Page 7 of A Labor of Hate
“Six weeks and two days is hardly ‘ages.’”
My composure slipped a touch more, and I couldn’t resist any longer.I rolled my eyes.“Of course you have it memorized to the day.What makes you think I went ‘off the rails’ this time, anyway?I haven’t done anything illegal, including during our interrogation.”
“I was clearly following a specific line of questioning?—”
“Whichwasn’t working.”I pulled on my unruly curls, forcing myself to take a deep breath.
It had been over a month since McBride had called us both in to interrogate the lower-level dealer inLe Chimiste’s network.Over a month since I’d managed to get the guy to give usLe Chimiste’s real name.And Colt was still bitter I’d interrupted him?Puh-lease.
McBride had called the newbie in for a reason.The dealer had a thing for brunettes, and mommy issues to boot.While I resented the fact that my appearance played any part in getting the guy to spill, I wasn’t dumb, and I wasn’t above using it to my advantage.No matter which way Colt tried to direct the interrogation, the guy would’ve seen him as the enemy.Sure, it was spontaneous, but switching tactics out of the blue threw Colt off enough to get him to be quiet, and it painted me as an ally in the dealer’s mind.
It wasn’t anything personal.For all the flak Colt and I gave each other, we both sidelined our feud when it mattered.We were professionals.
Or so I thought.
“Now, would you move?”I demanded, my voice pitching dangerously close toaggressive.“You’re blocking my coffee.”
I hated that he could get under my skin so easily.I hated his nitpicking fixation on the rules, his condescending, know-it-all attitude.If he ever took the high road—and he never did—it would only be so he could look down at everyone else from his perch.
His eyes sparked like a live wire, his polite smile hiding the sarcasm in his reply to anyone who didn’t know him like I did.“Ah, there’s the characteristic Lex charm we’ve all come to know and love.”
“My charm is reserved for people with a heart, and we both know there’s only a gold-embossed rulebook where yours should be.Now please, just—” I edged around him in an attempt to reach my liquid salvation.When he leaned oh-so-casually against the counter to block my attempt, I nearly growled.“Don’t you have some papers to alphabetize or something?”
He rolled his eyes, which would normally be a victory for me if I wasn’t in such a sour mood.Cool, controlled Coltneverrolled his eyes.Or at least not without sufficient provocation from yours truly.“You tell me.Do I?”
“Not yet, but you will if you don’t scoot your pressed and ironed butt out of my way.”
He arched an eyebrow.“I didn’t realize you paid so much attention to my butt.”
My cheeks flushed and my eyes flicked to the area in question against my will.An area which I’d never looked at, even when he wore his incredibly well-tailored gray pants.Never.Not even once.Nope.As far as I was concerned, there was nothing but a black hole there.“Idon’t!Ew, why would you even—it’s just a saying.”
The corner of his mouth edged up in a cocky smirk, and he leaned close enough to whisper, “Then why are you blushing?”
“Because you infuriate me, and extra blood flow is indicative of a fight-or-flight response.”
“Fight-or-flight, hmm?Because you’re embarrassed I called you out?”
I recoiled a step, not missing the triumphant gleam in his eyes from my apparent retreat.“No, because being within ten feet of you makes me want to punch something.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself, Lex.”He took a deliberate sip of his juice, eyes locked on mine in a familiar battle of wills.
I crossed my arms and stepped forward to reclaim the lost ground.If this was some sort of juvenile game to him, then it was one I was going to win.“Move, Peewee.Before I move you.”
“Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.This is, what, your third cup of coffee and it isn’t even” —he glanced at his watch— “ten-thirty.And you’re already going through withdrawals.”
“What are you, the coffee police?”Besides, the first cup I’d had this morning had barely even touched the exhaustion weighing down my body.And the second one had been sacrificed when I had to abandon it for the interrogation room.“The only thing I’m ‘going through’ is my mental list of reasons why I don’t want to go to jail so I keep from strangling you.”
He tapped my temple with a finger, which he would’ve lost if I hadn’t been so surprised he’d dare risk contaminating himself to touch me.“Nope.Withdrawals.The vein right here is throbbing, and you’re fidgeting more than usual.That happens every time you’re craving a caffeine fix.”
I blinked slowly, dumbfounded.I wasn’t fidgeting, right?Then again, I didn’t think I normally fidgeted at all.
I shook away the shock, replacing it with indignation as I swatted the air in front of me, as if that could retroactively swat his hand away.“It’sthrobbingbecause I have to deal withyouevery day.”
Before he could reply, McBride’s voice barked from behind me.“Piper.Dixon.My office.”
Colt and I shot ramrod straight, and I took a few guilty steps away from him for good measure.Not that we’d done anything wrong, necessarily, but I hated the idea that McBride might think I was wasting my time.Or—worse—that he’d overheard any of our bickering.
When it came to everything and everyone else, I was as down-to-business as they came.Unfazeable.I put my head down and worked my butt off.But whenever Colt came into the picture, my unflappable brick wall looked more and more like that one little piggy’s house that was made out of straw.
