By the time Travis called her at six o’clock in the evening, Rachel was near ready to pass out. She’d waited all day for his phone call, especially after the mysterious message he’d left on her cell phone around noon.
There’s a new development in our investigation. I’m on a case right now, but I’ll call you later to talk about it.
She’d been hoping later would be an hour, two at the most. But six hours? Didn’t the man realize his cryptic message would spur her curiosity? Didn’t he realize that she’d never be able to focus on her work after he’d dropped that bomb on her?
She’d left the studio early and gone back to her apartment, just in case Travis called her at home, and she’d spent the last two hours sitting by the phone and sending telepathic messages for it to ring.
And now that it had, she hadn’t been expecting Travis’s first sentence.
“I’m taking you out to dinner.”
She almost dropped the phone. “What?”
His husky voice sent shivers through her body. “I’m starving. I’ve been working all day, so I thought maybe we could get a bite to eat. We can talk over dinner.”
Impatience tugged at her insides. A bite to eat? How could she possibly eat when these new developments lingered in the air?
As if taking her silence as a sign of agreement, Travis said, “I’ll pick you up in ten minutes. See you soon.”
She heard a click in her ear and hung up the phone, feeling perplexed. She was desperate to know what Travis had found out today, but along with desperation came a tingle of apprehension.
Was this a date? No, it couldn’t be. It was a business meeting, that’s all. Besides, she didn’t date. She had no need for that awkward social ritual which revolved around only one thing—sex.
Rachel glanced down at the ratty sweatpants and baggy T-shirt she wore. She needed to change.
Not because it was a date, she thought quickly as she made a beeline for her bedroom. She didn’t want to look good for Travis. Nope. She just didn’t want to go out in public looking like a bag lady.
Ten minutes. Not nearly enough time to spruce herself up for this date.
It’s not a date!
She stood in front of her closet and examined the contents. After a moment, she grabbed a knee-length black skirt and an emerald-green sleeveless top. She dressed quickly, and then rushed over to her vanity table to brush her hair. She saw a tube of lipstick next to her hairbrush and eyed it warily. Did women wear lipstick to business meetings?
She fiddled the small tube between her fingers, just as the ring of the telephone echoed in her bedroom. The short rings indicated that someone was downstairs, wanting to be let up. Travis.
Before she could analyze her motives, she smeared red lipstick over her lips and reached for the phone.
“I’ll be right down,” she said into the receiver.
She hurried back to the living room and rifled around for her purse and keys. After she had everything, she took the elevator downstairs.
The second she saw Travis standing in the lobby, she regretted her efforts for beauty. He obviously didn’t see this as date, she noted, as she took in his appearance. He was dressed casually, in blue jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. She suddenly felt silly in her skirt. Suddenly wished she could wipe that lipstick off her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Hi,” Travis said as their eyes locked.
She swallowed. “Hi.”
“Ready to go?”
“Sure.”
She followed Travis to his car, which was parked in the no-parking zone in front of her building. She raised her eyebrows as he opened the passenger door for her.
“Do cops not need to obey the law?” she asked, pointing to the no-parking sign.
Travis shot her a delicious-looking grin. “Special privileges come with the job.”
She settled in her seat as Travis walked around the side and got in the car. “Where are we going?” she asked as he pulled away from the building.
“The Owl Pub. Is that okay with you?”
A snake of sickness slithered up her body, crawling around her stomach before traveling north to form a ball of acid in her throat. The Owl Pub. Or Marty’s Diner, as she better remembered it. The diner had been the hangout for the popular kids in high school back in the day. It was the place kids went to after school, on the weekends, where guys took girls for milkshakes before they went to the movie theater nearby. It had been transformed into a pub about five years ago, but Rachel hadn’t ventured inside the place since the one humiliating time she’d been there. There were too many bad memories there.