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full advantage of the fact. He regaled me feverishly with the on-line wonders he could perform for Made in Heaven, becoming almost agitated as he raved about JPEG files and animated GIFs and why frames, like, totally suck. Amused, I made fascinated and admiring noises.
“You’re really interested in this stuff, aren’t you?” he asked at one point.
“Sure,” I lied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, some people think it’s boring. Or, like, nerdy or something.”
“Who thinks that?”
But the song ended and he fell abruptly silent, unsure of his next move in this adult ritual. I could almost read his mind: Do we just go on dancing, or am I supposed to ask her, or what? Or maybe Zack had forgotten he was dancing at all, lost in cyberspace.
I took the lead. “That was nice. Now I’d better get back to work.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said. “Maybe I can, you know, help you and stuff.”
“There’s really nothing for you to do, but thanks.” He tagged along anyway, and as we took the stairs to the pier level, I privately admired his well-filled doublet and hose.
Hmm. Must lift weights.
“What made you choose Robin Hood, Zack?” “Oh, stories, I guess. When I was a kid, we had this book of stories. When I got to that shop and saw the costume, I remembered. Robin Hood was always riding to the rescue and everything. How come you’re a witch? I mean, dressed as a witch.”
I laughed. “I’ve been feeling a little witchy tonight! But no reason, really. By the time I got around to picking, the glamorous stuff was all taken.”
He stopped abruptly at a landing and gazed into my eyes, too close for comfort. “I think you’re always glamorous.”
It was an absurd situation, made more so by the fact that I was suddenly and warmly aware of Zack’s body, and my own. If he’d had a little finesse, I might have forgotten the gap in our ages, at least for the moment. Instead he lurched forward and kissed me, clumsily but with great gusto. It was like being leapt upon by a huge, overfriendly young Labrador retriever. One who tasted like gin.
“Zack, cut it out!” I pulled away and my witch’s hat rolled to the floor. When I stooped for it I bumped heads with someone in black: Aaron, coming right behind us. As Zack muttered an apology and continued on upstairs—good, let him go cool off—Aaron returned the hat with a flourish and a laugh.
“Cradle-robbing, Mrs. Robinson?”
“Oh, shut up. He’s just a kid.”
“Some kid.” Aaron fell into step beside me. Despite the laugh, he looked annoyed. “Young Zack spends more time coming on to women than he does working.”
“Well, nobody’s working tonight but me. Did Corinne find you?”
“No. You saw her?”
“In the ladies’ room. Aaron, I think she’s drinking too much.”
“That’s funny. I’ve been fetching her Perrier all night.”
“Well, it wasn’t Perrier she was chucking up. Do you want to go look for her?”
“No,” he said, as we came out onto the pier. He stopped and faced me, and the party guests milling around us seemed to disappear. “No, I want to stay right here and gaze at the city lights and say romantic things to you. For instance, I’ve noticed that you walk in beauty like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies. Plus, as a bonus, all that’s best of dark and bright meet in your aspect and your eyes. I admit you’re not quite as dark as Lord Byron’s girlfriend must have been, but you know what I mean.”
I sagged against the wooden railing and took a deep breath of the damp night air. Elizabeth had insisted that the rain would hold off tonight, and she was right. Maybe she cut a deal with Mother Nature. Far out on Elliott Bay, a ferry was lit up like a birthday cake against the black mirror of the water. Aaron and I had begun our current spat on a ferry ride, and continued it back at my houseboat a few days later, with encores on the telephone after that. But I never fought with the men I dated, never. What was going on?
“Aaron, I’m working tonight. And besides…”
“Besides what?”
“I’m just not sure. About the romantic part.” I noticed I was kneading the brim of the witch’s hat in my hands, round and round, and made myself stop. “Aaron, I like you a lot. I care about you, but we keep arguing.”
“Then let’s not, Stretch. Let’s do this instead.”
He’d been moving closer