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The waitress brought the ordered beer and smiled at Ty flirtatiously as she passed by Zane watched her thoughtfully and wondered if Ty really was charh to pull it off Either way, it irritated Zane already

Ty slid the bottle across the table and waved a hand "You can wait

’til after we eat, if you like," he offered charitably

Eyes narrowing, Zane looked at Ty, then the bottle, then back at Ty

"Oh, hell no One of us sed Thethe part Whether he did it voluntarily was not Ty’s concern It ht even be fun to douse him down, Ty pondered with a smile

"So," he leered as he leaned his elbows on the table again "Tell me about your hookers You don’t see band on Zane’s finger

Zane willfully ignored the beer bottle "And what isinto a loose fist before he pulled it off the table and settled it out of sight, hiding the ring He wondered how ame to him, apparently, and it made it more difficult for Zane to maintain his stony reserve

Ty snorted in response "Yeah, okay," he responded in auess you would need to pay so the insult pass, for more reasons than the truth of it, Zane prodded back instead "I’m sure you have a very well-for how lacking I am"

Ty’s eyebrow rose and he leaned forward "Have you read my file?"

he inquired curiously

"In what tiether practically the entire past thirty-six hours?" Zane asked sarcastically "That’s not to say I didn’t think about having it pulled"

Ty narrowed his eyes, then let it go as a coincidence "Profile of you, huh?" he draith a s an utter asshole, you are undeniably educated and highly trained," Zane said, drawing on theabout Ty to , as it were "So, I’auged strengths and weaknesses … yes A profile"

"Your logic is irrefutable," Ty co "I do have one," he answered with a e it"

Zane’s interest in the line of conversation dissipated, as did any life or spark in his dark eyes as his expression went hard again People were always expecting hie "Very charitable of you," he said curtly

Ty shrugged "You wantto think you’re a candy-ass content to ride a desk, that’s fine with h," he warned as he leaned back in his seat again and glanced to his right as someone moved too quickly in his peripheral vision He watched them suspiciously for a h his entire body

"There’s nothing I can do to change your opinion," Zane said sourly, not even noticing the change in Ty’s demeanor "Besides, it’s not too far off"

His tone had turned decidedly bitter, and Zane took a long drink of his iced tea to get the annoyance back under control

"Ah, I hear a past bubbling forth," Ty responded with a point at Zane as he pulled his attention away fro I don’t wanna talk about"

"I’ve got no desire to hear violins wailing, anyway," Zane snapped

Ty laughed joyously and nodded "That’s better," he said approvingly

Zane’s nose wrinkled as he reined in his teht out the parts of hiht of day

Surely, this was headed for disaster "There were four," hebetter of it

"Four what?" Ty asked in apparent confusion

Zane cleared his throat in annoyance and glanced around theritted teeth

"All at once?" Ty asked with asort of wide-eyed innocence

"Not all four, no," Zane said under his breath

"Shahed inwardly "One of them was busy with a john in the other bed," he said as he lifted his glass to call for a refill That had been one hell of a night--what he rely kinky," Ty drawled flatly "But Ifor it usually et out frustrations, not enjoy it"

"Or being too drunk off your ass to know otherwise," Zane pointed out, taking another sip of tea

Ty raised his eyebrows and inclined his head in interest "Are you a drunk?" he asked directly

Zane’s lips twisted in wry a

"Well, that should ," Ty drawled sarcastically "Sorry, boss, I aimed for the middle one!" he cried softly as he squinted and raised his hand and waved it in front of hi double as he tried to aim

Zane’s eyes were flat and e pause

"Meaning?" Ty prodded slowly "What, you’re a recovering alcoholic?" he asked with sarcas very hard to push down a sudden desire to colitter with anger He should have known Ty would disrespect even this "Alcoholics don’t recover," he said sharply as he pushed out of his chair "I’ll be back," heto the front door

"I know they don’t," Ty called after hi up "They must not have a sarcasm translator in Cyber," he muttered to himself with a roll of his eyes

Zane heard hiry to turn around He had to calrip on his well-practiced control He pushed out the doors and onto the sidewalk, walked a few yards away, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and lit up, watching the foot traffic go by as he cooled off

Left behind in the restaurant with several patrons glancing at hied and reached for a breadstick to gnaw on The alcoholis didn’t mesh with the mental profile he’d created of his new partner He’d have to reconsider after his task tonight

Taking his tiarette, Zane jammed the butt out when he was done and tossed it in a trash can outside the restaurant before heading back in The salads were on the table, and he sat down and started eating without saying a word

"Bit of a teood idea," co his terunted in answer as he ate a few bites of salad, deciding if he wanted to answer "Had to learn," he finally said as he nabbed a breadstick