Page 114 of Men or Paws

“Well, I’ll speak slowly so you understand what I really want.” Beth turned to me and batted her eyelashes. “Sing ‘Sandy’ to me.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “And I will speak slowly, so you understand. No. Way.” I laughed, knowing she wouldn’t like the answer one bit.

Beth frowned. “Oh, come on. Please?Greaseis one of my favorite movies, and I loved it when John Travolta sang that song about her. It was touching and romantic.”

“Romantic? What are you talking about? He sang that song after she ripped his heart out! He was in misery! He was dying a lonely, lonely man.”

Beth laughed. “Man, you like to exaggerate. Everything turned out just fine, didn’t it? Besides, I want a guy who cares about me so much he has to sing about it. Is that so wrong?” There was a wistfulness to her face as she gave me puppy dog eyes.

She was trying to con me.

And I was a big enough sucker to fall for it.

It was my own fault for telling Beth the disco I had downstairs next to the bowling alley had a fully equipped karaoke system loaded with over ten thousand songs. What a big mistake considering she already knew I used to deliver singing telegrams.

Luckily, Marcello came into the garage from the house and interrupted us. “There you are.” He stopped to admire the Maserati, running his fingers along the roofline.

“Saved by my assistant again,” I whispered to Beth.

“Did you text him to come rescue you so you could get out of singing?” she asked.

“My phone is in my back pocket. I’ve got skills in certain areas, but I have yet to master how to text with my butt.”

“This is not over,” she said to me.

I laughed. “Believe me, I know.”

“You need to come back downstairs,” Marcello said. “Gwen is bowling against Douglas and there is a good chance she’s going to win the bet.”

“Seriously? When we snuck out, she couldn’t hit a barn with a bat,” I said. “What happened?”

Marcello chortled. “Once Douglas fixed her stance and showed her how to hold the ball right and where to aim, she’s been rolling nothing but strikes. She’s a natural. Hurry, before you miss it.” He disappeared back inside the house before either of us could respond.

“This should be interesting,” I said, sliding out of the car. “What do you think they bet?”

Beth got out of the car and followed me inside the house. “I have no idea, but it must be good considering the look on Marcello’s face. Which reminds me, you need to pay up again.”

Beth and I had bowled a game earlier and she beat me by one pin, which meant I owed her one hundred kisses in twenty-four hours. My ego was doing perfectly fine after losing to her, considering how much I was enjoying paying off my debt. It was almost as if I had won.

“My pleasure.” I bent down and kissed her again, before leading her through the kitchen and down the hallway.

Beth pulled me to a stop in front of the closed door of my toy room. “I want to see your toy collection.” She obviously remembered when Gwen carried the remote control Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volkswagen Baja Beetle into the room last week.

“Is this room still off limits to me?” Beth added.

“Nope.” I twisted the handle and pushed the door open. “You now have a VIP all-access pass to the entire house. Knock yourself out, but make it quick because I want to see what’s happening with Gwen and Douglas.”

“Me, too.” Beth smiled, slid past me, clicked on the light, and walked around the room. She inspected some of the toys, then set them back down. “You haven’t opened any of them.” She stood there staring in disbelief.

I nodded. “You are correct.”

Beth scanned the room and the countless toys piled high from the floor to the ceiling. “Okay, why do you have all these toys? Are you a collector or are you just weird?”

I laughed. “The latter is definitely a good possibility, but these toys are not for me.”

She clutched her chest. “You’re going to donate them?”

I nodded. “Gwen and Marcello find them online and buy them for me. They accumulate during the year, then in December, I donate them to Toys for Tots.” I shrugged. “It’s just a little something I like to do every year, to give back.”