Page 76 of Pallas & Kawehi

"Look, if you're going to gripe at me, can we do it inside. I'd love to put my feet up and have a beer to take the edge off." He tried to move past her to get inside, but she leaned to the side to block him. "Char," he smiled and put a little bit of a syrupy sweetness in his tone that he knew she liked, "gorgeous, it's been a long day and if I can sit down, you can sit right next to me."

She relaxed a little. "I don't know... I've got a lot to talk to you about and I don't want your head all fuzzy with beer."

"Come on, babe. Let me inside-"

"No! I want to talk now!" She folded her arms and that caught his attention. She had a great set of tits. Thanks to her father, he snorted inside his head. Charmaine couldn't seem to find something that her dad wouldn't pay for.

She looked down and then snapped her gaze up to his. "Oh. My. God. Focus for once!"

Charmaine readjusted her arms, covering her breasts instead of lifting them up and suddenly all he could do was focus on her.

"What?"

She recoiled at his abrupt question, but she knew she had his full attention now.

"Someone came to the apartment earlier."

He gestured down the hall at the elevator. "You mean that maintenance guy? Remember? They have that sign in the elevator and in the lobby. They're checking on everyone's fuse boxes to make sure that all the fuses are good. It's why we-"

Her gaze narrowed on him. "I remember."

"Okay..." He gestured with his free hand. "Then what?"

"The guy that came to the apartment wasn't with the apartment complex. He asked to speak to you." She shrugged and had to relax her arms or risk cutting off her air. "I told him I could give you a message or a card and have you call him, but he was rude to me!"

Nick was starting to realize that he was going to need more than a beer. He was going to need some straight up bourbon. "How, Charmaine? How was he rude to you?"

"God, Nick! Stop being such an ass! I was scared and you didn't answer your cell phone!"

"I couldn't answer your call, Charmaine! I was working! You remember? I'm a Marine. We have shit to do during the day!"

"Oh," she rolled her lips together and didn't even muss her lipstick, "you're not going to come at me with that again, are you?"

Nick felt like he'd been kicked in the ribs. "With what again?"

"So you're going to play stupid?" She lifted her hand off of her hip in a swinging arc that would have made Mister Miyagi proud. "I don't need to get a job that I'm just going to quit when you get me pregnant! I'm going to need to relax and prepare our home for our baby, Nicki."

He bit the inside of his cheek. Nicki was a ridiculous nickname, but he couldn't get Charmaine to stop using it.

"Yeah? I know you want to stay at home. I've got no problem with that-"

"That's not what you said two weeks ago when I got home late from lunch with Trish and didn't have dinner ready for you."

He felt like he'd been thrown back in time with her words. "God, I didn't even think about that until you brought it up."

"Well, I remember it. And Trish does, too. She thinks-"

"Trish thinks? Ha!"

He realized how stupid that was to say when he saw Charmaine's expression.

His words weren't false, but Charmaine took perceived slights to heart and nurtured them like German Shepherd puppies bound to tear his throat out some day.

"Babe, come on! I'm sorry! Let. Me. In."

"There!" She flung out an arm, pointing past his shoulder. "That's the man!"

"Nick Carter?"