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“What did you call me?”

“What did I…? Oh Red Sorry It’s how I thought of you all last night You know Red”

He reached over, tugged gently on the tendril of escaped hair She pulled away but she smiled Really smiled He knew he’d won, and he knew, too, that the elation he felt was out of line with reality

“Espresso,” she said softly

“I beg your pardon?”

“The coffee in the Reveille—it’s that little self-service place down past the elevators—the coffee’s awful, but the espresso is fine”

?

?You’ve got it,” Gray said, and felt as if he’d just reached the summit of Mount Everest

She said she had to do sos back in her office and she’d meet him in the little caf;aae in a few minutes

He got there first, debated whether to plunk money into the coffee machine and have her espresso ready or wait until she arrived Wait, he decided, and he chose a table near a big wooden tub of pansies and myrtle, chose a different table beside thethat overlooked the pool, and finally decided he was behaving like a kid on his first date, which was insane

He was here for a purpose He had aDawn for coffee and besides, she wasn’t really the shy woman with the nice smile and the sexy mouth she didn’t seenment he’d undertaken because he had no choice She was also the runaife of a man she’d let abuse her and the mother of a little boy she’d abandoned like a stack of old clothes…

“Hi”

Gray stood up Daas standing in the doorway She looked demure and beautiful, and he kneas ti he’d anticipated and he was drawn to her even though he didn’t want to be He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled Forget Chinese proverbs She was a Chinese puzzle, boxes within boxes within boxes, and he hadn’t a clue how he’d figure out what that last box held, or if he wanted to find out

“Hi,” he said, and motioned to the small table beside the“Is this okay?”

“Yes, it’s fine”