Blue Dahlia (In the Garden 1)

But she had a point. Still, it occurred to him that she knew a great deal about him - personal matters. How much he made, for instance. When he asked himself how he felt about that, the answer was, Not entirely comfortable.

"My work, my salary, my prices are between me and Roz. "

"Not anymore," she said cheerfully. "She has the last word, no question, but I'm there to manage. I'm saying that, in my opinion, Roz showed foresight and solid business sense in bringing you into her business. She pays you very well because you're worth it. Any reason you can't take that as a compliment and skip the brooding phase?"

"I don't know. What's she paying you?"

"That is between her and me, but you're certainly free to ask her. " The Star Wars theme erupted in her purse. "Gavin's pick," she said as she dug it out. The readout told her the call came from home. "Hello? Hi, baby. "

Though he was still a little irked, he watched everything about her light up. "You did? You're amazing. Uh-huh. I absolutely will. See you soon. "

She closed the phone, put it back in her purse. "Gavin aced his spelling test. "

"Yay. "

She laughed. "You have no idea. I have to pick up pepperoni pizza on the way home. In our family, it's not a carrot at the end of the stick used as motivation - or simple bribery - it's pepperoni pizza. "

"You bribe your kids?"

"Often, and without a qualm. "

"Smart. So, they're getting along in school?"

"They are. All that worry and guilt wasted. I'll have to set it aside for future use. It was a big move for them - new place, new school, new people. Luke makes friends easily, but Gavin can be a little shy. "

"Didn't seem shy to me. Kid's got a spark. Both of them do. "

"Comic book connection. Any friend of Spidey's, and so on, so they were easy with you. But they're both sliding right along. So I can scratch traumatizing my sons by ripping them away from their friends off my Things to Worry About list. "

"I bet you actually have one. "

"Every mother has one. " She let out a long, contented sigh as he pulled into the lot at the nursery. "This has been a really good day. Isn't this a great place? Just look at it. Industrious, attractive, efficient, welcoming. I envy Roz her vision, not to mention her guts. "

"You don't seem deficient in the guts department. "

"Is that a compliment?"

He shrugged. "An observation. "

She liked being seen as gutsy, so she didn't tell him she was scared a great deal of the time. Order and routine were solid, defensive walls that kept the fear at bay.

"Well, thanks. For the observation, and the afternoon. I really appreciated both. " She opened the door, hopped out. "And I've got a trip into the city for ribs on my list of must-dos. "

"You won't be sorry. " He got out, walked around to her side. He wasn't sure why. Habit, he supposed. Ingrained manners his mother had carved into him as a boy. But it wasn't the sort of situation where you walked the girl to her door and copped a kiss good night.

She thought about offering her hand to shake, but it seemed stiff and ridiculous. So she just smiled.

"I'll play the CD for the boys. " She shook her bag. "See what they think. "

"Okay. See you around. "

He started to walk back to his door. Then he cursed under his breath, tossed his sunglasses on the hood, and turned back. "Might as well finish it out. "

She wasn't slow, and she wasn't naive. She knew what he intended when he was still a full stride away. But she couldn't seem to move.

She heard herself make some sound - not an actual word - then his hand raked through her hair, his fingers cupping her head with enough pressure to bring her up on her toes. She saw his eyes. There were gold flecks dusted over the green.

Then everything blurred, and his mouth was hard and hot on hers.