A ruling passion : a novel Read Online Free PDF

evenly. "But I'd like to have a cup of coffee with you."

    "Oh. Well, but I'm paying," Valerie said casually. "I invited you, after all."
    He shook his head. "I wouldn't let you do that."
    "Why not."" She looked at him, smiling, her eyes challenging. "Too untraditional.> Too hard on your manhood .>"
    Starded, he hesitated again, then grinned at her. "You've got it. I don't think I'd survive the shock of seeing a woman pick up the check. And I don't think my father would survive if I told him I'd done it."
    Her eyes were bright. "And your mother.""
    "She'd probably wish she'd been born in your generation, so she could have been more independent."
    Valerie laughed. "I'd like to meet your mother. I'd like to buy her lunch. Come on; next time we'll figure out something else, but today I'm treating."
    Nick put his hand on her arm to stop her as she turned away, and looked into her eyes. Hazel, he decided, with flecks of auburn; as changeable as a summer sky. They looked at each other for a long moment; then he forced himself to move away. "I'm hungry, too," he said, and they went to lunch.
    The next time he made lunch in his apartment, on the second floor of a private home a few blocks from the campus. While Nick worked in the kitchen, Valerie roamed through the rooms, fijrnished with a few pieces of furniture, a scattering of cotton rugs, posters taped to the walls, and dozens of floor pillows. "I can't believe it's so neat. Three men on their own and not even a sock on the floor. It's unreal."
    "You're right, it is. We cleaned this morning."
    "What did you bribe them with?"
    He chuckled. "They did it on their own. They were so amazed that I finally had a girl, they wanted to make sure nothing went wrong."
    From the doorway, she watched him heat olive oil in a frying pan with onions and garlic, stir in mushrooms and tomatoes and spices, and then pour it over the pasta. His movements were practiced and deliberate; his hand went directly to what he needed; he moved neady from refrigerator to counter to stove top. He seemed to keep a watch-ftil eye on everything he did, Valerie thought. He was the most careftil man she had ever met.
    They sat at a scarred pine table overlooking the backyard and Nick poured Chianti into two jelly glasses. "Welcome," he said, raising his and touching it to Valerie's. "I'm glad you're here."

    She sipped the wine. It was harsh and she put down her glass, then quickly picked it up again, hoping he hadn't noticed. If that was all he could afford, she'd drink it. But next time she'd bring the wine.
    "Why were your roommates surprised?" she asked as they ate. "No man who cooks like this would be left alone very long; you must know dozens of girls."
    He smiled. "A few. I'm better with computers than people. And I don't advertise my cooking."
    "It's a good thing; otherwise I'd have to stand in line, and I don't stand in line for anything. Is that what you're studying? Computers?"
    "Computer design and programs."
    "Computers," she echoed. 'Well, we'll find lots of other things to talk about. I've seen them, but I don't understand them."
    "You will someday."
    "Don't hold your breath. I'm really not much interested in those kinds of things."
    "Those kinds of things are going to change your life. In ten years, by 1984, maybe earlier, you're going to find them everywhere; there isn't any part of your life they won't touch."
    "Sex," she said promptly. 'Will that be safe?"
    He smiled. "As far as I can tell. But if s probably the only thing, and if you don't understand how computers work or how they're used—"
    "Goodness, you're so serious." She shrugged. "I fly in airplanes and drive my car and live in an air-conditioned house, and I can't explain how any of those things work. Come to think of it, I do know how electricity works and I still don't understand it. And then I see a computer screen with all those words coming and going, from nowhere to nowhere, and it's just too much. I'd rather call it