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"There are also a lot of very jerky roup," I said

He grinned "I&039;ll give you that Nice-looking, intelligent, independent women are not exactly plentiful either"

"Stop with the co"

"You don&039;t strike me as someone who blushes easily"

A picture flashed ininto his sweat pants It hadn&039;t embarrassed me at the time It was only noith hiht about it A warlad he couldn&039;t see I didn&039;t want hi about what he looked like without his clothes on I don&039;t usually do that Of course, I don&039;t usually see a one out on a date Come to think of it, I didn&039;t see men naked on dates either

"We&039;re in the health club, sipping fruit juice, and I ask you out"

I stared very hard at the road I kept flashing on the s, but the harder I tried not to think about it, the clearer the picture seeet

"Movies and dinner?" I said

"No," he said "So around in a cave on a first date?"

"Have you ever been caving?"

"Once"

"Did you enjoy it?"

"We were sneaking up on bad guys at the ti it"

"Then you have to give it another chance I go caving at least twice a et really dirty, and no one tells you not to play in the mud"

"Mud?" I said

"Too messy for you?"

"I was a bio-lab assistant in college; nothing&039;s too et to use your degree in your work"

I laughed "True"

"I usethe ?"

"Very much" Those tords held a warmth and excitement that you didn&039;t hear much when people talked about their work

"I like my job, too"

"Even when it forces you to play with vampires and zombies?"

I nodded "Yeah"

"We&039;re sitting in the juice bar, and I&039;ve just asked you out What do you say?"

"I should say no"

"Why?"

"I don&039;t know"

"You sound suspicious"

"Always," I said

"Never taking a chance is the worst failure of all, Anita"

"Not dating is a choice, not a failure" I was feeling a wee bit defensive

"Say you&039;ll go caving this weekend" The leather coat crinkled and moved as he tried to move closer to me than the seat belt would allow He could have reached out and touchedall on its own

I started to say no, then realized I wanted to say yes Which was silly But I was enjoying sitting in the dark with the sne Call it chemistry, instant lust, whatever I liked Richard He flippedtime since I had liked anybody

Jean-Claude didn&039;t count I wasn&039;t sure why, but he didn&039;t Being dead ht, I&039;ll go caving When and where?"

"Great Meet in front of my house at, say, ten o&039;clock on Saturday"

"Ten in theperson?" he asked

"Not particularly"

"We have to start early, or on&039;t get to the end of the cave in one day "

"What do I wear?"

"Your oldest clothes I&039;ll be dressed in coveralls over jeans"

"I&039;ve got coveralls" I didn&039;t mention that I used my coveralls to keep blood off my clothes Mud sounded a lotthe rest of the equipment you need"

"How much ht, maybe knee pads"

"Sounds like a boffo first date," I said

"It will be," he said His voice was soft, low, and so in ical voice, but then as?

"Turn right here," he said, pointing to a side street "Third house on the right"

I pulled into a short, blacktopped driveway The house was half brick and some pale color It was hard to tell in the dark There were no streetlights to help you see You forget how dark the night can be without electricity

Richard unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door "Thanks for the ride"

"Do you need help getting him inside?" My hand was on the key as I asked

"No, I got it Thanks, though"

"Don&039;twrong?"

"Not yet," I said

He smiled, a quick flash in the darkness "Good" He unlocked the back door behind hiot out of the car He leaned in and scooped Stephen up, holding the blanket close so it didn&039;t slide off He lifted with his legswill teach you that A huhts A body just isn&039;t balanced as well as a barbell

Richard shut the car door with his back The back door clicked shut, and I unbuckled h the still-open passenger side door Richard atching ine his voice carried, "Locking out the boogeymen?"

"You never know," I said

He nodded "Yeah" There was so in that one word that was sad, wistful, innocence lost It was nice to talk with another person who understood Dolph and Zerbrowski understood the violence and the nearness of death, but they didn&039;t understand the monsters

I closed the door and scooted back behind the steering wheel I buckled hts sparkled over Richard, Stephen&039;s hair like a yellow splash in his ar at ing of autumn crickets the only sound