Part 9 (1/2)
Deo's eyes narrowed as she regarded her cousin over her beer.
”Looks like she did a good job on your hand.”
The Squealing Pig was packed as it was every night, but they'd managed to snag a table in the corner near the wide front windows.
People brushed against the gla.s.s as they pa.s.sed by on Commercial Street and sounds of the melee outside added to the general din of people crowded around the bar and jostling at tables inside. Considering it was a holiday, Deo had told her crews to knock off early, and she and Joey had come into town for a burger.
”I'm not talking about her medical skills,” Joey scoffed, waving to a local who came through the door. ”I was thinking of asking her out.”
”Come on,” Deo said dismissively, hoping to hide her concern.
”She's got to have at least ten years on you.”
* 73 *
RADCLY fFE Joey grinned. ”You know what they say about older women. I ought to have the stuff to keep up with her.”
Deo wanted to smack him and he wasn't even out of line. It's not like they hadn't talked about girls before. She tried to keep it decent, not only because he was her cousin, but because she didn't want him to think that women meant nothing to her. Joey, for his part, was a lot more respectful than most of the guys. Still, hearing him talk about Nita as if she were a potential s.e.x partner made her crazy. She leaned across the table into his face. ”She's a lesbian, you nitwit. Forget it.”
”So? Maybe she likes tuna on Friday and steak on Sat.u.r.day.”
Deo swatted him in the head. ”a.s.shole.”
”Still, you don't know right?” Joey persisted teasingly. ”Unless maybe you've already been there?”
”No,” Deo grated.
”How come? Did she turn you down?”
Deo clenched her jaws.
”Ho ho!” Joey crowed. ”You mean there's fi nally one woman in town who can resist you?” He punched her arm. ”You must be slipping, babe.”
”Knock it off,” Deo snapped.
Joey's face fell. ”Hey. I didn't mean anything by it.”
Deo let her breath out slowly and tried to rein in her temper. Jesus, what the h.e.l.l was the matter with her. Joey was a good kid, and he hadn't said or done anything he hadn't said or done a hundred times before. So Nita obviously thought she was callous and shallow and only interested in a quick lay. So what. Nita wasn't the fi rst person to think she was a f.u.c.k-off. Her own parents thought the same thing and worse, and she'd learned to live with that. Yeah, it still hurt, but she kept that to herself.
”Forget it.” Deo sipped her beer and feigned interest in the activity outside.
Joey stretched his legs out beside the table and smiled with satisfaction. ”So you don't mind if I fi nd out for myself if she's interested in some prime salam-”
”Joey,” Deo growled.
Laughing, Joey tilted back in his chair. ”She's got you bugged, doesn't she?”
* 74 *
Winds of Fortune ”I never said that,” Deo said, but she knew she didn't have to. She was bugged. Nita was a beautiful, intelligent, s.e.xy woman who thought Deo wasn't worth the time of day. And for the fi rst time in longer than she could remember, Deo was unhappy with that perception. Sure, it was hard to disappoint anyone or be hurt by them when she asked for nothing and nothing was expected of her. It was also lonely.
”Well, good luck, Cuz,” Joey said good-naturedly.
It would take more than luck, Deo knew, and she wasn't certain that she wanted to take the risk. Still, something about Nita almost made her want to try.
* 75 *
* 76 *
Winds of Fortune
CHAPTER EIGHT.
Hey,” Deo said, working her way through the crowd up to Allie, who stood at the juncture of Standish and Commercial Streets, the busiest intersection in town. ”What are you still doing at work? You had the day s.h.i.+ft.”
”Pulling a double,” Allie said, watching an SUV edge its way through the pedestrian-fi lled street that more resembled a wide sidewalk at nine-thirty at night. She diverted her attention long enough to give Deo an appreciative once over. ”You're looking good.”
Grinning, Deo returned the look. ”I think I might like you in the silky stuff a little better than the leather, but it works.”
”You'd be surprised how many girls want me because of the uniform.”
”Oh, I'm sure it's not just the uniform,” Deo said with a laugh.
”Was everything okay this morning? With you being late, I mean?”
Allie grimaced, remembering the chaos that just half a day later seemed a little bit unreal. Bri trembling in her arms was no fantasy, however. Signaling a line of cars to wait, she waved a group of s.h.i.+rtless men in skin-tight trunks that looked suspiciously like underwear across the intersection. ”Right after I got in this morning, Chief Parker collapsed-heart attack. He's in the hospital up at Hyannis.”
”Oh, man. That's terrible. Is he going to be okay?”
”n.o.body's saying very much.” Allie sighed and gestured for the cars to move on. ”Reese is there now. I'm going up after my s.h.i.+ft.”
”Tonight? Jesus, you didn't sleep at all last night. You must be beat.”
”And whose fault is that?” Allie teased. ”I'm okay, plus we're shorthanded. I don't know when else I'll have time. I'm due on s.h.i.+ft again tomorrow at ten.”
”Well, since I'm the one who kept you awake, the least I can do * 77 *
RADCLY fFE is drive you up there and back tonight. That way you can sleep while I drive.”
Surprised, Allie briefl y clasped Deo's hand. ”That's sweet. Really.
But you don't need to. Last night was totally worth being wiped out today.”
”Look, I'd like to. I'm just going to be hanging around at home anyhow.”
”No company tonight?” Allie's tone made it clear she wasn't being critical.