“What are you doing in the human district?” I asked, slightly distracted by my delicious pie.
“I was following a lead. And you?”
“Returning a coffeepot.”
He steered his gaze out the window. “Have you come up with any more theories?”
“Well…”
Niko suddenly kicked me under the table, reminding me that we didn’t report to Detective Glass. I’d only been with the team a couple of weeks and didn’t know all the rules, but I was a quick study.
I blew the steam from a forkful of pie. “We’re still discussing the facts. You should probably talk to Viktor.”
He smiled warmly. “For someone with a lot of questions, you don’t have much to say.”
“You didn’t tell me the food was so good here,” Niko interrupted. “I haven’t tasted a cheeseburger this superior in decades.”
“They buy their meat fresh,” I said. “Not that prepackaged, frozen stuff. Next time you should order off the breakfast menu. Do you want to order anything, Detective Glass?”
“You can call me—”
“Mr. Glass,” I answered. “I shouldn’t get personal with people I’m working with.”
He leaned in. “Shame. Because I’d very much like to invite you to dinner, Miss Black.”
Niko rose from his seat. “I think I’ve changed my mind on the drink.” He turned away and left us alone.
I tried to ignore the fact that my cheeks were on fire. Ihatedawkward situations like this, and a man hadn’t asked me out on a date in a million years. Even worse was knowing that Glass was a Chitah and could probably smell my embarrassment.
I set down my fork. “I thought you were kidding around this morning.”
He smirked, accenting the lines on his cheeks. “I wasn’t sure if you were interested, so I thought I’d test the waters. Your scent changed when I made the suggestion.” He circled his finger on the table. “That intrigues me.”
“Cheater.”
He sat back and stretched his arm across the back of the seat. “I couldn’t ask you out in front of your boss. That would be inappropriate, and I could lose my position.”
“I’m not the dating kind.” I lowered my eyes to my pie and stabbed at the flakey crust. Little did he know that when left alone with a man, I was more likely to kill him than kiss him.
“Don’t be so quick to say no. It’s not easy for me to sit here and face rejection from a beautiful woman. We work similar jobs, and I can tell you take yours seriously. Not many people can relate to what we do, so I think we have a lot in common already. What do you have to lose?”
The sun skated behind a cloud. WhatdidI have to lose? I’d never had good experiences with Chitahs, but this wasn’t some loser with a seedy past. He had a respectable job and a nice smile. Chitahs weren’t exactly high on my list of guys I’d date, but being around Claude had shown me that some of them actually respected women. Maybe I needed to come out of my shell and have some fun for a change.
I swallowed a large bite of my pie. “And you have no problem with my being a Mage? Is this going to be a secret date in the back of a restaurant where all the other interbreeders hide?”
Interbreeders being people who liked to fool around with other Breeds.
“Do you go out much?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m probably banned from returning to the last bar I went to.”
He leaned forward. “A little troublemaker, are you?”
Then I remembered I was talking to the law. “Oh, um. No. It was just a misunderstanding.”
Glass laughed warmly. “Don’t worry, Miss Black. I only plan on putting you in cuffs after our date, not before.”
“I’m not easy to catch,” I said playfully.
