Page 32 of Plane Passion

Lies. All lies. Mildred, you’ve already lost this bet. What are you agreeing to?

But then the agreement was going forward from this point. If nothing further happened, technically she still won. Beth never needed to know about the kiss, right? It was outside the parameters of the bet and therefore none of her business. All Millie had to do was make sure she and Ernie never touched again. Easy.

11

That kiss. Ernie stood frozen in the alley long after Millie left, wondering what had come over him. Never had he felt like that. He had kissed his fair share of beautiful women. Some of those kisses were intense and passionate. Nothing prepared him for kissing Millie Aldrich.

That kiss shook him to his core. It robbed his mind of reason. It sent him soaring into the heavens. And for God’s sake, it was Millie Aldrich!

He could just imagine Mr. Dickson’s reaction if he found out there was anything going on between the two of them. He’d be fired on the spot.

This whole business was a disaster waiting to happen, and yet all he could think in the aftermath was, When can I kiss her again? When could he taste her, feel her pressed up against him, touch her softness, which was so at odds with her feisty personality? She was a study in contradictions with the personality of a porcupine and the sensuousness of a cat. Never had another woman melted so absolutely in his arms, tasted him with such desperation, or left so him helpless with wanting.

Ernie needed to seal this memory up, quarantine it, and never revisit it. Nothing could come of this. In the morning, he and Millie would have to pretend nothing happened and keep a safe distance from each other.

Composing himself, he left the alley where he’d been hiding and walked to his car. The drive home to Brooklyn was mercifully quick, and before he knew it, he was sneaking up the steps to his bedroom, hoping nobody noticed the late hour of his arrival.

As he passed the sitting room, though, he heard the steady clackity clack of a typewriter. Constance. She shouldn’t be working herself this hard, staying up late doing homework. He stepped into the sitting room, and she looked up.

“I thought it was you. Who else would sneak into the house at this hour?” she said with a smile.

“A thief? I suppose I’m lucky you didn’t bludgeon me over the head with a poker.”

She laughed and shook her head. “How was your date?”

“What makes you think it was a date?” She couldn’t possibly know. She must be guessing.

“Isn’t it always a date?”

“Not always. Sometimes I go out with friends. Sometimes I go out to hear a band I like.” He had other pursuits besides chasing skirts.

“And by the end of the night, you have a lady on your arm every time, I’m certain. You’re a rascal, you know that, Ernie?”

He took a deep breath. “I am, but I’d rather my sister didn’t know that.”

“As if you could hide it from me.”

He never was any good at hiding from Constance. Her kind and gentle demeanor belied her sharp, inquisitive brain. Constance never missed a thing.

“Ernie, don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“Of what?” He took a seat on the sofa.

“Of stringing along these poor young ladies that lose their hearts to you. Don’t you ever think about doing the right thing and settling down?”

He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, searching for an answer that wasn’t sharp or flippant. “You know I can’t afford a wife right now.”

“That’s nonsense. Of course, you can afford a wife.” She turned away from her typewriter to look at him. “Don’t you dare use your family as an excuse for being a cad.”

“I can’t afford another household until you and the twins are independent.”

She crossed her arms. “Who said anything about another household? What’s wrong with bringing her here?”

Oh, so many things. More than he could list. How could he make love to a woman while in the same household as his sisters? How could he subject a woman to the constant chaos that reigned here? What woman would want to share her household with her in-laws?

“A new wife would expect a home of her own. Why would she want to move in with a house full of people she barely knows?”

“If she marries you, we’ll hardly be strangers. You may carry on your affairs in secret, but when it comes to matrimony, I fully expect you to bring her around so that we can get to know each other before you tie the knot. If she’s not a match for us, she’s not a match for you, regardless of the finances.”