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Show 105 "Good, huh?" Parker asked. "My idea of heaven," she murmured with closed eyes. Why haven't we done this before? Parker thought. Of course, for the first fifteen minutes they'd done more eating than talking, which didn't require much of him. Now that he thought about it, he began searching his mind for some topic or other besides food. Sooner or later, he supposed, they'd need to have a regular conversation. But Dyna beat him to it. "How was the slide show? Wasn't that tonight?" "I didn't go." She looked up. "I was planning to, but my folks came back early from their trip. I had to pick them up at the airport. "Oh-" She ducked her head over the cappuccino. As far as he was concerned, a forced conversation was worse than none. Parker felt awesomely good just being with Dyna, but he wasn't sure about her. She seemed so quiet, subdued, even, for someone who normally bubbled like a soup pot. But the Burger Chalet wasn't writing class at Bonneville. Maybe she felt out of her element here with him. Taking a long sip, letting the drink warm his insides, Parker noticed the pink rising in her cheeks. He was glad he'd twisted her arm. A hot drink was exactly what she needed to warm up. Then she looked up and caught him staring. "So--" he said quickly, self-consciously, "tell me what you were doing out my way tonight." Dyna choked. Wrong question, Parker! Abruptly, she laid down her spoon and reached for a napkin. "I mean," he started over, "it's none of my business. I . . . you know . . . I was just surprised to see you on my turf, that's all." There was a prolonged silence during which Dyna stared at her dessert coffee without touching it. From the next booth a serious discussion drifted over to fill their space: You gonna tell Steve to bug off? I wish I had the nerve. Do it, Connie! In my opinion he's acting like a real creep. Dyna's face had grown very red. Concentrating all her attention on the napkin, she folded it in fourths, then eighths, her hands shaking. |