Page 44 of All Wrong
He smirked. “Who says I wear boxers?”
“You’re right. I picture you as more of a commando kind of guy. But that doesn’t quite lend itself to snappy banter, does it?”
He choked a little on his beer. The idea that she pondered what he wore beneath his jeans made that tightening down below worse.
“Sorry,” she said, not looking sorry at all, her gorgeous blue eyes twinkling in the patio lights that surrounded them. Then, she grew more serious. “What’s going on, Nick?”
When again he hesitated, she lowered her voice and leaned forward over the picnic table. “Does this have anything to do with what happened at the fair?”
He glanced around, finding that they were among the few remaining patrons. The order window was closed; the grill was being scraped clean. The sun had set, and the shadows from the surrounding trees were growing longer.
“Maybe,” he said hesitantly.
“Okay.” She waited patiently for him to say more. He didn’t, letting her connect the dots on her own. Her brows continued to draw further toward the center of her face, as if the picture she was drawing wasn’t making sense. “You think Brett has something to do with that?” she asked finally.
He said nothing. Not verbally anyway. He let her read the answer in his eyes.
To her credit, she didn’t immediately discreditthe idea. Instead, she said, “Okay, why? What makes you think that?”
He knew what she was looking for, and he couldn’t give it to her. “I don’t have hard evidence.”
“What do you have?”
“He was seen with kids at the fair the night AJ and Jackie were approached. Same thing happened the other night at the drive-in.”
Nick didn’t mention the pickup he’d seen cruising around her apartment building, or the fact that he’d seen it because he’d been skulking in her lot—for obvious reasons.
“By that logic, you might thinkI’mbehind this,” she said thoughtfully. “I was at the fair and the drive-in too.”
She didn’t look angry or surprised or any of the other reactions he would expect her to show. Then again, Corinne wasn’t like anyone else he’d ever met.
He scoffed. The idea of Corinne doing anything to hurt kids was ludicrous. She loved those kids as much as he and Nicki did.
“What else have you got?” she asked.
“Just … a feeling.”
More silence stretched between them.
“Okay,” she said finally. “Why are you telling me?”
“Why?” he echoed.
“Yeah, why? Do you think I possess information that will either support or debunk your theory?”
“I—”
“Or maybe you think I can get information? Be an inside source? Maybe seduce it out of him?”
Her tone was still conversational, but her words now carried an edge. She hadn’t been angry before, but she was well on her way now.
“No, of course not.” He clenched his jaw. “I just think you should be careful about who you spend time with.”
Her eyes widened, then narrowed. “Why do you care?” she snapped.
He didn’t have an answer to that. At least not one that he was willing to acknowledge.
She exhaled, as if suddenly exhausted, and began gathering the remains of their meal. “Thanks for your concern, but I already have a big sister and a big brother. I don’t need another.”
