Page 65 of Blood Stone

“No,” Kate said shortly, annoyed at her own reaction.

What was it about Garrett’s kiss that bothered her so much? It was just a goddam kiss, after all.

She had found herself thinking about it a lot, in the odd moments when the movie let her. No, that wasn’t accurate enough. When movie business wasn’t red-hot urgent and her mind dropped from top gear into something lower, it turned to Garrett and that kiss. It was like the moment was nudging for top spot in her attention span, but the movie was just beating it out and as soon as the movie relaxed its grip, the kiss and Garrett surged in to take its place.

It wasn’t the kiss itself that was so forcefully demanding her focus. Well, it was, in a way. It had been a helluva kiss.

It was Garrett’s reaction to it that her mind kept turning back to. Like he’d been caught by surprise. Not surprise. Something stronger than that. Shock. Dismay? The light hadn’t been good enough for her to analyse his reaction properly.

But he wasn’t avoiding her because he felt good about what happened, that’s for sure.

Yet, he was the one who kissed her…

And her mind would circle back over the same ground, over and over again.

As Jerry propped her samples board up against the window next to her, Kate reached for the coffee pot and poured her second cup for the day, then eased herself onto the buffet. “Let’s see what we can do about rescheduling some night scenes.”

And the meeting had fallen to business.

As the heads wrangled over what scenes each of their department staff could realistically prepare for in the few short hours’ notice they would receive after the meeting and before tonight’s shooting, Kate picked up her cellphone and called up her Twitter app. She deliberately didn’t let herself think too carefully or second-guess what she was doing. She swyped the text quickly, a direct message that no one else could read.

@DoveAngel You okay? 3 days, no sign. I’m worried.

She hit “send” immediately, not giving herself another chance to debate. Then she put the phone in her pocket. If Garrett’s days were like hers it could take him hours to respond.

Then she refocused on the meeting discussion.

Two minutes later, her phone vibrated against her hip. She was talking and waited until someone else took the reins before sliding the phone back out.

@Lind’stream Your favourite sponsor is just peachy.

She mentally sighed. She could almost hear the ironic tonethatwould have been delivered with. But the verbal pissing match they had been locked in for the last few weeks – which they had been using for conversation ever since they had met face to face, really – didn’t thrill her in the slightest anymore. Not when she was talking this way. Not with DoveAngel, who had earned a type of trust from her over the weeks and with whom she had shared a late night understanding of the strange ways the world worked.

In between parrying questions from her department heads, she swyped out her response.

@DoveAngel. My fucking sponsor is a major pain in the ass.

@DoveAngel. I’m asking about *you* — the guy who kissed me.

No response came for a while. She ended up putting the phone down by her hip, forgotten.

* * * * *

Garrett caught a hint of Winter’s scent just before she sat next to him on the sofa. “No one has yet proved it’s possible to answer a cellphone simply by staring at it.”

He turned the phone face down on his thigh and looked at her.

“I thought I might save you another four minutes,” she said. “That’s how long you’ve been staring at the screen.” She let her gaze drift toward the phone. “Kate?” she asked.

Anger touched him. “Is nothing private between you three? How long did it take before they made my humiliation a bedtime entertainment for you?”

She pressed her lips together for a moment, studying him. Her expression softened. “Garrett, I’m married to two of the most reticent men on the planet.Womentalk. Not those two. Not unless it’s necessary.”

Genuine confusion touched him. “Then…”

Winter smiled gently. “You came away from her in the beer garden looking like the cat that’d had his tail yanked and you haven’t been near her for three days. Something happened in that beer garden. Something that scared you…or didn’t scare you enough.” Her smile widened. “And now you’re giving me your best stone face, so I know I’m right.”

Garrett dropped his gaze to the cellphone in his hand. His heart was stirring.