“Minor detail.”
There was only one way to handle it now, own it and flip it. It was my only chance of hanging on to some pride. “Even if I did acknowledge that you might be attractive in a certain rough around the edges way, it doesn't mean I'd act on it. If you haven't noticed, I don't particularly like you and I'm not one of those girls.”
“Those girls?” he asked.
“Yes, I'm sure you know the type. Girls with issues.”
“You think I can't get normal healthy woman?”
I scrunched up my face in a false apology. “I would be a bit surprised.”
“If I wanted to sleep with you, it would be a done deal. But we work together so it's not a good idea. I don't do doe eyes.” He pushed off the couch and actually used both legs for once.
“Doe eyes?”
“You know, the way human women get when they start liking a guy.”
“You think I'd fall all over you because we had sex?”
“Pretty much.”
“You're greatly overestimating yourself.” Or at least I really hoped so.
“No. I'm not.”
“Maybe I'm not the almighty Fate but I'm a grown woman. I think I could handle it.”
“Yeah, I'm sure Charlie was a real powerhouse in bed.”
The minute he mentioned Charlie, any teasing nature of the conversation died. I froze in my spot, my body growing unnaturally tense and the atmosphere changed drastically.
“Don't talk about Charlie.” The tone of my voice made it clear he'd crossed the line. This was not somewhere he wanted to go.
He didn't respond right away. He watched me for a minute before he finally nodded, a silent acknowledgment, if not exactly an apology, that he had pushed too far.
I watched as he walked over to a drawer and wondered why the hell he'd even brought up my past with Charlie. The more time I spent with Fate, the worse I read him. It was the exact opposite of what normally happened. I should be able to read him like a book by now, but nothing ever felt normal around him.
He brought a handful of index cards back over and laid them on the wooden table between the couches and I walked over to see what he was up to.
“As of right now, this is what we've got,” he said.
He used the word “we” and I knew it was an olive branch of sorts.
He scribbled “Karma”, “Suit”, “Big Bad” and “Target” on four index cards.
“Suit is the guy we saw today?”
“Yes.”
“Big Bad?” I asked.
“Suit isn't calling the shots.”
“You don't know that. There's no evidence.”
“I know people. Suit's a lackey.” He looked at me, eyebrow raised. “You're going to tell me you think he's in charge?”
My gut feeling was the same as his. “Keep going.”
I watched as he arranged the cards in a triangle with Big Bad at one peak, Suit underneath him, and then Karma and Target taking up the bottom two corners.
“You think Big Bad is really responsible for my death?” I tapped the name, a made up one for someone I wasn't sure even existed.
“Yes. Yours was a mass murder, but I think he had a specific target in mind.” He stared at me, letting me know exactly what he was thinking. It better not have been me, that if it turned out I was hiding something...
“I told you, I've never seen that man before.”
I rested my chin on my hand as I stared down at the cards, the one representing me next to target.
“What exactly do you think is going on?” I asked.
“We've had employees disappear without a word or a trace. I think it has something to do with your murderer. I don't think he's human.”
“But what is he?”
“I think he's like us, and if he is, we should know about him. I've been doing this a long time and I've never seen him before.” He leaned back on the couch.
“This is why you don't want to kill him. You think there's some other non-human group running around out there, messing with things? Killing people? I've never been big on conspiracy theories when there's nothing to back it up.”
He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “He was obviously talking to someone. Who? And there's been disturbances.”
“What kind of disturbances?” I leaned back against the sofa while I waited for him to explain and realized this might have been the most civil conversation we'd ever had.
“Imagine that the universe, everything that is around us, every molecule of water flowing, the tiniest cell in the smallest insect is interacting with everything else. Then there's us, and we’re wading around in this vast ocean of tides and swells. I've been feeling something bump against me. I can't see what it is but I know it's out of place. Like a leaf blowing against the wind.”
“And you think that this guy is part of it?” The more I heard, the less I liked it. Even more so that my death might be wrapped up in this somehow.
“Yes. He feels out of place.”
“I knew he felt odd but I couldn't tell he wasn't human.”
“You’re not connected enough, yet. You're only picking up on really obvious things. For a transfer, it takes a while.”
Transfer. The word was starting to sound more and more like a slur. I wasn't going to argue with him. Less than two weeks left. He could call me a crazy bitch if he wanted. It didn't matter...or it shouldn't.
“So what now?”
“We wait and see if I get any more clues.”
“And what if you don't get enough clues before I move on? Then what?”
“This new situation set up will help.”
I stood, more tired than I should've been. I might as well get the inevitable over with.
“Bedroom's down the hall.”
It was very irritating that although I was losing my ability to read him, his perception was still right on.
“I'm going in there.” I pointed in the direction down the hall like I was preparing to enter a minefield. “You can't come in until after I fall asleep. I don't want to know you're there.” Because even though I definitely won't be sleeping with you now, even if you begged, I didn't know if I'd be able to fall asleep with him next to me.
“Agreed.”
“And I'd prefer if you were gone when I wake up as well.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“You're the almighty Fate. I'm just a feeble brained transfer. You figure it out.”
***
I woke up alone in his massive bed, confirming he'd found a way to manage. When I rolled over, I could still smell his clean masculine scent, proving he'd been next to me all night. The guy was a jerk but he did smell nice.
I forced myself to get up before I was tempted to take a suspiciously deep breath and I would do that under no circumstance. Wanting to sleep with an attractive man was natural. Trying to smell him took it to a new low—kindergarten crush kind of low. Even I had my limits when it came to acknowledging things. If I tried to breathe in his scent, I was crushing hard. Forcing myself out of bed lent me enough deniability that it couldn't be proved.
There was an adjoining bathroom but I avoided it and opted for the common one down the hall. It might have seemed ridiculous, but I drew the line at sharing a bed. I needed my own bathroom.
The house sounded empty and I hurried, wanting to get out of there before he showed up again. Nights and work time was enough. I wasn't going to hang out at his house all day, too.
There was a luncheonette not far from here. Since I didn't have my Honda, I'd walk there and get a taxi home after I got some breakfast and much needed coffee. This body might not have been physically addicted, but I was certainly still in need.
Stepping outside, it was a beautiful sunny day. I loved this time of year. It was why I'd chosen to get married this month. And then I couldn't seem to stop the thoughts from rolling in. I wondered if my wedding dress was still hanging in the closet in the home I'd shared with Charlie.
“Camilla, I don't understand why you're so crazy, lately.” He paused outside the cafe we were about to lunch in and squeezed my hands. “We're going to be married next week. Where are all these fears coming from?”