that? No, better questi

s have followed me all evening long comes scurrying over immediately with another pai

inks down on our table. "Oh, no, no, no," she stammers.

about your hobbies,

Eventually, she sighs and her shoulders slump forward. "One

ge of hers. "To the last d

enlivet, one of the best bottles they keep in stock. I take a sip a

sets it back down on the table with tremblin

oo

she snaps. "Yes,

ind of

n, Dickens, Du Maurier, Shak

an-shaven jaw. "You strike me as a King Lea

n her forehead. "Y

offended by y

orry. I just... You don'

should be

. I can't take my eyes off her fu

past her cheeks and down to her chest. The tops o

of stepping outside of the neat lines of her life. She's bookish and quiet,

g towards me. Same as how I ca

seeking one

iss on the cheek, seems ridiculous. Damn near offensive. I'm itchin

rods. "Or do you just throw out

e feeling that I

n a gesture that's very femme fatale. I like her fire,

ervous. Mere

e ques

yo

is is all too much for a girl like her. She's not used to

th and straightens up. Shoulders back, eyes forward, spin

ver bee

fair amount. Dostoevsky. Tolstoy. Bu

she says. "Am I right i

no

otting together thoughtfully. "Why do I

discussed topic in this city. Mostly because the cops don

not a secr

uldn'

this you being m

ould ask anot

lips. "Fine.

uely. "I own many di

. "Reggie said it about thirty times tonight, and the

I say. "But I've worked hard to build and

st fun

n't been a kid f

y fades away. "

etween us takes on a different rhythm. The

soft, mellow. The kind of green that you spy in the folds o

reaking the eye contact. "The restau

he only two still sitting at a table, though

d G-Wagon, which is parked across the street, right in

ost out of sight. He's average in height, balding at the top of his head, a

on of his gaze

not me he's

s C

out a beautiful woman in a little black dress. It

fucking

aightens up and vanishes into the night. I'm being pa

sa

trangely fucking erotic. My cock has been hard for a

you o

do yo

ou're concentrating r

g to worry yourself a

what these businesses of

it's not

time for that anyway," she says. "I

pen as long as

ment. "Is that your way of

what yo

suit and the Hublot on my wrist. "You ar

to you," I tel

with a barely repressed shiver. "I... I should get

ising to meet her. "But

s. "What I want righ

coat held out. I take it from him and offer it to her. She hesitates for

rve of her spine. All that beautiful skin, tanned and smooth

lders, I leave my hands there to pin

ell, kiska, what I want right now is to take you into the bathroo

he words have left my mouth. Her eyes are wide and h

er face: she wants th