Lovers and Other Strangers Box Set: The Boston Stories by L.C. Giroux Page B

his chair now. She had never seen him dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. She wanted to peel his damp shirt off and lick the center of his chest. She took a deep breath to clear the image from her head. "I don't have any plans for this evening. What did you have in mind?" She tried to sound casual so she didn't sound desperate. Damn, she didn't want to want him as much as she did. Pathetic was how she thought of herself. She could tell him about her new project at the foundation at least keep him talking till she figured out how to ask him out without sounding like a stalker.
    "I've started researching groups that make wheelchairs out of discarded bicycles in different third world countries after seeing what you did with your other chair. The need is staggering and particular to each different area because almost nothing is paved. The designs are more along the lines of all terrain vehicles than anything you'd have here. It has all been kind of fascinating. Tell me about the design of this chair?"
    He looked at her like she was turning green and growing horns before his eyes. "Um, it's just a regular sport model, low profile, it is designed to be self propelled not pushed. The center of gravity is lower so it doesn't tip when you get into tight turns." and he spun in a pirouette. "Would you like to come to my basketball game? You'd have a chance to see what I mean close up." He was staring at his knees, preparing himself for her to say no.
    "I'd love to! We should take your transportation though and you can just drop me off back here after. When do we need to leave?"
    He looked up in shock. He wasn't going to get his hopes up. It probably was just part of a research project to her but he could at least pretend for a little while. He felt like a teenaged boy asking the prettiest girl in school to watch him play ball but he didn't care. She had said yes and she at least looked happy to go.
    "Oh, I'll need to call Allyn to let him know I'm going to miss dinner. Can we get something to eat afterwards?"
    "Sure, though it won't be anything gourmet. The guys are mostly wings and beer types." He laughed at her grimace, he wasn't a fan either. "I have heard the burgers are good at the place we usually go to." They wandered down to the parking garage in silence. Michael wished he wasn't parked in the handicapped spot which was dumb because it wasn't like she didn't know he was in a wheelchair. When they got to his car she started laughing. Now he felt like an idiot.
    "I'm sorry," she said smiling "I know it isn't a Masserati but do you have comic books in there?" She said pointing to his small red Italian sports car.
    "What the hell are you talking about?"
    "Sorry, you've never heard the joke about how to find the Orthopod's car in the hospital lot?"
    "It's the Masserati with the comic books?"
    "Exactly! Sorry, you ortho guys have a nasty reputation for being unconscionably rich and not all that bright. Present company excepted of course."
    "So you don't think I'm rich?" now he started laughing. "You know what a red convertible means, don't you?
    "In Boston it probably means you are from out of town but when driven by a man of a certain age it means you've already had your mid-life crisis. Generally, the little red convertible is cheaper than the buxom blonde in the long run."
    "Oh, I thought you were going to make a crack about my sexual prowess?"
    "Doctor, I know all I need to know about your sexual prowess." Then she looked him up and down with eyes so filled with desire he felt like he had been punched in the gut. He blew his breath out in a whistle. She didn't drop her gaze but instead licked her lips. He was held spellbound till she looked away and started laughing. His hands shook when he unlocked the doors.
    "I should know better than to ask. Do you need help?"
    "No, I do this all the time, thank you for asking though."
    She raised her eyebrows. "Wow, you can be nice! Who knew?"
    "Brat!"
    "Right back at you!" Then they sat there