“Touché.”
“That was mean of me. I shall rephrase.” She took a deep breath. “Other than me, do you have someone you can share your feelings with?”
“What feelings? I’m shagging him.”
“Oh God, and here I didn’t think you had a sense of humor.”
This time, I arched an eyebrow.
“Isn’t it breaking some kind of journalistic code? You don’t sleep with your subjects?”
“In a town this size? That would make things tough.”
“Oh please. Three hundred people? Sure. Mission City’s got thousands. I’m quite certain you could find someone.”
Her words hit me. I had known I was taking a risk—and yet I kept going back to his bed. “I’m…well…”
“Uh-huh?”
“I can focus on the entire department, rather than just him.”
“Have fun with Marlon.” She rolled her eyes. Then she sobered. “That family’s had some tragedies, so I shouldn’t be so harsh. Just…well…”
Better look up that tragedy. Or tragedies.She had used plural.
I told her, “You can proof the story to ensure there’s no bias. But Finn’s coworkers were damn impressed with his skill the other day.”
“Oh, skill, is it?” She waggled her eyebrows.
I laughed “And what are you working on today?”
We settled down to work, but that feeling of disquiet followed me around for the day as I tried to figure out how close to the journalistic-ethics line I could come without crossing it.
Chapter Sixteen
Finn
Iached in muscles I didn’t know I had, and my joints felt like the Tin Man’s after a heavy rain. Hell, even my head pounded.
Yet, when my phone rang with that special ringtone—that one dedicated just for the guy who was regularly fucking me into the mattress—I answered.
“Yeaaah?”God, could I sound any more pathetic?In truth, I wasn’t certain I could. In fact, that my eyes were open at all was a goddamn miracle.
“Rough day?”
“You saw the fire.”Shit.
Ulysses chuckled. “You saw me, eh? I wasn’t sure if you had. Miriam waved. You didn’t.”
“Did I hurt your feelings?”
“Not in the least. You were working—I’d never interfere.”
“Well, that’s good. What’s up?”
“I need a date. A business date. And, well, this has nothing to do with questions.”
“What do you mean?” My mind was so befuddled that I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say.
