Page 28 of Who I Really Am
“Marco!” She lurches forward, her soft, soft hand lighting on my arm, the touch alone making the whole thing worthwhile. Her wide blues eyes are glued on me. I could stay this way, but I need to call a halt to the charade before she screams for 9-1-1.
I blink my vision straight. Wink. “Gotcha.”
She unfreezes and punches my bicep. “You rat! You scared me to death!” She turns to her friends for support, but they’re too busy laughing. “I hate you!”
I’m not worried. Sure enough, a second later, smile lines work the area about her mouth. A mouth I’d like very much to kiss…
And there I go again.
I clear my throat. “If you kill me, then I can’t tell you that I actually like it.”
One of her makeup-free eyelids lowers. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” Proving my point, I pop another bite into my mouth. She wins this round after all.
Palm to her chest, the little drama queen exhales theatrically—and then tears into her food with all the fervor I had expected from the get-go.
As we finish the first course, I feel Maddie’s eyes on me. She’s a pretty young woman in a super sweet, innocent, way. I’m not used to women like that, but I like her a lot, and I’m happy to find that Annalise has some decent friends. Genius detective that I am, I’m increasingly of the impression she needs a support system.
Maddie’s gaze cuts to Annalise. Back to me. Annalise is oblivious, I think, savoring the last bite of crab cake, but I brace. “So, uh, you guys…how long have you two been…?” Her finger wobbles between the two of us.
“Um…Annalise?” I nudge her arm. The honors go to her. I don’t know how to explain our connection in a way that doesn’t make things more awkward.
Her eyes pop when Maddie repeats the question. “Oh…no. No. We’re not dating. We’re…we just met. I mean…at Jake’s. Last night, and…”
Wow. If I’d known it would be this bad, I’d have come up with something myself.
“…and…”
Pity and humor vie for top honors.
“He’s Tripp’s partner!” she sputters.
I swear the decibels go up and her voice carries above the waves, the sea breeze whipping her declaration to every corner of the restaurant. My eyes close.Great.
Maddie is looking surprised when I open them again.
Annalise nods frenetically.
“DEA, right? Do you do undercover work, too?”
I wince a smile. Her husband’s eyebrows lift. “No kidding?”
I wish I could say she was joking around, but Annalise looks so intense and so panicked, I don’t think she can pull off a retreat.
Well, it isn’t exactly a state secret.
I notice Brett glancing at my exposed forearms, and I suspect he’s reconsidering my tats. Me.
Probably he should stick to his first impressions. No, I am not the best guy for his wife’s friend.
The Groom, as I like to think of him, opens his mouth, no doubt with a probing question, so I beat him to the punch and ask what he does for a living.
He blinks at the detour. “Oh, well, Maddie and I are about to move to Chicago to do inner city mission work. Come alongside the people there.”
Words fail me. I’m as shocked by this yahoo’s answer as he was by my occupation. Mission work? As in religious stuff? Whatever, but I would no more move my sweet young wife into that kind of war zone than I would let her follow me around the haunts where I work on any given day.
I am beginning to think this dude has rocks for brains, because I highly suspect he’s talking about the exact kind of neighborhood I’ve done much of my best work in. Shaking my head, I glance at Maddie’s left hand, shimmering with a diamond the size of Texas. “Well, I suggest she lose the rock before you do that.” Although a ring is the least of their worries.