stories she told Eve were very graphic. Eve had a mental image of a naked Teresa moving beneath him and Gallo driving hard, fast, and-
Only the naked girl had suddenly become Eve, not Teresa. And the muscles of her stomach were tensing as he entered her and-
Don’t think of it.
Ready to perform.
She had thought that about John Gallo at the hospital. Tight, sensual, ready to perform.
She had spilled the salt. Her hand was shaking.
Stupid. She wasn’t this weak. It was only a crazy physical yen. She should be able to control it.
But Teresa had evidently experienced that same reaction and she was not going to control it. Maybe she had the right idea. Take any pleasure that came your way.
But she wasn’t like Teresa. She knew that sex had consequences that eventually caught up with you. Look at her mother, look at Rosa. She wouldn’t be caught in that trap.
She wasn’t that weak.
IT HAD STARTED TO RAIN when she left the restaurant.
The tan Chevy was parked across the street.
She stopped, staring at it.
John Gallo got out of the car and stood in the rain, holding the passenger door open for her. “Come on. Hurry.”
The rain was pouring down his face, and his shirt was already starting to cling to his body. He didn’t look as if he even felt it.
He smiled and repeated softly, “Hurry. I can’t wait.”
Neither could she. She was running across the street. “You’re an idiot.” She jumped into the car. “Look at you. You’re drenched.” She leaned back in the seat. “Now get in the car and drive me home.”
“Not such an idiot.” He was in the driver’s seat and starting the car. “I needed something to help you make up your mind.” He slanted a glance at her. “And I don’t melt either, Eve. At least not in the rain.”
“I should have left you standing there in the downpour,” Eve said. “And I will next time. Or I’ll send out Teresa, one of the girls I work with. She wants to meet you.”
“Not interested.” He smiled. “And you wouldn’t leave me out in the rain.”
“Why not?”
“I might rust. I’m going to be too valuable to you for you to take the chance. You’re going to like the way I move.”
“Stop it.” She drew a deep breath. “You said we could talk. This isn’t talk. This is some kind of game I don’t know how to play.”
“I know how to play it. And it’s all I can think about.” He stared straight ahead, watching the windshield wipers brush away the rain. “Okay. Talk. How is Manuel?”
“Fine. It’s as if last night never happened.” She paused. “What did you do to Rick Larazo?”
“Who said I did anything?”
“What did you do?”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “You don’t want to know. It took a little persuasion to make him see that confession was good for the soul.”
“Why did you do it?”
“It was easier for me to remove Rosa’s problem than it was for you to do it.” He paused. “And you told me you wanted it.”
“As if that would make a difference.”
“It made a difference. I wanted to please you.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think? Because I wanted you to please me. I thought there might be a return on the investment.”
“You thought I’d screw you if you did that for Rosa?”
He sighed. “If you want to put it bluntly.”
“I do. I hate people who beat around the bush. And I didn’t tell you to go after Larazo.” She added grudgingly, “Though I might have done it if I’d thought it would work. He deserved to be punished.”
“Oh, he was.”
“But I wouldn’t screw you as some kind of reward. That would be nuts.”
“It wouldn’t if it turned out to be a mutual reward. I was just hoping to sway you a little in my direction.” He lifted his brow. “Are you swayed?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll have to keep on trying.” They had reached the housing development, and he pulled the car over to the curb across the street from the project. “I’ve only just begun.”
The rain was pounding on the roof of the car and enveloping them in a rhythmic sound that had its own intimacy.
Intimacy. That was what Eve had been trying to avoid, and all of a sudden it was there, surrounding her.
“Thanks for the lift.” She reached for the handle of the door. “Good night.”
“It’s still pouring. Stay a minute until it lets up.”
“I have to get to bed. I have school tomorrow.”
“No mother waiting anxiously for her little girl?”
“No.”
“You were all bent out of shape when I mentioned drugs. You took it personally. Is she the user?”
She didn’t answer directly. “I hate what they do to you.”
He nodded. “She’s the user. I don’t like them, either. My uncle was on prescription drugs for a while, and it turned him into another person. Does she make it rough on you?”
“You mean, does she beat me? No, she’s not like that even when she’s on the stuff. She just wants everything pretty, and it looks that way to her when she sees it through a veil of crack. She doesn’t see that everything is really falling to pieces around her.”
“Not a good life for you.”
“I manage,” she said tersely. “Keep your pity, I don’t need it.”
“I don’t pity you.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t let myself. It might get in the way of getting what I want. I told you that was my main objective.”
“Why?” She looked straight ahead. “Why me? I’m not drop-dead gorgeous. I’m not even particularly pretty.”
“No, you’re not.” His smile vanished. “You’re too thin, and your face doesn’t look like some movie star’s. But I don’t want to stop looking at it. Do you know what I thought when I first got a good look at you when you were sitting on those stairs? You burn, Eve. Your hair was shining more red than brown under those lights, and your whole being was focused on Rosa and her baby. You were so alive and intense, I felt as if I’d scorch my fingers if I touched you.” He added softly, “And I couldn’t wait to feel the burn.”
She was feeling that burn, with every breath she took. She swallowed and pulled her gaze away. “That’s crazy. I don’t want this. Why are you bothering? Why don’t you go screw Teresa or someone else? When you get down to it, isn’t one girl as good as another to a guy? That’s what I’ve always heard.”
“That’s what I’ve always heard, too.” His lips twisted. “Hell, that’s what I’ve always believed. Sex is sex. Why not take it wherever you can?”
“So?”
“But it’s not working right now. There’s some kind of wild chemistry going on between us. I’ve heard about that happening, but I thought it was a bunch of bull. But I felt it the minute I saw you, and I think you felt it, too. I don’t want anyone else. It has to be you, Eve.”
