“You wouldn’t know what to look for.” He blinks slowly, as if there are heavy weights attached to his jet-black eyelashes.
“Let me guess, a scary person in a trench coat and a top hat with pockets big enough to hide a camera and maybe a weapon?” I’m joking—mostly. I punch him in the arm and smother my giggle when he jerks it away.
“Comeon,” I whine, drawing the word out. “I can do it.”
“No, crazy woman. I can’t let you. Can’t risk it.”
Of course he doesn’t trust me.
He quickly changes the subject. “Did you ask them?”
“Who?”
A car passes by, momentarily bathing us in its headlights. That flash of light accentuates the square angle of Dean’s jaw and the subtle bump in the middle of his nose, like it was broken once long ago.
He says impatiently, “Your friends, the reporters.”
“Oh. Yeah, Ron and Bradly. I asked both of them. Ron works on theLos Angeles Timeswith me, and Bradly writes for theOrange County Register. Figured that way we’d have access to a wider range of intel.” Look at me, using my fancy words, like I’m some kind of detective. Maybe listening to all those true-crime podcasts will finally pay off.
“Who’re they? Ex-boyfriends?” Dean watches me intently.
What a weird question.
“No. The only ex-boyfriend from work I have is Eddie.”
“Eddie?” He rears back. “I thought you were still dating him.”
Since when does Dean know who I’m seeing? Pretty sure I’ve never mentioned Eddie around him.
“Not anymore.” I heave a resentful sigh as I replay our breakup conversation from over two months ago. How Eddie had beaten me to the punch by dumping me. Stupid me. I’d been blindsided when he gave me the old, “It’s not you. It’s me. I need space. Blah, blah, blah,” speech. It shouldn’t have surprised me, Eddie had always been a jerk, but when he begged me to go out withhim it felt good. To be wanted. I looked past his flaws and said “yes.” What an idiot. Had I really been that desperate? It’s so depressing that I sigh again.
“What’s wrong with you?” Dean’s frown deepens, and he shifts a little closer. “Why do you keep making those pathetic noises?”
“Pathetic! I’m not pathetic. I’m just…sad.” Tears threaten, but I hold them back. I did all my crying right after the breakup. It’s not that I cried over Eddie. He doesn’t deserve that. It’s more that I cried for myself. For yet another failed relationship.
“Why?” He scoots another inch closer.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, since you lack basic human emotions, but I’m upset because it was my longest relationship, lasting over eight months.”
Even though I’d never thought Eddie was “husband material,” I’d held on longer than I should’ve, in part to prove that I could have a long-term relationship. Maybe it’s time to accept that I’ll never be “that” woman. The one who gets chosen for forever. I’m the fun girl. The one guys date right before they find their future wife.
“He’s an idiot,” Dean says dismissively.
My skin bristles at his offhand tone. “He isnot.”
Why am I defending the man who dumped me over a 10-minute phone call? The one who’s currently making me miserable at work.
“A total loser,” Dean declares, as if that settles the matter. “I never liked him.”
“Have you even met him?” I ask, momentarily confused.
“Don’t have to meet him to know he’s a moron.” Dean crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in his seat.
“Just because he chose to date me doesn’t make him stupid.” My temper flares into life.
“That’s not what I said.” He meets my eyes for a microsecond with an intense gaze, like he’s trying to communicate through telepathy or something. Then he’s back on duty, focused on Caleb’s building.
“You didn’t have to.” I curl in on myself. I won’t let him upset me. This Neanderthal of a man.
