Into a Dangerous Mind (8 page)

“Go easy on those pints so early in the day.”
 
He smiled evilly at Cassidy and wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

Kathy pulled the pints in question out of the bag.
 
“Pecan Praline or
Rocky Road
?” she asked Cassidy, an amused glint in her eyes.

Zach laughed.
 
“Uh oh, ice cream and women means sex talk—I’m outta here.
 
See you later, Cass.”
 
He gave her hand a quick squeeze.
 
“It’s very nice to meet you, Kathy.”

“You, too, Zach,” she called after his retreating form.

Kathy immediately handed the Pecan Praline to her friend and pressed her into a nearby chair.
 
“Okay, I’ll get spoons, and then I want to hear everything, no matter how minute.”

catching her friend up on the events of the weekend—with creative alteration of the facts.
 
She left out anything about Zach being FBI, and anything about her new psychic gifts.

“Wow, leave you alone for a weekend and look what happens.”
 
Kathy set her empty carton on the coffee table next to her.
 
“Girl, I knew Brian August was an ass the first day we met him, but I didn’t think he would attack you.
 
Do the police have any leads on this guy?”

Cassidy marveled at her friend’s perfect lipstick—even after an entire pint of ice cream.
 
“I really haven’t heard anything more about the case,” she lied, a twinge of guilt chafing her conscience.
 
“But ever since Zach picked me up off the lawn—my thoughts really haven’t been centered around Brian.”

“Amen, sister!
 
Zach is a hottie.
 
So are you two officially dating, or what’s the scoop?
 
I can tell from the way the room sizzles between you two there’s some chemistry there, but what have I missed?
 
Come on, I need to live vicariously through someone.”

.”

Kathy pursed her perfect red lips.
 
“They’re all disappointed when they realize this package has a brain.”

Cassidy glanced over at her friend.
 
Kathy always looked like a
California
girl super model who just stepped out of a fashion magazine or off a movie set.
 
Long past being jealous, she knew she had the opposite problem.
 
Men knew right away Cassidy had a brain, they just didn’t really think she had enough of a package to go with it.

, sorry to disappoint you, but you didn’t interrupt a hot session of sex.”
 
Cassidy glanced over at her friend.
 
“But he did comment that anyone who alphabetizes their spices has issues.”

Kathy snorted and eyed Cassidy’s ice cream.
 
Cassidy passed it over since she’d only picked at it anyway.

“Since I put the spices up there in hopes you’d one day learn how to cook, that tells me you haven’t used them yet.
 
But I’m persistent.
 
I’ll just mother you until I get some kids of my own.”
 
She took a large bite of
Rocky Road
and made an orgasmic-sounding “mmm” in the back of her throat.
 
It had become an old joke between them since Kathy was a gourmet cook, and Cassidy’s definition of gourmet was anything not eaten standing over the sink.

Cassidy shrugged.
 
“Good luck.
 
God wouldn’t have invented take out if he didn’t want us to use it.”

Kathy’s green eyes twinkled with mischief.
 
“A man who can cook—tell me he’s great in bed and has a steady job, and we’ll hold him down and clone him.”

“I’d really like to find out about that great in bed part.”
 
Heat seared across Cassidy’s skin when she realized she’d said it out loud.

“That a girl,” Kathy coaxed.
 
“It’s about time you went on the offence for a change.”

“There’s definitely a connection between us, Kath.
 
I’ve never felt such a strong one with anyone.”

Kathy tucked a strand of long strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.
 
“I know there are a lot of men out there who haven’t treated you right, but this guy looks at you like he wants to start at the top and nibble his way down.”
 
Kathy licked ice cream off the back of her spoon.
 
“Besides—I have a good feeling about him.”

Cassidy started.
 
Did Kathy have some of the natural psychic talent Zach talked about?
 
“Why do you say that?”
 
She reached out mentally to her friend using the new skills she’d acquired this afternoon.
 
Protectiveness radiated from Kathy, but their connection wasn’t as strong as the one with Zach.

“He gives me good vibes, he’s one of those people you trust right away.
 
Now Brian, I disliked the very first time I set eyes on him.
 
He struck me as a slimy used-car salesman type.”
 
Kathy stood and then walked to the kitchen to throw away the ice cream containers.
 
Cassidy heard the door to the refrigerator open.

“Can I ask you something?” Cassidy called into the kitchen.

“Whoa, you’ve never had to ask me that before, this must be big.
 
What’s going on?”
 
Kathy walked back and sat on the footstool in front of her friend.

“I’m afraid.
 
I really like this guy.
 
I know it’s crazy, and we’ve only known each other a few days, but I can’t deny how I feel.
 
And I’m pretty sure he feels it, too.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“You mean besides thinking I’ve lost my mind?”
 
Cassidy took a moment to search for the words to explain.
 
“I’ve gone from viewing dating as a necessary evil in life to wanting to seriously pursue someone.”

Kathy kicked off her heels and slouched back into the overstuffed loveseat.
 
“Sometimes it works that way.
 
My parents knew they should be together from the first moment.
 
My dad described it like a magnet that kept pulling him toward my mom.
 
They both felt it and went with it.
 
They’ve been together for thirty-five years.”

“Romantic, but not what I’m getting at.”
 
Cassidy rushed to get the words out before she lost her nerve.
 
“Okay, so what if I’m brave and I go for it and I suck?”

Kathy laughed.
 
“Most men really like that.”

“I’m serious, Kath.
 
I’ve only slept with one guy, and he told all our friends to start calling me the Ice Queen.”

Kathy laughed, amusement and mischief dancing in her gaze.
 
“You’re talking about minute man?
 
I’m sorry, but the man needs to look up the word foreplay—it doesn’t involve groping your boob once before he hops on.”

Cassidy laughed in spite of her dour mood.

“Look, Cassidy, I realize I’ve been around a few more bedposts than you have, and I’m telling you, when it’s the right guy—it’s great.
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.”

to ignore her gut.
 
“Okay, but you’d better have some backup pints if I need them.”

Cassidy stood in front of Zach’s front door trying to find the courage to knock.
 
She spent the entire afternoon after Kathy left coming to grips with her new talents and trying to cope with the emotions Zach stirred inside her.
 
She’d gone her whole life without finding true sparks flying between her and a man.
 
And now they had definitely flown with this one since the very first touch.

When Phil Whitman kissed her during a field trip in the seventh grade, she’d sucker punched him and broken his nose so none of the other boys tried for quite a few years.

and giving her the dreaded line—“let’s just be friends.”
 
She’d never understood what all the fuss was about until last night.
 
Last night showed her the molten thrill that melted her bones and made liquid fire rush through her veins.
 
No wonder she hadn’t been interested in relationships after the minute man and before Zach—she literally hadn’t known what she was missing.

.

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.
 
Since Zach happened to be mentoring her anyway, and she still remembered his fevered reaction to her kiss, she was going to be straightforward and ask for more.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked in what she hoped was a confident manner.

.

”

She heard a distinct chuckle deep inside her mind as she pushed the door open.