“You mean the entrée you didn’t get a chance to eat?” she said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Such a shame, because it was the La Bestia–looking burger I’ve ever seen.”

He smiled. “Why don’t you give me a call when you get into town. You looking to do a hotwash?”

“Yes. I think this event has management pretty spooked.”

“Ditto here. Let me know when you’re in town and we’ll decide on a time and place to meet.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Jed.”

“Travel safe,” he said. “Oh, and, Gayle . . .”

“Yeah?”

“You might think about wearing a hat.”

“Will do,” she said with a chuckle and the line went dead.

Before pocketing his phone, Jed scrolled through the half-dozen text messages from Detective Maria Perez he’d left unanswered over the past few days. He’d also missed several calls and had two voice mails waiting from her. Guilt flared in his chest. This was no way to start a relationship with a woman, especially one he really liked. But he’d explicitly told Maria what to expect from him on the communication front. He’d tried to prepare her for the reality of dating someone like him. He’d assumed that as a detective, she understood that his delayed responses—or total lack thereof—was not an indicator of how he felt about her. But he also knew that it was one thing to be on the giving side of indifference and another thing entirely to be on the receiving end.

He imagined what Eli would have to say on the matter. Probably something like, “Dude, girls aren’t wired like us. . . . For them, radio silence means ‘He hates me.’”

Jed started thumb-typing a quick explanation text but then erased it.

Too clinical . . . it’s gotta be thoughtful and sweet.

He tried again but stopped midsentence and erased this attempt too, for a different reason.

If she knows I’m back, she’s gonna want to meet up . . .

“I don’t have time for this right now,” he grumbled and shoved his phone in his pocket. “I’ll call her when I get home.”

Feeling guilty and annoyed at the same time, he walked the path under the makeshift canopy to the big SUV, dragging tail the whole way. The driver delivered Bex and Nisha to Trinity Tower first, dropping them under the covered entry portico. Next, he took Eli to his neighborhood home—pulling into the garage to do it—and then finally stopped curbside in front of Jed’s town house in the Galilee complex.

“Looks like you’ve got a visitor waiting,” the driver said, waking Jed. “You might wanna explain the new protocol to her.”