Page 86 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple

Instead of answering, she patted his shoulder on the way to pour them cups of coffee, then refused to say more as she handed Blaze his and settled with hers at the head of the table. They sat in silence, her with her enigmatic almost-smile, him with his scowl, for a good fifteen minutes.

Finally, the door opened, and someone poked his head in to check the room. A head with pecan-brown hair and wide gray eyes.

"Oh." Damien blinked at them both, though he managed to take the final step in and close the door. And there he stood as if he'd frozen.

The blood thundered in Blaze's ears, but he wasn't going to show it. He kicked back in his chair, set his boots on the table with a thud, and offered his best, lazy smile. "Hello, Twitch."

For one terrible moment, when Blaze thought he might blow a gasket in his brain or something, Damien gave him that blank, unnerving Hazelwood stare. Finally, the barest hint of a smile snuck out, a brighter sight for Blaze than the sunrise that morning.

"Hello, Blaze. I guess we'd better get back to work."

"Guess so since we've been a couple of ignavy slugs."

The smile grew a fraction, and that would do for now. Time to start again.

To Be Continued