Read Playing for Keeps for Free Online Page B

Harvard again," she deadpanned.
    " You know what I mean." He poked her in the ribs.
    " Yeah, I've thought about it. Frances encourages it, in fact. They'd like all their employees to have a degree in Early Childhood Education. Rosa and I picked up the catalogs one time."
    " What happened?"
    She shrugged. "We gave it some thought, talked it over. We finally decided that whether we have a degree or not, the wheels on the bus are still just gonna go round and round. You know?"
    He hugged her to him tightly. "I guess so."
     
    * * * *
     
    Maddie looked through Rob's closet shortly before she left on Sunday. "Look at all these caps!" He had a dozen or so ball caps hanging in the back of his closet, plus two cowboy hats. "I've never seen you wear a cap."
    " I wear one at work." He lay back on his bed and watched her snoop. "Keeps the hair out of my face."
    " I like it when the hair gets in your face." She pictured him in her mind, rising above her. She hugged her arms to herself and turned back to the shirts hanging in the closet. "Very nice." She looked through them, pulled one out and tried it on. She knotted it at the waist and modeled for him.
    " Very, very nice," he agreed, looking her up and down.
    She hung the shirt back up and continued to look around his room. With one finger, she gently touched the dream catcher hanging on one wall. There were a few other Native decorations, and the comforter and bed pillows were a southwestern motif of black, brown and teal. It was a masculine room, but not overly so. Maddie thought it was beautiful.
    " Can I see the rest of the place?"
    Rob stood and motioned to the hall. She wandered out and he followed.
    "This place is so beautiful," she commented, admiring Sophie's pink and white room full of toys. "You've done a really nice job decorating."
    He leaned against the wall and smiled. "This room was easy. Pink, pink, and whatever goes with pink."
    The main bathroom with the big tub was located between his room and Sophie 's. "This room is amazing." She admired the black and white, checkered tile floor, which gave it an old-fashioned feel. "Retro." Maddie ran her hand along the black and white towels hanging on the towel rod, with red washcloths tucked alongside. There was a red 'Coke' clock on the wall. "Very, very cool. You did the decorating yourself?"
    He grinned. "Don't act so surprised."
    " I'm not. You should have a rec room to put stuff in. I can see it with bar signs and lights and stuff like that."
    " Someday. I told you the house is a work in progress. I'll add on when the need arises."
    Maddie looked through the other rooms. Rob had a small bathroom with a shower off his room, a sparsely decorated office, the kitchen, and a living room which was also decorated southwestern style.
    "Big living room." Maddie looked around appreciatively. She noticed a thirteen inch television set and added, "Tiny TV."
    He chuckled and shook his head. "I hate TV. Don't even have cable. I refuse to line the pockets of Capitalist Corporate America."
    She chuckled. "Yet you do have a VCR."
    He shrugged. "Someone gave it to me as a gift. I usually don't plug it in because it flashes twelve o'clock at me all the time."
    " Ooh, a technophobe? Who'd a thunk it?"
    "Sort of. I don't have a cell phone either, but in my defense, there's no signal out here, anyway. Dee couldn't stand that."
    "Bummer." Maddie smiled and stepped outside. There was a big wraparound porch off the front, and the smaller, more private porch, off the kitchen in the back. Each porch offered its own view of the land, and both were spectacular. Maddie complimented Rob as she tossed her purse in her car. "Your house is wonderful. I'm amazed and impressed that you designed and built it yourself."
    He melded himself against her and murmured, "Well, thank you. I'm amazed and impressed at the beautiful woman I shared the place with this weekend. I really wish it never had to end."
    She pressed back against him and kissed him deeply. She