Page 133 of Hidden Nature
“Again no. Call it an exchange. Pizza, wine or soft drink. I don’t have any beer. I lost my taste for it after tossing it and everything else in my system after a college kegger.”
“Been there. What’s the exchange?”
“You’re not a cop, but you seem like a reasonably smart and logical person.”
“Thousands agree.”
“The guy I used to partner with, professionally, is having his first kid pretty soon. I don’t want to pull him into bouncing this around with me. You’re already here.”
“It’s a cop thing?” He paused in his work. “Isn’t Uniontown outside your borders?”
“Yes. I have strong reason to believe what happened there is connected to two cases in Maryland.”
“Sure, why not? I can listen. I get pizza out of it. And you’ve got good taste in wine.”
“I dated a sommelier for about ten minutes once. I’ll get the oven going.”
When she had, and he put the nail gun in its case, picked up the Skilsaw, she walked over to take one of the sawhorses.
“I’ll get those.”
“I’ve got it.”
Without bothering with coats, they carted tools and supplies out to his truck with Tic following happily both ways.
On the second trip, she looked over at him. “I should be up front and tell you I can’t sleep with you.”
His eyes, heavy-lidded and what she thought of as dark chocolate, met hers. “Well, that’s direct.”
“Direct’s best.”
She went back in, and since she wouldn’t go out again, pulled off her boots.
“Even direct,” he said as he came in behind her, with the dog on his heels, “begs the question why.”
“I’ve got a lot going on, and not much time for… recreation,” she decided. “But more, our siblings are sleeping together, and very likely dreaming of a wedding, a honeymoon, a couple of kids. You and me having sex while they’re having sex and dreams? Just weird.”
“Maybe. But they’d have it where they have it, we’d have it elsewhere.”
“True. With or without the element of siblings, I draw a hard line at group sex.”
“We have a point of agreement.”
She got out a bag of dog food, filled a bowl from a cabinet, added another bowl of water.
As she took out the pizza to unbox, Tic made himself at home.
“You also live essentially next door, so potential for sticky. Stickier, you subcontract for my family. It’s smarter to keep it at pizza.”
When the oven dinged, she slid the pizza in. “Want that wine now?”
“Yeah, I do. What makes you think I want to sleep with you anyway?”
“I’m a trained observer.”
He glanced down at the tiny scar under his thumb. “I’ve got to give you that one.”
“Have a seat. I’m going to start bouncing.”
