“By these very own hands,” Olive said with an uncharacteristic girlish giggle.
“That’s good enough for me.” Tony grinned at her, handing her his menu, his body leaned toward her attentively.
“And for you, I put a couple of extra meatballs on the plate.”
“Ah, you’re a real charmer.” Tony gave the broad woman the benefit of his hundred-watt smile.
Libby watched this byplay with disgust, unable to believe that even a hardened, world-wise woman like Olive could be affected by male physical attractiveness. “I’ve been eating in this restaurant almost every day for the past several months, and never has Olive offered to put something extra on my plate,” she commented, picking up her paper napkin and positioning it on her lap.
Tony shrugged and looked at her innocently. “Perhaps you just don’t know how to order properly.”
“Or flirt outrageously,” Libby muttered beneath her breath.
For a moment he merely stared at her; then he grinned slowly. “Ah, is it possible the beautiful flower perhaps has thorns?” He reached across the table and lightly touched one of her hands.
“It is very possible, and it’s dangerous to get too close to a thorny flower. You’re liable to get stuck.” She withdrew her hand and moved it out of his reach, irritated by the sudden infusion of warmth that had coursed through her at his light touch.
“There are some men who thrive on danger.” He grinned easily, seemingly unaffected by her withdrawal from him. “Is that why you and your husband divorced? Because you’re full of thorns?”
“Is that why you decided to become a private investigator? Because you thrive on danger?” Libby countered coolly.
Once again Tony’s gaze was thoughtful as another small grin played on his lips, making his mustache twitch beguilingly. “Very good—when the conversation gets too personal, it’s always a good tactic to counter with a question.” He shrugged in good-natured defeat. “Okay, we’ll talk about me. I’m thirty-six years old. I was a police officer for eleven years. I was a damn good cop, but I decided I was ready to go into business for myself. I’ve been a private investigator for almost a year now.”
“Business must be pretty bad if you have to take cases like Bill’s,” Libby exclaimed with a touch of sourness, not forgetting for a moment that this man had been shadowing her life for the past three days.
Tony shrugged. “Actually, I usually don’t take these kind of cases…but to be perfectly honest, this particular surveillance case intrigued me.”
“Intrigued you?” Libby gave a short burst of unbelieving laughter. “What could you possibly find intriguing about Bill and me?”
“Oh, it wasn’t so much Bill. He just appeared to me to be a lovesick, obsessed ex-husband. What intrigued me the most was that he told me he’d hired two prior detectives and you’d caught on to all of them within hours.”
Libby nodded, wry humor lifting her features as she thought of the previous P.I.s’ ineptitude. “I’ll admit, you were much better than the others. You’ve been following me for three days. All the others lasted only a single day.”
His dark eyes glinted with suppressed amusement, and a small smile touched his lips. “Actually, I’ve been following you for six days.” He laughed at her expression of shock, his laughter deep and pleasant. “You’re good, but I’m better.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said flatly, looking at him skeptically. Her mind whirled back over the past six days. Surely she would have known if somebody had been following her for almost an entire week. “I…I would have sensed you…I would have known…”
He reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew a small black notebook. Thumbing through the pages, he came to a halt and began reading aloud. “Wednesday evening, subject stopped for groceries on way home from work, then proceeded directly to her apartment. Subject went to bed at ten o’clock.” He looked up from the notebook, the teasing laughter back in his eyes. “Oh, by the way, I find that little blue thing you wear to bed quite attractive.”
She opened and closed her mouth several times, sputtering in total outrage. For a moment her indignation was so great, words wouldn’t come, and so she settled for glaring at him. “That is absolutely despicable,” she finally managed to sputter, grabbing her purse, intent on leaving. She was stymied by Olive, whose massive bulk appeared at their table with their orders, effectively blocking Libby’s desired escape.
Once the big woman had departed from their table, Libby glared at him once again. “I think you’re rude and obnoxious, and I think the job you perform is equally odious.” She fumed silently for a moment, then turned her attention to the hamburger before her, wanting only to eat, then go home and leave behind this man who’d invaded her privacy so completely. Imagine… he’d actually seen her in her teddy. Her face shook as she guided a hot French fry toward her mouth.
“I’m sorry if I upset you,” Tony offered, but Libby didn’t think he sounded the least bit sorry. In fact, he sounded quite amused, and this only served to infuriate her further.
She retreated into a silence that grew as both of them concentrated on their lunch.
“A pawnshop is rather an unusual business for a young woman, isn’t it?” He broke the uncomfortable silence.
“What’s wrong with a woman being a pawnbroker?” she asked defensively.
“Nothing. I just said it was unusual. Are you always so touchy?”
“Only with snakes who’ve been spying on me,” she snapped, refusing to look at him.
“Libby.” His voice softly cajoled.
She looked up to see him waving his white napkin, which he’d stuck on the prongs of his fork. “Can’t we call a truce, at least for the remainder of the meal? Hostility always gives me indigestion.”
