Page 35 of A Sudden Response

Chuckling, Nathan got to work. “You’re too good to me, Joe.”

“I know,” she said, nodding in agreement as she turned her attention back to the delicious beverage that required her focus.

“You want to tell me what he did to piss you off this much?” Nathan asked, reaching back and swiping her drink. Before she could launch an attack to retrieve her drink, he took a long sip and was handing it back to her.

She decided not to hurt him since he was helping her. That, and she’d planned on sending him to get her another milkshake later. Not that he knew that was her plan, but she had no doubt that he would do it. Nathan was such a pushover when it came to her and Alice. He could never seem to do enough for them and she normally wouldn’t take advantage of his giving nature, but this was a Milky Way milkshake, the king of shakes. Besides, he had no one to blame but himself for getting her addicted to the damn things in the first place.

When they were in high school, he got a part time job at a burger joint so that he could earn money to buy a computer. She would have loved to work with him, but she’d already taken a job with Eric for a landscaper. Every day, she stopped by after workand he’d make her a Milky Way milkshake before walking her home.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” she asked, enjoying the last sip. Yeah, he was definitely getting her another one.

“What did he do?”

“Who?” Joe asked, playing dumb since she didn’t feel like talking about the big jerk right now. She dropped the empty cup in one of the trash cans she’d pulled away from the garage, grabbed another scraper, and went back to work.

“You know who.”

“If you’re speaking of your brother, then you should know that he’s dead to me,” Joe said with a sniffle as she focused on her work.

“Uh-huh,” Nathan said like he didn’t quite believe her for some reason.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Joe demanded, throwing him a questioning look.

“Exactly what it sounded like,” Nathan said, pausing in his work to wipe the sweat off his face with his shirt.

“Meaning...” Joe prompted, feeling her annoyance with him renew. If he kept this up, she was going to tell him to leave...

Right after he got her another shake.

“You’ve never been able to stay mad at him for more than a few hours, a day at the most. By tomorrow night, you’ll forgive him for trying to get you to quit and find another job and the two of you will be back to...to… oh, shit!” Nathan’s words trailed off when he looked up and met her glare.

“What the hell are you talking about, Nathan?” Joe demanded as she ran his words through her head again.

“Um, what are you talking about?” Nathan asked, trying to backtrack as he dropped the scraper and stepped back.

“He’s trying to get me to quit?” Joe asked, stepping in front of him. “Why?”

“You’d really have to ask Eric about that,” Nathan said, shifting nervously.

“I’m asking you,” Joe said, tossing the scraper away so that she could cross her arms over her chest to intensify the effect of her glare.

“I-I don’t think I should say,” Nathan said, licking his lips nervously as he moved to step around her, only to find his exit cut off again.

“You can.”

“I can’t.”

“I’ll cry,” Joe threatened, knowing she just might have to do the unthinkable and shed a few tears to make the big softie confess.

He narrowed his eyes on her. “You wouldn’t.”

Oh, but she would. Her bottom lip wasn’t quivering ten seconds before Nathan broke down and confessed. An hour later, she was sitting on the hood of her car, sipping another milkshake and contemplating manslaughter.

CHAPTER 15

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this fucking relieved that a shift was over. When dispatch dismissed him after holding him over for five hours, he’d damn near kissed the ground in thanks.

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