Page 26 of The Turning of the Tables

He let out a sound of amusement. “Well, that does sound entertaining. Is the brunch any good?”

“Absolutely,” I replied. “So are the queens.”

He laughed. “That’s good, I guess.”

“Not a fan?” I sipped my rooibos.

“Notnota fan,” he replied. “Shawano, Wisconsin doesn’t exactly have a lot of drag nightlife.”

“Have you always lived there?” I asked him.

“Nah. We went to college in Madison, then I lived in Milwaukee with Val for a few years, and Madison again after he came down here.” He shrugged again. “I’ve been to a few drag clubs, but regular old bars are more my style.”

“I would pay money to have Hart take you to Godfrey’s,” I remarked, laughing a little at the idea.

“If I thought he were going to have a day off in the next month, I might try to make him do it,” Elliot replied.

“Fair.” I almost extended an invitation for him to join us, but then remembered Rule Two. We weren’t a couple and he wasn’t going to want to meet my brother, much less go to drag brunch with us. Rule Two was a bitch.

“Mays, you down there?” Ward called.

“Yeah!” I yelled back, and stepped out of the kitchen after setting my mug down and pulling my mask back up. I’d been almost done with my tea anyway. Ward rolled up to me with a stack of papers.

“Give these to Detective Maza.”

“Will do. Thanks.” I already had the bone fragment back, so I headed down the hall toward the back door,stopping for a moment outside the kitchen. “Text me when you want me here,” I told Elliot.

“I will,” he replied, then flashed that half-smile again.

Rule Two, I reminded myself.Rule Two. Rule Two. Rule Two.

7

ELLIOT CRANE

You awake?

SETH MAYS

I’m a morning person, so yeah. :)

Freak.

Get me in a half hour or so?

You got it. You want something from Starbucks?

Wait and stop with me.

My treat for helping.

I senthim a thumb’s up, grinning like a fool. Because Elliot was going to buy me coffee.Because you’re helping him build a table, dumbass, I told myself.Rule Two.

Goddamn Rule Two.

I had definitely learned that I was not the sort of person who could remain detached from sex. Or maybe it was just Elliot I couldn’t remaindetached from. I’d had one-night stands before, and I certainly wasn’t pining over any of them. Just this one.

Of course I had to actually fall for the guy who lived half a damn country away.