Page 3 of In the Line of Ire

"Really?" asked Maddox.

"No," Isaid. "Ow! Lily! You kicked me!"

"Notworking for your husband anymore?" Maddox asked, swallowing hardwhen he said “husband.”

"Work ispretty quiet so I took the day off. Why do you have a tan? Have youbeen vacationing somewhere?" I asked.

Maddoxstilled. "Quick work trip abroad. Mostly outdoorsurveillance."

"Do youhave a tan line? We were talking about tan lines earlier," chattedLily. "Lexi barely has any. She already showed me."

Maddoxraked his eyes over me and for a moment, I forgot I was dressed ina plush beer glass costume. "Interesting," he said. "Do you twostrip very often just to compare each other's tanlines?"

"Doesn'teveryone?" replied Lily sarcastically. She shuffled away todistribute more flyers, repeating her marketing pitch to the groupof women she next accosted.

"Whatare you wearing underneath that rig?" asked Maddox.

"I can'tanswer that," I told him, since I didn't want to admit I wasalready starting to overheat in my gym shorts and tank top, theonly clothing that I could fit under the costume without causingany chafing or making me sweat bullets.

"Noneed. I have a good imagination," he said. "But you're a marriedwoman now so I'm not sure if it's illegal for me to have thoughtslike that."

"I thinkyou're still safe," I decided. Then I caught his meaning. "But stopthinking about me like that!"

"Toolate," he said as he winked. "I have a good memory; one thatdoesn't involve tan lines either."

"It'snice to see you," I said.

"In theflesh." Maddox smiled as I pictured him in the flesh before I hadto squeeze my eyes shut tightly to stop the image. I could notthink about my friend like that even if he were my ex-boyfriend andI was born with a vivid imagination along with an excellentmemory.

"Why areyou muttering 'make it stop' and drooling a little bit?" askedMaddox. "Do you want me to take you to the ER?"

My eyessnapped open. "Nope. Totally fine. How's the FBI business going?" Iasked since it was the first safe question that popped into myhead.

"Sameold, same old. I'm currently working undercover so I might not runinto you for a while."

"Anything exciting?"

"Younever know when you go undercover," he said with a sad smile.Maddox and I met when he was an undercover detective for theMontgomery Police Department. Back then, he was masquerading as myboss, Adam Shepherd, at an insurance firm where I was the lowly,hired temp. After stumbling over our boss's body, I fell headlonginto a mystery that I was bound and determined to solve. At theconclusion of that case, a lot of wonderful things emerged: awonderful relationship with Maddox and a job offer from Solomon. Myrelationship with Maddox ended prematurely due to a stupidmiscommunication but we still managed to maintain a friendship. AndI married Solomon.

"Let meknow if you need anything," I told him.

"You'reat the top of my list," he said. Then he leaned in and attempted tokiss my cheek but had to struggle due to the position of my faceinside the plastic foam. He kissed the tip of my nose instead. "Youlook pretty cute," he said before he left.

"Did yougive him a flyer?" asked Lily.

I lookedat the flyers still in my hands. "I have no idea," Isaid.

"Headsup! Incoming! Make sure they all get flyers," said Lily, nodding tothe approaching group. "Try and really look like you want them tocome to my bar. Smile!"

I smileduntil my face hurt and within an hour, nearly all our flyers hadbeen distributed.

"Hah-hah!" giggled a voice behind me as someone planted handson my back and shoved me hard. I went sprawling, my hands hittingthe sidewalk to prevent me from doing a faceplant. I winced as mypalms grazed the gravel on the hard ground. Wriggling around like aseverely angry snake, I tried to get back on my feet. All myefforts failed. I was stuck, my legs and arms flailing and wavingin the air like an overturned bug. The gang of mischievous boysgiggled as they hurried past me, pointing and laughing while Lilyscolded them. I flopped my head back and stared up at the sky,wondering if mine and Lily's friendship was worth suffering so muchhumiliation.

Lilyleaned over me, the cherry on top of her costume bobbling down inmy face. "Those little bastards," she said. "I'm going to tell Jordto track them down and tell all of their parents."

"Nowlook who's talking like an old person," I said, raising my sorehand for Lily to grip. "Help me up."

Lilygrabbed my hand and with a little teeter-tottering, managed to getme upright enough that I could kneel. Bouncing on my knees in orderto create upward momentum while Lily tugged on my hand to balanceme so I didn't topple backwards, I got one leg straightened out andpushed up. "I have never felt so relieved to be upright," I toldher.

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