Free Love Is Strange (I Know... #2) by Whitney Bianca

ahead.
    “Here?” he asked and I could hear the surprise in his voice. It wasn't a very happy surprise but it still caused me to laugh.
    “Yes, here,” I giggled. I actually giggled. The sound was so asinine, but also involuntary.
    “Well shit,” he said with a laugh as he made a sharp right into the cafe's parking lot.
    “I told you I didn't need a ride.”
    “You were right about that,” he said, shaking his head as he turned quickly into an open parking spot. “But since you tricked me, I think you owe me,” he said, turning in his seat to look at me after putting the car in park. I swallowed, his words having some odd affect on me. I suddenly had the little nagging feeling that Elliot wouldn't like this much. In fact, I was fairly certain he wouldn't like it one bit.
    “Owe you?” I asked, as innocently as I could muster.
    “Yes,” he nodded slowly, the smile never leaving his face. “Let me buy you lunch.” I ran my tongue over my lips, pretending to mull it over.
    “No,” I said and watched his face fall. His disappointment was so palpable it was almost endearing. “You can't buy my lunch, but will you have lunch with me?” I smiled as he perked up instantly. This was almost too easy. But I had to be careful, I told myself as we got out of the car. I had to be careful because I was walking on walking on hot coals with bare feet. It was best not to get too cocky. It was best to keep a cool head, even if I wanted to poke and prod at him like a medical experiment. It was almost too fun.
    I ordered my usual lunch and he got a sandwich and a Coke and we sat by the window. The view wasn't much to brag about but at least it was in out of the chilly air. I picked at my salad and watched him as he ate. Eating with the enemy wasn't nearly as bad as sleeping with the enemy, I figured. I still wasn't doing anything too bad, so I decided to push a little further. “So you've been thinking about me this whole time?” I asked, spearing a dried cranberry on my fork. “For the last few weeks, you've been wondering how I am?”
    “No,” he said, but then flashed me a smile and I knew he was lying. “I just thought of you this morning. And I realized we'd never followed up.”
    “You could've called.”
    “What if you didn't answer? I was close enough, I figured I would stop by.”
    “Where's your partner?” I asked, playing along. “Aren't you two usually a team?”
    “He's busy,” he said, dropping his eyes back to his turkey club, still lying like a rug. “Working another case.”
    “So you were thinking about me just out of the blue.” I took a sip of my iced tea, wrapping my lips around the straw. I swallowed and watched his face. His eye twitched a bit and I almost missed it. Almost. “Maybe you've got some new information? Some new information you don't want to tell me because you think I can't handle it?”
    “No,” he said again, wiping his hands on his napkin.
    “You say that a lot. 'No'. But I don't know if I believe you,” I said.I set my fork down and and gave him a patient look. Like I could wait there all day to hear the truth.
    “The feds don't give a lowly Seattle detective like me the time of day,” he said, crunching on a potato chip. “But I guess it wouldn't be completely true to say I didn't know anything.”
    “The feds?” I asked, my interest immediately piqued.
    “The asshole skipped state lines,” he said, staring at me intently again, so I know he's telling the truth. He's not avoiding my eyes anymore. “But there's been no sign of him since Kansas.”
    “Kansas?” I can't stop myself from blurting out the name. My first inclination was to scour my mind for any instance, any slip-up, where we could've been spotted. I thought we'd been careful, but it was impossible to be too careful. I also wondered just when Wilson or his partner would remember that I told them I was in Denver. Would they think it was more than just coincidence that I was traveling so close to