Did that mean he wasn’t going to give me the recipe? I wasn’t getting a good read on Rock at all this morning. Then again, when had I ever? The only time I’d ever read him accurately was when we were having sex, and that hadn’t occurred yet, which was in itself really weird.

Rock finished his plate and took the dishes to the sink. “I need to shower, and then we’ll be off. Jeans today for sure, and long sleeves if you don’t want to get sunburned. And no open-toed shoes.”

I dropped my mouth open. “That’s all I brought.”

“We’re going riding, Lace.”

“You didn’t tell me I needed anything special.”

“I assumed you knew.”

“Why would you assume that? I’ve never been riding in my life.”

“For Christ’s sake!” He raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ll stop at the Harley shop and get you what you need.”

I sighed. This weekend wasn’t turning out at all as I’d imagined.

When Rock’s phone buzzed, and he narrowed his eyes and left the room to speak privately, I felt it get a little worse.

41

Rock

“Any news?” I asked Reid.

“Not about Riley, no. I’m calling about something else.”

“What?”

Silence on the other end. I counted to ten.

“For God’s sake, Reid. What?”

“That detective is sniffing around. He called me at home this morning, at six fucking a.m.”

“So?”

“He has questions,” he said, “about Roy.”

“Roy? What about him?”

“I have no idea.”

“Shit. I told you I shouldn’t have left town.”

“I know. You were right. But we had no idea this guy would be in my face this morning. Has he called you?”

“Not that I know of.” I took a quick look at my phone. “No, I don’t see any missed calls.”

“He’ll get to you eventually. I told him you were out of town until Tuesday.”

I cleared my throat, thinking. “Do you think Roy is hiding something?”

“I don’t know. He’s really hard to read. Always has been.”

“Agreed, but I’ve been gone for so long anyway, I wouldn’t know how to read any of you. I did get the feeling, though, that he was hiding something the other night in the bar. What was the guy asking you about him?”

“Mostly about his mental state. Weird shit, like had he ever had any psychotic tendencies.”

Roy? Psychotic? “Seems pretty far off.”

“I know. Roy’s an introvert for sure, but psychotic? Not in this lifetime. Also, he was asking me about Roy’s art. He seems to think some of his paintings show signs of psychosis.”

“I’m no art expert, but I think the detective is the one who’s psychotic.”

Reid chuckled but then said, “This isn’t a laughing matter, Rock.”