Cozy made her uncomfortable. Cozy with Liam made her even more uncomfortable. Maybe because it felt so good. So right. Like something she could do every night, for the rest of her life. Absurd.
“Thanks for the help with the Maya mess,” she said finally, stirring the fire with a cast iron poker and tossing on another branch that Chudo-Yudo had fetched earlier in a fit of playful doggieness. Sparks flew up into the night sky like demented fairies.
She and Liam had barely spoken since he’d shown up about twenty minutes ago. She’d fetched him a chair and put his first hot dog on a stick, and he’d pulled a six-pack out of his car, along with a file folder, which he’d plopped on the ground next to him. Other than that, they’d mostly just sat there in companionable silence, chewing and sipping and occasionally reaching down to pet Chudo-Yudo on the top of his massive, shaggy white head.
Like an old married couple, she thought, shoulders edging up a little closer to her ears. She shook it off, purposely stretching her legs out even further, and snuck a glance at Liam out of the corner of her eye.
He was clearly off duty, since he wore jeans and a dark blue tee shirt that clung to his broad shoulders and chest in a way that made her think thoughts she’d be better off ignoring, but otherwise, he hadn’t said much about his day.
Liam gave her a bad imitation of an innocent look when she thanked him. “Me? I just got my secretary to take notes. You’re the one who conveniently showed up with three impeccable witnesses to prove you couldn’t have committed the crime.” He stuffed the second half of his third hot dog into his mouth with all the enthusiasm of a man who hadn’t eaten all day, and cracked open another beer. The shadows from the flames emphasized the dark circles under his eyes and the deepening lines around his mouth, highlighting the few tiny silver hairs just starting to show in his beard stubble.
Baba thought he looked tired and frazzled and a little bit chewed on, like a favorite old boot that Chudo-Yudo had gotten at when she wasn’t looking. Without conscious intent, she reached out and gently moved a strand of dark-blond hair off his face, making him smile.
They both froze for a moment, taken off guard by the power of the connection between them. Liam shook it off first, but she caught a glimpse of something that looked a lot like the attraction she was trying so hard to fight.
“I know,” he said, “one of these days I have to take the time to get it cut.”
“It’s growing on me,” Baba said, pulling her hand back awkwardly and stuffing it into her lap, where it would hopefully stay out of trouble. She steered the conversation back to business. Safer that way. “And I meant it when I said thanks. Without your hint to find an alibi, I could be sitting in a jail cell right now, eating bad food, and fighting off some junkie streetwalker who wanted to make me her bitch.”
Liam startled, and dropped his hot dog in the fire, suppressing a curse as he watched his meal burn to a cinder. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. How do you even know about this stuff if you don’t watch TV?” He pulled the last dog out of the package and politely offered it to her before putting it on his now-vacant stick and leaning forward to place it gingerly over the fire.
“The Riders hang out in a lot of bars,” she explained, giving him a rare grin. “They tell me things.”
Chudo-Yudo snorted with laughter, a little Guinness foam clinging to his black lips and giving him a frothy mustache.
“For your information,” Liam said acidly, “Dunville is too small to have streetwalkers. We may have a few women who sleep with men for money, but if they do, they’re subtle enough about it that the sheriff’s department doesn’t have to get involved. And frankly, the food in the jail would have been better than hot dogs.” He blew ashes off his slightly charred wiener before plopping it into a bun and squirting copious amounts of ketchup on it. For a moment, Baba saw a stream of blood flowing through the air and shuddered.
“Ha,” she said, scooting her chair a little closer to the fire. “I can’t believe you came out here, enjoyed my gracious hospitality, and then insulted my gourmet cuisine. I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me.”
There was a moment of silence from the other chair. “Ha,” Liam said, echoing her. But his voice sounded a lot more serious than hers had. “You’re odd, mysterious, and infuriating. What’s not to like?”
Baba tried to ignore the heat that flushed her face. He probably hadn’t meant those things as a compliment, but she rather liked being described that way. At the very least, it was honest.
“Want me to eat him now?” Chudo-Yudo asked from his spot at her feet. “I’ve still got a little room left after those hot dogs.”
Liam jumped, still not used to having a talking dog around, and Baba tried to swallow a laugh along with her wine, spattering them both in a flash of droplets that made the fire flare and flash. She hid her smile behind the hand wiping dampness from her lips.