Page 62 of Positively Pricked
Chapter 22
I was so shocked, I could hardly speak. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have been terribly surprised. This was, after all, supposedly a job interview.
But we hated each other. And I couldn’t help but notice that no actual interview had taken place.
I felt my gaze narrow. "What kind of job?"
As an answer, he made a point of looking at the empty chair. His message was loud and clear. If I wanted to learn more, I knew exactly where my butt belonged.
Damn it.Ididwant to learn more. But who wouldn’t?
With as much dignity as I could muster, I marched to the chair and sat.
He looked at me for a long, penetrating moment before saying, "You don't like me."
This, of course, was a massive understatement, so I didn't bother denying it. "You're right. I don't."
I waited for him to ask why. But he didn't. Instead, he gave a slow nod and said, "Good."
I felt my brow wrinkle. "Good? Why is that good?"
Ignoring my question, he said, "I need to know something."
Yeah, welcome to the club, buddy.
But I didn't say it, mostly because I was dying to hear what he'd say next.
He leaned forward and asked, "How good are you at pretending?"
I blinked. "What?"
"Pretending," he repeated. "Are you any good at it?"
Nope. Definitely not.
And yet, I was almost tempted to lie. But I couldn't, because in all honestly, I wasn't terribly good atthateither. Stalling for time, I said, "Pretending what?"
"You ever hear the expression, 'good cop, bad cop.'?"
"Of course," I said. "I mean, I know the basic premise."
After all, I'd seen my share of police shows. In them, one officer would pretend to be nice and reasonable, while his partner would be a total hard-ass. Together, they'd wear the suspect down until he confessed, whether because he feared the bad cop, or because he trusted the good cop.
Zane said, "You wanna guess which cop I am?"
I almost snorted. "I don't need to guess."
"Right."
I gave him a perplexed look. "Wait a minute. You're hiring someone to be what? Your own personal 'good cop'?"
"In a sense."
"But why?"
"It's complicated."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "I bet."
