Page 127 of A Matter of Time

“Late July.”

He scowled at me.

“What?”

“Are you sure?”

“Am I sure of what? That you dated her?”

“Yes.”

I wasn’t positive whether he was kidding or not. I almost laughed.

“Jory, are you⁠—”

“You’re not kidding.” I was in awe. “Holy shit.”

“Watch your language,” he snapped at me, shaking his head before he pointed at Truman. “Go thank him for his hospitality so we can go.”

I did as I was directed and hugged Truman, then Bette again before I caught up with my boss. His hand went where it always did, to the back of my neck, as he steered me out of the house. I would have walked into the side of the car, as I was looking at the rest of the pictures, but he grabbed the collar of my coat and yanked me to a stop.

“So what happened?” I probed, looking up at his profile.

“Get in,” he said flatly, holding open the door of his Mercedes for me. I liked this one better than the Lexus; it was bigger inside and had more bells and whistles.

I got in, leaned over, and opened his door before putting my seat belt on, still flipping through the photos. The camera was really nice, and from the looks of it, Jude’s new loft in River North was stunning.

“What’s he got? Like, two stories or something?” I asked when he got in.

“Yes.”

“It’s really nice.”

“Yes, it is.”

I waited until we were on our way before I asked again what had happened.

“Wait,” he said suddenly, pulling over to get out and take off his suit jacket and lay it over his topcoat in the back seat. When he got back in and pulled away from the curb, I asked him again what he’d done. There was no answer.

“Boss?”

“You know what?” He exhaled quickly. “Stop saying that, all right?”

I looked at his profile. “Stop saying what?”

“Boss.”

“Boss?”

“Yes, don’t—it’s not us anymore.”

This was news. “So what should I⁠—”

“Just use my name. Just Dane, all right?”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” he snapped at me.