“Breakfast is a Bloody Mary.”
“Breakfast is plain yogurt with granola cereal. I sprinkled some extra bran on the top.”
“It looks like bird food. Or bird—”
“Pinkie!”
“Oh, hell.” He picked up his spoon and took a mouthful. He knew she wouldn’t let him have his first morning cigarette until he ate it. “It’s disgusting. Give me some black coffee to wash it down with.”
“What ever happened to ‘please’?”
“Please,” he grumbled.
She set the coffee within his reach and joined him at the table. “When are you going to marry me?”
He nearly showered her with hot coffee as he sputtered. “Marry? Who said anything about getting married?”
“I just did.”
“Well, forget it.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to get married.”
“Give me one good reason why not.”
“You snore.”
“So do you.”
“See? Do you want two snoring people in one bed? We’d never get any sleep.”
“We haven’t been sleeping much anyway. Which brings up another good argument. What if I got pregnant?”
The spoon stopped midway to his mouth. “Fat chance. You’re too old.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’re compatible,” Bonnie went on doggedly.
“We fight all the time.”
“Only because you’re so mule-headed.”
“And I suppose you’re not?”
“We have a lot in common.”
“Middle age for one.”
Teasingly she laid her hand on the top of his thigh and squeezed it. “You’ve hardly acted middle-aged since we’ve been sleeping together. You wore me out last night, Pinkie Lewis.”
A smile tugged at his mouth before he drew it into a frown. “You’re trying to kill me.” He eyed her suspiciously. “That’s it. You want to marry me, kill me off quickly with one of those sexual marathons you put me through, and then collect my life insurance money.”
She hooted with laughter. “Try another argument, Pinkie. What insurance company would have been dumb enough to insure your body?”
Before he could come up with a retort, the doorbell rang. “Who could that be?” Bonnie asked. The minute she was out of sight, Pinkie lit a cigarette and pulled the smoke into his starving lungs.
“Oh, my lord,” Bonnie exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you. Come in.”
Pinkie assumed it was one of her sons. He dropped his cigarette in astonishment when Kari came sailing through the kitchen door and smothered him in an exuberant hug.
“Hi! I’m so glad to see you. Gosh. Three months. Can you believe it? What’s that?” It all came out in a rush. The last question was asked as she stared into the bowl at Pinkie’s place setting.
“She makes me eat junk like this all the time,” he said, shooting Bonnie a poison look. “She’s put me on a diet.”
Kari laughed as she sat down in a chair across from them. Her eyes rested first on one, then the other. “I should be furious with you two for not telling me about your ‘arrangement.’ ”
“We’re getting married,” Bonnie said happily.
“Like hell we are,” Pinkie said.
“I think it’s a terrific idea,” Kari said. She didn’t think Pinkie was half as opposed to it as he let on. Beneath his scowl, he looked like a happy elf.
Still, ornery as he was, he said, “I think the idea stinks. She’s weird. You should see the kinky books she brings to bed with her.”
“I’d love to,” Kari laughed.
“Why you hypocrite!” Bonnie smacked him on his bald spot. “I haven’t heard you complaining about those ‘kinky’ books before. You were ready to try it all.”
Kari laughed even harder.
“She nags me all the time,” Pinkie whined. “ ‘Eat this. You can’t eat that. Remember your blood pressure. How many drinks does that make?’ ”
Kari ignored him and asked Bonnie, “What about his smoking?”
“Oh, she’s rationed that, too,” Pinkie answered before Bonnie had a chance. “I’ve had to cut down to five packs a day.”
The women laughed. Bonnie bent down and kissed him soundly on the cheek. She left a proprietary arm across his shoulders as she said to Kari, “You’re positively radiant.”
“Am I?” she asked coyly. “It must have been the mountain air.”
Pinkie was too shrewd to accept that blithe explanation. “Who told you I was, uh, staying with Bonnie?”