“Is that so? And how would you know that?”

 He shrugged. “Experience. Body language. Tone of voice. Eye contact. The way you two respond to each other. There was a lot of chemistry in your office for a little while.”

 “Sassy,” she said, lifting her eyebrows. “You’re a smarty-pants, aren’t you? We were friends, in younger years.”

 “I thought so.”

 “We went to school together. But Emma went away to college, moved away after college, got married and just recently returned. After the death of her husband.”

 “Aw,” he said, chewing. “She’s young. That’s sad.”

 “I gather it was a bad marriage.”

 “Abusive?”

 “Why would you ask that?” Riley wanted to know.

 “It would explain her sensitivity to that woman being abused.”

 “Huh,” she said. “And I thought I was intuitive. But I don’t know if the marriage involved that kind of abuse. Her husband was not a good man, I hear. And he killed himself. As soon as she buried him and sorted out her affairs, she came back here. I suppose she feels comfortable here where she still has a few friends.”

 Logan whistled. “Suicide. That’s ugly.”

 “I suppose that would be hard to deal with even if you hated the guy.”

 “Yeah. I hope he left her something...”

 “I doubt it. If he’d left her anything, would she be cleaning houses?”

 “Were you and Emma close friends in younger years? Because even though you’re the boss and she’s the employee, I detected something—like an element of familiarity. Intimacy.”

 “Intimacy?” she asked, aghast.

 “Not sexual intimacy. Or maybe it was trust.”

 “From her?” Riley asked, a bit incredulously.

 “Well, from both of you. If you looked anything alike, I’d make you out to be sisters. There was that familial give and take, like sibling love/hate. You know what I’m talking about, we all have it. I can call my sister a bitch but no one else can. There was... You know each other very well.”

 She smiled at him. “We were good friends as kids. But that was a long time ago. We haven’t even been in touch in over fifteen years. Don’t you love the Riviera antipasto? Isn’t it the best there is? We should have gotten the bruschetta, which is also the best there is.”

 He put his elbows on the table, leaned forward and smiled at her. “If there’s something you’d rather not talk about, you can just say so.”

 “When I’m on a date, which I so rarely am, I’d rather not talk about another woman,” Riley said. “Besides, if your secret motive is that you’d like to date her, I believe she’s taken. And I’m not one bit happy about it, either.”

 His eyebrows shot up and his eyes were as round as saucers. One look at him and she knew he wasn’t going to let that one go.

 “Do not be a tease,” he said.

 Riley sighed in defeat. “I suspect she’s seeing my brother. Adam said he ran into her, that it was really great to see her again after so many years. They went out for a glass of wine and he passed on one of my business cards. I said she’d never call me for a job, never work for someone she’d felt kind of competitive with when we were kids. Not nasty competitive, not rivals, nothing like that, but still... Adam’s been curiously busy and stupidly happy lately...”

 That made Logan smile. “Why Riley, you little witch.”

 “Well, she works for me! Do you think I want to see her at every family function? That would be a little complicated, don’t you think?”

 The waiter was just passing by and tried to snatch the antipasto platter and Logan stopped him. “We’re still working on this, but I’ll have another beer and I think the lady will be ready for more wine in a few minutes. Thanks.” Then to Riley he said, “I think there’s more to it than that, but I don’t want to screw up the rest of our date. I like the way our dates end—slowly with lots of personal contact. So... How about those Lakers?”

 “I didn’t want to give her a job and my brother,” she said.

 He reached for her hand. “I thought she was a good-looking woman and have absolutely no interest in dating anyone but you. You’re a showstopper, Riley. And I want to make out with you like mad.”

 “I might be falling out of the mood,” she said.

 “Drink more wine,” he urged. “We’re going to be on hiatus over Christmas and by the time we get to— Hey, should we make plans for New Year’s Eve?”

 “Maybe,” she said. “Can I check with my daughter first? I want to be sure she’s not on the loose while I’m partying with you.”

 “Fair enough,” he said. “Here comes dinner. And save a little room for the tiramisu. Damn, does that look good or what?” He gave her hand another squeeze. “Come on, baby. Let’s get in the same canoe here. Tonight’s about us. I want to impress you with my manners, good taste, brilliance and sexual allure.”

 She laughed at him. “I don’t want to hear another word about your sexual allure. Especially in front of the waitstaff.”

 “Killjoy. Some women find the spectacle of a man willing to make a fool of himself in public very titillating.”

 “Do they, now?”

 “You know they do, Riley.” And he winked.

 * * *

 Logan had learned something tonight, like what an idiot he could be. First of all, a detective with a working brain would have waited for her to bring up Emma before homing in on her and their friendship. And second, whatever was in their past was enough to take Riley to another place and nearly ruin the evening. Maybe he wasn’t smart enough to balance a budding relationship and a case because he was hot for Riley. He liked her in a way he hadn’t liked a woman in a long time.