word ‘killier’ in there,” I whispered back.
He smiled before kissing me again. “So where do you want to go to dinner next time?” he asked, admitting defeat.
I pulled back a little bit, which took every ounce of strength and will that I had. “Jack, listen. Things are a little complicated right now…I kind of have someone in my life—” My protestations were cut off by a very long and very involved kiss that incorporated tongues, lips, necks, and a few other body parts. My God, I thought. I’ve just gone to second base on the second date. Perish the thought of what might happen after a third, and heavens, a fourth date.
“How about we do this?” he asked, pulling away, his face still close to mine. “Why don’t we give this a try while you’re waiting for that other thing to sort itself out?”
Completely flustered, I swallowed hard and pulled back. “I have to take out my garbage. Tomorrow’s garbage day.”
He looked at me, confused. “Is that a yes?”
That was my way of saying no, but I didn’t know how to convey that without sounding like I was rejecting him. “We’ll see.” I regretted saying the words the minute they were out of my mouth.
Jack’s face brightened at my noncommittal response and he gave me another kiss. “Good night,” he said.
I let myself out of the car and stood in the driveway, watching him drive away. I couldn’t have fouled that date up more if I had tried. What did this guy see in me? What did any guy see in me? I looked up at the sky, now dark, and wondered about the laws of attraction.
I turned to go up the driveway and was startled to see Terri standing on her driveway. “Hi, Alison.”
“Hi, Terri.” I didn’t know how long she had been standing there but I had an inkling that she had been watching my make-out session with Jack. I smoothed my hair down self-consciously.
“Nice car,” she said, referring to Jack’s very new, very expensive BMW. She started toward me. “A friend of yours dropped by while you were out.”
I turned toward her. “Who?”
“She didn’t tell me who she was. She said that you knew her husband.” Terri raised an eyebrow while conveying that piece of information. I wanted to remind her that I know plenty of women’s husbands, but the difference is, I don’t sleep with them. “And she left this.” She handed me a slim, cream-colored envelope. She waited, expecting me to open it, but I thanked her, turned, and continued up the driveway. Why in God’s name did that woman think that we had anything to talk about? And, more importantly, why was she always standing on her driveway?
I went into the house through the front door and sat on the stairs in the hallway. I looked at the envelope, which had my name printed on the front in a beautiful, handwritten script. The note inside was short: “Alison, I hope you enjoyed the biscotti. Gianna.”
I dropped the note on the floor as if it had caught fire. So, she knew about Peter’s visit. If that was the case, she probably knew about him driving me to Grand Central that morning. Although the note held a seemingly innocuous message, it was clear to me that Gianna wanted me to know that she knew what Peter was up to.
And, I inferred, she was not happy.
Chapter 16
The next day I had two hours to kill, so I drove to the Fiftieth Precinct.
I was still processing everything that had happened over the weekend: the wedding, my ride with Peter, my date with Jack, the note from Gianna. My conclusion was that I needed to stay far away from anyone named Miceli or McManus.
Even though I knew I had to see Crawford to fill him in on what had transpired after the wedding, I still had myself worked up about my date with Jack. I tried to adopt a casual posture and expression so that when I did see Crawford, “I made out with a guy in his car last night!” didn’t slip from my lips or broadcast itself from my rosy cheeks.
Crawford, on top of being great looking, kind, and responsible, is also extremely perceptive. His bullshit detector is more finely honed than that of just about anybody I’ve ever known. Nothing gets past him. Not revealing the previous night’s actions was going to prove extremely taxing to me, I was sure.
Before I left for the precinct, though,