Nobody's Baby but Mine(71)
She snatched up a clean spoon and jabbed it back into the oatmeal. “Us fuds call you guys dumb jocks, which just goes to show how smart some of us fuds really are.”
He chuckled. What was he doing here? He was usually gone by the time she came downstairs for breakfast. Even on the mornings last week when he’d stayed around to drive her to Annie’s, they hadn’t eaten together. He’d been in his study.
“Who was on the phone?” he repeated.
“Annie. She doesn’t want us bothering her today.”
“Good.”
He walked over to the pantry and came out with one of the half dozen boxes of Lucky Charms he kept there, along with potato chips, cookies, and candy bars. She watched from the stove as he poured a mountain of the multicolored cereal into a serving bowl, then walked over to the refrigerator, where he got the milk.
“For a doctor’s son, you have an abysmal diet.”
“When I’m on vacation, I get to eat what I like.” He grabbed a spoon, slung one leg over the counter stool, and sat with his knees splayed, bare heels hooked over the rungs.
She tore her eyes away from those long, narrow feet only to shudder at the sight of him digging in. “I’m making plenty of oatmeal. Why don’t you eat some of it instead of that stuff?”
“For your information, this isn’t stuff. It happens to be the culmination of years of scientific research.”
“There’s a leprechaun on the box.”
“Cute little guy.” He gestured toward her with his milky spoon. “You know what the best part is? The marshmallows.”
“The marshmallows?”
“Whoever thought of adding all those little marshmallows was one smart guy. I’ve got it written in my contract that the Stars have to keep the training table stocked with Lucky Charms just for me.”
“This is fascinating. I’m talking with a man who graduated summa cum laude, and yet I could swear I’m in the presence of an idiot.”
“The thing I wonder about is this . . . As good as Lucky Charms are, maybe there’s another cereal just waiting to be invented that’s even better.” He took another bite. “That’s what I’d do with myself if I had a brain as big as yours, Professor. Instead of messing around with that top quark, I’d come up with the best breakfast cereal in the world. Now, I know that’d be hard. They’ve already added chocolate and sprinkles and peanut butter, not to mention all these different-colored marshmallows, but answer me this—
Has anybody thought about M&Ms? No, ma’am, they haven’t. Nobody’s been smart enough to figure out there’s a big market for M&Ms in breakfast cereal.”
She absorbed this as she watched him eat. He sat there at the counter—bare feet, naked chest showing through his unbuttoned shirt, muscles rippling like liquid steel every time he moved. A gorgeous picture of dumbness. Except this gorgeous dummy was smart as a fox.
She filled her bowl and carried it over to the counter along with a spoon. “Peanut or plain?”
He thought it over. “It prob’ly wouldn’t pay to get too fancy right off. I’d go with plain.”
“Wise decision.” She added her own milk and sat down next to him.
He glanced over at her. “You’re really going to eat that?”
“Of course I am. This is cereal as God intended.”
He reached over without an invitation and scooped up a heaping spoonful that included all the brown sugar melting at the center.
“Not bad.”
“You took my brown sugar!”
“But you know what’d really be good on it?”
“Now let me think . . . M&Ms?”
“You are one smart lady.” He picked up the Lucky Charms box and shook a few on top of her oatmeal. “This’ll give you the crunch that’s missing.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I do like those marshmallows.”
“So you’ve said.” She pushed the Lucky Charms to the side, and took another bite. “You know, don’t you, cereal like that is made for children?”
“Then I guess I’m a kid at heart.”
The only thing about him that reminded her of a kid was his immature attitude toward women. Was that what had kept him out until three in the morning? Picking up younger women?
She saw no need to keep herself in suspense any longer. “Where were you last night?”
“Checking up on me?”
“No. I wasn’t sleeping very well, and I heard you come in late, that’s all.”
“Where I was doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“It does if you were with another woman.”