Chapter Twenty

The hotel restaurant was closed when Beth and Cade arrived in the lobby, but the bar and lounge area was still open. Their menu at that hour was rather unimpressive, and Cade politely said so.

"Well, sir," said the lone waiter, "There are still a few places open on Peachtree Street," and he named three.

Cade thanked him and he and Beth headed for the doors. As they pa.s.sed the big gla.s.s windows by the luggage check-in desk, Cade very deliberately allowed Beth to see his reflection eyeing her reflection's rump and legs.

Pretending to have been caught in the act, he said, "Sorry. I wasn't kidding about your legs, you know."

Beth gave him an aloof, arched-eyebrow look, but she said nothing and worked hard to conceal a grin as they continued out the doors to the street.

At the same bar and grill where he'd shot pool with Mandi, they ordered burger baskets and beer. Beth was more than a little surprised when he ordered two baskets with extra fries.

"Wow," she said, "And I thought I was hungry."

"I was going to order three, but I didn't want you to think I was some kind of a pig."

She thought he was joking, of course. Their conversation ranged over the events of the previous two days, then she asked questions about Mandi, none of which he could answer.

With some incredulity, Beth said, "For someone who's bunking with her you don't know a h.e.l.luva lot about her."

"Nope. Guess not."

"What do you know about her?"

"Not much. Haven't needed to. Besides, she's just crashing with me to avoid being pestered. I'd rather know about you, Beth. How'd you get into this business?"

Shrugging, Beth said, "I was a Delaware cop who never got out of the office.

I was bored s.h.i.tless and going nowhere. The NIA said they could use me, so I switched over."

"Seems to me I first saw you in -- what? -- 1993?"

She nodded. "Right after we busted that colonel at the Watergate in March."

"You were impersonating an Air Force captain and I said something about being a sucker for a woman in uniform. If I recall correctly, you rolled your eyes and sighed at me."

"I'd heard that line thirty times by then."

Doing his best to look hurt, Cade said, "Hey, it wasn't a line. Put on a uniform sometime and try me. I'll fall all over you, ma'am. Putty in your hands, and all that."

As their food arrived, she snickered and said, "Sure, I'll do that someday.

Pa.s.s the salt and pepper."

They chatted some more as they ate, and when her food was gone, she began filching his french fries as they talked. Cade pushed the burgerless basket toward her and reached for the second burger.

"Mind if I order another one?" he asked.

In some startlement, Beth asked, "You got a tapeworm or something?"

"Nope. Just hungry tonight for some reason."

Shrugging, she said, "Go for it."

After the third burger and fries, Cade felt as if he'd make it through the night without quite starving. Beth had occasionally stared at him as he'd put away the third basket of food, but she'd only remarked that he might want to see a doctor sometime about his appet.i.te.

It occurred to Cade that he'd made no eliminations of solid or liquid waste since he'd nibbled on Mandi. That pretty much had to mean that anything he ate or drank was being used fairly completely by the conversion process.

He wondered if he could take that to mean that any ma.s.s would do in a pinch.

If so, a phone book would do as well as a steak dinner as a midnight snack. He put that thought on the shelf as he realized water would do, too, and n.o.body'd miss any amount of water he could possibly drink.

"Beth," he said, "How come you were free to make me take you to dinner tonight?"

"Make you? I didn't make you... Oh. You want to know why I don't have a boyfriend, huh?"

"Yup. May I speak freely?"

"Uh... Okay, I guess so."

Nodding, Cade said, "Okay, then, I'll run with it. Regardless what you may think of yourself, most men see you as a fine looking woman..."

"You've decided that based on your opinion and what Tony said upstairs?"

"No, and don't run yourself down around me, okay? He was right and you know it. Men glance at every woman, but they only really eyeball the best ones.

You've got great legs and a fine figure and you don't even come close to qualifying as plain or ugly. So, unless you're a closet lesbian, why is there no man in your life?"

Before she could answer, he raised a hand and added, "And if you are a lesbian, that's something I don't need to know about while we're both working for the government."

Giving him an amused look, Beth asked, "If I were a lesbian, would that bother you?"

