Innocence by Lee Savino Page B

world.”
    “Okay, then,” Cora found her voice, “a car.”
    “That’s better,” Marcus raised himself a little and grinned, the cat who had trapped a live mouse. “What sort?”
    “I don’t know, you pick,” her voice came in little gasps. His close physical presence was distracting. When she rolled her eyes to the left and right, her view was blocked by Marcus’ arms, which bulged with sudden strength. He did not seem in any hurry to release himself the pose. Or her. Trapped, she looked up at him.
    “A nice Aston Martin. You liked the way it hugged those curves coming up the mountain?”
    “Uh,” Cora’s brain was too scrambled to remember the drive up only four hours previous. “I don’t know. Was that an Aston Martin?”
    With an annoyed growl, Marcus rolled away from her.
    “It was grey, right?” Cora tried again, hoping her boyfriend was only kidding. She was relieved when he returned to lie next to her on his side, his head propped on an arm. From this slight vantage he could look down on her where she lay, still on her back. “Sorry,” she giggled.
    “You break my heart,” years seemed to come off his face as he teased her. “For that, you’re going to pay.”
    “Oh, no,” she laughed.
    “I’m serious,” he warned, “You’re going to have to do something for me.”
    Her heart leaped, but she rolled her eyes, “Alright, I’ll drive the Austin Marie or whatever. The grey one.”
    His eyes narrowed, “Cora…”
    “You said you wanted to buy me a car! I don’t care about what type. I don’t know.” She wriggled a little under him and his eyes heated up. “You could just buy me a dog.”
    “Great,” Marcus pretended disgust, “Some little pooch I accidentally kick every time I walk into your place.”
    Cora made an indignant noise. “You are so bad. Behavior like that, you won’t be allowed at the animal rescue anymore.”
    “Oh, really? And how will they find out about my abusing little Fluffy?”
    “I would not name a dog Fluffy,” Cora laughed.
    “Bitsy, then.”
    “No!”
    “Alright. So I kicked poor little Soccer—“
    “Marcus!” Cora shrieked.
    “—what do you expect? You name a dog Soccer and it’s going to get kicked. Fact of life. How’s the rescue going to find out?”
    “I would report you,” Cora put on her most holier-than-thou tone.
    “Hmmm,” Marcus leaned in to kiss her, “Traitor. All’s I wanted was to get you interested in something, for fun. Get you out of the house, get you something to do. Guess we’re going to have to go to plan A.”
    “The Ferrari?”
    “Aston Martin…you little…” Marcus put hands on either side of her body again, but did not shift himself over the full length of her. With his torso twisted, he leaned down to kiss her. “You...are…in trouble,” he punctuated each word with a kiss. The last one went on for sometime. “You owe me.”
    “Okay,” she said dreamily.
    A few minutes later, drunk with one another, Marcus told her the plan, “A friend of mine is starting up a new fashion line. You know him; he owns the little spa you go to.”
    “Armand?”
    “Yep. He is looking for a certain type of girl to show the stuff. Are you interested in being a model?”
    “They had me do that sometimes, at the shop. That’s why I quit,” she said. “I was sick of just putting on the clothes and walking around. They never let me do any work.”
    “Work, volunteer. You’re such a farm girl…always doing chores.”
    “It’s the way I was raised.”
    “Please, Cora,” he said. “This will be much more intense than the shop. Promise.”
    “Do you want me to do it?” Cora asked.
    “I do. I want the whole world to see this goddess of mine. Share the beauty,” he was back to nuzzling her throat. “But only for a little while.”
    “Mmmm,” she said. “Okay.”
    He pulled back to grin at her, and she smiled, too. The game they played was still going, and she was becoming a better adversary. For a week