Today's prompt is arm. See if you can find it. Tonya and Will are on her front porch with Sebastian.



Sebastian carried the cookie almost a foot away, scarfing it down in three bites. His long tongue rolled out searching for any missed crumbs. Finding none, he eyed Will speculatively. The canine’s rigid walk highlighted his natural caution as he approached the still squatting man and sniffed his open hand. “Yeah, get a good sniff. I’ll be around a lot. Might as well get familiar with the scent.”

The keys she’d worked out of the lock dropped to the porch with a metallic clatter scaring the dog to hide behind Will. That might be progress of some sort. “That’s all I can take.” Will rocked to his feet, and shook out each leg.

The white bag remained on the cement near Will’s legs, but more importantly close to Sebastian. The dog moved almost silently toward the bag. It was as stealthy as her overfed pooch had ever been. Her expectation was for him to grab the bag and run similar to a cartoon character. Before he could enact his impulsive plan, Will picked up the bag without even a backward look.

“I’m holding onto the last dog treat since I’ll need it later.”

Need it later. Hmm, someone thought he was staying. “Thanks for following me home. You’ll probably want to get home and eat.”

His silence rattled her, causing her to ramble filling in the empty space between the two of them. “Yeah, I’m going have to do laundry.” No sign he took the hint. “I’ll have to clean out the garage to get the car into it tonight.” Nothing. “I know I should invite you for dinner, but…”

He placed two fingers on her lips stopping her babbling and effectively wiping her mind clean of any coherent thought. “Invite me in.”

His fingers still rested against her lips. Using her right arm, she pushed open the door behind her. His hand dropped as he walked past her into the house. Sebastian followed in a rush not even bothering to glance at her. Tonya scooped up her keys and followed. What just happened?

Today's prompt is great.



A glance in her rear view showed Will following at a safe distance. Didn’t she read something about you could judge a man by how he drove as an indication how he’d be in bed? Those who careened through the streets running red lights and rolling over curbs demonstrated a me-first attitude they brought to the bedroom. A considerate driver equated a thoughtful lover. Her seductive thoughts came to a screeching halt when she remembered the laundry and garage cleaning. What she needed was an assistant. Someone to keep her clothes ready, her house clean and her shopping done. A wife, that’s what she needed.

 The rest of the short drive home kept her busy trying to figure out polite ways to send Will home. Not that she wanted to, far from it. With the laundry, garage, and her need to keep the delicious lawyer out of the current cesspool that constituted her life, honesty had merit. “Natalie, as a car would you recommend me coming clean with the man with the wonderful hands?”

A laughter bubbled up at the realization she just asked her car for advice. The main issue with being secretive is you couldn’t tell anyone. The car made an ominous knocking sound and hesitated for a second. It almost stalled, but the engine caught again. Her laughter stilled. It sounded like her car answered with a resounding no. Of course, it did. “I thought honesty sucked too. Dinner might be a nice thank you, although he might be expecting something served a little more horizontal in nature.

The entrance to her neighborhood came up fast, forcing her to turn on her blinker. Almost home and no great excuses to hurry her sexy Good Samaritan on his way. All she really wanted to do was peel off her funeral dress, then she’d start on Will. The car made another ominous knocking sound. She wasn’t sure if Natalie commented on her plans or worse, Clint did something to her fuel. Didn’t people put sugar in the gas tank? Wasn’t sure what it did, but the result was the car didn’t work.

     No sign of her hot to trot neighbor. Great, if she had to push Will out of the house he would make it to his car. Her hand hesitated switching off Natalie. What if she didn’t start tomorrow? She’d get up extra early in case she needed a taxi.

Will somehow managed to be at her car door to hand her out. Impressive, she almost wished her neighbor observed. It would only make the woman more determined to sink her claws into the man. Tonya stared at his outstretched hand for a second. Oh yeah, there were actually men who assisted women from cars who weren’t carjackers. Get a grip, girl. Act like this is something you’re used to.

Her hand rested lightly in his as she stepped out of the car. A cacophony of barks greeted their arrival. Ah yes, Sebastian, her faithful hound and occasional relationship wrecker. Her teeth slammed down on her bottom lip causing a small pang of pain. No way would Will enter her house after his last canine encounter. That solved the problem of how to send him on his way, but she did want to send him on his way.

The smell of garlic drifted on breeze reminding her of the nearby pizzeria. Sharp nails on glass scratching indicated Sebastian destroyed her impromptu sheet curtain. Damn. Couldn’t just slap a blanket up over the front window without causing questions. Another reason Will needed to go. “I bet you’re not looking forward to seeing my dog.”

