Page 77 of A Matter of Time

“How is that your business?”

“You’re my business.”

I scowled at him. “I have to testify.”

“So you’re staying with him until then?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

“Yes,” I repeated with a roll of my eyes.

“I see. So you can work?”

“I already said yes.”

He nodded. “And if you can’t? Will you quit?”

It was asked very casually, but I could tell from his eyes that my answer was important.

“Do you want me to quit?”

“Maybe the detective will want you to.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

“Do you want to?”

“Do you want me to?” I repeated, leaning toward him just a little.

“You’re being evasive.”

“You’re being a nine-year-old.”

“Do you want to?” he asked me again, pressing for the answer.

“I refuse to answer before you.”

He smiled slowly, his eyes firing. I was amusing him so much at that moment that I had to grin back; there was no way not to respond when he was teasing me. “No,” he said quietly, his voice low. “I don’t want you to quit.”

“Then I won’t.” I smiled smugly, very pleased, straightening up in my seat.

He leaned back away from me and started up a conversation with Kensie and another woman at the table. I sat there chatting with Rebecca Stoler and Marilyn. They were all so very nice, even if none of them could seem to do anything but watch and listen when Dane and I talked.

The food came, and I waited while Dane moved things back and forth between our plates. Onions off both our plates, mushrooms on mine, cucumbers on his, carrots on mine, potatoes on his, and he split his steak and my chicken so we both had a little of each.

“Wow.” Marilyn smiled at me. “That was quite the production.”

“Well…” I shrugged. “I mean, we eat together every day. He knows what I’ll eat.”

“I know what he’ll eat,” he echoed me and then looked at my plate. “And that looks acceptable.”

I still didn’t have much of an appetite, but I picked at the chicken.

“You look better than I thought you would,” Dane said, looking into my eyes, turning my head back and forth with a hand on my chin. “The shiner’s a nice touch, though.”

“Thanks.” I pushed the plate away from me and drained my ice tea.