Walking on Thin Ice: Chapter 10

Her line was busy. That wasn't supposed to be weird, but it was; Mike set the phone down with a frown. He stared at the receiver and wondered if she had been trying to give him a ring at the exact moment he had tried to do the same. That was impossible; he tried calling again anyway.

It was still busy when he hung up again, worry creasing his brow. It was nothing to be worried about he was sure, but he couldn't shake that maybe some other guy was moving in on her from the club she had played or even one of her friends' friends. He shook his head with a little agitated cry.

"Stop it!" He commanded himself, sitting down heavily.

Meredith stared at Gemma as she stuttered out the name, shock on both of their faces.

"That's right, Gemma, it's your beloved brother." The ever-sarcastic and cynical voice responded.

Gemma smiled suddenly, glad to hear from her brother yet shocked he would call when her family had pretty much exiled her from her own home. "Doug! What brought you to call upon me, a lowly sister?" She inquired, curious.

"Noah told me everthing. Everything about Jonas." Doug's voice was filtered, odd.

Gemma's face fell. "He did?"

Doug sighed. "Yeah. He's worried that you started dating a creep, Gem. I'm worried too now, I want to meet this guy."

He had always been there for her when she had been sneaking around with Jonas, giving her parents excuses while she was out because he had trusted Jonas, who was his age. They had been close.

She sighed heavily as well. "I can't believe you don't trust me on this. He's a great guy, he's got a steady job, he's not overly eccentric or anything..."

"What's the harm in mine coming over then? We should catch up." He replied stiffly.

"I'll tell you what the problem is; Mom and Dad will cut you off just like they cut me off! I don't think you want to be cut off from your parents, from your sisters and your brothers, cousins! I can't talk to any of them anymore, and they don't ever talk to me. It's been hell, Doug. Even after Jonas died I knew I couldn't go back because it didn't change our perfect little parents' minds that what I'd done was wrong. Didn't matter to them that I planned to marry him from the time I was seventeen, nothing mattered but what I had done and how old I was when I did it. You don't want to be cut out just because you're worried that my date is a little weird." She was terrified he was going to end up like her, alone and cut off.

Doug's voice was surprisingly flat. "I love you, Gemma, I respect you for this. Give me a name, I won't-"

"No, Doug. You're not running any background checks or anything. Trust me this one time." She pleaded.

"Fine, but I'm calling back every week, despite what Mom and Dad think. I was never mad, you know. I never got to tell you that. I never thought what you had done was wrong. Maybe premature, but you know Jonas...never could wait for anything." There was a slight pause with some laughter building up.

Gemma cast her eyes down. "I know. Thanks for calling Doug, I need to kill Noah now."

He snickered. "Alright, I'll let you go."

"Bye,"

"Bye,"

Mike picked up the phone again and dialed again, maybe having misinterpreted her not quite as tidy as some handwriting. It rang, much to the relief of Mike and to the chagrin of Gemma, who had just hung up.

"Hello?" She felt so very tired.

His face split into a grin. "Hey, you sound like you're tired...that isn't good."

She brightened immediately. "Ooh! Michael! I was just waiting for you to call!"

He laughed. "Good, because I was waiting to call."

"So, what's going on tonight?"

"I was thinking...er, maybe-"

Gemma grinned. "Same thing as last night?"

Mike nodded, laughing. "Yeah, actually."

She straightened up proudly. "Well you're in luck, because that is exactly what I want to do."

He shook his head, still laughing. "You're amazing."

With an agreed time, same time as last ("To the lazy man it looks like we're doing the same thing, Gemma, but we'll both know that I'll have changed my socks this time..."), they hung up and waited impatiently for seven o' clock to roll around.

Meredith had insisted on doing Gemma's hair this time, curling it with an ancient hair curler that Gemma had hidden away in her bathroom. It was six o' clock when they started, six forty-five when they finished. Gemma did have to admit that the tight spiral curls, when tugged so they were a tiny bit more natural looking, suited her hair well. Meredith followed the hair escapade with a dig in her closet to find something suitable for her friend to wear. She dug through and found a beautiful full length denim skirt that Gemma herself had sewn from some extra material she had from old pairs of blue jeans. Eventually she pulled on a hunter green sweater that seemed too tight, but Meredith had stopped her from changing saying that if she only wore it slightly more bunched at the waist it wouldn't hug her quite so tight. The effect made her look much more curvy and highly huggable in the fluffy material.

