Chapter 15

"Um, Lucky?"

"Yeah?" he asked, still looking at her sketch.

"I should go home. It's getting late."

"Oh, yeah, right. I guess it is," he said, but didn't move from the bed.

"Well, I can't sit up with you leaning over me like that," she said, wondering what was wrong with him. He seemed very distant all of a sudden.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry," he said, quickly getting off the bed when he realized how he had been sitting. He went over to the computer and gathered up the printouts from earlier. "Do you want to look at the hotels, or should I just pick one."

"You go ahead. They're all the same to me, anyway." She gathered up her stuff and shoved it in her bag, getting off the bed and stretching. She had been laying on her stomach for too long, and now her back was aching. "Ow."

He looked over and saw her holding her back. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just stayed in one position for too long, and now my back is sore. It'll go away soon.

"You want a massage?" he asked, smirking. He knew she'd say no, but he couldn't help asking. It was too much fun to bug her.

She grimaced. "Uh, no thanks. I'll be fine." A massage would have been heavenly, but she knew he didn't really mean it when he offered. She could tell he was just trying to irritate her again. They left the room and headed down the stairs.

"Oh, come on, I'm good at it, I promise," he teased.

"I said no, Lucky! I'm fine, really."

"Okay, but when you have back problems later, don't come crying to me. I'm just looking out for my fiancee." He grinned knowing that would get her.

She stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned to glare at him. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that? Do you do it on purpose, just to irritate me?"

He nodded and grinned. "Yeah, actually I am."

She resumed walking down the stairs. "Oh yeah, well, two can play that game, Cowboy."

This time he stopped. "All right, it was funny the first time, but don't ever call me that again!"

She got to the bottom of the stairs and turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry, does that bother you Cowboy?"

He hurried down the stairs and stood in front of her. "Okay, you win. I'll stop calling you my fiancee, but you have to swear that you'll never call me Cowboy again, especially in school!"

She giggled. "I don't know, I mean, we're supposed to be getting married, and don't married people have pet names for each other? I kind of like Cowboy."

He had a thought. "Okay then, go ahead and call me that, but then I get to have a name for you, too. I mean it's only fair, right, Imogene?"

She glared at him. "You wouldn't dare....."

He laughed. "Well, if you're going to insist on having pet names...."

"Ooooh, you're so infuriating! Fine, you got me. I'll stop if you do."

Lucky smiled, pleased that he won. "Good. Now, do you need a ride home?"

"No, I'd rather walk." She opened the door and stepped outside, still yelling.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," he shouted, watching her leave.

"Tomorrow. Good night, Lorenzo!" she yelled just as he closed the door.

"What?" He opened the door again and yelled after her. "Hey, I thought we had a deal!"

"No one ever said anything about Lorenzo!" she shouted, turning the corner.

"Oh, she's dead," he muttered, closing the door and storming up to his room.

Laura turned to Luke and smiled. They had been in the living room and had witnessed the entire thing. "I told you so..."

He groaned. "Fine, so it's still too soon. That doesn't mean it's going to take a long time. Give it a few more weeks, and they'll come around, I know it. In fact, I guess you could say I'm betting on it."

"Okay then, so what would you say the deadline for your part of the bet would be? Two weeks, three, a month?"

He thought for a minute. "How about a month. If they haven't admitted their attraction to each other in a month, then I lose."

She smiled. "And I win."

"No, you don't win just because I lost. What if they never get together? Uh-uh, you don't win unless they admit it after the first month. Sorry, babe, I'm not going to make it that easy for you!"

She sighed and looked at the stairs, thinking about the evening's events. "Okay, I guess that's fair. Either way, this is going to be fun to watch."

~*~

Liz walked in her front door and heard the phone ringing. She rushed to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Don't ever call me Lorenzo again!" the voice on the other end threatened.

She smiled. She must have really gotten to him with that. "Why not? It's your name isn't it?"

"If you call me Lorenzo, I'm calling you Imogene. You don't want that, do you?" he threatened.

She sighed. He had a point. "Fine. If you promise to only call me Elizabeth or Liz, I'll only call you Lucky. Deal?"

"Deal. Would you rather I called you Liz? I noticed that's what most people call you, but I like Elizabeth better."

"Actually I do too. I just figure people don't like to say it, since Liz is easier, so I don't argue. I like it that you call me Elizabeth." Had she just said that out loud? She hoped it didn't sound too weird.

He smiled on the other end of the phone. "Okay, it's Elizabeth then."

"Oh, Lucky? Can you tell your parents that I'm sorry I ran off without saying goodbye. I feel so rude leaving like that. They were so nice to me."

"Sure, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Okay, good night." She hung up and went upstairs to get ready for bed.

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