Dane smiled. “SEAL.”
“That’s super annoying, you know?” Another two sips.
He lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “I know.”
We’d already argued more than once about his breaking into my places. It clearly never stopped him, so I focused on consuming my breakfast. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“No problem. I figured it would lighten the blow while we have our chat.” He kicked out the chair on the other side of the table and motioned toward it like he wanted me to sit.
If that’s what he wanted, he definitely wasn’t getting it. I eyed the chair and continued standing. “What chat?”
“About your behavior last night?”
What? I set the coffee down but then picked it right back up. He was right. I needed the coffee for this conversation. His attitude made the air thick, and I didn’t want to deal with it. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do.” He clicked up one of those stupid eyebrows. “You’re being reckless, and that’s not like you.”
Two more deep sucks before I answered. Condensation on the outside of the glass ran down my fingers. “It’s called investigating, Dane. It’s what we’re here to do.”
“Not like that. This is different. Why aren’t you interviewing William’s friends? What about the local reporters? You always love to gab with them for an afternoon.”
We’d been in Charleston for less than twenty-four hours. He needed to get a grip. “Those things are all coming. Give a girl a minute. The boat tour is only run a few nights a week. We needed to go last night if we wanted a guarantee of getting on.”
“Oh,” he said, sounding just a little appeased but not enough.
“Exactly.” I nodded and smacked my lips, going for super annoying. “Plus, some of us want more than this.”
“What’s that mean?” he asked, standing up.
Oh, so he could do it now but not when I was falling for my life.
I finished the coffee and put the cup on the table. Once the ice melted, I’d try again. “I want more than just investigating stuff for other people. We need to get deeper.”
“Like how? Or why?”
Didn’t he see the potential? We actually made a decent team at times. We were wasting our potential on already-solved cases.
“Let’s solve this one, Dane.” I’d made my way by him so we were standing face-to-face.
His excitement didn’t match mine. “No.”
“Ugh. I knew you’d say no. That’s why I didn’t tell you.” I threw my hands in the air and went to search the fridge for something to eat. “You’re such a buzzkill.”
“I am not,” he said, grabbing a bagel oozing with cream cheese from a bag in the microwave. “Why do you want to solve this one?”
I grabbed on to the bagel and his mini expression of interest. “Lots of reasons.”
“Yeah? How about you give me one?” he asked when I didn’t elaborate.
Couldn’t it wait until after the bagel? From the way he stared at me, no. “For one, it’s recent. Newer murders are easier to solve.”
At least it seemed that way on television.
“Okay, and?”
I shoved a piece of bagel into my mouth. That was actually my only reason. Well, that and the fact my boss agreed to send me here to research for an episode on the podcast. But they were superb reasons.
Sadly, Dane probably wouldn’t agree.
