Ruby sprang to her feet with the impetus of a Jack-in- the-box. “Then it’s all settled. I’ll-”
“I haven’t agreed to go.”
“But you will, won’t you, dear?” Ruby’s smile was so pathetic, so pleading, that Rana couldn’t refuse.
“I suppose I will, since he’s already bought the ticket,” she mumbled.
“Wonderful.” Ruby clapped her hands like a young girl. “Run upstairs and freshen up. I’ll do the dishes in a jiffy and we’ll all meet at the front door.”
Trent had the good sense not to make any teasing remarks. He remained silent as Rana left the room. In fifteen minutes they all gathered at the front door. Ruby, wearing red from her earrings to her sandals, was disappointed in Miss Ramsey’s appearance. Ruby had hoped she would use the outing as an excuse to dress up. Instead, she looked more dowdy than ever in a shapeless pair of army-green slacks and a loose shirt that hung almost to her knees. Didn’t the girl own anything more suited to the climate and the season, something airy and light and summery?
Even though her hair had been brushed, it hung closer to her face than usual, hiding everything except her lips, her nose, and those damned glasses. Ruby sighed in consternation, but refused to allow Miss Ramsey’s disregard for fashion to spoil her own evening out.
She chattered gaily as Trent escorted them to Ruby’s sedan, which they had decided to use since there wasn’t room for the three of them in his low sports car. He opened the front passenger door and indicated that Rana should get in. Instead, she nudged Ruby forward. Before Trent could assist her, she had opened the back door, slid inside, and slammed the door behind her.
He only smiled as he walked around the back of the car and got into the driver’s seat. She was angry. Good. The thawing of Miss Ramsey was going to be great fun.
The theater was crowded, and they were lucky to find three seats together. Rana went into the row first, knowing that Trent would allow his aunt to go before him.
Her ploy worked, but only temporarily. He was cagey. He excused himself to get refreshments during the previews of upcoming movies. When he returned with his hands full, he asked Ruby to switch seats with him, so that the tub of popcorn he had bought would be accessible to all three of them. Ruby did as he asked without argument, and Rana found herself sitting beside him despite her earlier maneuvering.
He distributed the drinks, handed Ruby her box of chocolate candies, and also offered her the popcorn. “No, thank you, darling. It gives me gas.”
Rana stifled a giggle, but almost choked on it when she felt the firm pressure of Trent ’s knee against hers. He spread wide his muscular thighs and wedged the bucket of popcorn between them.
Leaning close to her and touching her ear with his lips, he whispered, “Feel free to dig in any time.”
She sniffed her disdain and kept her eyes resolutely on the movie screen. It was bad enough having his knee rubbing her leg and his elbow crowding hers on the armrest. There was no way she would grope between his thighs for popcorn!
She made no attempt to hide her aggravation, but he was impervious to it. In fact, each time she tried to move her knee away, his followed. He had her arm virtually pinned between his and the back of the armrest. To have wrested it free would have caused a commotion, so she left it there. She didn’t want him to know she was even aware of the steely strength of his arm, or of its warmth, which spread through hers, into her breasts.
“Don’t those tinted lenses make Clint look sickly?” he asked in a raspy whisper that sent chills down her arms.
“No.”
“Why don’t you take them off?”
“I can’t see without them.”
“Sure of that? They don’t look that thick.”
“I’m sure.” Actually, they were just tinted glass, but even without makeup her eyes were striking enough to attract attention.
“You’re not eating any popcorn.”
“I don’t care for any, thank you.”
He inclined toward her. “I even brought napkins… on the outside chance that you don’t want me to lick your fingers.”
“Shut up!”
“Shhh!” “Shhh!” “Shhh!” The hissing came from several directions at once. Ruby leaned forward in her seat and gave them both a stern look. She mouthed, “Behave,” before sitting back in her seat and returning her concentration to the movie.
“Now see what you did. You got us in trouble,” Trent murmured after several moments had elapsed and everyone around them had settled back down.
“Me? You’re the one who insisted I come to this damn movie,” she whispered back fiercely. “Which reminds me, I’m mad as hell at you for manipulating me in front of Ruby. But you did and I’m here. You got what you wanted. Now the very least you can do is be quiet and let me watch the show.”
“You want to watch the show?”
“That’s the idea, isn’t it?”
“Movie theaters aren’t only for that, you know.”
“What else are they for?”
“Illicit meetings. For doing naughty things in the dark. We could go to the back row of the balcony and neck.”
That suggestion brought her head around. She stared up at him speechlessly. One side of his face was dark and inscrutable; the other reflected the light off the movie screen. His eyes were steady and compelling. He was smiling a half smile, an insinuating and sensual half smile. One of his dark brows was raised, indicating that his statement might have been an invitation that ended with, “Whaddaya say?”
He was handsome. Dangerously handsome. And he knew it.
Rana knew then that she didn’t like him very much. In fact, she disliked him intensely.
She yanked her arm from beneath his on the armrest and turned her head back toward the screen. Readjusting herself in her seat, she made it impossible for his knee to reach hers.
Apparently he received her message loud and clear. He fell to watching the movie and munching popcorn in sullen silence. When the show was over, he politely escorted the ladies through the throng emptying from the theater, across the parking lot, and into the car. Ruby recapped the movie’s plot, rehashed each action-packed fight, recounted every steamy detail of the love scene, and commented innumerable times on the star’s appeal.
Rana remained silent in the backseat, counting the minutes until the evening would come to an end. As soon as they got through the front door of the house she said, “Thank you for the movie, Mr. Gamblin. Good night, Ruby.”
“But I thought we all might enjoy a cup of tea together,” Ruby said with a pout of disappointment. She wasn’t finished dissecting the movie yet.
“Not tonight. I’m very tired. See you tomorrow.” Coming on the heels of an already upsetting day, the excursion to the movie theater had left Rana physically tired and emotionally drained. And mad, she added as she closed the door of her apartment behind her. How dare he think he could get away with-
The knock on her door halted her bitter ruminations.
Just as she’d suspected, it was Trent. And as usual, he was insolently propped against the doorjamb.
“Was it something I said?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “No, it’s what you are, Mr. Gamblin.”
“Pray tell, what is that?”
“A conceited, spoiled, egomaniacal lecher. A self-centered, sexist, chauvinistic boor.”
He whistled.
“I know your type, and I despise it. You think every female was designed solely to be your plaything, to be used and disposed of at your whim.” She had his attention. He straightened up; the smug smile was no longer tilting up one corner of his mouth.
“Now, wait just a minute.”
“No, you wait a minute. I’m not finished. You’re the type who looks at a woman and automatically rates her appearance on a scale of one to ten. Don’t deny it. I know it’s true. You don’t see a woman. You only see how she’s packaged. And that’s all that counts with you. You take none of her personality or intelligence into account, much less her feelings.”