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“Yeah, I’ll tell him to back off.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m not front-page news.”
People cared how an alderman spent his day. They weren’t so worried about his granddaughter. Probably because she’d told Steeple to get word out she didn’t want a big deal made of it.
The door opened. She expected her grandfather. Maybe Strat, though he’d already been in. Instead, it was a nurse with an enormous bouquet.
“Oh God,” she groaned.
“Wow, secret admirer?” Lachlan said, standing up to take the arrangement the nurse could hardly see past.
“Not so secret,” she said.
“Is there a card?”
Her brother may have been asking the nurse, but she answered. “Let me guess, Evander got out today.”
“Evander Manzani? Yes,” the nurse said. “Earlier. Did you get your dinner?”
“Someone came and took the plate a while ago,” she said, omitting the fact she hadn’t eaten much.
“Do you need anything, Detective McLeod?”
Her brother was straightening the flowers and took a second to process his name. “Oh, uh, no, I’m good. Thanks.”
The young woman smiled and departed.
“Ooh, big, strong, handsome detective,” she teased in her best Marilyn voice.
“Cut it out.”
She laughed. Probably for the first time since the attack.
“Oh, oh, Lachlan. You’re so pretty and so strong.”
He dropped into the seat again. “You think I work out for the job?” he asked. “Nope, it’s all about the pussy.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Okay, you don’t say that word. It doesn’t sound right coming from your mouth.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “A lot of other women don’t feel that way.”
She had to smile. “Have you even been with someone since Immie?” she asked. “You’re probably Mr. Fifth Date.”
“Mr. Fifth Date?”
“Do you even go in for the goodnight kiss before the fifth date?”
“According to you, I haven’t been on a fifth date for years.” He squinted toward the ceiling. “I can’t even tell you what Im and I did for our fifth date. No, I can actually. Dinner… there was definitely some action.”
“On top of the clothes action?”
“More than a kiss anyway.”
“You don’t remember.”
“I remember our first time,” he said.
“Before or after the fifth date?” He smiled, which made her laugh. “See! I knew it! You’re Mr. Respectful.”
