Pop," she murmured, only more sentimental.
"You know, when I walked in—it had been at least six years since I'd walked out—your father grinned at me. 'How are you this evening, college boy?' he said to me, and took a pint glass and starting building my beer."
"You went to college?"
His hazy pleasure dimmed considerably at the shock in her voice. He opened one eye. "So?"
"So, you don't look like the college type." She shrugged and went back to her burger. "I build a damn good Guinness myself. Could use one now."
"Me too. Maybe later. So this friend of yours, how long have you known him?"
"My friend and I go back to our own college days. There's no one I trust more, if that's what you're getting at."
"Maybe you ought to rethink it. Just consider," he said when her eyes fired.
"The Three Stars are a big temptation, for anyone. So maybe he was tempted, maybe he got in over his head."
"No, it doesn't play like that, but I think someone else might have, and if my friend found out about it…" She pressed her lips together. "If you wanted to protect those stones, to make certain they weren't stolen, didn't fall as a group into the wrong hands, what would you do?"
"It isn't a matter of what I'd do," he pointed out, "but what he'd do."
"Separate them," M.J. said. "Pass them on to people you could trust without question. People who would go to the wall for you, because you'd do the same for them. Without question."
"Absolute trust, absolute loyalty?" He balled his napkin, two-pointed it into the waste can. "I can't buy it."
"Then I'm sorry for you," she murmured, "Because you can't buy it. It just is.
Don't you have anyone who'd go to the wall for you, Jack?"
"No. And there's no one I'd go to the wall for." For the first time in his life, it bothered him to realize it. He scooted down, closed his eyes. "I'm taking a nap."
"You're taking a what?"
"A nap. You'd be smart to do the same."
"How can you possibly sleep at a time like this?"
"Because I'm tired." His voice was edgy. "And because I don't think I'm going to get much sleep once we get started. We've got a couple hours before sundown."
"And what happens at sundown?"
"It gets dark," he said, and tuned her out.
She couldn't believe it. The man had shut down like a machine switched off—like a hypnotist's subject at the snap of a finger. Like a… She scowled when she ran out of analogies. At least he didn't snore. Well, this was just fine, she fumed.
This was just dandy. What was she supposed to do while he had his little lie-me-down?
M.J. nibbled on the last of her fries, frowned at the TV screen, where the giant lizard was just meeting his violent end. The cable channel had promised more where that came from on its Marathon Monsters and Heroes Holiday Weekend Festival. Oh, goody.
She lay in the darkened room, considering her options. And, considering, fell asleep.
And, sleeping, dreamed of monsters and heroes and a blue diamond that pulsed like a living heart.
Jack woke wrapped in female. He smelled her first, a tang, just a little sharp, of lemony soap. Clean, fresh, and simple.
He heard her—the slow, even, relaxed breathing. Felt the quiet intimacy of shared sleep. His blood began to stir even before he felt her.
Long, Umber limbs. A shapely yard of leg was tossed over his own. One well-toned arm, with skin as smooth as new cream, was flung over his chest. Her head was settled companionably on his shoulder.
M.J. was a cuddler, he realized, and smiled to himself. Who'd have thought it?
Before he could talk himself out of it, he lifted a hand, brushed it lightly over her tousled cap of hair. Bright silk, he mused. It was quite a contrast to all that angled toughness.
She sure had style. His kind of style, he decided, and wondered what direction they might have taken if he just walked into her pub one night and put some moves on her.
She'd have kicked him out on his butt, he thought, and grinned. What a woman.
It was too bad, too damn bad,
"You know, when I walked in—it had been at least six years since I'd walked out—your father grinned at me. 'How are you this evening, college boy?' he said to me, and took a pint glass and starting building my beer."
"You went to college?"
His hazy pleasure dimmed considerably at the shock in her voice. He opened one eye. "So?"
"So, you don't look like the college type." She shrugged and went back to her burger. "I build a damn good Guinness myself. Could use one now."
"Me too. Maybe later. So this friend of yours, how long have you known him?"
"My friend and I go back to our own college days. There's no one I trust more, if that's what you're getting at."
"Maybe you ought to rethink it. Just consider," he said when her eyes fired.
"The Three Stars are a big temptation, for anyone. So maybe he was tempted, maybe he got in over his head."
"No, it doesn't play like that, but I think someone else might have, and if my friend found out about it…" She pressed her lips together. "If you wanted to protect those stones, to make certain they weren't stolen, didn't fall as a group into the wrong hands, what would you do?"
"It isn't a matter of what I'd do," he pointed out, "but what he'd do."
"Separate them," M.J. said. "Pass them on to people you could trust without question. People who would go to the wall for you, because you'd do the same for them. Without question."
"Absolute trust, absolute loyalty?" He balled his napkin, two-pointed it into the waste can. "I can't buy it."
"Then I'm sorry for you," she murmured, "Because you can't buy it. It just is.
Don't you have anyone who'd go to the wall for you, Jack?"
"No. And there's no one I'd go to the wall for." For the first time in his life, it bothered him to realize it. He scooted down, closed his eyes. "I'm taking a nap."
"You're taking a what?"
"A nap. You'd be smart to do the same."
"How can you possibly sleep at a time like this?"
"Because I'm tired." His voice was edgy. "And because I don't think I'm going to get much sleep once we get started. We've got a couple hours before sundown."
"And what happens at sundown?"
"It gets dark," he said, and tuned her out.
She couldn't believe it. The man had shut down like a machine switched off—like a hypnotist's subject at the snap of a finger. Like a… She scowled when she ran out of analogies. At least he didn't snore. Well, this was just fine, she fumed.
This was just dandy. What was she supposed to do while he had his little lie-me-down?
M.J. nibbled on the last of her fries, frowned at the TV screen, where the giant lizard was just meeting his violent end. The cable channel had promised more where that came from on its Marathon Monsters and Heroes Holiday Weekend Festival. Oh, goody.
She lay in the darkened room, considering her options. And, considering, fell asleep.
And, sleeping, dreamed of monsters and heroes and a blue diamond that pulsed like a living heart.
Jack woke wrapped in female. He smelled her first, a tang, just a little sharp, of lemony soap. Clean, fresh, and simple.
He heard her—the slow, even, relaxed breathing. Felt the quiet intimacy of shared sleep. His blood began to stir even before he felt her.
Long, Umber limbs. A shapely yard of leg was tossed over his own. One well-toned arm, with skin as smooth as new cream, was flung over his chest. Her head was settled companionably on his shoulder.
M.J. was a cuddler, he realized, and smiled to himself. Who'd have thought it?
Before he could talk himself out of it, he lifted a hand, brushed it lightly over her tousled cap of hair. Bright silk, he mused. It was quite a contrast to all that angled toughness.
She sure had style. His kind of style, he decided, and wondered what direction they might have taken if he just walked into her pub one night and put some moves on her.
She'd have kicked him out on his butt, he thought, and grinned. What a woman.
It was too bad, too damn bad,
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