"Shoes...for walking? You should wear these!" Her friend giggled, holding up an ancient pair of fifties sneakers. Gemma's eyes lit up at the bright purple shoes that were the complete opposite of the rest of her outfit. She laced the high tops up and stood up, marveling at the quirky effect it produced. Meredith had realized that Gemma's hair got in her way, and pinned the top half of her hair to the back of her head with a hair clip. The blonde streak in her deep auburn hair raced along the side of her face, completely unaware it was free of its prison. Neither girl made a move to replace it as it fell across her face.

She tugged on her denim jacket and sat down to wait for the tell-tale knock on her door, chatting with Meredith, who was ecstatic at the idea of meeting this supposedly amazing guy.

"Is he a good kisser, huh huh?" She bounced on the couch slightly.

Gemma turned a light shade of pink. "Christ, besides a peck on the cheek and goodnight kiss I have nothing else! I have no idea!"

Meredith laid her hands on her hips with a scornful expression. "You should find out. Right now. Go wait for him, let your body say 'come hither, young sir...'" She tossed her head back as if exposing her "purity" to the "good sir" mentioned.

Her friend snickered. "If I did that I think I'd giggle to death before he could react. Which isn't good when trying to seduce a man with a 'come hither' look."

"This is true...so why don't you sneak it in while you're trottin' around out there in the dark? Perfect place!" She was fixated on the idea of Gemma having a good snogging session at some point.

"Meredith, calm down! If he happens to be the best thing I've ever come across, I WILL CALL YOU IN SIBERIA! Now, please, stop trying to give me advice!" She begged, laughing quietly.

Zilla waltzed out of the back bedroom and sat on the floor before the door. It was just after seven; Gemma frowned at her cat with a questioning expression.

She turned to Meredith with a smile. "Remember when I told you my cat was a feminist?"

"Yeah, didn't she claw Noah to death or something?"

"Yeah, well she loves Michael. She actually lets him pet her and pick her up. Sometimes Zilla won't let me pick her up! It's so funny..." She shook her head, smiling.

There was a knock on the door to which Meredith leapt up and bit her lip. "Answer it!"

Gemma lifted her eyebrows. "Oh, is that what I'm supposed to do? Last time I just crawled through the window..."

With an exasperated sigh, Meredith yanked the door open and stared openly at the figure standing there, who popped his eyebrows up at her.

"You must be Meredith, hi, I'm Mike." He extended his hand and waited.

She shook it timidly, for once at a loss for words. "Hi, Gemma's-"

"Right here, thanks Meredith." She rolled her eyes at Mike, showing that it was weird for her friend to act like that.

He smiled at his date, completely distracted from the staring figure in the doorway. "Love the shoes,"

She snickered. "I thought they'd be fun...or maybe just uncomfortable, so I wore them."

He turned and waved to Meredith. "Bye, I'll have her back by eleven, promise!"

Suddenly Meredith's voice was found. "You better or I'll have your bloody head!" She shook her fist and shouted, "Damn kids!" Before slamming the door shut.

Gemma laughed and shook her head, walking out to the car and letting herself in this one time. He looked her over once she sat down.

"Now that she isn't staring down my neck, I'm going to be all romantic, you mind?"

She blushed and shook her head. "Go ahead, just don't give me an ego trip, please."

He smiled. "Your hair looks great, how long did that take?"

"Forty-five minutes. No breaks, nothing." She smiled broadly at his gape.

"For me?" He said in an exaggerated girlish voice.

She nodded and laughed. "No, this was for Boxer. Do I get to see him?"

He faked a down-trodden expression. "Oh...of course..."

She swatted him lightly with the back of her hand. "I'm kidding, now let's go."

"I'm not finished assaulting you with compliments!" He whined.

She pointed ahead. "Save it, I want to go make an ass of myself."

He took a deep breath. "You look beautiful, Gemma, I must be the luckiest guy alive right now."

She turned to him, smiling. "Ooh, I think my fine just upped itself considerably."

He turned bright red. "Define 'considerably,' please."

She let her mouth drop open in surprise. "You mean you don't know?"

