by Nora Robets
The air was still ripe with the smell of the diner's signature chicken-fried steak, and the counter still held a four-tiered display rack of that day's pies. As Flynn looked down at the burger he'd ordered out of habit, he wondered if it was the diner that had gotten stuck in the past, or himself.
He frowned at Brad's club sandwich. "Trade me."
"You want my sandwich?"
"I want your sandwich. Trade me." To solve the matter, Flynn switched the plates himself.
"If you didn't want a burger, why'd you order one?"
"Because. I'm a victim of habit and tradition."
"And eating my sandwich is going to solve that?"
"It's a start. I also started breaking habit by reaming Rhoda out at the paper this morning. Once she comes out of shock, I'm pretty sure she'll start planning my demise."
"How come you wanted his sandwich instead of mine?" Jordan asked.
"I don't like Reubens."
Jordan considered, then switched his plate with Brad's.
"Jesus, are we finished playing musical plates now?" Brad scowled at the Reuben, then decided it actually looked pretty good.
Though he was already wishing he had his burger back, Flynn picked at the club sandwich. "Do you think staying in your hometown all your life keeps you too attached to the past, too resistant to change and growth, and thereby inhibits your ability to function as a mature adult?"
"I didn't know this was going to be a philosophical discussion." But willing to play, Jordan considered the question as he squeezed ketchup on the burger. "It could be said that staying in your hometown means you're comfortable there and have created strong roots and ties. Or that you're just too lazy and complacent to get your ass out."
"I like it here. Took me a while to come to that. Up until recently I'd been pretty complacent about how things were going. Complacency's taken a backseat since around the first of the month."
"Because of the keys?" Brad asked. "Or Malory?"
"One goes with the other. The keys, that's an adventure, right? Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark."
"Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny," Jordan put in.
"Right, same deal." You could always count on Jordan to get your drift, Flynn thought. "None of our lives are going to suffer if we don't find them. Not really."
"One year," Brad said. "That's a pretty stiff penalty clause to my way of thinking."
"Okay, yeah." Flynn plucked a potato chip from the little mound beside his sandwich. "But I'm having a hard time seeing either Rowena or Pitte punishing these women."
"They may not be the ones who do the messing," Jordan commented. "They may simply be the conduit, so to speak, to reward or punishment. Why do we assume they have a choice either?"
“Trying to think positive here," Flynn replied. "And the idea that we will find the keys, and what happens then, is compelling."
"Besides the fact that it's a puzzle, and it's damn hard to walk away from a puzzle."
Flynn nodded at Brad, shifted in his seat. "Then there's the magic. The acceptance that magic, some kinds of magic, are real. Not an illusion, but an actual kick in the ass of the natural order. I mean, how cool is that? That's the kind of thing we give up when we become adults. The casual belief in magic. This has given it back."
"You want to look at it as a gift or a burden?" Jordan wondered. "Could go either way."
"Thanks again, Mr. Bright Side. But yes, I know that too. We're coming up on deadline here. A little more than a week. If we don't find it, maybe we'll pay, maybe we won't. But we'll never know ."
"You can't dismiss the potential consequences of failure," Brad pointed out.
"I'm trying to believe that nobody's going to screw up the lives of three innocent women because they tried and failed."
"You go back to the beginning of this, and the lives of three innocent women—demigoddesses or not—were screwed up simply because they existed." Jordan dashed salt on what had been Flynn's fries. "Sorry, pal."
"Add in that the women in the portrait look like the women we know." Brad drummed his fingers on the table. "There's a reason for that, and the reason puts them at the core of it all." "I'm not letting anything happen to Malory. Or any of them," Flynn responded.
Jordan picked up his glass of iced tea. "Just how stuck on her are you?"
"That's another question. I haven't figured it out."
"Well, we'll help you there." Jordan winked at Brad. "What're friends for? How's the sex?"
"Why's that always first with you?" Flynn demanded. "That's a lifelong pattern."
"Because I'm a guy. And if you don't think women rate sex high on the list, you're a sad and pitiful fool."
"It's great." Flynn met Jordan sneer for sneer. "You only wish you were having this level of sex with a beautiful woman. But it's not like that's the only thing going on between us. We have actual conversations, with and without clothes on."
"Including phone conversations?" Brad asked. "That last over five minutes?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Just making the list. Have you cooked her anything? Not just nuking something, but using an actual stove."
"I just made her some soup when—"
"That counts. Take her to any chick flicks?"
Frowning, Flynn picked up a triangle of sandwich. "I don't know that it qualified as a chick flick." He set it down again. "Okay, yes. Once, but it was—"
"No explanations, this part of the quiz is true or false. We can move on to our essay section," Jordan assured him. "Picture your life in, let's say five years. That work?" he asked Brad.
"Some require ten, but I think we can be more lenient. Five works for me."
"Okay, picture your life in five years. Can you structure the visual without her being in it?"
"I don't know how I'm supposed to picture five years from now when I'm not sure what I'll be doing in five days."
