Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Part Two: Reap What You Sow ; Chapter Forty-Two: Joe, Two Months Later, Saturday

Joe watched his wife pace back and forth in front of their bed, shaking her hands out in nervousness. He'd never seen her like this before, and it unnerved him. "Are you sure you still want to go through with this?" he asked.

She stopped and glanced at him briefly before pacing again. "Yeah, I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

A little? "Maybe you're cold, too? It is January, and you're only wearing your kimono."

It was the little red kimono he loved, because she usually wore it right when she was about to take it off, revealing her in all her glory before she climbed on top of him. The only thing different about tonight was that she wasn't going to be taking it off for him, at least not at first.

She shrugged as she continued pacing. "What's the point of wearing more? It'll be coming off soon enough anyway."

He watched her pace a little longer before she turned to him again and asked, "How are you not nervous? I at least have Rachel teaming up with me tonight. I wonder how she's doing." Suddenly she made for their bedroom door.

"Leave them be, we'll be seeing them all soon." He patted the bed beside him. "Sit. Let me hold you a while."

She sighed in resignation and sat on the bed, sinking into him. "You didn't want to just wear your robe?" she asked. "Wouldn't it be more comfortable?"

"Ah, I don't know. I feel like, if she's going to arrive dressed, I should at least meet her dressed. I don't want to be too presumptuous."

"You're giving her an opportunity to back out at the last minute."

"We can all back out."

"You're not, though."

"Do you want me to?"

She didn't answer his question, but said, "I'm starting to understand the whole sociology of the crowd thing. You want to go along because everyone else is. You don't want to back out and disappoint anyone."

"This isn't about the crowd. This is about consent. Were you this nervous when you first..." He stopped himself before he went on.

She turned and looked at him. "First what?"

He cleared his throat. "You know... with Al."

"Oh." She shrugged sheepishly. "Not really, but by the time it happened, we'd already all seen each other naked; you remember our shows?" When he nodded, she went on. "I wasn't exactly going in cold. Not like with... I mean, I haven't even seen his hair down."

"I have to agree this isn't the conventional way of getting to know someone."

"Again, how aren't you nervous?"

He shrugged. "I might have imbibed a beer or two earlier."

She stared at him and said, "Please tell me you're not drunk."

"No, just a little to take the edge off."

"I can't do that. I've been off booze since that Jack and Jill party at Rachel's. I don't ever want to lose control again."

"If you mean self-control, then none of us have ever needed alcohol to lose it before."

She barked a laugh, then snuggled into him and said, "We're going to be okay after this, right? This isn't going to be like it was with Al, right?"

"It won't be, because I've guaranteed it won't. You can hang Tej over me just as well as I can hang Sunny over you." He sighed. "Look, over these past two months Al and I have come to an understanding. We may not exactly be friends, but then we've never been friends like you and Rachel have been friends. The point is, I no longer want to do him physical harm."