He brought a hand up to his chin…and then got up and abruptly left. She used the chance to yank at her bonds—no good. They were soft, like cloth, but amazingly strong. Were her bonds lined with bubble gum or what?

She strained to hear and, very faintly, could hear muffled laughter coming from about thirty feet away. Dick had trotted out to the hall to have a giggle at her expense—fucking great.

The door was thrown open a moment later, and when Dick returned, he was stone-faced. “Sorry about that. I thought I left something on the stove. Now where were we?”

She kicked out at him. The bonds let her leg leave the bed, but not by much. “We were talking about how you’re going to die a painful and horrible death—again! What the hell have you trussed me up with?”

The left side of his mouth twitched. “It’s elastic lined with titanium wire. It won’t hurt you if you pull on it, but it’s impossible to break. Even I have trouble breaking it, and I’m quite a bit stronger than you are.”

Wanna bet, Dead Man Walking? “Do you have any idea—aarrgh! I’m supposed to be meeting my boss right this minute! What time is it?”

“About two A.M.”

“Aaaarrrgggghhh! Jerk! I’m five hours late!”

“Another date?” he asked silkily.

“No, Deaf and Undead, I told you. My boss called—well, he didn’t call, one of his lackeys did—and told me to get to the office, pronto. And when he says jump, we leap, dude. I didn’t have time to leave you a note, but I would have come back!”

“Sure you would have.”

Jane was so annoyed, she felt like biting herself. Instead, she yanked impotently on her bonds again. “Yes I would have, dill-hole!”

“Your boss calls you on a weekend, and you must drop everything and race to his side? Really, Janet. I was expecting a better story than that.”

She snarled at him. If he made her much madder, she’d start barking at the goddamned ceiling. “Jesus, to think I was actually looking forward to seeing you! And this is how you take rejection…pervert!”

Something flashed in his eyes then. Way down deep. She was suddenly reminded of the lake back home she used to do laps in. The blue water was pretty and inviting, but the lake was spring-fed and freezing cold, even in July. You didn’t know how cold it was until you committed yourself and jumped. Then you were stuck, and you got moving or you froze.

“So you admit you rejected me?”

“No, doorknob! I told you the truth. You can believe it, or you can go fuck yourself.”

“Is there a third choice?”

“Yes…untie me so I can make a phone call!”

“I decline.”