“Sorry about back there,” she said. “I didn’t mean to start without you, and I know what it’s like to have a gut feeling that no one else feels.”
He stared at his shoes and rattled the change in his pocket. “It’s cool. The evidence doesn’t lie, right?”
“Right. So, how about you and I go check out that Bakes place and talk through everything over dinner? If we hurry, we can beat the senior’s crowd, and maybe you’ll see your friend.”
Darek stood up a bit taller. “My friend?” He shrugged.
Lizzy turned, and the two of them headed toward the parking lot. “Yeah, at Bakes; the Tad guy?”
“Right, he’s not really a friend, but what the hell. I could use something to eat, and Megan is going to yoga tonight.”
Lizzy’s lips parted into a wide smile. “Yoga, huh? She must be really fit.”
“She’s a beauty queen. She was raised in the pageant circuit, so her looks really matter to her. More than most other things.” Including himself, he’d wanted to say.
“We can take my car,” he said as she started in the opposite direction. He felt like he should drive, even though this wasn’t a date and only an extension of work.
“Oh, sure.” She gave him a warm smile and followed him.
Once they were buckled up, he glanced over and noticed her long legs, which were toned and strong, yet still sleek and sexy. She had a stronger build than Megan, who was softer.
“So, you don’t do yoga I take it?” he asked.
“No, I do, actually. It helps with my kickboxing. I do some sparring and light weight training.”
“Nice,” he said. “I work out three times a week usually, but I haven’t been in a couple of weeks.”
“I don’t get much time, either. Maybe we could work out together. I might even get you to glove up with me.” She balled her fist and held it against his lower jaw. “I’d punch you right there.”
He glanced over and smiled as she gave him a wink.
“Oh, would you? That’s not fair, you know? I could never hit a woman. Not even if she was holding me down and working me over. I’d just let it happen.” It was the truth, too. He’d only hurt one girl, and it was the weakest moment of his life.
They talked more about working out, and he was glad he and Lizzy were getting along. The girl could be his friend and turn into the sister he never had in no time, much like Max was a best friend and brother figure.
They got to Bakes, and after a rough time parking, they went inside to see Tad standing in the front, greeting guests.
He walked over and greeted Lizzy first and then Darek. “Hello Ms. McNamara.” He turned to Darek. “Detective.”
“We’d like a table; somewhere we can talk without scaring away the other patrons.” Darek raked his hand through his hair and straightened his tie.
Tad grinned, and Darek could tell by the set of his jaw that he’d rather the two pigs in front of him eat somewhere else. “Right this way.”
Lizzy followed. “Thank you.”
Once they were seated and had ordered, they sipped their drinks and made small talk.
“So how long have you been married?” Lizzy asked.
“A year. We went from zero to sixty fast, but you’d think we’ve been married for forty years. Have you ever been married?”
“Yeah, I’m divorced. I married a med student. He had one year left before he became a doctor, but it didn’t work out, so I left. We weren’t that compatible.”
Darek noticed the casual way she spoke about it, as if it had meant nothing to her at all. “Most women dream of marrying a doctor.”
“Yeah, well I’m sure it’s quite a fairy tale until you’re in the middle of it. He was a nice guy, but we wanted different things in life. I felt like it was better to let him go before we both grew bitter or wound up hurt.”
“Bitterness sucks,” Darek said. “I feel it seeping into my own marriage. Sometimes, I think Megan doesn’t know what she wants. One minute, she wants a baby. The next, I need to get my promotion before we can even try. Then some friend of hers tells her about a phone app, and suddenly, I’m on a schedule. Like I need that shit.”
Lizzy chuckled softly. “Sorry. I don’t mean to laugh; I just can’t imagine having to deal with the phone app thing.”
“Yeah. Well, the case saved me from that little experiment. She’s afraid she’s going to end up like that movie where Brad Pitt’s wife’s head is in the box.”
“Gwyneth Paltrow? ‘What’s in the box,’ right?” Lizzy threw her head back and laughed, and soon, they were laughing together. “Please tell me she’s blonde.”
“She is.” Darek felt the heavy burden of stress leave his body, the weight lifting off of his shoulders.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at your wife. I’m sure she’s lovely.”
“She’s something. It’s actually helping with the stress to talk about it. This case has me in a funk, and with her and my mother, it all piles up.” He met her eyes, which were sparkling with the light above their heads. She seemed to have it all together. “How do you do it? Cope, I mean?”
“I have very little in my life to stress about,” she said. “No family, no marriage, not even a relationship.”
He sat back in his chair. “I can’t believe that. A gorgeous woman like you, I figured you were fighting off every single man in the department.”
Her laughter sent chills in all the right places, which was very, very wrong.
“No, it’s just me,” she said. “I’ve had a few men try to woo me, but I keep my head in my work, and then I have my hobbies, which hopefully will lead to us sparring. I think you need a kick in the pants.”
“Oh yeah? Trust me, that’s the one thing I’m getting at home.” He turned up his drink. “She brought up the ‘D’ word the other day. It was like a punch in the nuts at the time, but the more I think about it…” He shrugged and left the idea hanging in the air.
Lizzy sipped her own drink and then lifted her shoulder in a casual way. “Maybe things would be better, and maybe they wouldn’t. It wouldn’t necessarily solve all of your problems.”
“It might help them, though. I don’t know.” He wanted to change the subject, but she was so easy to talk to, he couldn’t help it.
Their first round of food came to the table, and Lizzy dipped her fork into the salad in front of her. He tried to focus on his own appetizer, but he watched how she ate the bite of cucumber. Even the way she ate was sexy. And then she asked him a question that he wasn’t expecting. “What’s the first thing you’d do if you were divorced?”
He didn’t even have to think about that one. “Find someone to kiss.”
Her eyes widened, and she wiped her lips with her napkin as she swallowed her next bite. “To kiss?”
He looked at her soft, plump lips and imagined his own against them. What the hell was he thinking? He took a deep breath and pushed the idea away. “Yeah, my wife doesn’t kiss.”
“Damn, I’ve never heard of that from a wife. Usually, you’d get that from a prostitute, right?” She gave a little laugh.
“From what I hear, but I’ve never been with a prostitute personally.” He closed his eyes and laughed, not believing where the conversation had led.