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no-nonsense.
    “George ...” she answered, sure she sounded equally dug in.
    He rolled his eyes skyward. “I said no. You’ve got a two-year-old.” He glanced down toward her legs, where her son usually clung. “Where is Davy, anyway?”
    “A friend’s watching him.”
    “Well, use the money to buy the kid a Happy Meal or something, ‘cause I’m not taking it.”
    “But you’re broke, too, and I know it.”
    She thought he flinched, then decided it was a trick of the light.
    “Business is picking up.”
    She raised an eyebrow.
    “I can take care of myself, Lane.”
    “Tayl—”
    “And so long as I can, I’m going to take care of you, too.” He put his hand on hers, his smile tender. “So keep your money. You and Davy need it more than me. Stick it in his college fund.” He glanced at her yellow Gremlin. “Or buy new tires and I’ll put them on for you. Something.”
    She nodded, part annoyed and part relieved. The relieved part made her feel a little guilty. Her fingers drifted to her neck, closing around the odd-looking green stone she’d picked up at the Hollywood thrift store next door to the bookstore where she worked. “Maybe we can sell this.” She pulled it over her head and pressed it into his hand. “We could split the money.”
    Taylor looked at it, his face a mixture of confusion and ... well... more confusion. “Well, sure. If we each want to buy a piece of bubble gum.”
    “You think it’s just junk, huh? Oh. That’s what I was afraid of.”
    He glanced at her through narrowed eyes. “Why are you wearing it if you think it’s junk?”
    She shrugged. “I bought it.”
    “Ah,” he said, as if she’d explained everything. Then he said, “Why?”
    She sighed. “I don’t know. I just did.” She bit her lip. “I thought it was worth something.”
    He held out his hand, the stone sitting on his open palm. “You have got to be kidding me.”
    “No, really. The guy in the store said it was some sort of artifact or something.” Actually, he’d said it was her destiny, but that seemed a little too bizarre to admit.
    “Give me a break. How much did you pay for it?”
    “Only a dollar.” She shrugged. “It’s so ugly, I didn’t really want it at all, but he kept insisting. And when he finally said I could have it that cheap, I took it just to shut him up.”
    He pressed the necklace back into her hand. “If we sell it, we might hurt his feelings. Sounds like he’s got a thing for you.”
    Lane pictured the old proprietor’s weathered face, white hair, and brown teeth. “I don’t think so. He just seemed ... befuddled. Kept going on and on about how things weren’t really what they seemed, and how those whomp-‘em, stomp-’em television shows didn’t know the half of it.”
    “ ‘Whomp-’em, stomp-‘em’?”
    “I’m guessing
Buffy
or
Xena
.”
    Taylor’s eyes opened wide. “To think I thought those shows were the height of realism.”
    “Guess not.” She grinned. “Can’t I do anything for you?” She racked her brain, trying to come up with some way to show her appreciation to a guy who wouldn’t take her money. “What about a party? My friend’s having a get-together next Saturday. You really need to find a girlfriend.” She looked down at him, and his expression told her everything she needed to know. “No, huh?”
    “Nothing personal, kid. But I’m not exactly in a date-of-the-week mind-set these days. More of a scrape-to-keep-my-business-alive state of mind.” He looked annoyed as he continued. “Which translates into pissing off the only woman I’ve found even remotely attractive in a long time.”
    “So there is someone?”
    “There’s no one,” he said, in that
the-topic’s-closed
tone she knew so well. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and she knew he was lying.
    “Fine,” she said, trying to bait him. “Then you can meet someone at the party.”
    “Lane...” He sighed and shook his head. “Besides, I’ve seen