"In fact," Eli said, reaching for the sugar, "Marilyn chased 'em off. She's my hero."
"Cockroaches will generally run when you shine a light on them. Sit down. Eat."
Joey didn't have to be told twice. "Was that how you met?"
Eli looked at Marilyn, letting her take the lead.
"No. We met before. Eli helped me out of a tight spot." She smiled at him as she passed the eggs. "He's a good guy."
Doing things left-handed was awkward as hell, but at least he didn't splatter eggs all over the table. Eli wished now he'd put on a shirt, but he couldn't figure out how to do it without help, so he'd left it off. It felt weird sitting here eating breakfast with Marilyn's brother. Like Eli was one of the family, sort of.
"You know Mom is going to have a cow." Joey upended the bowl and dumped the rest of the eggs and sausage on his plate.
"Excuse my brother's non-existent manners." Marilyn thumped Joey on the head. "He was such a slob growing up, we had to make him live in the yard and only let him inside on alternate Thursdays."
He got up to fetch the picante sauce from the refrigerator. "Mom isn't just going to have her usual cow, you know. She's going to have a walking, kicking, mooing cow."
"And your point is?" Marilyn leaned back in her chair to sip her coffee.
"No point. Just an observation."
Eli thought about offering to leave. He thought about leaving without making the offer. All he had to do was call a cab--then figure out some way back to the lobby without breaking his other leg. He could do it, if he really wanted to. But he didn't want to.
He'd liked sleeping next to Marilyn last night, holding her hand, knowing her soft warmth was less than an armslength away. He'd liked lying in bed, listening to the sound of the shower running and her humming as she dressed. Did she know she hummed? He knew he'd get tired of all this cozy make-believe home life before long. He was a loner. He couldn't take too much togetherness without cracking. But while he still liked it, while she would let him, he wanted to stay.
"What if you don't tell her?" he said.
Joey and Marilyn both stopped eating to look at him.
"Your mom. She can't have a cow if she doesn't know I'm here."
"I don't care if she has a cow," Marilyn said. "I don't care if she has a whole litter of cows. That's her problem."
"You don't have to shove it in her face, either." Joey used his fork as a pointer.
"I'm not going to do that, but I'm not going to tiptoe around like we were doing something wrong. We're not." Marilyn brushed her hair back and it fell softly around her face. She was pretty. Not gorgeous or beautiful or hot. Just pretty.
"And even if we were," she went on, "we're both single and over twenty-one, so we're still not."
"Not what?" Joey shook his head. "I think I lost you somewhere in there."
"Not doing anything wrong. For crying out loud, Joey, I can have sex if I want to."
Eli froze with his fork halfway to his mouth and the eggs fell off. This left-handed shit stunk, but right now, he didn't care. "Do you?"
Marilyn jerked her head around to him. "Do I...?"
"Want to have sex?" Oh yeah, his equipment had survived just fine. He did his best to look casual in spite of his engine revving up. "Name the time, babe. I'm there."
She laughed. Was that good or bad? Both probably. It meant she wasn't offended. It also meant she thought his offer was a joke, part of the game. Which it was. Unless she wanted to.
"Oh, Eli, I really do like you." Marilyn reached over and squeezed his hand.
He let a smile flicker across his face, not letting it stay. Smiling didn't hurt as much today. "Same here." Though he didn't think she meant it the way he did.
She patted his hand and went back to her breakfast. "Nobody can make me laugh the way you do."
Now he knew she didn't mean it the same way. He smiled for another half second. "No problem."
"So, what do you want me to tell Mom?" Joey asked, popping the last bite of toast in his mouth.
"Tell her whatever you want." Marilyn waved her hand as if erasing her words. "No. Tell her you saw me and I'm fine."
"And if she asks about Eli?"
"Tell her he's harmless."
Eli met Joey's eyes when he turned them his way. Joey stared until Eli had to look away. He had the uneasy feeling that Joey had seen a lot more than Eli wanted him to.
"Okay," Joey said. "Yeah, right now, he's harmless. Do you care if she knows he's staying here? He is staying here, I assume."
"Until he can get around on his own, yes." Marilyn frowned. "Do you think she'll come over here if she knows?"
"Not if I don't bring her and it keeps raining. She won't take the bus in the rain."
"Then, tell her whatever you want, and pray for rain. If she decides she has to meet Eli in person, I can take him."
"Hey--" Eli shook his head, pretty sure his panic showed big time. "I don't do moms, okay? I met your brother. That's cool. He's cool. But I don't meet any moms."
"Sure, okay. You don't have to." Marilyn slid a smile his direction. "She's pretty scary."
"I didn't say I was scared." He wasn't. Not of the woman herself. "It's just this whole 'meet the parents' thing. I don't." He knew better. He always moved on before letting things get that far. He was the wind, needed to blow free without anything weighing
