muttered.
“All right , I take it back. Bring it on, boy genius.”
“Excellent. ”
“Tell me again how this was a good idea. ” Nicholas pulled Flynn into the kitchen where Teri was already inspecting the options for dinner.
“Teri , how many pictures did you get?” Flynn asked her.
“A ton. I can ’t believe I caught the one where Bryan and Brenda were kissing and Dev dumped his soda on them. Missed Tiff’s reaction to Jess’s card, unfortunately. I heard she slapped him.”
“There ’s always the monorail.”
“What is there to do on the monorail? Never mind , I’m in.”
“Atta girl. ” Flynn nodded in approval and turned to Nicholas. “How did the magazine emergency that conveniently came up so you couldn’t join us go?”
“False alarm as it t urns out. It was really too bad,” Nicholas answered.
“I can see you ’re heartbroken. Count you in for the monorail next weekend?” Flynn asked.
“Deadlines , unfortunately.”
“You have the worst luck .”
“Yeah , care to join me in my office?” Nicholas motioned for Flynn to follow.
“You don ’t have an office,” Teri reminded him.
“Which is why I ’m borrowing yours.”
“I might start using that again. ”
“I can only dream. Have the girls make dinner. I picked up shrimp and a pineapple on the way home. They ’ll know what to do with them.” Nicholas headed off and Flynn followed along.
Teri ’s office was on the first floor, right off the entry. Originally a large closet, Allen moved a wall and incorporated the wasted space under the stairs to enlarge it. It still wasn’t much bigger than the storage area it was intended to be, but Teri made efficient use of the space.
Nicholas closed the door and indicated Flynn should take a seat at Teri ’s small computer desk. Flynn sat and looked around. Other than the small desk and chair, the space was set up like a dark room.
“Teri ’s almost entirely digital now, she rarely uses this as a dark room anymore,” Nicholas answered Flynn’s unasked question. “She’s got her computer, scanner, printer, and some filing here. Everything else is at the studio. I didn’t sequester you for the tour. I gather you talked her into letting you take Dev.”
“You had doubts? ”
“He ’s her baby, you’re new.”
“I ’m really good with women. Plus I had some valid arguments.”
“Fair enough. Now , about Teri.”
“I ’ve been a perfect gentleman.”
“I know . When does it end?”
“When it ’s time. It’s not. There’s no real time frame here.”
“You got her out of the house and laughing. ”
“It ’s a stretch to go from field trips to dates.”
“All right , just checking.”
“I would say I ’d warn you, but I’m not sure how much warning I’ll have. If the time seems right, I’ll take it. It’s not yet.”
“I ’d appreciate it if you could keep me in the loop on that.”
“I will ,” Flynn promised.
• • •
The chance for a private outing with Teri came sooner than Flynn expected. The next evening brought a storm that took out the power for portions of Seattle, including Teri’s house. Nicholas and Flynn went outside to get wood to build a fire and Flynn noticed a dazzling lightning show in the distance. He pointed it out to Nicholas.
“Think you can handle the kids for a while?”
“Kidnapping Teri? ”
“Just for a bit. Casual but sans kids . A nice, slow start.”
“Like a predator stalking prey ,” Nicholas nodded, juggling firewood while gracelessly opening the door. “Tell me again why we’re doing this instead of the boys?”
“I have no idea. Point out the error of their ways. ” Flynn unloaded an armful of firewood by the fireplace at the end of the living room and started adding newspaper and kindling to build a fire.
“Teri ,” he called as the fire started to catch. She came in holding a candle.
“I was just lighting the scented candles in the bathrooms. They ’re in jars so we can
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