Then again, I've been wrong before.
Kingsley was still looking at me, still fighting what he most wanted to do. And what he most wanted to do was ravage me right here and now on this lifeguard pier. But the brute held himself in check. Smart man. After all, I gave him no indication that I wanted to be ravaged.
"Not yet, Kingsley," I said calmly, placing my own hand lightly on his knee. "I'm not ready yet."
He nodded his great, shaggy head, but said nothing. I sensed his built-up energy dissipate in an instant. Hell, I could practically see it zigzagging away from his body, caught up by the lunar wind and merging with the silver spirits surfing the California night skies.
He exhaled and sort of deflated. Poor guy. He had gotten himself all worked up. He rested his own hand lightly on mine, and if my own cold flesh bothered him, he didn't show it.
And while we sat there holding hands, with me soaking in the tremendous warmth of his oversized paw, I told him about my latest case.
When I was finished, he said, "Jerry Blum is a dangerous man."
"I'm a dangerous girl."
From far away, emerging from under the distant Huntington Beach Pier, was a lone jogger. Even from here, the jogger appeared to be a very big man. The man was easily a hundred yards away.
Kingsley, who had been looking down at my leg, suddenly cocked his head, listening. He then turned and spotted the jogging man. The man, as far as I could tell, wasn't making a sound.
I was intrigued. "You heard him?"
"Yes and no," said Kingsley, still looking over his shoulder at the approaching man. "But I could hear his dog."
I looked again. Sure enough, running along at the man's feet, about the size of a rat on steroids, was something small and furry. A dog, and it looked miniscule next to the running man. I smiled. For some reason, I found it heartwarming to see such a big man running with such a little doggie.
Kingsley said, "So what, exactly, is your client hiring you to do? Does he want you to take down one of the most dangerous criminals on the West Coast?"
"Taking him down will be extra."