Page 43 of My Killer Blind Date

‘So I was telling you about my roommate, on our first date …’

Our boats are even with each other, so I can get a good view of his face. He tilts toward me.

‘Yeah. The artist, right?’

‘Right. I don’t think I told you her name.’ I pause. ‘Zoe Dawson.’

He doesn’t break eye contact. His expression doesn’t change. After an awkward amount of silence, he says, ‘Cool. Zoe. I’ll have to meet her sometime.’

‘You want to meet her?’

‘Sorry, was that the wrong thing to say?’ He looks adorably befuddled. ‘I just mean … if we’re seeing each other, like you said … at some point we might want to meet each other’s friends.’ He tilts his head. ‘What am I missing here? Am I freaking you out? Is this too fast for you? I can stop with the flowers and the friends talk if it’s too much—’

‘No, no … It’s great.’

But it’s not. In fact, I’m a little speechless. I don’t think serial killers want to meet the friends. It would only introduce more people who might suspect them. Unless of course he knows I’m bluffing – which he’d know if he killed Zoe.

For a while, Liam paddles ahead and we don’t talk at all.

Damn you and your evasive little dance! I think, even as I admire his beautiful broad back and the way his arm muscles ripple as he paddles …

I really want to get one straight answer out of him. A simple yes or no. Mmm – like the existence of the deep freezer he’d need for the bodies.

He’s still ahead of me, so I shout. ‘Do you have a deep freezer?’

‘Sorry?’ He stops paddling to let me catch up.

‘You know. One of those giant freezer chests that’s so big you could fit a whole—’ body ‘—cow.’ We paddle forward side by side.

‘Uh—’ He gives his head a little shake, like he’s unsure of what he just heard. He seems to be waiting for me to explain.

I try to smile in a normal way. ‘It’s a great, responsible way to buy meat. You get the cow straight from the farm. Ranch. Wherever cows live. Then they divide it up into packets! So ethical. So … do you have one?’

Liam laughs. ‘You are the strangest, most enchanting woman I think I’ve ever met.’ Then, with a wicked grin, he plows his paddle into the water and his kayak shoots ahead.

‘And you didn’t answer my question!’

He shouts without looking back at me. ‘Tell you what, if you buy a cow, I’ll buy a deep freezer! Deal?’

Oh my God. It’s like verbal jujitsu, and this guy’s a master. And now he’s too far ahead to keep talking. I dig my paddle into the water and try to keep up.

The sun hides behind the clouds again and the air feels humid, tacky. The clouds are suddenly a lot darker than they were.

Liam turns around and waits for me to catch up again. ‘It looks like rain, do you think? Should we turn around?’

I scan the sky. Unfortunately, he’s right, and the beautiful weather is taking a turn.

We turn around and paddle back toward the boat house as the sky gets even darker. I turn all my focus to paddling fast. Just as the boat house comes into sight, the first droplets hit my arms.

‘Ack!’ I cry. Liam gets out first, getting his shoes wet, and pulls his kayak up the embankment before returning for me. With raw strength, he pulls my boat halfway up the ramp. I jump out and together we drag the kayaks back into the boat house, where a bored teenager checks us in.

The rain is coming down in earnest. I tent my flannel shirt above me, because I’m an idiot and wore a white tank top.

‘My car is close!’ Liam says, and we make a dash for it, down the path leading away from the boat house, under the green foliage of the towering trees. A wet cyclist zooms past, casting water from a puddle up on my legs.

The small parking lot is ahead, and there’s only one car in it. Liam unlocks it with his fob as we race toward it, and then, we’re inside, slamming the doors, wet and laughing. The rain thunders against the windshield. Our laughter fades, and then suddenly it’s very, very quiet.

‘You’re maddening,’ I say.