But he could, he could see his house, with some of the long-term plans he had for it in place. He could see himself at the paper, walking Moe, hanging out with Dana. And he could see Malory at every angle. Walking down the stairs in the house, coming by the paper to meet him, chasing Moe out of the kitchen.
He went a little pale. "Oh, man."
"She's in there, isn't she?" Jordan asked.
"She's in there all right."
"Congratulations, son." Jordan slapped him on the shoulder. "You're in love."
"Wait a minute. What if I'm not ready?"
"Tough luck," Brad replied.
Brad knew all about luck and decided his was in when he stepped out of the diner and spotted Zoe stopped at the traffic light.
She was wearing dark wraparound sunglasses and moving her lips in a way that made him assume she was singing along with the car stereo.
It wasn't stalking, exactly, if he just happened to hop in his car, zip out into traffic and follow. The fact that he cut off a pickup truck was completely incidental.
It was reasonable, even important, that they get to know each other better. He could hardly help Flynn if he didn't know the women Flynn was connected to.
That made sense.
It had nothing to do with obsession. Just because he'd bought a painting with her face in it, just because he couldn't get that face out of his mind, all that didn't mean he was obsessed.
He was merely interested.
And if he was practicing various opening lines under his breath, it was only because he understood the value of communication. He certainly wasn't nervous about speaking to a woman. He spoke to women all the time.
Women spoke to him all the time, if it came to that. He was considered one of the top eligible bachelors—and God, did he hate that term—in the country. Women went out of their way to talk to him.
If Zoe McCourt couldn't spare five minutes for some polite conversation, well, that was her loss.
By the time she pulled into a driveway, he'd worked himself into a mass of nerves and irritation. The vaguely annoyed glance she s
ent him when he pulled up behind her put a cap on it.
Feeling foolish and insulted, he climbed out. "Are you following me?" she demanded.
"Excuse me?" In defense, his voice was flat and cold. "I think you're overestimating your charms. Flynn's worried about Malory. I saw you and thought you'd be able to tell me how she's doing."
Zoe continued to observe him warily as she unlocked her trunk. Her jeans were tight enough to afford him an intriguing view of firm female butt. She wore a short, snug red jacket with an equally snug striped top that stopped a full inch above the waistband of the jeans.
He noted, with some fascination that her belly button was pierced and sported a tiny silver bar. He actually felt his fingertips grow warm with the urge to touch it.
"I stopped by to see her before."
"Huh? Who? Oh, Malory." Now the back of his neck grew warm and he cursed himself. "How is she?"
"She looks tired, and a little down on herself."
"I'm sorry." He stepped forward as she began to unload the trunk. "Let me give you a hand."
"I can get it."
"I'm sure you can." He solved the matter by taking the two heavy sample books of wallpaper from her. "But I don't see any reason you should. Redecorating?"
She took out a paint sample book, a small toolbox— which he pulled away from her—a notebook, and some tile chips. "We contracted for this house. We're going to open the business here. It needs work."
He walked ahead, leaving her to slam the trunk. Yes, it did need work, but it had a sturdy look, and the lot was nicely established. Solid location, decent parking.
"Looks like it has good bones," he commented. "You have the foundation checked out?"
"Yes."
"Wiring up to code?"
She dug out the keys she'd picked up from the realtor. "Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I don't know how to buy a house. I looked at a number of properties, and this was the best value, with the best location. Most of the work it needs is cosmetic."
She shoved open the door. "You can just dump them on the floor. Thanks. I'll tell Malory you asked about her."
Brad just kept walking so that she had to step back. Though it took some effort, he refused to let his gaze drift down to her navel again. "Are you always irritated when someone tries to help you?"
"I'm irritated when someone thinks I can't handle myself. Look, I don't have that much time to do what I'm here to do. I need to get started."
"Then I'll stay out of your way."
He studied the ceiling, the floor, the walls as he wandered through the entrance area. "Nice space."
He didn't detect any damp, but there was a definite chill. He wasn't sure if it was a faulty furnace or the woman who was blowing cold. "Which part are you taking?"
"Upstairs."
"Okay." He started up, nearly amused now by her impatient indrawn breath. "Nice stairs. Can't go wrong with white pine."
Some of the trim needed to be replaced, he noted. And the double-hung window at the top of the steps had yet to be upgraded. She'd need to see to that, get herself a double-glazed for insulation.
The walls had gone dingy, and there were a few cracks from settling. But that was easily seen to.
He liked the way the rooms split off and ran together, and wondered if she would remove some of the hollow-core doors altogether or replace them with something more solid and in tune with the feel of the house.
And what was she going to do about lighting? He didn't know anything about salons, but it seemed logical that good, strong lighting would be essential.
"Excuse me. I need my toolbox."
"What? Oh, sorry." He handed it to her, then ran his fingers over the chipped and peeling window trim. "You know, you could go with cherry for contrast here. Different woods, leaving the natural grain, going with warm tones. You're not going to cover these floors, are you?"
She took out her measuring tape. "No."
Why didn't he go away? She had work to do, thinking to do. And most of all she'd wanted to be alone in her wonderful building, planning and deciding and dreaming about how it was all going to be when she'd finished.
