“I call it escalation. What do you think about coating the next bar with liquid laxative?”
Wincing, he picked up his wine. “That seems a bit extreme.”
“Maybe. Yeah. Probably.” She wound more pasta. “I’ll think of something.”
“No doubt.” He passed her some garlic bread. “You could stop hiding candy in your office and just keep some in your pocket.”
She just shook her head. “It’s a matter of principle. Anyway. A street thief tried to pick my pocket today. How stupid is that?”
Roarke smiled at her. “I’m sure they’re sitting on a cot behind bars asking themselves that very question.”
“You ever lift from a cop?”
“Of course.” He ate some pasta. “It was a matter of principle.”
Chapter Thirteen
After dinner, Roarke changed from his ruler-of-a-business-empire suit into casual pants and shirt. When he came back, Eve eyed the black leather jacket he’d added.
“You’re wearing the jacket because you’re carrying.”
“We’re going to Times Square in the area of porn theaters and sex shops. So I’m carrying, yes.”
She only shrugged as they started out. “Like you never trolled Times Square in the area of porn theaters and sex shops before tonight.”
“By the time I came to New York, I didn’t have a need to resort to picking pockets.”
“It wouldn’t have been for need.”
Amused, he gave her a cheerful one-arm hug.
“Ah, well, she knows me. If I did so for fun, I’d choose an area where the take would be more profitable. Or at least more challenging.”
He crossed to the door. “No doubt if I’d come across you in your uniform, I’d have had other things in mind than your pockets.”
She repeated her side-eye. “You think I wouldn’t have made you as a street thief, Ace?”
“We’ll never know, will we now?”
She stepped out, frowned at the sexy two-seater in screaming red. “That’s not my vehicle.”
“Would you like it?” Taking her hand, he led her to it.
She just shook her head and got in.
“It’s a new model,” Roarke told her, and started the engine with its lion’s roar. “One that will hit the global market next week.”
“What’s new?”
“Well now, there’s this. Sky mode.” He pointed up.
She looked, and saw the sky through the now-transparent roof.
“And this.”
The car didn’t just shift to vertical. It soared so they were down the drive and over the gates in seconds flat.
“Okay, I’m giving you this and this. Sky mode’s pretty damn frosty, and this car moves.”
