Page 326 of A Matter of Time

“I’m not?” I teased him.

“Hell no. You’re staying with me.”

“You mean you’re staying with me,” I corrected him. “At least I live in a secure building.”

“You know what I meant. Get in the fuckin’ car.”

“Stop swearing.”

“Fine,” he agreed.

“Hey.”

He looked at me over the hood of the SUV.

“Thank you for talking to him and not getting mad. I know how he can be.”

“No, J, he’s right about everything. I know how it looks. It seems like I’m back in your life for, like, two seconds and you’ve got trouble again. It must hardly seem worth it.”

“It’s worth it to me.” I smiled at him.

“Oh, I don’t care if it is or isn’t. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Do you have any idea how happy you make me when you talk like that?” I stared at him.

“Get in the car, for crissakes,” he growled at me. “I’m hungry.”

We were unloading the groceries when Sam’s head snapped up and he looked at me.

“What?”

“Whatever happened to that doctor you used to date?”

“Who?”

“The one you set up on a date with that guy on the pier that time.”

I racked my brain. “Oh, Nick Sullivan.”

“Yeah, him. You still talk to him?”

“It’s amazing that you remember that.”

“Hafta have a good memory when you’re a detective.”

“I guess so.”

“Back to the doctor.”

“What’d you ask?”

He groaned. “Do you still talk to him?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”