Page 104 of Kill Your Darlings

We grabbed a table near the window, facing the water.Outside, the bay was slate gray and barely stirring.A pair of sea otters bobbed in the distance, heads just visible as they floated belly-up, indifferent to the human attention they were drawing a few hundred yards inland.

Finn casually mentioned having had breakfast with Hayes there on Friday morning after our encounter at the pool.

I sipped my American, said casually, “Okay, you and Hayes are…what?”

Finn raised his brows.“Hayes and I are friends.”

“Friends with benefits?”

“There are certainly benefits to having friends.If you mean are we having sex, no.I find him entertaining company.We’ve never had a sexual relationship.I seem to recall mentioning that I’ve been in love with you for about eight years.”

I’m not prone to blushing, so I’m not sure why heat flooded my face.Maybe it was simply the open honesty of it.

“He seems pretty taken with you.”

“I’m pretty damned loveable, in case you haven’t noticed.”

I sputtered a reluctant laugh.“I did notice.I just want to be sure I’m not—”

I ran out of steam in the face of his quizzical expression.

“You’re not competing with anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.I appreciate the fact that you’re a grown-up.I want a relationship with you.If I haven’t managed to communicate that yet, maybe I should start thinking about another line of work.”

I said, “Sorry.I’m not usually so…needy.”

“Nope,” Finn said.“You’re not.This is a nice change.After the last eight years, I don’t mind hearing that I matter to you and that you’re hoping for more than a conference weekend together.”

Our breakfasts arrived.Avocado toast for me and a breakfast sandwich for Finn.

“Do you think Geo killed Colby?”I asked.

“The only thing we know for sure is Geo is somehow connected to the plot to intimidate and harass you.He seems the most likely person to have tampered with your car.Was that at the direction of someone else?Judge Baldwin?Or was it his own idea?Was Geo directed to eliminate Colby or was that a decision he made on his own?We don’t know enough to do more than speculate.”

“I’m okay with speculating.”

Finn smiled faintly, but did not indulge me.

I said finally, “Did Olivares ask you if you thought I did it?”

“Yep.”Finn’s smile was sardonic.“I told him I knew you hadn’t because you’d spent the night with me.”

“Oh.”I’d known Finn would supply an alibi if required, but I hadn’t expected him to volunteer it at the first opportunity.But he was a straight-from-the-shoulder kind of guy.It shouldn’t have been a surprise.“Do you think he believed—”

“Which will be confirmed when they do find that security footage.You never left the room after you spoke to Colby.I never left the room after I came upstairs.”

“That’s true.But if they start investigating Colby, they’re liable to find out aboutI Know What You Did.God knows what evidence might be in his hotel room.”

“Yes.That remains a problem.But right now, their priority is figuring out who murdered Colby.”He added with that same cynical smile, “I told Olivares you were my editor as well as my partner.He found thatveryinteresting.”Finn’s mouth quirked.“He’s working on a book.”

“He’s…”

Finn chuckled.

The café was only a five-minute walk along the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, and after breakfast we hiked the trail and talked and then eventually hiked back and sat for a long time watching the long waves roll across the beach and then retreat in sizzling, sparkling foam.

“I miss the ocean more than I realized,” I admitted.

“Maybe we do six months in Manhattan and six months in San Clemente?”Finn suggested casually.