“You’d be wrong.’ He rattled a small sack. “I brought a secret weapon.”

The small white sack contained a weapon. “I’ll put him up so you won’t need a weapon.” Her back stiffened as she tried to tug her hand out of his grasp, but he held on.

“Stop it.” He angled his head until they were eye to eye. “Seriously, you’d think I’d hurt your dog.”

Well, not now, Tonya had to admit with him looking at her with a mixture of incredulity and horror. “Um, no, not you, of course.” His expression didn’t change.

“What’s in the bag?”

His face relaxed as he explained. “Last night, I went online to figure out why Sebastian took such a dislike to me.”

“I wondered that too.” The fact he went home and immediately search for ways to win over her dog impressed her. Most men would insist she’d get rid of the ankle biter or at least cage him. “I’ll need my hand back to open the door.”

       His face flushed as he dropped her hand and took a step back. What was with that? Men thought women’s actions were incomprehensible. Yeah, right. A wiggle with the house key loosen the door enough for Sebastian’s nose to work its way into the tiny sliver.

       “No, no.” She reached down to push her dog back inside.

        Will squatted and opened up the sack to shake out decorated dog treats. They looked like gourmet bakery cookies, but cost even more. Tonya priced them at the Pet Bakery at the Fashion Mall. She decided she didn’t love her dog that much or more appropriately she couldn’t afford the treats. With her luck, Sebastian might expect the luxury all the time. Might even go off his grocery store brand dog food in protest.

      He used the dog treat gesturing in the direction of the door. He squatted with the treat in hand. “Let him out. This is neutral territory. He considers the house as much as his as you do. I came into his house without even a proper introduction. My appearance brought out the guard dog in him.”

       Sebastian provided companionship on lonely nights, but it never occurred to her he might object to company. He could be jealous. Her fingers cautiously pushed the door open expecting the worse. In his current position, there was so many other places Sebastian could bite Will. Her puggle plunged out of the front door dancing on feet too small for his sturdy body. His dance abruptly halted when he spotted Will. His large protruding eyes focused on the treat in Will’s outstretched hand. He took one-step in Will’s direction before looking back at her. Was he asking permission?

Her two fingers exerted a moderate bit of pressure until the hood popped with a click. It didn’t fly open, but it did unlatch. So simple, even Clint could do it. Forget Peeping Tom, the man sabotaged her car. Now, she’d have to clean out her garage tonight.

“Now, you’ve learned something.” Will’s voice took on a suggestive turn as he spoke into her ear.

Yeah, she learned something, all right. Locking the car, blocking his calls still left her vulnerable. Her fingers remained under the hood rim as she angled her head to reply. The whisper soft kiss surprised her. Two teenage boys hooting nearby tainted the moment. “Work it.”

The catcall had Will backing away. “Sorry. Not the best place to kiss you. I couldn’t help myself.” His lips tilted up with his excuse.

 Stupid boys ruined the moment. Why did she care what they thought? Hands free of the hood, she stepped toward Will wrapping her arms around his neck. “There’s never a bad place.” She rocked forward on her toes to reach his lips, ignoring the loud remarks from across the parking lot.

 His lips followed hers with a sensual leisure that melted any remaining resistance. What was the reason they shouldn’t get involved. One of the teens, probably egged on by the other, yelled, “Get a room.”

 The thought had merit. Whoa, girl.

 She allowed her heels to drop breaking the kiss. His hot gaze threatened to set her ablaze. The expected kiss didn’t come. Instead, he stepped back, as a slow wicked smile grew.

 “Start your car. If it catches I’ll follow you home to make sure it’s okay.”

 Her eyes remained on his face until he winked. Oh yeah, follow me home.

Readers,
Tonya had car problems last week. She's depending on Lynne to drop her off at her car, but she has a big surprise waiting for her. The prompt is ring.

EXCERPT

“Hurry up. I have a book club meeting tonight. I need to get refreshments.”

Tonya stumbled into a table in the dim room before she found her purse. “I’m not sure why you have to be that way. If you don’t want to take me home just say so. Besides you have a chef for a husband, why do you worry about refreshments?”

Lynne clapped her hands together briskly. “Hurry.” They walked down the hallway noting the closed doors and the dark offices. Unlike Tonya, most people didn’t stay long hours. They put in their eight and headed out, possibly to job interviews.

