Page 32 of The Woman By the Lake

Her eyes moved over his face in a way he both liked and made him feel awkward.

“Your correction is noted, though it’s more fun to say in flagrante delicto. And just to say, not a lot of people know the distinction between those two,” she said, her voice softer than its normal soft.

“You forget, I’m a genius,” he joked. “And I might like a good time, or to mellow out with some good weed, and I work with my hands, but I also know how to read.”

She shifted and said swiftly, “I didn’t mean to offen?—”

“You didn’t, Nadia. I’m teasing you.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“And your non-apology apology is accepted,” he continued teasing.

She rolled her eyes, looked away, and finally took a sip of her wine.

He smiled into his glass before he took one from his.

“You can run through my yard,” she told the lake.

“Obliged,” he replied.

“And if you give me a heads-up you’re going to have people over and want to let loose, maybe I can, I don’t know, check into a spa somewhere.”

“Or you could come and join us,” he offered a different option.

She made a face at him.

He wanted to find it funny, but that offended him.

“I hope you get from tonight I’m good people, and so are my friends.”

“You listen to Tool.”

Oh yeah.

He was offended.

“I don’t,” he shot back. “I lost control of the playlist somewhere along the way.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” she mumbled, attention back to the lake.

“They’re not my favorite, but what’s wrong with Tool?”

She turned back to him. “I listen to Taylor Swift. And Lizzo. And Sara Bareilles. Pink. Florence and the Machine. Miley Cyrus. Lady Gaga. Adele.”

He held his hand in front of her face. “Stop.”

She smiled. “I think you’re understanding me.”

Yeah, he was, and it was good to know she wasn’t dogging him, she just wasn’t a good-time girl.

At least, not the kind he was used to.

“I think if I let you take over the playlist, my friends would drown us both in the lake.”

At that, he got her sweet laughter.

But then she pulled both shoulders forward and said, “I’ve never been much of a partier. But if you are, I don’t want to be a wet blanket. Obviously, I don’t want to be checking into spas once a week, something it seems won’t happen if you work out of town a lot. But on an occasion, I can figure something out.”

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