Eye Candy Read Online Free Page B

office. It responds when addressed but nothing more. It’s been sitting in my waiting room for three weeks.”
    “Want me to take a look at it?”
    “You would do that?”
    “Sure. Couldn’t hurt. If I can’t fix it, I’m sure you can. And if you can’t, it’ll have to be junked. Maybe you should organize a group, for all the ailing robots. A support group, for robots with post-traumatic stress disorder.”
    “Considering the price tag of some of these robots, that actually may not be a bad idea.” Candy laughed. “The great Daniel Olivaw, eminent roboticist and stand-up comic.”
    “I’m not that great.”
    “I’ve only known you ten minutes, but I think you’re pretty great.”
    Embarrassed and uncertain of how to respond, Danny drank more wine.
     
    ~
     
    Several hours later, Roberto announced that he and Gus were ready to close the restaurant. Danny ordered the aforementioned bottle of wine, as well as a pizza for Floyd, and paid the bill. He made certain to reward both Roberto and Gus with a gratuity every bit as exemplary as Gus’s cuisine and Roberto’s attentive service.
    Danny escorted Candy home, driving behind her in his car until she safely arrived.
    Home turned out to be a quaint two-story dwelling. When Danny exited his car he noticed the wide glass doors of a well-appointed office.
    “You live here?” he asked.
    “No, I work here. I live up there.” Candy pointed to the upper story and the stairs leading to it. “I have a thirty-second commute. It’s fabulous during rush hour.”
    Danny moved closer to the office door and inspected it. He read the big gold letters on the glass: CANDACE CALVIN, Ph.D.
    “You’re Candace Calvin?” he asked.
    Candy nodded.
    “You’re Candace Calvin.”
    “My friends call me Candy.”
    “I can’t believe it. Half my research for The Rock of God came from your research on robopsychology.”
    “Shut up.”
    “No, I’m serious. Your work on robots and their curiosity about their own existence was absolutely inspired. It contributed immensely to my book.”
    “Well, I’d say this is just about impossible. Us meeting like this. Our matching wardrobe. Impossible multiplied by . . . itself.”
    “Impossibility squared.”
    Candy grinned. She proceeded up the stairs to her residence. Danny followed.
    “I like your gnome.” Danny motioned to a small figurine perched by the door and wearing a pointed red hat.
    “Thanks. I bought it in Amsterdam. It’s supposed to be a stash can for weed but I keep a spare key to my house inside it, in case I ever lose my keys.”
    They reached the landing and stood quietly. Staring at one another.
    “What’re you looking at, Candy?”
    “What do you think I’m looking at, Danny?”
    “I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”
    “You know,” said Candy, “if you were a robot, I could order you to come inside for a nightcap.” She held up the bottle of wine.
    “And if you were a robot, I could order you to invite me inside for a nightcap.”
    “But neither of us is a robot. So what should we do?”
    “It’s time to use the blind-date-ending code words.”
    “But we agreed to use the code words only if the date wasn’t going well.”
    “Oh,” said Danny, “you’re right. We should’ve come up with blind-date-continuing code words.”
    “Like, ‘Do you want to come . . . inside? ’ ”
    “Yes,” Danny whispered.
    Slowly, very slowly, Danny leaned forward, until his face was less than an inch from Candy, with his mouth very nearly pressed against Candy’s lips. He brushed his lips against her face, soft as velvet, and kissed her cheek, lightly.
    He leaned away and took a step back. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” He turned and descended the stairs, slid behind the wheel of his white convertible, and drove away, leaving Candy standing outside her front door, as if frozen.

Chapter 4
     
    I Want Candy
     
     
    Once inside, Candy bolted the door and placed her keys and purse and the bottle of