The colors, the textures, the tones, the smells. Everything. And here he was, in her way, wandering around. All male and gorgeous and distracting in his perfect suit and his expensive shoes. He smelled, oh so subtly, of high-end soap and aftershave.
He probably paid more for a cake of soap then she had for the jeans and shirt she was wearing. And he thought he could just mill around, wafting in her air, making her feel clumsy and inferior.
"What are your plans for this room?"
She wrote down her measurements and kept her back to him. "This is the main salon. It's for hair, manicures, and makeup." When he didn't respond, she was compelled to look over her shoulder. He was staring contemplatively at her ceiling. "What?"
"We have these mini track lights. Very practical, but with a fun look. They have the advantage of being able to be set in a number of directions. You going for fun or elegant in here?"
"I don't see why it can't be both."
"Good point. Soft colors or bold?"
"Bold here, soft in the treatment rooms. Look, Bradley—"
"Ouch. That sounded like my mother." He'd already crouched down to flip through a sample book, and cast her a quick grin. "Do you guys have like a training center where you learn how to develop that withering tone?"
"Men aren't allowed to have that information. If I told you, I'd have to kill you. And I just don't have the time. We're going to close on the property in a month, and I want to have my plans outlined so I can start on them the minute we do."
"I can help you."
"I know what I'm doing and how I want to do it. I don't know why you assume—"
"Hold on. Boy, are you touchy." Wouldn't you think a woman who wore skintight jeans and decorated her navel would be a little more approachable? "I'm in the business, remember?" He tapped the HomeMakers logo on the sample book. "Not only that, but I like helping a building meet its potential. I can give you a hand with some labor and material."
"I'm not looking for a handout."
He set the book aside, slowly got to his feet. "I said a hand, not a handout. What is it about me that puts your back up?"
"Everything. That's unfair." She shrugged. "But it's true. I don't understand people like you, so I tend to distrust them."
"People like me?"
"Rich, privileged people who run American empires. I'm sorry, I'm sure you have some very nice qualities or you wouldn't be Flynn's friend. But you and I have nothing in common. Plus, I have a lot on my plate right now and no time to play games. So let's clear this up, then we can move on. I'm not going to have sex with you."
"Okay, well, obviously my life is no longer worth living."
She wanted to smile at that, nearly did. But she had reason to know his sort was very tricky. "Are you going to tell me that you're not hoping to sleep with me?"
He took a careful breath before speaking. She'd hooked the earpiece of her sunglasses in the V of her shirt, and those long, tawny eyes were staring very directly into his. "You and I both know there's no way for me to answer that question correctly. It's the mother of trick questions. Others in this category are, Do I look fat in this? Do you think she's pretty? And if you don't know, I'm certainly not going to tell you."
Now she had to bite the inside of her lip to hold back the laughter. "The last isn't a question."
"It's still a mystery and a trap. So why don't I just say I find you very attractive. And we have more in common than you seem to think, starting with a circle of friends. I'm willing to help you, Malory, and Dana with this place. None of you has to have sex with me in return. Though if the three of you wanted to get together and organize a nice tasteful orgy I wouldn't say no. Meanwhile, I'll let you get back to work."
He started out, then said casually as he walked down the stairs, "By the way, HomeMakers is having a sale on wall treatments—paper and pain
t—next month. Fifteen to thirty percent off all stock."
Zoe hurried to the top of the steps. "When next month?"
"I'll let you know."
So, she wasn't going to have sex with him. Brad shook his head as he walked to his car. That had been an unfortunate statement on her part. Obviously, she wasn't aware that the one thing no Vane could resist was a direct challenge.
His only plan had been to ask her out to dinner. Now, he decided as he studied the windows on the second level, he'd have to take a little time and work out a strategy. Zoe McCourt was about to go under siege.
Zoe had other things on her mind. She was running late, but that was nothing new. There always seemed to be another flood of things to do or remember or fix right before she walked out the door.
"You give those cookies to Chuck's mother. She'll divvy them up." Zoe turned the car into the driveway two blocks from her own house, then sent her son a stern look. "I mean it, Simon. I don't have time to take them in myself. If I go to the door she'll keep me there for twenty minutes, and I'm already late."
"Okay, okay. I coulda walked."
"Yeah, but then I wouldn't've been able to do this." She grabbed him, dug her fingers into his ribs to make him squeal.
"Mom!"
"Simon!" she said in the same exasperated tone.
He was laughing as he got out and dragged his duffel from the backseat.
"You mind Chuck's mother, and don't keep everybody up all night. You've got Malory's number?"
"Yes, I've got Malory's number. And I know how to dial nine-one-one, and to run out of the house if I set it on fire when I play with matches."
"Smart guy. Come over here and give me a kiss."
He made a show of dragging his feet, keeping his head dipped to hide his grin as he approached her car window. "Make it quick. Somebody might see us."
"Just tell them I wasn't kissing you. I was yelling at you." She gave him a kiss, resisted hugging him. "See you tomorrow. Have a good time, baby."
"You, too, baby." He snickered, then raced for the house.
With a mother's skill, she backed out of the drive while watching her boy until he was safely inside.