Sullivan didn’t say anything. He forked a bite of pie but didn’t lift it. After a moment, he turned the fork over and let it rest on the side of his plate. He raised his eyes and set them on Ramsey’s pale face. With no hint of intent, he asked, “Are you running?”
Ramsey had no ready defense for the unexpected. She blinked. That was all, just a blink, but she felt as if she’d grabbed a bullhorn and announced the answer to every diner in restaurant. The moment passed, and she said steadily, “I don’t run. I walk the trail. I don’t even jog. Why? Did you have something in mind?”
Sullivan’s eyes turned flinty, narrowed marginally. “Too many words, Ramsey. When you’re obfuscating, it’s better to keep it simple. ‘No,’ for instance would have worked better.”
“All right. Then, no.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Ramsey tore her eyes away from his and looked around for their waitress. She saw her, caught her attention, and indicated she wanted the check. “I have this.” When Sullivan didn’t argue, she knew he was not going to allow the conversation to go sideways. She faced him again, her jaw set. “Are you doing some kind of cop thing right now? Your Spidey sense been tripped?”
“A little bit of both.”
“Well, stop it.”
“Ramsey.”
“Don’t Ramsey me. I know that tone. Ilivedwith that tone.”
A vertical crease appeared between Sullivan’s eyebrows. “I didn’t—”
She put up a hand, cut him off. “Hell, Sullivan, I wasmarriedto that tone. Condescending. Patronizing. Arrogant.”
“Okay. I get it. You know a thesaurus worth of words for son of a bitch.”
His response startled Ramsey. The corners of her mouth twitched. “Dammit, Sullivan. Don’t make me laugh.” Her brief smile faded and she regarded him seriously. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
“What wasn’t a good idea?”
“This. You. Me.”
“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe. You want to know things about me that I’m not prepared to tell.”
“I figure you have your reasons.”
“If you know that, then why did you ask me if I was running? I don’t understand how your mind works. I don’t even know where that question came from.”
“The only reason that can be important is so you can prepare yourself to deflect, deny, or otherwise be disagreeable. That sound about right?”
“You don’t think I’m going to admit that, do you?”
He shrugged. “Guess not.”
The check came and while Ramsey dug in her purse for her credit card, Sullivan slipped his into the padded book and handed it back to the waitress.
“Hey,” she said, watching the check and his card go away. “I told you I had it.”
“You also had three glasses of wine. I didn’t know how serious you were.”
“So itwasthree. That explains so much.” Feeling miserable about it, she shook her head. “In the future, cut me off at two.”
Sullivan supposed that meant there was a future. He refrained from pointing out that she’d been talking about ending things a very short time ago. He decided to blame the wine since she seemed to be of a similar mind. “I’m driving,” he said.
“And I’m in favor of that.”
When his card returned, Sullivan added a tip, and slipped his card into his wallet. “Ready?” he asked.
