Page 62 of Positively Pricked

Chapter 22

I was so shocked, I could hardly speak. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have been terribly surprised. This was, after all, supposedly a job interview.

But we hated each other. And I couldn’t help but notice that no actual interview had taken place.

I felt my gaze narrow. "What kind of job?"

As an answer, he made a point of looking at the empty chair. His message was loud and clear. If I wanted to learn more, I knew exactly where my butt belonged.

Damn it.Ididwant to learn more. But who wouldn’t?

With as much dignity as I could muster, I marched to the chair and sat.

He looked at me for a long, penetrating moment before saying, "You don't like me."

This, of course, was a massive understatement, so I didn't bother denying it. "You're right. I don't."

I waited for him to ask why. But he didn't. Instead, he gave a slow nod and said, "Good."

I felt my brow wrinkle. "Good? Why is that good?"

Ignoring my question, he said, "I need to know something."

Yeah, welcome to the club, buddy.

But I didn't say it, mostly because I was dying to hear what he'd say next.

He leaned forward and asked, "How good are you at pretending?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Pretending," he repeated. "Are you any good at it?"

Nope. Definitely not.

And yet, I was almost tempted to lie. But I couldn't, because in all honestly, I wasn't terribly good atthateither. Stalling for time, I said, "Pretending what?"

"You ever hear the expression, 'good cop, bad cop.'?"

"Of course," I said. "I mean, I know the basic premise."

After all, I'd seen my share of police shows. In them, one officer would pretend to be nice and reasonable, while his partner would be a total hard-ass. Together, they'd wear the suspect down until he confessed, whether because he feared the bad cop, or because he trusted the good cop.

Zane said, "You wanna guess which cop I am?"

I almost snorted. "I don't need to guess."

"Right."

I gave him a perplexed look. "Wait a minute. You're hiring someone to be what? Your own personal 'good cop'?"

"In a sense."

"But why?"

"It's complicated."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "I bet."