Eclipse Bay

motorcycle was frequently spotted in the small parking lot behind Virgil’s Adult Books and Video Arcade. “What do you do when you’re not being a voyeur?”
    “A voyeur?” He whistled softly. “That’s a fancy word for a Peeping Tom, isn’t it?”
    She stiffened. “Yes, it is.”
    “Thought so. Wasn’t absolutely sure, though. I dropped out of college before we got to some of the more upscale words.”
    He was mocking her. She knew it, but she was not certain how to deal with it.
    “I wouldn’t brag about leaving school if I were you.” She clutched her purse more tightly in front of her body, as if it were a magic shield she could use to ward off any demonic vibes Rafe might be emitting. “My father says that it’s too bad you blew off your future like that. He says you have potential.”
    Rafe’s teeth flashed briefly in a sardonic grin. “Lots of people have said that over the years, starting with my first-grade teacher. But they’ve all concluded that I won’t ever live up to whatever potential I’ve got.”
    “You’re an adult now. It’s your responsibility to make your life work properly. You can’t blame your failure on others.”
    “I never do that,” he assured her earnestly. “I’m proud to say that I am solely to blame for my own screwups.”
    She was out of her depth here. She tightened her grip on the purse and took another step back.
    “You sort of implied that you and the guy who just took off came here to talk privately.” His words pursued her in the darkness. “But I didn’t get the feeling that the two of you were having what you’d call a meaningful conversation. Who was the jerk, anyway?”
    For some oblique reason she felt compelled to defend Perry, who, unlike Rafe Madison, would amount to something someday. Or maybe it was her own self-image she wanted to protect. She did not like to think of herself as the kind of woman who dated jerks.
    Not that Perry was a jerk. He was a budding academic.
    “His name is Perry Decatur,” she said coolly. “He’s a grad student at Chamberlain. Not that it’s any of your business.”
    “Guess he thought the evening was going to end a little differently.”
    “Perry’s okay. He just got a little pushy tonight, that’s all.”
    “Pushy, huh? Is that what you call it?” Rafe gave an easy shrug. “Well, it looked like you pushed back pretty good. For a minute there, I thought you might need a little help, but then I realized that you were handling him just fine on your own.”
    “Perry is hardly the violent type.” Outrage flared. “He’s a grad student, for crying out loud. He plans to teach political science.”
    “Is that right? Since when is politics a science?”
    She was pretty sure that was a rhetorical question. “He expects to be offered a position on the faculty at Chamberlain as soon as he gets his Ph.D.”
    “Well, shoot. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have worried about you even half a minute while the two of you were staging that arm-wrestling contest. I mean, a guy who’s going for his Ph.D. and plans to become a hotshot professor at Chamberlain wouldn’t try to force himself on a woman. Don’t know what I was thinking.”
    She was profoundly grateful for the simple fact that it was midnight. At least Rafe could not see the hot color she was almost sure was staining her face a vivid shade of pink. “There’s no call to be sarcastic. Perry and I had a disagreement, that’s all.”
    “So, do you date a lot of jerks?”
    “Stop calling Perry a jerk.”
    “I was just curious. Can’t blame me under the circumstances, can you?”
    “Yes, I can and I do.” She glared. “You’re being deliberately obnoxious.”
    “But not quite as obnoxious as the jerk, huh? I haven’t even touched you.”
    “Oh, shut up. I’m going home.”
    “I hate to mention it, but you are standing alone here on an isolated stretch of road in the middle of the night. Like I said, it’s going to be a long walk back to your folks’ place.”
    She seized the only weak point she could find in his logic. “I’m not alone.”
    In the pale moonlight, his smile gleamed dangerously. “We both know that as far as your family is concerned, the fact that I’m here with you makes your situation worse than being alone. I’m a Madison, remember?”
    She raised her chin. “I don’t give a darn about that stupid feud. Ancient history, as far as I’m concerned.”
    “Right. Ancient history. But you know what they say