rounds, everything was nice and secure. Just like Fort Knox. No one was getting in now. Even the
dead bolt was locked, so Cassandra was out of luck. Lucky them!
"Just be a minute." He said as he got into the shower himself. He didn't necessarily NEED another one, but it certainly
couldn't hurt. Though he realized he probably should have made it a cold shower as opposed to a hot shower. Sure, a
hot shower was relaxing. But...wow....
He leaned his face into the hot spray and rubbed at his cheeks and jaw. First Suzette cornered him at one point about
Andi's inexperience with men. Then Swanson pulled his little stunt with his socks....
He washed up the rest of him until the bathroom no longer smelled vaguely and faintly floral, but the crisp blunt scent
of good old Ivory soap.
He supposed there was a conversation to be had about this, what all this was leading up to, and god, what he hoped it
was all leading up to.
He toweled off and pulled on a pair of shorts and came out, she was still brushing that long long hair of hers that he
loved nearly as much as he loved her. "Hey." He said, and on impulse, he bent down and kissed the bare spot on her
neck.
He always smelled so good.
It was the thought in her head when he came over and leaned down to kiss her. And then the smile and the greeting
slipped off somewhere else entirely when his lips touched her throat. The touch itself was a surprise but so was the
heat that went coursing through her stomach and chest and across her cheeks. Such a simple touch to effect her that
way... She wasn't aware of the quiet sound she made but her eyelids fell shut and she automatically turned her head
to offer more.
He'd been in so called demilitarized zones. Hazardous places no one in their sane mind should go. Rigged with traps
and land mines. But this was a whole other DMZ. As much as fire was running down the length of his body over her,
one wrong move could find that same fire doused with ice water, maybe forever.
He trailed his lips along the length of her neck, then righted himself and smoothed her hair down with his free hand, his
other arm wrapped around her to rest on her stomach as he held her against him, and smiled at her. "Come on." He
said.