Michael rolled his eyes. "I was hoping I'd know what was coming tonight, so I know how much I can embezzle..."

"In that case probably only a hug," she turned a smug face away.

He sighed, sulking. "Now I'll have to really outdo myself just to get back whatever riches I had before, great."

"Not too hard, just compliment the shoes again and I'll see what I can do." She flashed him a teasing grin.

The date went on predictably, only two mishaps that Mike could use against her in the end. One incident being an attempt to throw a fork at the nearest table towards an obnoxious diner, the second being that she had taken off at a run when he hadn't done anything to provoke her. It was ten thirty when they piled back into the car and drove back to Gemma's house. He pulled onto the shoulder and hopped out, opening her door.

"Oh! Before I forget; I love those shoes." He grinned boyishly.

She laughed as she stood up, walking up to her front porch with an urge to yank him out of the cold and serve her purpose. He stood awkwardly, wanting so very much to whisk her away from the house, out of the glow of the light where Meredith was probably watching them with wide eyes. Also he could hardly wait for her to lean forward to bring that wonderful bliss to his body and mind as he slipped away and became something completely different.

She twitched and smiled. "So, what did I do wrong tonight?"

He sighed. "You have been convicted of assault on a pedestrian with a fork while on a date and malicious escape maneuevers purely for the fun of making an injured man run. This is serious." He set his lips in a thin line, holding back his grin.

She brushed the hair out of his eyes as a nervous habit and straightened up. "Well, what is it tonight then?"

"Tomorrow, something different...but another date nonetheless, Miss Thompson." He responded.

She nodded with a pouty look. "Alright, so what are my charges to pay tonight?"

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other excitedly. "What do you think?"

She grinned evilly. "If it were up to me we wouldn't have come home; that's how terrible it was."

Mike gulped nervously wondering if he should just bite the bullet and insist she kiss him before he exploded with anticipation.

She noted the impatient way he was shifting his weight and his eyes darting from her face to her feet over and over again as he stood, hands clasped behind his back out in the cold air. She leaned forward and connected her face to his once again, marveling how quickly his hands leapt around and wrapped around her tightly and kept her warm and safe. She felt her back push up against the door behind her and sensed something bad could happen from that. She managed to get both of them off the door in case Meredith wondered why there was an empty car parked outside and opened the door to spy on them. The outside light timer went off and they were plunged into darkness. Michael's lips brushed across her neck as she took a breath, sending chills up her spine and making her renew the kiss once again. Gemma's throat seized up as a small sound emitted from Mike, he was clearly unwilling to stop at this point. So was she, but she also had to stop it before it went too far. She pulled back and wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping her face away from his.

"Gemma," he whined, not caring what she knew and what she didn't anymore.

She took both sides of his head and smiled warmly. "It's cold, I can't have you in tonight, I do have to go in, and I'm pretty sure you have to go home. Am I right?"

He seemed sulky as she still held onto him. Before he let go he pulled her into a hug and ran a hand over her fading curls.

Gemma put her hand out and smiled as he took it and walked her back to the door, only a few feet away. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek before saying her reluctant goodbye and stepping inside.

Mike slipped back into his car and ran a hand through his hair, wondering what the hell was going on. "Did I just do what I think I did?" He asked aloud, shaking slightly as he realized that he had indeed just held Gemma a sort of hostage against the wall of her own house while trying to contain himself from laughing with uncontained joy. If he hadn't been holding onto her waist he would have fallen over and pulled her with him. He ran his hand through his hair again and sighed shakily, wondering if tomorrow night would give him another chance to indulge himself again. He wanted to talk with her, hear her voice, feel her hand run over his hand as she laughed. He wanted to be able to fall back and watch her walk ahead to see the acres of hair falling over her shoulders and over her back, to be able to stare without feeling guilty...but most of all he wanted to have her kiss him again and hold him close. It was an amazing thing that he had overlooked for three years, ignored if possible, and now that it was back as part of a routine in his life he craved it along with Gemma's company in general. If only dating weren't such a formal thing...

Gemma sighed dreamily as she slipped off her purple shoes and dropped both jacket and purse to the ground. Meredith skipped around the corner of the entryway and grinned.

"He did, didn't he?" She was bouncing.

