short.”
“This isn’t funny.”
He knew that. He did, but he liked that he finally got a reaction out of her. He stepped farther away from her. Her eyes were on fire, her arms crossed, her lips pursed. She was pretty pissed at him.
And pretty when she was pissed, but he chose to keep that to himself. “I don’t think it’s funny. I just thought I was helping with whatever problem you were working through.”
She blinked. “And how would kissing me solve any problem?”
“Well if you were deciding to kiss me or not then I helped.”
“That wasn’t what I was deciding.”
She looked away for a moment and that gave him a spark of hope. She was lying. She was thinking about him. Maybe not kissing him, but something along those lines. He’d been in her thoughts and that’s where it all started.
He didn’t smile, didn’t gloat. He just took it all in. She would give in, eventually.
“What were you thinking about?”
“Maybe about this case? Maybe about how the stalker has now escalated things?”
He still thought she was lying. She didn’t look at him straight on. Instead she looked at her hands on her keyboard. She chewed her lip. He would bet she was having doubts about some things including her feelings for him.
“You saw something on the video?”
If he hadn’t been watching her so closely he wouldn’t have seen her hesitation. “No, I didn’t.”
She closed her laptop. “What’s next on your agenda?”
His head spun from the rapid change of subject. “Lunch.”
He turned away from her and he thought he heard her let out a breath. Was he that scary or was she that unsure about him? He was a good guy. She didn’t know that yet. She would.
He set about making lunch, meatball parmesan sandwiches. He gave Tamra her space while he did it. She didn’t open up her laptop. He assumed she watched him. Being on stage, he was used to people watching him.
The front door opened and Tamra was out of her chair as if she’d been shot from a cannon.
“It’s probably Roger. He’s here’s to help me with the clothing line.”
“Someone else will be here?” Tamra said from the door.
“Yes, a freelance designer who is helping me with a line of clothing.”
Her gaze roved over him and he knew what she was thinking. She’d only seen him in jeans and a t-shirt. He laughed. “It’ll be based on what I wear on stage.”
“You have a distinctive look?”
Her eyes never met his, but she stood in the doorway looking down the hallway.
“I do. I’m often on the best dressed lists,” he said which he found amusing since offstage he was a slob.
She crossed her arms. “You never gave me your schedule for the week.”
Roger entered the kitchen. “Just in time for lunch, huh?”
“Good thing I made one for you,” Colin said. “Roger, this is Tamra. Until this stalker is caught she’s my shadow.”
He thought over his words. Then he realized how that sounded. She was black. He was white, but she didn’t react to his so he let it go.
Roger clasped Tamra’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Tamra.”
“I need Colin’s schedule for the next few days,” she said.
All business of course. Hopefully their conversation from earlier was forgotten. He didn’t want her to be uncomfortable. He just wanted her.
***
Larry finished his business and then called Kelly. She didn’t answer right away and he feared that she was having second thoughts. Then she answered.
Her husky voice came through the phone. “Hello.”
“It’s Larry. Are you still free for lunch?”
“Uh, yes I am. Where are you? I can meet you.”
“I’m not far from you.” He held up his crossed fingers. Despite not liking to be out of Manhattan, he was willing to take a longer trip to see Kelly. “Do you know any restaurants near you?”
“Yes, there’s one along the river in Duketown. I’ll give you the address for your GPS.”
“That sounds great.” He typed in the address. “I’ll be there in
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro