“What’s up?” he said. “You disappeared, and now you look like the cat who ate the canary.”
I didn’t answer right away; I was too busy trying not to fall over from how damned amazing it felt to have his fingers digging into the knotted muscles of my back. It would do no good to let him know this, because then he would stop.
“I have a suitor,” I finally said.
He didn’t respond, just kept massaging.
“Jealous?” I teased.
“Mostly just confused.”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s a suitor. But I’m going to pretend it’s one, because it makes me happy, and happy is hard to come by.”
“Is he cuter than me?”
“Not really.”
“Smarter, I bet.”
“He wants to date me, so I’m guessing no. But he’s older.” I let out a dazed grunt as Teo did something complicated with his knuckles under my shoulder blades. Rivenholt’s folder was sitting open on Teo’s desk, and as I leaned forward, I fiddled with the paper clip holding the photo to it.
“He doesn’t sound too awesome,” Teo said.
“It’s the cop who’s been looking for Rivenholt, okay? So I have an ulterior motive.” Did I? I couldn’t even keep track anymore.
“Is everything about work for you?”
“What else have I got?” I said, trying not to sound too drunk. “But it’s interesting. Berenbaum thinks Inaya and Vivian are plotting against him, and Inaya thinks Vivian and Berenbaum are plotting against her. By my math, that suggests that Vivian is plotting against both of them. How Rivenholt and an abduction are involved, I still don’t know.”
“I just want to boot him back to Arcadia. I don’t need to know all the drama.”
“Want to drive me to the train station at three so we can nab him?”
Teo’s hands stilled. “Wait, what?”
“Weren’t you there when I was talking to Berenbaum?” I slipped the paper clip off Rivenholt’s folder and picked up the photo, staring at those breathtaking eyes.
“Listening to your phone call would’ve required more of a shit than I actually give about any of this,” he said, starting up the massage again. “Are you sure he’s going to be there?”
“Tell you what,” I said, admiring Rivenholt’s cheekbones and trying to ignore the way Teo’s hands were encroaching on side-boob. “If we go and he’s not there, I’ll do your laundry for a month.”
“You just want to rifle through my underwear.”
“Says the guy copping a feel.”
Teo retracted his hands, but it was worth it to score the point. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll drive you.”
I slipped Rivenholt’s photo into my pocket. “Don’t get me wrong,” I said. “I’m all for fooling around, but I think we skipped first base.”
“Excuse me for not knowing the rules.”
“What are you, a virgin?”
His spine stiffened, and he headed for the door. “You’re not even allowed to ask me that.”
“Oh my God, you are.”
He stood there holding the door open and not looking at me.
“Aw, hey,” I said. “Don’t feel weird. It’s kind of awesome, actually. Good on you. I just—well, now I get the mixed-signals thing. I thought you were just being a dick.”
“Can’t I be a virgin and a dick?”
“If you ever have any questions about anything—”
“You know what would be awesome? If we talked about something that wasn’t this.”
“Fine. To the train station.”
24
By the time we got on the road, traffic had mysteriously quadrupled in the way that it often does in L.A. I glanced at the clock—2:13—and tried to take calming breaths. Teo, on the other hand, was not even trying for calm and was driving like an asshole.
“Teo, if we get pulled over, we are going to miss the train. The Mythbusters proved that weaving in and out of lanes doesn’t get you there any faster.”
“You’re welcome to walk.”
“Right. Sorry, I keep thinking I’m talking to an adult.”
To minimize suffering, according to Dr. Davis, you must apply something called “radical acceptance.” Basically, this means ceasing to fight things that are beyond your control. As both Teo and Los Angeles traffic fell firmly into that category, I did my breathing exercises and pulled my face into an imitation of a serene smile. Strangely, it helped. It was possible, my Wise Mind reasoned, that I had guessed wrong about the three o’clock train, in which case all this stress and hurry would be for nothing.
We pulled up to Union Station at 2:43. “Get out and I’ll find a place to park,” said Teo.
There were about eight things wrong with that plan, but I had no time to argue. I got out of the car as fast as I could and shut the shrieking passenger door behind me.