Shaking his head, Cade said, "Not even a little bit. A couple of my friends back in Florida are lesbians and we get along just fine. They make stuff for my online store and use me as an escort now and then."

Beth blinked at him and asked, "An escort?"

"Yeah. One works for a company that throws those d.a.m.ned 'one big happy family' employee parties. We go as a group and I pretend to be her boyfriend."

With a chuckle, Beth said, "That must be interesting."

Shrugging, Cade said, "We usually make an appearance, circulate a bit so she can say she attended, and leave unless there's a reason not to. We also babysit each others' cats."

"You have cats?"

"Yup. Three."

"I thought men preferred dogs."

"Not this one. Don't like sports, either, if that's where you're going next."

She nodded and said, "Yeah. I was. No football, huh?"

"Nope. No team sports. Boring. Remember how you said I could speak freely?"

Beth's reply sounded rather cautious as she said, "Yes."

"How freely?"

Still sounding cautious, she said, "'Freely' means freely."

Sipping his beer, Cade regarded her for a moment, then said, "I could pretend and play games, but it's getting late. I'd very much like to come back to your room with you, Beth. I'd very much like to make love with you."

After a few moments of meeting his gaze, Beth asked, "What about Mandi?"

"She moved to my room to avoid dealing with too many people after she went public."

Another few moments pa.s.sed before Beth nodded and quietly asked, "You aren't into anything kinky, are you?"

With a small grin, Cade asked, "Would kissing my way up your legs be kinky?

Would inhaling the scent of you while I kiss your shoulders be kinky?"

Beth pinked a bit and bit her lip, then said, "No."

"Would pleasuring you with my tongue be kinky?"

Her pink deepened to a near-red, but she said, "No. Of course not."

"How about..."

Putting her beer down firmly, Beth said, "I get your point," then she picked up her beer again and nearly drained it.

"Want another beer?" asked Cade. "Want to give things a little more thought?"

"Are you trying to talk me out of it now?"

Shaking his head, Cade poured some of his beer in her gla.s.s and said, "Oh, no, ma'am. Definitely not. I just thought another beer might be in order before you pounce on me."

Her eyes got big in startlement.

"Me pounce on you?"

Nodding, Cade said, "Yeah. I was kind of hoping you would, you know. It's always nice to feel appreciated."

Beth snickered and sipped her beer. The bartender had seen Cade share his beer and looked inquiringly toward their table. Cade nodded. Two fresh beers arrived shortly.

"Another one of these," said Beth, "And I may do more than pounce on you, Cade."

"Suits me, ma'am. Could you wait until after I've licked you senseless, though? I'd really enjoy making you..."

"Cade!" she hissed, glancing at the bartender.

Sharing her glance, he nodded knowingly and said, "Ah. Yes, of course, ma'am. Mustn't embarra.s.s the natives."

"Screw the natives! We mustn't embarra.s.s me!"

Leaning forward, she whispered sharply, "And you won't tell anybody, right?

By G.o.d, if you do, I'll..."

"No need for threats, ma'am. I don't kiss and tell. Or lick and tell. Or..."

"Cade, dammit!"

Raising a hand in polite protest, he said, "Yes'm. I'll shut up now. No need to get all fuzzed up and rowdy. Yet. I'll try to make it worth your while later, though."

Beth looked at the ceiling and let out a soft, exasperated, "Ah, h.e.l.l!" then grabbed her new beer and finished it.

"Enough of this," she said, setting the gla.s.s firmly on the table. "Let's go now."

Draining his own beer, Cade said, "Yes'm. As you say. By your command, milady."

He stood up and went to pay the bill, then held the door for Beth and followed her to the sidewalk. Yup. She had real nice legs and it was going to be a true pleasure to...

"You're doing it again," said Beth, without turning around.

"What's that, milady?"

"Staring at my legs."

"Oh. Yup. Sure was. Just planning my route north."

That made her turn to face him. "Your what?"

"My route north. I intend to memorize you, Beth. I'm gonna taste you from your ankles up. Hope you don't mind."

She came to stand a few inches from him and quietly said, "After all this talk, you'd better be worth it, mister."

"Money back guarantee, ma'am. I'll be doing my best down there. And everywhere else, too, of course."

"And you won't tell a soul? Not anybody? Ever?"