"Ten Days Wonder" - Six.
"You need more chocolate sauce on that," David directed, waving the bottle of Hershey's. "Way more."
"Hmmm?" She stared down at the ice cream pooling in the dish. The cherry was beginning to slide off the mountain of whipped cream. "Oh. Sure." She took the bottle, squirting out a healthy serving of syrup, drizzling the vanilla creation with designs.
One swirl looked like the letter 'R.'
"You've been distracted all night." David slouched on the couch, checking the hall doors before lifting his feet up on the coffee table. "Don't tell me you've been mooning over River again." He scowled when she didn't reply right away. "Don't tell me you've gone and slept with him...because your mother and I will kill you."
"No!" she assured, quickly, even as he continued, "Scratch that...we'll kill him and we'll ground you for life...wait...no...maybe just until you're forty--"
"David! Please! I'm not...I haven't...not with anybody!" she interrupted, blushing. If sleeping with River would get him dead and her grounded till she was forty...what would they do if she...if she had Sex With Rex?
She nearly choked on a spoonful of ice cream thinking about it.
The sex, not the potential punishment.
Dios. Fifteen years of good Catholic upbringing and barely one year in public school had made her give in to lust and temptation.
And, as much as she loved sundaes and these late night chats, nothing beat Carlotta's flan.
David "ahem"ed, reminding her that he was still waiting for her to tell him what was going on. Apparently, he wasn't going to let her off the hook until she did.
So, she did what any self-respecting daughter would do.
She lied.
"Everything's fine! There is nothing new in my life! Well...except for my father." She made a curious face. "Have you found out anything more?"
Just as she expected, the subject change worked. Focus shifted, David leaned forward, gesturing with his spoon. "No...no, I haven't heard anything new... but Dorian went off on some spa trip and I don't think she's really going to any spa...so, I put a GPS locator in a diamond bracelet and gave it to her..."
She settled back into the sofa cushions, letting him ramble excitedly about the happenings in his life, and finished her ice cream.
She saved the chocolate 'R' for last.
Five days. Five days and the weenie roast at Foxy Roxy's was set for tomorrow. Everything would be fine. Everything would go off without a hitch. And even if it didn't, he could still count on Adriana.
"On her money," he corrected out loud, "I can count on her money."
He was going to keep repeating that. As many times as it took to remind him. Eyes on the prize. Keeping Ultra-Violet, opening his new place. Having the freedom to tell RJ and Lindsey they could go straight to Hell. That was what he wanted. That was all he wanted.
Adriana was a nice girl. Nice girls weren't meant for guys like him. Plus, there was the whole side benefit of getting his ass kicked by folks uptown and in Angel Square. Possibly getting arrested. On the whole, flirting cash out of her was safer than falling in love with her.
Not that he was doing that.
No.
No way.
He slumped against the bar, covering his face with his palm. "Just. Her. Money," he muttered, emphatically, through his fingers.
"I knew it. I knew it, you bastard."
His hand dropped, curled into an automatic fist. And his heart did the same.
He was definitely firing Reuben and Drew. He'd let RJ buy the new locks.
Because River Carpenter was standing in the doorway, looking like he'd just hit the jackpot.