blood heated and my knees turned to mush. One place Kaz and I had never had any problems was the bedroom, and one thing he’d never been was unfaithful. In fact, Kaz knew more about the right way to romance a woman than any other guy I’d ever met.
He also knew more about offtrack betting, online poker, and lying to poor fools like Amber.
I thanked the gods of sensibility for reminding me at the same time I stepped back and pointed. “The couch pulls out.”
“Yeah, I’m sure, but—”
He’d already made another move toward me, which completely justified me stepping into the bedroom, grabbing hold of the doorknob, and swinging the door almost shut. “I’ve got to be downstairs tomorrow by seven. So you’ll need to be in and out of the bathroom either earlier or later,” I said.
The fire in his eyes was tamped back. “Got it,” Kaz said.
And I chalked up one point for common sense and gave him a quick once-over. “The cops confiscated that blazer and the other clothes you left in the linen room. If you’re helping me out at the conference tomorrow—and you are, by the way, as a way of paying me back for giving you a place to sleep—you may want to head home and pick up some other clothes.”
“I can’t go home. Amber might be lurking. But not to worry.” His smile came and went. “I stopped at the gift shop and put a couple things on your conference account. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
“Once again, Kaz, you figured wrong.”
It wasn’t exactly the stinging parting shot I would have liked, but the fact that I closed the door in his face said something to him.
The fact that I made sure I locked the door… Well, I guess that said something to me, too.
K AZ’S NEW CLOTHES were delivered to the room early the next morning, and by ten minutes to seven, he was waiting at the elevator for me, decked out in black pants with a crisp pleat in them and a raspberry-colored sweater that fit as if a team of knitters had taken his measurements and worked their little fingers to the bone overnight.
I didn’t bother to ask how much the sweater cost me. The bill wouldn’t go to the conference but to my own personal account, and the way I figured it, seeing him look that good was worth it. Besides, now that he’d come right out and confessed what he was up to, I planned to make him work his butt off for the rest of the conference to earn both his couch to sleep on and his new clothes.
We rode down from the twenty-fourth floor in silence, and thank goodness, the elevator was empty of other conference-goers. I’d spent a good deal of the night tossing and turning and thinking about how I was going to break the news of Thad’s death to conference attendees, and so far, I hadn’t thought of anything that would satisfy everyone’s curiosity about what happened to our guest of honor and didn’t include the word murder .
“So, what are you going to tell them?”
Have I mentioned that Kaz has always been able to read my mind? I didn’t question it, just went with the flow.
Which is to say, I shrugged.
“I suppose I could say Thad was called away for some emergency back home, but once Nev starts interviewing people, that’s not going to hold up. I dunno.” My sigh echoed back at me from the elevator’s high ceiling. “I don’t wantpeople to panic. And I don’t want them to worry. I don’t want the conference to stop cold because all we can talk about is what happened to Thad. That’s not what we’re here for, and besides, like him or not, Thad deserves our respect. Especially because of the way he died.” I hugged my arms around myself and the gray-and-black argyle sweater I was wearing with black pants and pumps that were sensible enough to get me through another day of panels and discussions, organizing, and overseeing.
“We’ll just play it cool,” I told Kaz as the elevator bumped to a stop in the lobby. “I’ll talk to Nevin, and he’ll know the best way to break the news.
He also knew more about offtrack betting, online poker, and lying to poor fools like Amber.
I thanked the gods of sensibility for reminding me at the same time I stepped back and pointed. “The couch pulls out.”
“Yeah, I’m sure, but—”
He’d already made another move toward me, which completely justified me stepping into the bedroom, grabbing hold of the doorknob, and swinging the door almost shut. “I’ve got to be downstairs tomorrow by seven. So you’ll need to be in and out of the bathroom either earlier or later,” I said.
The fire in his eyes was tamped back. “Got it,” Kaz said.
And I chalked up one point for common sense and gave him a quick once-over. “The cops confiscated that blazer and the other clothes you left in the linen room. If you’re helping me out at the conference tomorrow—and you are, by the way, as a way of paying me back for giving you a place to sleep—you may want to head home and pick up some other clothes.”
“I can’t go home. Amber might be lurking. But not to worry.” His smile came and went. “I stopped at the gift shop and put a couple things on your conference account. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
“Once again, Kaz, you figured wrong.”
It wasn’t exactly the stinging parting shot I would have liked, but the fact that I closed the door in his face said something to him.
The fact that I made sure I locked the door… Well, I guess that said something to me, too.
K AZ’S NEW CLOTHES were delivered to the room early the next morning, and by ten minutes to seven, he was waiting at the elevator for me, decked out in black pants with a crisp pleat in them and a raspberry-colored sweater that fit as if a team of knitters had taken his measurements and worked their little fingers to the bone overnight.
I didn’t bother to ask how much the sweater cost me. The bill wouldn’t go to the conference but to my own personal account, and the way I figured it, seeing him look that good was worth it. Besides, now that he’d come right out and confessed what he was up to, I planned to make him work his butt off for the rest of the conference to earn both his couch to sleep on and his new clothes.
We rode down from the twenty-fourth floor in silence, and thank goodness, the elevator was empty of other conference-goers. I’d spent a good deal of the night tossing and turning and thinking about how I was going to break the news of Thad’s death to conference attendees, and so far, I hadn’t thought of anything that would satisfy everyone’s curiosity about what happened to our guest of honor and didn’t include the word murder .
“So, what are you going to tell them?”
Have I mentioned that Kaz has always been able to read my mind? I didn’t question it, just went with the flow.
Which is to say, I shrugged.
“I suppose I could say Thad was called away for some emergency back home, but once Nev starts interviewing people, that’s not going to hold up. I dunno.” My sigh echoed back at me from the elevator’s high ceiling. “I don’t wantpeople to panic. And I don’t want them to worry. I don’t want the conference to stop cold because all we can talk about is what happened to Thad. That’s not what we’re here for, and besides, like him or not, Thad deserves our respect. Especially because of the way he died.” I hugged my arms around myself and the gray-and-black argyle sweater I was wearing with black pants and pumps that were sensible enough to get me through another day of panels and discussions, organizing, and overseeing.
“We’ll just play it cool,” I told Kaz as the elevator bumped to a stop in the lobby. “I’ll talk to Nevin, and he’ll know the best way to break the news.
Similar Books
