Her gaze drifted to the rain-splattered window. "Yeah, I can see why."
"Andsunglasses."
She gave me a weak smile. "Like Chad?"
I didn't smile back – not because she was wrong, but because someone had to take this seriously. "He was no Chad. He was looking to scare me off. Same with the other guy."
She froze. "What?"
Shit.I hadn't meant to be so blunt, but now that I had her full attention, I pressed onward. "They told me to leave before things got ugly."
She gave the window another glance. With a half-hearted chuckle, she said, "They probably meant the weather."
I felt my jaw clench. "It's no joke, Maisie."
"Who says I'm joking?" She sounded annoyed, like I'd pushed it too far.
But I wasn't ready to let it go. "One of them – the guy with the coat and sunglasses – he was dressed like a gumshoe for God's sake."
"What's a gumshoe?" Her face scrunched. "Wait…do you mean like an old-timey detective?"
"That's exactly what I mean. He was even wearing a hat."
"You mean a detective hat? Like…a fedora?" She gave a tired laugh. "And you took them seriously?"
Talk about a loaded question.Had Iactedserious? Probably not. But that didn't mean I wasn't concerned. Reluctantly, I replied, "More or less." I hadn't felt in danger, but I wasn't Maisie.
Her eyes narrowed. "Okay…tell me this. When they told you to 'leave before things got ugly,' what did you say?"
Shit."It's not important."
"Yes, it is." She gave me a penetrating look. "What, you don't want to tell me?"
"Not particularly," I admitted.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want you thinking it's a joke."
Her eyebrows lifted. "Now, Ireallywant to know what you said."
Damn it."Alright." I looked away before saying, "I asked…" I stopped to clear my throat. "…whether he meant ugly like his glasses or ugly like his coat."
When I looked back to Maisie, she was staring like I'd just grown antlers. "Really?"
I reached up to rub the back of my neck. "Uh, yeah."
She burst out laughing. "And you wantmeto take it seriously?"
Well, at least I'd made her laugh."Whywouldn'tyou?"
"Becauseyoudidn't."
"Yeah, well I'm not you."
She rolled her eyes. "Obviously."
She was missing the point. I could handle those guys without breaking a sweat. But Maisie was smaller than both of them and ten times more decent. "Maisie – "
