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wanted to know what
color his hair was. She also wanted to touch him again. That was a surprise to
her. Viv had never felt that intensely for a man, ever.
    She had bathed and thought of
him. She had done her preliminary write-up while having her contemplations turn
back to him time and time again. She wished she had asked his name. Instead she
had all but felt him up.
    After realizing that she wasn’t
going to be able to get her mind in gear enough to actually work, she made her
call to her sister, then decided to go out to dinner. She needed food,
especially with as late as it already was. Then she would worry about
everything else. Right now, she wanted to forget about everything. She needed
to give her mind a break. Pulling her hair up into a braid, she grabbed her
keys and headed off.
    Walking into the restaurant
twenty minutes later, she knew he was there. She didn’t know how she knew, but
she could feel it in every fiber of her being. Taking a slow look around, she
saw him as he stood. His attention was riveted on her. What are the odds?
    “Vivian,” he purred. “This is a
pleasant and unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?” He sported the
smallest of smiles on his lips.
    Vivian moved toward the large
man and grinned. “I’m afraid that I forgot to ask you your name when we met
earlier.” The urge to touch him was back. She found she wanted to have him
closer. How weird am I?
    “I did give it to you, but you
were a bit distracted at the time. Jason,” he said, holding out his hand. He
watched her with a small amount of amusement on his face. “I don’t bite. Not
unless you ask. You can shake my hand, you know.”
    Viv felt her cheeks heat, and
she shook her head. “Sorry. You must think I’m a complete idiot.” She held her
hand out as well and felt a rush when he took it.
    “Not at all,” he told her. He
squeezed her fingers gently and tugged her a step closer to him. “If you’re
dining alone tonight, why don’t you come and join us? We just ordered
appetizers, so you have plenty of time to play catch up with us.”
    “Are you sure?” Vivian looked
between Jason and the man with him. “I don’t want to intrude.” She smiled and
held out her hand to the second guy. “By the way, hello. I’m Vivian, and you
are?”
    “James. A pleasure to meet you,
ma’am.” James shook her hand firmly, then let go. “It’s never any trouble to
have a pretty lady join the table. So, please. You were at the park earlier
today, weren’t you?” he asked in a slow, southern drawl. Jason held out a chair
for her.
    Vivian nodded. “I was. I’m a
reporter, and I’d heard about the murders. Something doesn’t sit right with me.
I don’t do this sort of story, normally.” She shrugged as she took the chair
that had been offered. “So, I was looking in on it, but I didn’t get anywhere,
sadly. I’m just not made out for sleuthing, I think.”
    “Maybe you’re just looking at it
the wrong way,” James said to her. Both he and Jason took their seats once she
was in her own. The waitress popped up then to ask her if she’d like a drink.
    After placing her order, Viv
turned her gaze to James. “What do you mean?” She wanted to know what this
man’s thoughts were, because if there was another way to look at this, she was
more than willing to do just that. “What is it that I’m missing?” She propped
her chin on her fist, watching him with care.
    “I mean that, maybe if you’re
getting nowhere banging into it head-on, you need to come at it from the side.
If the obvious doesn’t fit right, then maybe you need to look for what’s not
clearly obvious.” He grinned at her and shrugged. “I could tell you more, but
where’s the fun in that, ma’am?”
    She laughed and sat back, her
stare once more falling on Jason, unable to move away from him for too long.
Before she could stop herself, she asked, “What color are your eyes? I’m
color-blind, and they intrigue me. They look like