Page 139 of Callan

I finish eating and drink wine.

“I can’t tell you what I was doing there,” I say, putting my empty glass down.“It wouldn’t make the slightest sense to you, and it could make you a target in a police investigation if something happens to her and her friend.”

The light goes out in her eyes.

22

MACKENZIE

I don’t knowif anyone has told this man that he makes it easy for me to get in trouble.

He wasn’t joking, was he?

If this were a blinking contest, I definitely wouldn’t have won.

I lower my eyes, wrestling with the uncertainty created by his words.

Looking down, I chase a crumb of red velvet cake with my fork and eventually catch it and pop it into my mouth.

“Speaking of Carmen… Have you at least used condoms with her?” I ask, a bit pissed.

He studies my face.

“Let’s not talk about her. I met her before you.”

“Did you?” I insist. “Use condoms?”

He sucks in a long breath, leans back in his seat, and studies me intently.

“I always use condoms. Does that make you feel any better?”

“Usedcondoms…” I correct him, and he stays quiet for a moment before grinning.

“Are you mad at me that I had a life before you?” he asks, amused, his sculpted arms crossed over his chest.

I give him a tiny smile.

“Yes, I am.”

“Why?”

Lifting an eyebrow, he awaits my answer.

“I can’t answer that. I just am.”

“You had a life before me.”

“Maybe.”

I search his eyes.

“You wouldn’t be jealous of Quinn,” I go on.

“Is that his name?” he asks.

I nod.

“You don’t know that,” he comments about him not being jealous. “You have no reason to be jealous of your neighbor, yet here you are.”

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