She could only nod as she walked back to her bedroom and flopped on her bed. "Is it possible to tell the cutest guy in the world to go home when all you want to do is ask him to get his ass inside so you can tease him until you feel guilty?" Gemma's muffled voice floated up from the black sheets.

Meredith nodded. "In this case, yes. Gemma, you're moving a lot slower than a lot of people are in this day and age. First date flings, second date sex, nothing is sacred anymore. I respect you for having enough respect for yourself to make him go home tonight. Make him want to know you and talk to you, not just want to have you around physically."

Her friend sat up and nodded. "I have another date tomorrow, BOOYAH!"

"Ooh! How cute is that?!" Meredith squealed.

Gemma giggled. "We have this adorable thing we do...oh my God, I could just eat it up."

"What is it?" Questioned the girl standing in the doorway.

She squinted at Meredith suspiciously. "No! My special thingie!"

Meredith laughed. "Okay, fine, be that way!"

They said their goodnights to each other before turning in, Gemma not able to stop thinking about her new boyfriend. He was so adorable in every way, she couldn't believe anyone else could make her open up and be the way she was like he could. Ever since Jonas had died she had felt trapped in herself, and now she felt like he had just opened the door and let her sould come flying out. It was very possible she was falling in love over two dates. Of course, she stuborrnly told herself, anyone might feel the same way towards a guy that gives them attention after a year of not having male affection. Maybe she was pushing things too fast. In fact, she knew it was going too fast, but she didn't want to slow down at all. She wanted to keep barreling along until the day came he would give her that look she had only come to know with one man and she would decide whether or not he was the one. She bitterly decided to invent time-travel and skip all that time once she figured out the space-time continuum before slipping off into sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was Saturday afternoon, Mike hadn't called Gemma yet, but he had finally taken a look around his house and discovered that the few essentials he needed were missing("Hm...might need some food if I'm gonna eat..."). So he had driven himself out to the grocery store after covering his most obvious cast up with a baggy jacket. It was good enough for him, in tattered jeans and an untucked pale green dress shirt. The denim jacket was heavy and hardly warm, but he was going to be inside most of the time anyway. As he walked around, glancing boredly at the list in his hand and at the various items on the shelves, he began to daydream about the night before again.

Gemma walked into the grocery store, eyes scouring for the few things she needed for the dinner she planned to make for herself and Mike. She was going to call him and make him come there instead of going out again, she was going to have him to herself for once. They could successfully be asses together and not worry about people giving them the now infamous stare that could only mean reproachful comments at some point.

As she grabbed a lemon and a whole bunch of tahini and other strange exotic foods in the small exotic foods section, a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and smiled as she recognized Greg from the gym.

"Hey!" She cried, reaching out to catch his shoulder.

And of course, Mike walked around the corner of the bread display and stared at the two who were exchanging words rapidly.
"So are you sure she can be there on Friday?"

"Of course!"

Greg looked comfortable as he reached out and took her hand for a moment, just to lift it up and drop it down as if he was showing her that he could dribble her arm if need be. "So I'll see you on Friday?"

"Once again, of course! I will be there most definitely, wouldn't miss it for the world." She responded, smiling a nice polite smile.

The guy she was talking to grinned relievedly. "Great, see you then!" He sputtered before turning and resuming his shopping.

Mike's eyes were glued open in horror. From the snippets he'd overheard it sounded much like she had either set up a date or a meeting of some kind. He wondered if she had been doing this the entire time. As she continued to fill her arms up with fruit and vegetables from the produce section, Mike plodded by, very down-trodden. Unfortunately, in Michael's opinion, she caught sight of him wandering listlessly into the next aisle and ran up to talk to him.

"Hey Michael! Why the long face?" She smiled, and tried to cheer him up.

He turned his hurt eyes away and mumbled, "No reason."

She sensed it was something with her and was confused. "Are you sure? Did I do something?"

With a sudden turn she was met with angry eyes. "Nothing is wrong, now leave me alone!"

Gemma's eyes flooded up a few seconds later as he skulked down the aisle, looking angry. "What did I do?"

He could hardly contain turning around and calling her something filthy and yet appropriate. She seemed so unaware she had made him angry, he started to turn around only to be met with her face, dangerously close, and very upset.

