Dirty Little Secrets(78)

“Maybe,” I said. An idea struck me. “You know, you could come with us.”

Rita thought about it, then got out of her chair and came over to sit next to me on the arm of her bubble chair, leaning over slightly to keep her voice low. “You serious?”

“Why not?” I said with a small grin. “You said it yourself, your main work is via the Web. You could do it anywhere. Might as well be in Portland.”

“Hmmm, there’s a lot to offer in Portland,” Rita said. “Lots of interesting culture, cheaper cost of living, a pretty good Chinatown in its own right . . . ”

“And lots of good people who care about you,” I said. “And maybe . . . something more interesting too?”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

Grinning, I patted Rita’s knee and went into the kitchen, where Vince and Kade were in deep conversation. “Hey guys, how’s it going? Are you feeling okay, Vince?”

“Yeah, a lot better,” Vince said, taking a deep pull of a bottle of water. “Don’t know what came over me.”

“Well, if you’re feeling better,” I said. “Kade, Rita and I had an idea. Uhm, could you do a favor for us?”

“Sure, what would you need?”

I thought quickly and grinned. “Dessert.”

Ten minutes later, Vince was giving Kade suspicious looks as he pushed Vince out the door, Kade talking quickly. “Come on, Vince, you know I’m not cleared to drive yet, and you don’t know how to get to Brentwood. Besides, Alix is right, it is the best damn cheesecake in the entire state. Before we leave, we need to have at least one for tonight and one to take back to Portland.”

I closed and locked the door behind them, then turned and went back into the living room. “You have that address yet?”

“I’m closer, but not quite. He’s smarter than I thought, but that’s okay. I’ll have the details of everything he ordered and his pickup address by the time the boys get back.”

“I noticed you said ‘our men’ when you asked me to send them out, so I assume you’ve got your eyes on Vince?” I said, gleeful. It had been years since I’d really had a girlfriend like this, someone I could just talk things over with.

“More than my eyes,” Rita replied. “God, he’s just so perfect, you don’t even know it. He’s strong, cute, smart, and yes, so trainable.”

“Is that so?” I asked, leaning back. “How do you know?”

“If you get a chance, check under his shirt. Those four scratch marks on his chest aren’t there by accident,” Rita said. Her computer beeped, and Rita looked up, going over to check her monitor. “Nope, not yet. Nearly there. Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Go ahead,” I said, leaning back.

“You invited me to Portland, and I’ll be honest that it sounds enticing. But if I do, that means I’m going to be close to you and Kade geographically. Is that okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” I asked. “Hey, do you have any fruit juice?”

“No, but I’ve got some chu-hi.”

“What’s that?” I asked. Rita got off the couch and walked into the kitchen, me following.

“Japanese flavored light alcohol. Kind of like wine coolers, but a lot less geezerish, and some of them are carbonated. Watch how much you put down, the flavor hides the booze well, but would you like one? I’ve got peach, lemon, cassis berry, and a cola one that I hate, but can’t bear to throw out since I had to pay the damn import fees on them.” Rita opened her fridge and squatted down, grabbing one out. “Cassis berry for me.”

“I’ll try the same,” I said, “but my limit is one. It’s still early in the afternoon, you know.”

“Meh, it’s after five in New York. Cheers.”

We cracked our cans open and toasted. I took a cautious sip before nodding. “Not bad. But back to why you think I might have a problem with you moving to Portland.”

Rita shrugged. “I guess. I mean, I know Kade and I were never exclusive, but . . . that sort of thing can get complicated. I’ve seen it happen.”

I laughed and put my arm around Rita, which was somewhat difficult considering I’m four inches taller than her. “Rita, I have no worries about that.”

“Why’s that?” Rita asked, putting her free arm around my waist and hugging tight.

“First, because you and I like each other. You’ve become a friend. Second, you could have sabotaged everything for me. You could have given me all sorts of bad advice, so that even if Kade and I had hooked up one time, it would have been only one time. Instead, you did the right thing, and you acted with nobility and respect. That’s the sort of person you are, even when you aren’t being a saucy, geeky sex kitten.”