nd.
"I am. Why?"
Cade reached in his pocket for the magazine and tossed it to her as he said,
"Happy birthday, Beth."
She caught it and examined it, then asked, "Where'd you get this, Cade?"
Shrugging, Cade said, "I haven't used nine millimeter for years. No need to
hang onto it if you can use it."
That seemed to be answer enough for Beth. She nodded and said, "Thanks,"
then dropped the magazine in her purse on the desk and asked, "Where's Mandi?"
Shrugging, Cade said, "Dunno. In the room, I think."
Peering at him, Beth asked, "Aren't you two getting along?"
With a small sigh, Cade said, "No, not really. That's why I dropped in here
for coffee."
"Want to talk about it?"
"No. She's tense about some things that don't mean shit to me, that's all.
Remember when I wouldn't go with Connie when she switched our Perlman tickets
for that Barbara Streisand thing without telling me?"
"Yeah. She was max pissed at you, Cade."
Parking his butt against the desk, Cade sipped his coffee and said, "Well,
this is the same kind of thing and I didn't cooperate tonight, either. Is the
lost and found in here?"
"You lose something?"
Turning up the bottom seam of his jacket, Cade said, "Nope. Just want to
swap jackets. This one's gotten kind of ratty at the edges."
"Try the closet, left side. Have you had dinner yet?"
Shrugging, Cade said, "I could probably eat something."
"Then pick a clean one. Something fairly nice, so you can take me to dinner
tonight."
Grinning slightly, Cade said, "You're a pushy woman, Beth."
Returning his grin, Beth asked, "You gonna do it or not?"
Laughing, Cade asked, "Are you kidding? You're half my age and you're
beautiful. Hell, yes, I'm gonna do it. I just wanted you to know you're a pushy
woman, that's all."
As Cade headed for the closet, Beth lowered her feet to the floor and said,
"Crap, Cade. I'm thirty-six and I'm never the woman men notice first in any
room."
Checking out a green windbreaker, Cade said, "That's just your own,
personal, heavily biased opinion, ma'am. How many times have you caught me
eyeballing your legs?"
That made the only other person in the room -- Tony -- blurt a laugh and
say, "He's got you there, Beth."
"Oh, bull, Tony. He eyeballs every woman's legs."
"So? We all do. Can't help it." He let his eyes roam her figure for a
moment, then added, "But only if they're wo