Well, if nothing else, that ruled out the quickie – unless he was going solo.And Skip would justlovethat.
I blurted out, "But you can't."
He stopped directly in front of me, with only the counter between us. "I can't what?"
"Go in the back room."And seriously, did I really need to spell it out?
His voice lowered to just a whisper. "Is thatyousaying that? Or someone else?"
I glanced around. "What, like I've got a puppet in my pocket?"
His gaze probed mine. "You're acting funny."
"Yeah? Well, you're acting funnier."
Again, his gaze shifted to the back. And then, speaking loud enough to carry, he called out, "If you thinkthisis funny, you'd hate to see what I'd do to someone causing trouble."
What the hell?I was glaring now."You'recausing trouble."
He studied my face. "Butjustme?"
As opposed to what? Him and my pretend puppet?Feeling ready to pop, I demanded, "What's that supposed to mean?"
His voice remained low. "So…you're saying there's nobody else here?"
Well, that wasn't extra-fishy or anything. I felt my eyes narrow. "Why do you wanna know?"
Just then, I heard movement behind me. When I turned to look, Skip poked his head out through the swinging door. With a loud huff, he said, "Hey! Can you keep it down out here? Some of us are trying to focus."
Yeah, right.What he really meant was that we'd interrupted his nap.
And of course, Skip justhadto add, "And where's your nametag?"
That thing?It was in the same place it always was – my pocket, because the clasp was supposedly broken. In reality, the nametag felt like one more clue I didn't want to give. "It fell off."
"Again?" He groaned like this was killing him. "You need to get a new one."
Right.Because I'd like nothing better than to spend my non-paycheck on something that would tell every Tom, Dick, or Harry my name.
When he disappeared into the back, I looked back to Ryder and squinted in confusion.
Suddenly, he was looking a lot more relaxed, like Skip had tossed him some happy-pills when I wasn't looking.
I asked, "You wanna tell me what I missed?"
"Who says you missed anything?" And then he smiled, looking annoyingly handsome with his golden blond hair, perfectly broad shoulders, and totally unfair face.
And don't get me started on his dimples.
They were faint, but unmistakable, like a secret weapon to make me go all gooey.
Damn it.
I'd always been a sucker for dimples.
But I refused to be distracted. "You're looking…I dunno…happier or something."
I waited for a denial, but it never came.
