"Hi, yourself," she said back to him, letting him squeeze her.
"Just tonight — I, uh, just let me hold you."
"Okay. Let's just snuggle."
And they did and finally he went to sleep with her like that, holding her in his arms, his face in her soft, silky hair.
Sometime around dawn he woke up again, still holding her, and he whispered, "Hi, you."
And Rita said, "Hi, yourself," in a very tiny voice full of sleep.
And he asked her, "Are you awake?"
And she told him, "Yes. I think so. Are you?"
"Yes."
And they got each other uncuddled for a second and Eichord tried to rub some feeling back into his arms, and then they kissed some more, but hotly this time, and he finally said to her, "I want romance and I want it now," and she understood.
And it was comfortable and surprising and velvety and viscerogenic, and you know how it is. Even when it's bad it's fabulous.
About the Author
REX MILLER has had many different jobs and several obsessions. He has been a radio broadcaster and has done voiceovers and announcing for nationwide radio and television programs. Mr. Miller's obsessions have also proved fruitful; he is considered one of America's most knowledgeable authorities on popular culture memorabilia and the culture of nostalgia in general. His many novels include STONE SHADOW, SLOB, and other novels in the Jack Eichord Saga pitting a police detective against one of the sickest killers in all popular literature.
