Daily Ramblings

Make up for Feb 25 LL 526 words

“So how’s our Chad doing today?” Justyn asked between bites of burger. “You said you guys played ball earlier. Who won?”

Jake grimaced as he remembered how the game ended. “He’s, ah, well, he’s ok.”

“A bit tired from last night, I’d imagine. We kept him up pretty late. You know we gotta go rehash everything afterwards. Well, at least, its an excuse to eat.” Justyn winked at Jake.

“Red, I don’t get you. How does a girl who wears jeans the way you do eat the way you do? You can eat damn near as much as I do. You’re putting that burger away quite nicely, and the garlic fries are following closely. “ Jake shook his head in wonder as Justyn smiled.

“Mmm, dunno,” Justyn contemplated. “Metabolism. High energy. My daily runs. Something like that. Oh, yeah, and those kickboxing classes I love. You know, it takes a lot of energy to kick people’s ass when they are being stupid, so I have to stay in practice.”

Jake agreed, noticing the glint in Justyn’s eye glow a bit brighter. She stopped eating her burger, and thoughtfully looked at Jake. She went for so long without saying anything, just looking, that Jake began to feel like she was appraising him. For what, he wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t entirely opposed to it.

“Hm. Mmm-hmmm,” Justyn murmured, returning to her burger.

“Mmm-hmm, WHAT?”

“Mmm-hmm nothing.”

“Bull. You’ve got that look in your eye, Red. What are you thinking?”

“What look? I have no look. I think you’ve had too much beer, Jake Martin.” Justyn was unperturbed, even when Jake threw a fry at her.

“Ah, Stretch, you’re swell. I did want more fries, thanks! Keeps my energy level up. ‘Cause you know I could take you.” She muttered the last part just loud enough to be heard.

“WHAT?” Jake roared in mock affront. “I don’t think so, you skinny little girl.”

“Mmm, I may be a skinny girl, but I could take ya. You doubt me, but I betcha I could. Or at the very least, give you a good run for your money,” Justyn conceded. If Jake was going to dish it, Jake was going to have to get dished on. How’s that for male pride, she thought. Imagine, getting his butt kicked by a girl. Ok, so she was in pretty good shape, and she COULD give him a good run.

“Tell you what. The day you kick my ass, I’ll offer you a job on my force as a ‘special officer’. I”ll put you in charge of taking care of some of the slime that we have to track down.”

Justyn’s eyes sparkled. “That might just be something to think about. I could go kick people’s ass and get paid for it! Don’t tempt me, Jake.”

“You know, I think you really might enjoy cop work. You see all kinds of stuff that other people don’t, and you put all that information to work in that canny brain of yours,” Jake mused. “You come see me if you ever want a new job. Not like I can ever see you leaving Lacey’s employ.”