"Michael, what did I do?" She was fretting openly, standing there with her arms dangling at her sides, a basket full of her foodstuffs at her feet. She looked very worried.

He sneered a lip at her. "Let's just say we'll both make ourselves busy on Friday."

She looked very relieved. "Michael, that was a guy Meredith and I met at the gym, he was making sure we'd be there to play basketball next week on Friday, nothing more!" She laughed nervously.

He looked skeptical for an instant before his face clearly showed that he was pleased with her answer.

He laughed as well, shaking his head. "I can be quite jealous I guess."

"Oooh, jealous over li'l ol' me?"

He turned to her, tossing an arm around her waist while she walked with him. "Yeah, maybe even a little crazy."

"You're funny," she murmured as he kissed the side of her head.

He smiled. "Just crazy,"

She managed to keep back the urge to kiss him right in front of the check out line as he grinned at her, flaunting the adorable dimples he had.

"I was thinking we'd have dinner at my house tonight, what do you think?" She asked, setting up behind him.

He unloaded the basket he had been holding and pretended to consider it carefully. "Yeah, that sounds good. But you know, we'll have to think of some way to piss off that annoying police officer or we won't have an excuse to go out tomorrow as well."

She smiled pleasantly. "He's a very cute officer, you know. Any he charges me fairly."

Mike pretended to drop the can of soup he was holding. "What charges?"

Gemma faked a moment of pure embarrassment. "Oh no! Don't kill the police officer, please Michael!"

He growled and turned back to his basket. "I'll murder 'im I will."

"Oh, but he's so CUTE!" She whined, giggling under it all.

Mike's cheeks were a faint pink as he handed a wad of notes to the cashier and stepping off to the side to allow Gemma to check out.

The cashier was giving Gemma a "you'd better stop talking about the police officer" look now.

Looking directly at the cashier she said, "In fact, that police officer is a great kisser. I might have to leave you for him. Sorry," she hardly glanced at him.

Seeing that they were messing around with the woman now, Mike burst into fake tears and pulled off the counter. Gemma paid and rushed to his side.

"Oh, not quite yet though, but as soon as he knocks on my door, I'm leaving you to clean up..."

The woman was staring with wide eyes that showed horror at how open Gemma was with her little "affair."

"Okay!" Mike brightened up immediately, furthering the drop in the cashier's jaw.

They exited arm and arm, giggling madly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gemma scurried around her kitchen, not bothering to have dressed up this time at all, only in her jeans and gypsy top, hair down like she always had it and feet bare, toe rings glowing out in the light of her kitchen. There was a knock on the door, not shy at all, but rather just letting her know whoever it was planned to open the door. It opened and Mike's voice echoed into her house.

"Hello!" He cried, listening to the weak echo with a grin.

She smiled and turned around as he slipped off his shoes and ran up the small steps that led to her kitchen. "Howdy stranger, make yourself at home."

He looked over her shoulder into the large silver bowl she was using to mix the ingredients for her now hospital-wide famous taboule, a Middle-Eastern recipe that was both delicious and nutritious. She didn't mind feeling like the school health teacher at this point, she loved the stuff and made it as often as she could.

"What is that?" Michael asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"That's my shoulder," she replied, jokingly.

He poked his tongue out and lifted his head up. "What's in the bowl?" He rephrased the question.

She stopped stirring and wiped her hair out of her face. "This is taboule, it's basically cucumber and parsley with a whole bunch of diced veggies and bulgar."

"Bulgar?" Mike's face turned skeptical.

"It's a wheat thing, you'll like it, trust me." She replied, turning and grinning at him.

She placed the silver bowl in the refridgerator, pulling out another, larger silver bowl which contained a pale yellow dip with red and green flecks in it.

It smelled delicious and spicy as Mike intruded, taking a deep breath of the scent.

"What's that?" He pointed, putting on a little kid's voice.

Gemma turned and faced the man who had made the voice and and looked up into his eyes. "This is lemon tahini sauce. Parsley, paprika, lemon, tahini, other stuff..."

She turned away from the raised eyebrows on Mike's face and pulled a large plastic bag of homemade flatbread from the bread basket. She pulled open the bag and ripped a large piece of bread in half.

"Try some?" She asked in an equally little kid-ish voice.

