Cielo

            ”You made me get my first speeding ticket.” Blackie leaned against her doorjamb and drawled the words at her.

            “My heart is broken,” she noted, ironically. She was not in the mood to pretend nothing had happened that day in the office. She hoped this wasn’t a trait of Blackie’s, arguing with her and then showing up at her doorstep all flashy grin and warm grey eyes. “Was there something you wanted?”

            “You.” He straightened. “But you don’t need me to tell you that, do you? No, you know absolutely everything there is to know about what’s going on inside my head, don’t you? My mind’s an open-and-shut book to you. In fact, I bet if I stop talking you can tell me what I’m thinking.”

            “Blackie,” she sighed.

            “No, come on, give it a shot-”

            She swung the door shut and waited.

            “Open it, Stephanie,” he said, harshly, after a second.

            She obeyed, but only because she wanted this over with. “What the hell did you come here for?” she snapped.

            “I want you, okay? You want me. We know it. Those are facts. We’ve just got to ignore them. Our lives are going to be so much more complicated if we get involved with each other.”

            “That’s fine with me.” She shrugged.

            He stopped talking, all his finely rehearsed lines crumbling in his head. “That’s fine with you?” he repeated.

            “Of course it is. Did you really think I was going to follow you around like an eager puppy dog, panting all over you, until you finally gave in? I don’t beg for things, Blackie. And I wouldn’t beg for you. You were right about Alejandro. He can do just as well.” She watched him. She hadn’t slept with Alejandro, of course. She would never have done any such thing. But she was enjoying very much throwing Blackie Harmon off-balance. He thought he was going to play games with her, did he? Nibble on her collarbone, have her squirming for a kiss, then take a step back? She didn’t think so.

            Jealousy kicked him solidly in the gut. He bit back a protest that Alejandro was certainly not just as good as him, and a vow that he would prove it. That had to be what she wanted, he considered, and narrowed his eyes a little bit. “Well, that’s good,” he said. “I’m glad you’ve resolved that problem.”

            Nothing, she thought, in annoyance. No indication at all that he cared in the least that she’d implied she’d slept with Alejandro. “I’m not the one with the problem,” she remarked, nonchalantly, studying her nails.

            “What does that mean?” he demanded.

            She frowned at a chip in one. “I’m very much over you, Blackie. But you still are not over me, are you?” She looked up at him, her eyes very dark and very innocent and he exerted all his strength to keep himself from falling into them.

            “I can be over you like that.” He snapped his fingers.

            “Good.”

            “This is not going to affect me at all.”

            “That’s good. Because any lingering sexual attraction between us would severely undermine our ability to work together.”

            “Yes, yes,” he agreed, nodding his head.

            “Yes, I thought so. So we will be just friends from now on.” She held out her hand and smiled at him.

            “Of course.” He smiled back and shook her hand.

            “I will see you at work tomorrow,” she said, still smiling, and closed the door.

            He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes and swore very violently. He’d expected some sort of protest from her. Like what? he mocked himself. He’d already turned her down once that day. She was not the sort of woman to set herself up to be rejected twice. He had to have been insane to have hoped for another proposition, to be able to be the strong one and walk away. Instead, she seemed very cool and very calm and very much over him.

            And he was not at all over her.

            What exactly was he going to do?