Chapter 6: To Make A House A Home

Amanda turned to Sam, "Call some deli and have them stock the fridge."

She patted Mark on the butt and told him, "Let's get the hell out of here." She went out the door ahead of him. After they looked cautiously around and saw the driver open the limo door Amanda hurried Mark to the waiting vehicle. There were no goodbyes. He climbed in, careful not to bump his head and leaned back in the seat. She was sound asleep in seconds.

"Where are we going?" the driver asked.

"Beverley Hills. She wants to stop on Rodeo Drive," Mark answered. Then he leaned back close to Amanda and fell sound asleep in seconds. For the first time in his life, he felt free and safe.

"Man," the driver mumbled to himself, "How can they sleep through all that's happening? They must have a ton of willpower."

The driver took I-5 straight through to the I-405 turnoff. He drove fast as conditions permitted and made good time on both freeways. Mark jerked wide awake when the limousine slowed to turn off onto the Wilshire Boulevard exit and cruised unerringly toward Rodeo. The driver looked in the rear mirror and asked, "Here's Rodeo Drive. Where do you want to stop?"

"Amanda? Where do you want to go from here?" Mark asked as he gently shook her. He looked in wonder at his new love as if seeing her for the first time.

"Oh, I guess I dozed off for a minute there." She winced as she tried to move her left arm and couldn't make it work. She sat up straight and looked bleary eyed around and tried to gather her wits about her.

Mark laughed for the first time in days. "I'll say you dozed off for a minute, you slept all the way here."

He didn't tell her he had awakened just minutes before.

She looked around a little more to get her bearings and finally told the driver, "There's a men's store up ahead two blocks. They have everything in clothing he needs. Biff shopped there on my credit cards."

"Amanda!" he whispered, horrified at the thought of showing his bruised face in public. "I can't go into a store looking like I do. Especially up here."

She smiled, "Then I guess we'll have to get curb service.'

"You can do that in Beverley Hills?" He looked at her in amazement. "I never heard of such a thing.

"To tell you the truth I haven't either. But what the hell, it's worth a try." She ordered the driver to park in a passenger-loading zone and honk the horn.

At the third honk a tall slender man dressed in a severe cut business suit came out to the limousine and demanded haughtily, "Please cease that noise and move on. This is a passenger loading and unloading area only."

Amanda pressed the button to lower the window and said in a pleasant voice, "I'm sorry to disturb you but the young man is reluctant to be seen in public with his bruised face. Would you take his measurements and bring us a few things for now and deliver the rest to my house?"

Curious, the man bent down, got a look at Mark's battered face and began to scowl; his lips drew back in an almost feral grimace. He assumed Amanda was the cause of the bruises. Then he recognized her, "Oh my, you're Amanda Lust. Then this young gentleman must be Mark Cantrell. Please come into the shop. It will be an honor if I can take care of you personally. "You've been all over TV and the newspapers."

He opened the car door and waited for them to climb out of the low limo and follow him into the store.

Amanda laboriously pulled herself out and offered her right hand to Mark to help him out. The battered couple took their time as they followed the man

inside.

When they entered, Mark looked around and gasped, shocked at the clothing on display. "Oh dear!" he squeaked. "Is it legal to display such clothing in public, let alone sell it?"

Amanda saw his reaction and laughed as she sat heavily down. "Babe, if ya go it, flaunt it."

"My name is Marvin Kincaid, now how may I be of assistance?" The clothing salesman smiled gently down at Mark who didn't hear a word said as he looked around in awe at three live male models who all walked through the store in clothing more skimpy than anything he had ever imagined in his sheltered life.

Marvin smiled at Mark's reaction. "If those are a bit extreme, I have a few items perhaps a little more conservative." He laughed and told Amanda, "We keep a few in the back room in plain wrappers."

Amanda laughed, then got down to business. "On the underwear, give him ten of everything in his size. He needs sports slacks, jeans, sweaters and shirts and socks and shoes. Better add some swimwear. Oh hell, just give him a complete new wardrobe. What am I doing, trying to order anything for a man? God, I can't even order for myself." Amanda sat back and let the two men confer.

"Amanda!" Mark exclaimed in horror, "I can't go out in public in some of these outfits. They are so, so, so extreme!" Amanda saw him look longingly at a pair of show the crotch bulge jeans and an open down the front see through shirt on a mannequin. His straight-laced upbringing was in strong conflict with his desires.

"Go ahead, sweetheart, get 'em. You'll probably like them, once you get used to them. I'll have wardrobe send someone out tomorrow and bring you a few things for casual wear that might be a little bit more conservative," She smiled at him, amused at how fast he had begun to shed a lifetime of inhibitions and prohibitions.

An hour and a half later they climbed back into the limo and left. Amanda was many thousands of dollars poorer, yet still happy with what she considered an errand well run. Refreshed from her long nap coming up from San Diego, she sat straighter, her right arm draped over Mark's shoulder. She snuggled up close and laid her cheek against his chest. "You smell so good to me."

"I what?" he asked, astonished. "How can a sweaty man smell good to anyone?" He turned his head and smiled at her.

"Not just any man, this man," she told him. You make me feel excited. I want to do..." She paused and thought for a moment. "I want you and only you." Another pause and she asked in a tiny voice, "Do I sound foolish to you?"