“Why can’t Marc whip up something?” Her friend grimaced at her question.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what everyone thinks in my book club. I imagine some of them are even excited about coming to my house because of the superior refreshments.” Their heels clicked in tandem as they descended the stairs. They made the turn hitting the ghost of stale smoke.

“I wish Jon would smoke outside like the other smokers. He’s not fooling anyone. Oh, I imagine the snacks are the highlight of the book group considering the gloomy books you guys pick.”

A door slammed in the distance. The building turned creepy once everyone left. She knew since often she was one of the last to leave.

Lynne playfully hip checked her as they reached the ground floor. “Picky, picky. True. The book we were reading when you visited was on the dark side, but they all aren’t.”

“Tonight’s book. Is there a happy ending, a satisfied feeling that several hours haven’t been wasted throwing the reader into a deeper funk than when she started the novel.” Her friend didn’t speak immediately, which was answer enough.

“Well, the narrator is dying from some incurable disease and reflects back on her life with the highlight being the day she got to ring the church bell.”

They both opened the exterior doors at the same time stepping out into the daylight. Tucked away in the copier room, she forgot a few hours of daylight remained. Lucky her, she could use them to get her car hauled somewhere if Marc couldn’t get it started.

“Hmm, sounds like a feel good story. I appreciate Marc looking at my car too. It’s no wonder you have to make refreshments.” Her friend’s laughter puzzled her. They headed toward the blue sedan, one of the few cars left in the parking lot.

“Me bake? No way. I’m heading over to the gourmet bakery on the south side.”

An electronic chirp unlocked the car allowing them both to slide into the sun-warmed interior. A twist of the key brought the car to life complete with a jangly commercial and heat blasting out of the vents. Lynne adjusted the dials until the air conditioning kicked on. “It was cold this morning.”

It wasn’t, but Tonya didn’t feel like debating it. There was too much to do. Messing with a contrary vehicle had no place in her timetable. Laundry topped the list unless she wanted to reuse underwear. Nope, rather go commando than sink that low. If things went well, maybe she’d hear from Will. A text would be welcome considering her rotten day. Nothing where she’d have to look decent, especially since she was as far from that as possible. 

The drugstore came into view and Lynne clicked on her turn signal. Her undependable vehicle sat with hood up and the bottom half of a male body extruding from it. Something poked at the back of her mind. Not right, not right, the words kept lighting up in big red letters similar to the symbolism in subtitled movies. Having her car break down wasn’t right.
Her eyes focused on the tight ass and long legs attired in dress pants. Nice. She couldn’t say she spent much time ogling Lynne’s husband rear view, but she knew the superb butt wasn't Marc's. “Lynne. That isn’t your husband?”

“Oh, I didn’t mention that there’s some melt down at Marc’s restaurant?”

“No.” Her hand slid over her hair feeling the disarray of escaped tendrils. It probably resembled a bird’s nest. “Who’s under my hood?” The question sounded strangely provocative.

“Have a breath mint.” Her friend shoved an open roll at her. She chewed one vigorously well aware of the need. 

“Thanks.” She growled her appreciation aware disaster day had a few more jolts left. Will backed out from the hood and waved at them. His tie tucked into his shirt, his sleeves cuffed, and a few sizable grease spots decorated the front of his blue dress shirt. Damn, he looked good, even dirty.

Tonya’s hand depressed the door handle wondering how she could delay the encounter when Lynn spoke. “Get out there. He’s waiting on you and I have to get the bakery before it closes. I preordered napoleons and éclairs.”

“I’ll remember you forgot to tell me Will was my road service crew and  you bragged about the yummy desserts I won’t get.” She hoped her words might make Lynne feel a little guilt.

“I’ll save you an éclair.”

“You better or else,” she mock threatened, while smiling at Will heading her way.
Her friend drove off with a spritely beep and a wave for both of them. Coward. Although, it would be a hard drive to reach the bakery in time. A less caring friend would have had her take a taxi.

Will grinned at her, while offering her a greasy hand in greeting, then pulling it back. “I’m dirtier than I realized. I do have good news, though.”

“What’s that?” She rooted through her purse until she found the plastic wrapped tissues and handed them to Will.

He struggled to extract the tissues from their plastic sheath without success. Tonya grabbed the package back. “Here, let me do it.” Their fingers touched sending a hormonal alert through her body. Tiny little hormone suited up in yellow slickers and raced through her body screaming something about blast off. Okay, her fifth grader teacher was right about her overactive imagination. The chemistry was still there. Did he feel the same?