On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay

friend.
    â€œIt’s not what you think,” Lindsey said.
    â€œReally?” Robbie asked. “Now whatever would I be thinking? Last I heard, you had issues with me being married and issues with sailor boy being too quick to cut you loose, so you were refusing to date either of us. And yet I hear you were dancing with the dodgy blighter. Explain yourself.”
    â€œDid you know your accent gets thicker when you’re irritated?” Lindsey asked.
    Robbie took a step forward, and she took a step back. He took another step forward, and she turned sideways and slipped her hand through his arm.
    â€œDid I thank you yet for saving me from the inquisition?” she asked.
    â€œNo,” he said. “And just what was that all about? What does the detective with the most excellent taste in television dramas want with you?”
    â€œYou’re not going to be derailed, are you?” Lindsey asked.
    â€œNot even a little,” he said.
    â€œHe was reviewing the events of the morning prior to finding the body,” she said. “No big deal.”
    â€œThen why were you lying to him?” Robbie said.
    â€œI wasn’t lying,” Lindsey protested.
    â€œOh, love, I’m a student of human behavior and mannerisms,” he said. “I know your tell.”
    â€œWhat?” Lindsey gasped. “I don’t have a tell.”
    â€œYour nose crinkles right here when you’re less than truthful,” he said. Lindsey gave him a dubious look and he said, “It’s true, when you fib, you look like you smell something bad but you’re trying not to let anyone know.”
    â€œIt’s true, you do,” Ms. Cole said from behind the circulation desk.
    Lindsey looked at her and then fingered the bridge of her nose. Was she really that bad of a liar? Would Detective Trimble have noticed?
    â€œNo, only people who know you very well would be able to recognize it,” Robbie said as if reading her mind.
    â€œI didn’t lie,” she protested. Then when she noticed Ms. Cole was leaning closer in an attempt to hear better, she hissed, “Not on purpose anyway.”
    Robbie just looked at her as if he had all the time in the world. “You may as well tell me what is going on, because I’m just going to keep asking until you give in. In case you haven’t noticed, I am nothing if not tenacious.”
    Lindsey rolled her eyes. He would badger her and bug her and pester her until she gave in or pleaded for mercy. She had no doubt of it.
    â€œCome on, I’ll make you some tea and explain.” She turned and raised her voice so that the lemon, a not nice but very appropriate nickname for Ms. Cole, could hear her as well when she said, “And we can discuss that new play you’re auditioning actors for next week.”
    Robbie tsked as he followed her into the back room. “You’re trying to throw off Ms. Cole by distracting her with more theater opportunities.”
    â€œMaybe.” Lindsey shrugged.
    â€œHa, there it is again!” he cried. He tapped his nose and then pointed to her.
    Lindsey pursed her lips. She was obviously going to have to practice fibbing in the mirror. She led the way to her office. She had taken to keeping a kettle and a tin of loose leaf tea around for when Robbie popped in, which seemed to be quite regularly. She told herself it was just because his son, Dylan, worked in the library, shelving books, but she suspected there was more to it than that.
    She and Robbie had become friends, good friends, during the production of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Robbie had made it pretty clear that he liked her, but as he had mentioned, one of her many issues with him was the fact that he was married.
    She thought about Kitty, his wife, while she filled the electric kettle from the water cooler outside her office. Yes, his marriage was in name only, but still, Lindsey was not about to get involved with someone