Blood of Innocence (Sloan Skye) by Tami Dane Read Free Book Online

is a casual meal with a coworker. Nothing more.”
    “You got it. Nothing more.”
    Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in a noisy restaurant, where model airplanes, piloted by birds, swooped and zoomed over our heads. All around us, clamoring children were happily munching on French fries and slurping shakes while their parents nagged them to eat their burgers.
    Intimate, it was not.
    Lesson learned—next time I would expect Gabe to take my suggestion in the most literal sense possible.
    While we were waiting for our burgers and fries, we gobbled up yummy potato skins slathered in melted cheese and sour cream.
    Gabe said, “Okay, now that I’ve got you here, and you’ve had a little bit to eat, I feel I need to confess something.”
    The mouthful of potato, cheese, bacon, and sour cream suddenly felt a whole lot bigger as it slid down my throat. “What?” I croaked.
    “I had an ulterior motive when I invited you out to dinner tonight.”
    “Which was ... ?” I guzzled half my glass of cola while I waited for Gabe to admit why he’d asked me out to dinner. I hoped it wasn’t because of what he’d said last week, but I had a feeling it was.
    “I wanted to get a chance to talk to you about Thomas.”
    “What about him? I’ve already told you, it’s none of your business.”
    “I know. And I’m sorry if it seems like I’m getting too pushy. But I overheard him talking to Hough yesterday and I felt you should know about it.”
    I wasn’t going to ask.
    I didn’t want to know.
    No. Absolutely. Didn’t want to know.
    Oh, hell. “Okay, so tell me.”

We learn the rope of life by untying its knots.
    —Jean Toomer
     
    5
     
    Gabe had stopped eating. He was looking at me with the kind of serious expression I rarely ever saw. I had no doubt he meant business. This time, he wasn’t overdramatizing.
    “Okay. You got me. What were JT and Hough talking about yesterday?” I asked.
    “I heard Hough say, ‘I need you. I can’t do this alone.’ And then Thomas said, ‘I’m here, Britt. I love you. I’m not going anywhere.’”
    “That could be interpreted a million different ways.”
    “Yeah. But the most obvious is ... ?” He gave me one of those you-know-what-I-mean looks. “They’re having an affair and she’s planning on leaving her lesbian wife.”
    I gave him back a you’re-full-of-bunk look. “She’s happily married. And she and JT are just friends. Good friends.”
    “Says who?”
    I shifted in my seat. “JT.”
    Gabe gave me a sure-right eyebrow lift. “And you believe him?”
    “Yes, of course. He’s given me no reason to suspect him of lying.” This conversation needed to end.
    “That you’re aware of. You haven’t known him long. All men lie. Sometimes.”
    “Yet another generalization. All men?”
    “It’s the truth. If you don’t believe it now, you will someday.”
    “Which means you lie too, since you’re a man.”
    “Sure. But I’m not lying now. Not about this.”
    “Okay.”
    The waiter brought our burgers and fries, asked if we needed anything else, then hustled away to serve his next table. While I ate, I mulled over what Gabe had told me.
    Assuming he heard what he thought he’d heard, and it meant what he thought, it was a damn good thing I’d decided to keep JT at arm’s length. Yes, a damn good thing.
    Now I was glad Gabe had picked this insanely noisy, chaotic place for our dinner. We ate, paid our tabs, and headed out to the parking lot.
    I was about to make a clean getaway when Gabe grabbed my arm. We were standing in between two parked cars, midway between my car and his. It wasn’t quite dark yet. The sky to the west was purple, with some puffy salmon clouds. The east was already cloaked in deep indigo. Fireflies were flitting around us.
    “Skye, I didn’t tell you about Thomas because I expect something to happen between you and me.”
    I thought I understood what he meant by “something.” I nodded.
    “You keep telling me you and he