"Joy, Dara - High 02 - High Intensity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Joy Dara)

This solution, however, was about to jump back and bite him on his parameter ram, so to speak. It appeared his Curls was not going to forget about the next investigation.
Not that he'd thought for one minute she would.
Zanita was a reporter with their small-town newspaper, The Patriot Sun. She was also a woman who liked to explore the unknown. Hell, she was with him, which was the "unknown" at its finest!
Tyber was very aware that he was considered an eccentric. He was also aware that his lady love was just enough of an oddball to make what they had together perfect. Or nearly perfect.
The waiter arrived with their plates, placing Tyber's in front of him. "A chicken salad sandwich," he announced loudly.
23

Then he turned to Zanita and gingerly placed her dish down, mumbling quietly, "And a... steak bomb."
Zanita looked down at the jumbled plate of food, and her eyes glittered like a predator's just before it strikes its prey.
"Anything else with that?" the waiter asked apprehensively.
"Worcestershire sauce."
Tyber choked on his water.
"Worcestershire . . . Right away, ma'am." The waiter sped off and immediately returned with a bottle of the sauce. He quickly placed it in front of her before another wacky request issued forth from those soft, full lips.
Zanita happily slathered sauce over the mess, slapping the back of the bottle with a prizefighter's determination.
"I think Blooey is spoiling you," Tyber murmured.
Blooey was Tyber's all-around man and cook. He was also an ex-mathematician named Arthur Bloomberg who had gone slightly over the edge during his research with imaginary numbers. In Arthur's case, the study of imaginary numbers had the unfortunate tendency to illuminate the existential spirit. He couldn't find the "point" anymore.
So he left the building.
24

Now, the man was convinced he was on a pirate ship and Tyber was his captain.
Which was surprisingly close to a certain reality.
Tyberius Augustus Evans often looked like one, spoke like one, acted like one, and made love like one. In other words, once the rogue boarded, he gave no quarter. The man was ruthlessly sensual.
Zanita finished dousing her concoction with the Worcestershire sauce. "Don't be silly, Doc, Blooey hates when I add anything to his 'grub,' and you didn't answer my question."
Tyber put down his sandwich and regarded her intently. "Then we're even."
Zanita paused, hand in the air, holding the upside-down bottle. "What do you mean?"
"Our wedding," was all he said.
"Wh-what about it?" Zanita had been dreading this topic.
Tyber exhaled noisily. He spaced each word with the pause of importance. "WhenЧareЧ weЧgettingЧmarried?"
She swallowed. "Ummm, this looks great, don't you think?"
"Stop trying to change the subject. May I remind you that you asked me? I am going to hold you to this, ZanitaЧwhen is it going to be?"
Zanita's shoulders sank.
25

"Why are you suddenly so skittish?" He had already figured out the answer to that but he was setting a nice Evans trap. His love was hedging a wee bit too much. He recognized the signs. Parabolic Maelstrom was approaching. He intended to do everything he could to subvert it.
Zanita reached across the table and placed her hand over his. "Tyber, everything is going so great between us."
"And...?" he prodded.
"Well, I'm afraid if we change anything, well lose what we have."
"You mean if we get married."
She bowed her head. "Yes."
Tyber looked down at the top of the short, black, curly mop and shook his head. She was nonlinear thinking at its finest.
"Baby, it will only get better once we are married."
She shook her head in tiny negation.
Tyber leaned forward. This was the one part he hadn't been able to figure outЧexactly what was motivating her. "Why do you think that?"
"Because once we are married the romance will die," she said in a knowledgeable voice.
Tyber's lips parted in astonishment. "Where did you ever get that idea?"
She raised her enormous violet eyes to his. "I just read it somewhereЧmaybe in TV Guide."
26

"That's your source for marriage counseling? TV Guide?"
"Of course! I've been thinking about this. No one's ever allowed to be married in romantic movies and books; it's a rule of some kind. It has to do with the excitement factor."