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Her response seemed to surprise him It certainly surprised her He went into the kitchen, returning a lass Apparently he found sorabbed a dish towel from the stack of clothes he’d dumped on the floor and used it to rub the inside When he’d finished, he raised the glass to the light for inspection

"Don’t worry about it I prefer to drink my beer from the bottle"

He nodded, then sat down across fro his ankle on his knee He seemed completely relaxed, as well he should He wasn’t the one who’d have to plead temporary insanity

"It’s about what happened earlier," she began, gripping the beer bottle with both hands "I talked to Carrie and discovered you hadn’t exactly, uh, fallen in with her scheme I’m afraid I assumed you had"

"Don’t worry about it It was a si"

"I know Nevertheless…"

"I’ll place an ad in the paper for the apartht away?"

So, he was going to make this difficult after all "That’s another reason I’?" he asked conversationally, his gaze slipping from her to the television screen and back Charlotte, however, wasn’t fooled Like any otherher squirm

His eyes wandered back to the silent TV He esture of satisfaction Obviously things were going well for whichever tea for--much better than they were for her

"I’d prefer not towhere we do The area suits us and, well…to be honest, I spoke in anger" This was all she illing to give If he was vindictive enough to de to beg

"Fine, then" He shrugged "You’re a good tenant and I’d hate to lose you" His gaze didn’t waver fro?"

He seeh she should know soets"

"Go ahead and turn up the sound if you want"

He frowned "You don’t a it, I would’ve waited until it was over" She took a swig of beer so he’d realize she intended to be on her way shortly

He reached for the reuise He pushed the volu and scooted forward, iame

Charlotte didn’t know that much about sports Generally they bored her, but perhaps that was because she didn’t understand the rules No one had ever taken the time to explain them to her Football seemed absolutely senseless, and basketball hardly less so

As far as she could tell, basketball involved a herd of i up and down a polished wooden floor, passing a ball back and forth until one of theed ahead to the basket to try to score It see, the referees would blow their whistles and everything would co halt She couldn’t understand why the referees chose to wear zebra-striped shirts, either, since it wasn’t likely anyone would confuse the short, balding ?" That was innocuous enough, she decided Such a sinorance

"For now, the Lakers They’re up by four, but the lead’s been changing the entire game"

"Oh" She watched for several minutes, then asked what she considered to be another harmless question "Why do some throws count for three points and others only two?"

The thoroughness of his response astonished her, pro several more questions By the time he’d answered them all, he must’ve been aware that she barely knew one end of the court froe, he didn’t let it show

Soon Charlotte found herself actually enjoying the gaan to understand why Jason liked it so much The score was tied a minute before halftime and when the Lakers scored at the buzzer to take the lead, Charlotte leapt to her feet and cheered

Jason raised his eyebrows at her display of enthusiasm, which made Charlotte all the more self-conscious Slowly she lowered herself back into the chair "Sorry," she mumbled

"Don’t be I just didn’t expect you’d be the type to appreciate sports"

"Generally I’ on"

A patronizing smile flashed in and out of his eyes But that one instant was enough Charlotte recognized the look; she’d seen other men wear the same expression Men seee their own oil and hook up a TV by themselves, they were naturally superior to women Charlotte had run into that attitude most of her life

Since it was her duty to defend womankind, and because she’d been fortified with a beer, Charlotte ju!" she said

Trying to recover her dignity, she sat back down, tucking one leg beneath her "You think just because you happen to know a few sports rules, men are superior to women"

"We are," he returned wholeheartedly, without the least bit of reservation

Charlotte laughed "At least you’re honest I’o into the men’s room and snicker behind our backs"

"I’ to snicker right in front of you"