Chapter 34
It had been a long day. Pushing the door to his flat open, his shoulders sagged as he closed it behind him.
"You look beat."
Dropping his things onto the table by the door, "I am."
"Any luck today?"
Pulling at his tie, he walked deeper into his flat. "No, this case is going nowhere fast and now I have a young lad in hospital because someone tried to kill him."
"How young, Robbie?"
He dropped onto the sofa, patting the cushion next him. "I guess not all that young, late teens, early twenties. But young enough."
"I'm sorry, love. Anything I can do to make it better?"
He shook his head, smiling at her. "You being you is enough."
"Any luck with Laura?"
Laughing loudly, he relaxed for the first time all day. "No."
"Did you not see her?"
"I saw her, several times in fact. But this damn case keeps getting in the way."
Tilting her head to the smile, she raised her eyebrows. "How did a case get in the way of asking her out?"
Collapsing into the sofa, he stared up at the ceiling. "I don't want to mix work and personal, it's macabre."
"Robbie, you mix work and personal all the time. It's part of what makes the two of you work."
He shrugged, "Maybe I don't want taint the start of our relationship with murder."
Val nodded, understanding him if not necessarily his reasoning. "Robbie, love, you're already in a relationship, of sorts. You're just…"
Looking over at her, he smiled "Just what, Val?"
"Acknowledging it. Turning a page, so to speak."
"Shouldn't that page be a fresh one, one not tinged by murder and mayhem?"
"Well, as her job is murder and mayhem and so is yours…"
He met her even gaze, "You're saying she won't care…"
"Not even a little bit." Nodding toward the bedroom, "Now get some rest, you have someone to ask out tomorrow."