He faked extreme timidness as he took the bread and dipped it in the tahini bowl between them. He bit off a large portion of the bread and placed a thoughtful expression over his already curious face. Delight spread over it all as he flipped the bread around and dipped again, avoiding the infamous "double-dip" as he did so.

Gemma laughed and helped herself to the sauce. "Good, innit?"

He nodded. "You must have made it then."

She kicked his shin gently, sick of the compliments that made her heart melt every time he spoke.

He bent and rubbed his shin with a pouty look. "Owww! What gives?"

"Don't you give me that!" Her eyes narrowed playfully.

He straightened up abruptly. "Well I guess I know who not to ever tell has really groovy purple shoes ever again. Ever ever."

She pouted and turned away, hiding the bowl from his view and pretending to cry.

As she placed all the bowls on her circular table, she and Mike continued talking.

"So, about this police officer, is it anything I should be worried about?" He grinned at her impishly.

She nodded with a very serious expression. "Yes, yes he is. You should see him collect his fees, I swear to God he enjoys it, the sick freak! Oh, but it's fun to pay him..." She growled as if she was a cat before turning back to her refridgerator while Mike laughed behind her.

"I'd like to meet this guy, he sounds like a hoot." He said, sitting at the table anxiously.

She sighed. "Wouldn't like to date him, of course, he's only there for the kiss at the end. Why don't you ever kiss me, Mike? Huh?" She turned the tables on him.

He stood up and opened his arms. "Hey, just waiting for an oppurtunity."

Feigning thoughtfulness again, Gemma put a hand on her chin. "No, it doesn't feel right at this very moment, you dig it?" She said in another American hippie sort of way, an American accent drifting in.

He smiled. "That's a nifty accent, and I disagree."

"You don't disagree with Gemma, because when you disagree with her, she gets mad, and then Zilla eats people." Gemma replied to him with a haughty look.

His smile didn't waver at all as he propped his head with an arm resting on the table. "Very funny,"

She cocked an eyebrow at his dreamy expression. With a joking thought she put on a very ditzy accent on. "What are you thinking right now?"

Mike smiled and picked his head up. "How perfect a moment this would be to declare that I am hungry may just have to eat the cat in order to stay conscious." He responded, looking pleased with himself.

Gemma simply rolled her eyes at him, saying on one thing. "Way to ruin the only possible moment you had, Palin."

He stepped up behind her as she dropped some sort of grainy looking patties made of wheat dough and other indescribable chunks. Confidently, Mike wrapped his arms around her waist and held her back to him, smiling as she reached back to poke him.

"Wouldn't do that, if I were you." He said jerkily, trying to keep her arms away from his sides at all costs.

She turned around and smiled, eyes sparkling. "And why not?"

"I'd have to get you back, and that could lead to another chase, which isn't good for the old ribcage." He replied, patting his fractures proudly.

She squinted and pulled the end up his shirt up, peeking under in hopes of seeing the bruise and seeing some way to fix it herself though she knew it was impossible.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" He cried, jerking his shirt down.

She rolled her eyes. "Seducing you, of course!" She replied sarcastically. "Let me see your ribs, I want to check them out."

He reluctantly let her lift up his shirt and look at the bruise that had developed there, waiting with a grimace as she lightly ran her fingers over the breaks, trying to decide if they'd heal sooner or later. The bruise on his forehead was nearly gone, his stitches removed earlier that day. He was nearly normal again except for the cast on his left wrist and the horrendous bruise covering most of his right side.

Whimpering slightly as she pressed on the worser of the two breaks, Mike shied away from her treatment.

"I'm sorry, Michael, but this does look bad. You might want to take something for them, they look painful." She said, pressing on a rib above the two broken ones, releasing endorphins to calm the jagged nerves that were transmitting pain waves to his brain.

He relaxed. "I'll be fine, if I can have my shirt back that is. Feeling rather odd at this point," he confessed as he eyed the way he was tilted to his left with Gemma on her knees examining his ribcage without a real notice to her position.

Once again, Gemma rolled her eyed. "Good God, what will the neighbors think?"

He eyed her with mild pain as she stood up and replaced his shirt to its regular position.

"That merits absolutely no comment whatsoever."

She looked at the small oddly shaped patties frying in oil on the stove. "In that case, let's eat."