A/N: I’m back! Woohoo….

Chapter 344: Foppa XXII—Eat In or Out

Peter looked at Josefina as she laughed with Debbie Sakic. He half smiled, glad that Jo hit it off with the wives and girlfriends in a way his previous paramours had never. He yawned, wondering if she would mind if they went to dinner as soon as they left the Pepsi Center. His stomach growled plaintively and his body ached with want for food.

They had just played against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and it was a little past eleven o’clock. Only a few restaurants were open that Peter knew of but he knew his roaring gut wouldn’t be able to wait for morning. In fact he wanted to go to Jo right now and just plain beg her to go out with him.

“Oh, Peter, I need to talk to you about something.”

Peter sighed and looked at the pretty face of Brandi Blake, her long neck wrapped in a soft cashmere scarf, and she pulled mittens on. “Yup?” He tried to think within the deepest reaches of his mind, had Brandi ever made a point of speaking to him before? Was he even sure what her voice sounded like? Well first time for everything.

Brandi had a small smile on her face. “Oh Peter, Mimi and I were at Cherry Creek today with Jo and the most interesting thing happened. I’m sure you would love me to tell you.”

Peter jut his chin out. “Mm okay?” What the hell would interest me about women shopping? But since Brandi was a nice lady, and not to mention sinfully hot, he blinked and nodded for her to continue. He wondered how glossy and blond one woman’s hair could get. He gazed at it spilling over her shoulders.

Brandi yawned and covered her mouth with her mittened hand. “Well we ended up at DeLacroix’s, that jewelry store, I’m sure you know the place, Peter.”

Peter’s gut turned. Hoo yeah he knew that store and he could swear he felt his wallet suddenly burn and itch from within his pocket. He thought of all the times Rob had groaned about what he just spent there for Brandi and he knew some of his teammates had purchased engagement and anniversary presents there. Peter himself had bought apology gifts there before but had been lucky enough to have to return them each time he had been dumped. “Sure I know that place.”

“Well,” Brandi continued. “Funniest thing happened. We went in there, you know,” she held her hand out, “Just to look.”

“Of course,” Peter replied.

Brandi winked and Peter noticed the sparkling diamond earrings she wore. Those babies actually twinkled and sparkled with white and rainbow light. “Well, as we were in there looking at things, the lady shows us something special. Oh, Peter something really special!”

Peter twisted his mouth. Did Jo buy something? Well if she did, it was her own money so that shouldn’t bother him at all. Perhaps Brandi didn’t know that Jo had her own income and was snitching on her for fun? “How special?”

Brandi’s smile spread wider than a satisfied cat’s and she held her hands together. “Oh so special that it brought your sweetheart to tears.”

Peter’s eyebrows shot up and he felt his cheeks tighten as he looked at Jo. “OK? She cried?”

Brandi nodded and giggled. “Peter she actually fell to her knees and wept the thing was so beautiful. I mean the stones, the deep blues and reds and the emeralds, oh and the diamonds, so perfect! And an antique no less, so the gold has the really creamy, slightly tainted quality to it.” Brandi sighed and pressed her hand to her chest. “If Jo didn’t cry about it I would have.”

Peter swallowed. The love affair women had with jewelry just mystified him. “She wept over a necklace?”

“No not a necklace.” Brandi leaned forward and her eyes narrowed conspiratorially, “An anklet, a pretty little anklet.”

“Oh.” Peter’s knees felt sore now, his muscles trembled a little. He really didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. Was Brandi hinting at something?

Brandi laughed and slapped him on the arm. “You don’t have to look so terrified! I just thought it would be something good to know, you know? You men are such babies sometimes, I swear.”

“Heh,” Peter half grinned. “So… so… this anklet it’s still there?”

Brandi winked. “It’s called the McLean hon, but you didn’t hear it from me.” With that, the woman turned around from Peter and held out her arms. “Robbie I’m freezing to death I want to go home and cuddle!”

Peter laughed at the sunrise smile on Blake’s face. He actually looked like a dog hearing the can opener. “Honey?” Rob grinned. “Cuddle? Heh, cuddle!” He grabbed his wife’s hand in his own and Peter winked at him as they whisked past. Well there goes the happy couple. Peter suspected that the sparkling earrings Brandi wore had something to do with her sudden desire to cuddle. Peter felt sorry for Robbie sometimes; he had found himself the classic frosty blond as a wife. An expensive investment those girls were.

“Hey!”

Peter gasped and doubled forward a little at the sudden quick slug into his gut. He squinted with watery eyes at Josefina, that woman seemed to have developed a desire for physically harming him lately. His thumb tingled with the memory of her teeth chomping down on him, arousing and disturbing him. Jo crossed her arms and leaned forward and Peter felt the thrill of her lips on his chin.

“You want to get something to eat?” Jo whispered. “I’m starving, babe, isn’t that steakhouse you like still open? I could do with a little cut of meat or something.” Her arm slid around his waist, her hand gripping onto his ass, her other hand discreetly sliding down the waist of his pants, shocking his bare skin with her cold little fingers. “Unless of course you’re not hungry, either way I’m getting fed….”

Peter grinned. “Oh God darling I’m starving.” And his stomach growled loudly.

Jo grinned. “Eat in or take out?”

Quickly, Peter calculated in his mind the calories lost during the game and could he even break even if they took the food home. He imagined most of it ending up on the table overnight while they tumbled with each other in multiple rooms. “Heh. You look great; let me show you off huh? Let’s eat in the restaurant.”

“Cool!” Jo pulled away from him. “Let’s eat!”

They didn’t talk much over dinner, and what’s more that didn’t feel awkward. Previously, Peter had known the signal to the end of a relationship when neither her nor his date could think of anything to say at dinner. It meant that the candle had burned down and there was nothing left to do. This time, however, even though he didn’t speak, even though Jo seemed enamored with her filet mignon, it felt good. He didn’t feel as if he had to find a way to entertain her or that she needed to impress him with humor or conversation. He liked glancing at her, watching her lips open, watching the food slide in, watching her chew and her eyes narrow at him and she chided him to stop staring at her through chews.

He drank his red wine slowly and liked that she finished her food and didn’t once push it around her plate like a toying teenager. Maybe she still thought about the calories and the fat, like any other woman, maybe that meant she mulled over in her mind how to work them off. Peter thought of tattered bed sheets, he could oblige her.

He let Josefina walk in front of them as they left the restaurant. He wanted to look at her from behind, that slim form, the curve of her perfect bottom. But mostly, he looked at those ankles, they were hidden under the legs of her slacks, and encased in leather boots that were snow battered, mud splashed and scraped. They must be comfortable if she still kept them even though they were that old. He imagined her without those boots and pants; he imagined those pretty ankles of hers and the jewels that made her cry.