Keepers of the Cave by Gerri Hill Page B

end. “He does not. At least he has not said anything to me.”
    “Yet you date?”
    “We don’t date, CJ. He’s much like you. He likes to play the field,” she said, wondering if that was really how she would describe CJ. “He has no more interest in me than I do in him.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Look, when we’re around the family, we’re . . . friendly with each other. That’s it. Enough to make my parents think we see each other and enough to make his parents stop worrying about his playboy ways.” She didn’t add that it would be much easier to pretend if Seth wasn’t such an ostentatious ass.
    “So where did you meet this guy?”
    “I’ve known him most of my life. We went to law school together. He works for the firm that represents my father’s company.”
    CJ studied her, and Paige had to steel herself from shifting nervously beside her. She knew, of course, what the next question would be.
    “So have you ever slept with him?”
    Knowing the question didn’t make it any easier to answer. But she wouldn’t lie about it. “We slept together in law school. I was still...confused,” she said.
    CJ laughed. “Confused? You obviously hadn’t slept with a woman yet. You know what they say, once you go chick, you never go—”
    Paige covered CJ’s mouth with her hand, smiling too. “Please don’t say it.”
    “So when did you sleep with your first woman?”
    “That’s a little personal, don’t you think?”
    “It was obviously after Seth.” CJ reached for the wine bottle, adding a bit to both of their glasses.
    Paige thought back to those awkward days, days when she was terrified of her attraction to women, terrified of what her family would say if they knew. She actually slept with Seth in the hopes that it would chase away those attractions. In reality, it only reinforced them.
    “It was before Seth, actually,” she said. “Seth was my last attempt at normalcy.” She smiled. “It didn’t work.”
    “So why not just tell your parents then?”
    “Because it doesn’t work that way,” she said. She moved away, ending the conversation. “Did you talk to Ice today?” she asked, changing the subject.
    “Yes. There’s nothing new. I asked him to act like a historian and get some background on Hoganville. Maybe something will turn up.”
    Paige eyed the dirty dishes. “Your turn,” she said, heading off to the bedroom and her laptop.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
     
    CJ stood at the window, staring absently into the woods. She heard Paige in the kitchen and soon smelled bacon, but she wasn’t really interested this morning. She felt restless. She blew out a breath. Okay, she was bored. This sleepy little assignment was boring her to tears.
    “What’s wrong?”
    She turned, accepting the cup of coffee Paige offered her.
    “Wrong? Everything,” she said. “What the hell are we doing here? I mean, I feel like we’re wasting our time. We’re not really investigating anything, you know.”
    “Yes, I know.”
    “I’m sitting in a classroom full of goddamn juvenile delinquents—literally—and doing what? Babysitting them? You’re teaching a gym class, for God’s sake. We haven’t even met Fiona, who is at least a person of interest. I just feel like we should be doing something,” she said. “This has got to be the most boring, waste-of-time assignment I’ve ever had.”
    Paige went back to the kitchen, flipping the bacon. CJ could see the wheels turning in her head. Finally she looked up, only to shrug.
    “I agree, CJ.”
    “That’s it? I agree?”
    “What do you want me to say?”
    “I don’t know. Something,” she said as she turned back to the window. “We don’t even know if Hoganville is just a creepy little place or what. I’d like to feel like there’s a reason we’re here and not just that we drew the short end of the stick.”
    “Hoganville threw up red flags, that’s why we’re here. You know that. But you’re right. We don’t know if Hoganville