Page 69 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

“Like your boss?” I asked before thinking better of it.

His brows pinched together in thought. “Well…I suppose some might say he is.”

“What wouldyousay?”

“I’d say Cash is the most calculating guy I know. He’s always thinking ten steps ahead. His instincts are very unlikely to be wrong, with the rare exception,” he said, nodding to me.

“You believe me?”

He plopped down on the bed, kicking his feet up, not bothering to take off his shoes. “I believe you weren’t involved, but lady, you have more secrets than the CIA.”

Pursing my lips, I continued to stare at his boots. “Your shoes are on the bed.”

He glanced down, then looked up at me in surprise. “What do ya know? They are!”

“You don’t have to be an ass.”

“It’s my bed. I can do what I want. Besides, you should never take off your shoes. It makes it harder to run from the baddies.”

I shook my head at that, trying to make heads or tails of what he just said. “You never take off your shoes?”

“Well, everyone has to change their socks.”

“But…you always sleep with them on?”

He rolled his head on the pillow, looking over at me. “Why? Do you think that’s weird?”

“Don’t your feet hurt? You never let them breathe.”

“I suppose I could always poke some holes in them.”

“What about when you take a shower?”

He shrugged. “They dry eventually.”

I couldn’t figure this guy out. He had to be messing with me. “What are baddies?”

“Bad guys,” he said slowly. “I thought that was self-explanatory.”

“Not to me,” I grumbled.

He passed me some pop. “Drink, you need the sugar to keep you level.”

“Sugar hypes you up,” I pointed out.

“Right, but you’ve been through an interrogation. You’re scared, or you were until I came along and charmed the crap out of you,” he grinned. “Now that you’re feeling a little safer, the adrenaline is going to crash down and you’re going to wish you had some sugar in your system.”

I couldn’t exactly argue with that statement, so I grabbed the drink and sucked on the straw. Surprisingly, it did make me feel better.

“Here, have some Reese’s Pieces with it. Breakfast of champions.”

“Candy?”

“Not just any candy. Reese’s Pieces is the end all, be all of the candy world, much like M & Ms.”

“Because they’re small?” I asked. That was the only correlation I saw.

“Because they’re—” He glanced over at me and snorted. “First of all, you get more in this bag than in any candy bar. See, the way I see it, a candy bar is gone in a few bites, but with Reese’s, you tend to eat them slower, savoring the little bits of goodness. Therefore, it lasts longer and makes the overall enjoyment better.”

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