“What? No.” Oh, God, I’d pulled a muscle in my leg the other night when Derek and I were doing research, but I wasn’t about to let anyone know. “I . . . bumped into a chair. I’ll be fine.”
“Hope so, but if it keeps hurting, Vinnie’s got a poultice that’ll set you right.”
“Thanks. I’ll be fine.”
Pookie came skittering across the floor at the sound of Suzie’s voice.
“There she is,” Suzie said, picking up the cat and hugging her. “She’s only got two more days left here. Splinters’s medication is finished, but we have to wait until Saturday before the cats can be together again.”
“She must feel like she’s in solitary confinement over here,” I said, then couldn’t help but smile as Pookie draped herself over Suzie’s shoulder, a boneless, furry lump of love.
“No, no,” Suzie said as she scratched the cat’s ears. “She likes it here.”
“Nope. I think she’s had it with me,” I muttered. “She’s ready to go home.”
“Don’t be cracked,” Suzie said, stroking the cat’s fur. “She loves you. Don’t you, Pookers, don’t you? Yes, you do. Yes, you do.”
Suzie’s normally tough-chick voice shot up three octaves as she continued crooning to her cat. “Yes, you do. Yes, you do.”
Pookie’s purrs of sublime love radiated through the room. I could feel her blissful vibrations from several feet away. She never vibrated around me. Of course, that was probably a good thing. Still, seeing the love generated between the two left me feeling bittersweet. Maybe it was time I found an animal of my very own to love.
“Hello, darling.”
I lit up like a Christmas tree at the sound of Derek’s voice. As he crossed the living room, I ran to greet him. “You’re home early. I’m so happy. What’s going on?”
He wrapped me in his arms and whispered, “Maybe I just missed you.”
“Oh.” I hugged him back, loving the masculine scent of him. Hmm, who needed a cat?
Suzie sighed. “Sweet.”
“Hello, Suzie,” Derek said over my head.
“Hey, Derek. Just visiting my baby, here.”
“She’s a lovely cat.”
“Yes, she is,” Suzie murmured, then repeated it straight to Pookie. “Yes, you are. Yes, you are.”
I chuckled. There was a whole lot of love going on in here. I looked up at Derek. “Does this mean you’ll be here for girls’ night?”
“Are you serving Cornish pasties, by chance?”
“God, no,” I said, wrinkling my nose.
“Then, sadly, I can’t make it,” he said, smiling wryly. He eased back to check his watch. “I’ll be heading out in a while to meet Clive and his partners at Gary Danko.”
“Wow, how’d you swing that one?” Suzie said, putting the cat down. “It takes three months to get a reservation there.”
With a brief shake of his head, he said, “Corinne takes care of these things.”
Suzie snorted and winked at me. “I’ll give Corinne a call next time I’m in a jam.”
Pookie wandered over to her bowl of mashed salmon and began to nibble.
“She’s eating,” I marveled.
“My work here is done,” Suzie said. “I’ll be back at seven for margaritas.”
“Thanks so much for coming over.”
“She just needed a little Suzie love,” she said, grinning. After bending to give the cat one more affectionate scratch behind her ears, she stood up and punched my arm. “See you later, gator.”
As soon as I heard the door close behind Suzie, I looked at Derek. “How long before you have to leave?”
“Long enough,” he said, grabbing hold of my arms and backing me toward the couch.
I laughed. “What are you doing?”
“I should think it would be obvious.” He yanked off my sweater in one brash move. I shook my hair back and watched him watching me, his dark eyes glittering with intent.
“You’re awfully dressed up,” I said, fingering his tie. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll wrinkle your suit?”
“No.”
My knees hit the couch and I fell backward. He followed. I pressed my hand to his chest. “What if I told you I’m not in the mood?”
“I’d have to call you a liar.”
Chapter 16
Earlier that day, I’d made the margarita mix and chopped up all the ingredients for the tacos. Good thing, because Derek had put a wrench in my schedule, so to speak. I wasn’t complaining. On the contrary, I felt like bragging, but I’d never been that kind of girl. No, our afternoon interlude would be my little secret. I hoped so, anyway. Knowing Robin and her big mouth, the whole world was likely to hear the full details if I wasn’t careful. I made a mental note to avoid eye contact with her.
The only thing that had dampened my pleasure was that just before Derek left for his evening out, we heard from Inspector Lee that Galina had been questioned and released. Despite my protests, Lee stood firm. Galina had an alibi for the actual time of death, and her story had checked out. But they would be watching her, Lee assured me. I reminded her that Robin was back in town, and if Galina was free, then Robin was in danger. Lee again insisted they’d keep an eye on her.