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“I can see that. We’ll go dancing in a minute.”
She managed a chuckle. “Can you move that boulder off my butt?”
Obligingly, Roarke picked up Galahad, smoothed the ruffled fur. “You’ve had quite a day, Lieutenant. The media’s been full of you.”
She rolled over but kept her eyes shut a minute longer. “I’m glad I missed it. You know about Cerise then.”
“Yes, I had Channel 75 on while I was preparing for my first meeting this morning. I caught it all live.”
She heard the strain in his voice and opened her eyes. “Sorry.”
“You’ll say you were doing your job.” He set the cat aside and brushed the hair back from Eve’s cheek. “But it was above and beyond, Eve. She could have taken you with her.”
“I wasn’t ready to go.” She cupped a hand over the one he held to her cheek. “I had a flash when I was up there. Memory flash of when I was a kid, standing at the window of some filthy flop he’d booked us into. I thought about jumping then, just getting it the hell over with. I wasn’t ready to go. I’m still not.”
Galahad climbed out of Roarke’s lap and stretched his bulk over Eve’s belly. It made Roarke smile. “Looks like we both intend to keep you here for a while. What have you eaten today?”
She pursed her lips. “Is this a quiz?”
“Nothing to speak of,” he decided.
“Food’s not high on my list right now. I’ve just come from the morgue. Contact with concrete after seventy-story flights does unattractive things to flesh and bone.”
“I don’t imagine there was enough to scan for comparison with the others.”
Despite the grisly image, she grinned, sat up, and gave him a quick, loud kiss. “You’re cued up, Roarke. That’s one of the things I like best about you.”
“I thought it was my body.”
“That’s right up on the list,” she told him as he rose and went over to the recessed AutoChef. “No, there isn’t going to be enough, but there has to be a connection. You see it, don’t you?”
He waited until the protein drink he’d ordered came through. “Cerise was an intelligent, sensible, and driven woman. She was often selfish, continually vain, and could be an enormous pain in the ass.” He came back to the bed, held out the glass. “She wasn’t the type to jump off the roof of her own building—and let the visual media scoop her own organization.”
“I’ll add that to my data.” She frowned at the creamy, mint-colored drink in her hand. “What is this?”
“Nutrition. Drink it.” He tipped it up to her lips. “All.”
She took the first sip out of self-defense, decided it wasn’t altogether hideous, and gulped it down. “There. Feel better now?”
“Yes. Did Whitney give you room to pursue?”
“I’ve got a week. And he knows I’ve been using your . . . facilities. He’s pretending he doesn’t.” She set the glass aside, started to stretch back out, then remembered. “We were supposed to watch videos, eat popcorn, and neck.”
“You stood me up.” He tugged on her hair. “I’ll have to divorce you.”
“God, you’re strict.” Suddenly nervous, she rubbed her hands together. “While you’re in that mode, I guess I’d better come clean.”
“Oh, were you out necking with someone else?”
“Not exactly.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You want a drink? We’ve got some wine up here, don’t we?” She started to get off the bed, but she wasn’t at all surprised to have his hand snake out and grip her arm.
“Clarify.”
> “I’m going to. I just think it might go down better with some wine. Okay?” She tried a smile but knew it fell far short of charming when he met it with a long, steely stare. His grip loosened enough for her to scoot up and hurry over to the bedroom cold box. She took her time pouring it, and kept her distance as she began.
