Stopping beside her, Cade asked, "Why? You planning to feel differently about things later?" Glancing sharply at him, she said flatly, "No, but I want to give us both time to cool down a bit." "Ah," Cade said with an understanding nod. "Right." They waited in silence for the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor. When the doors opened, Mandi instantly strode out and headed for their room. Cade ambled out and headed the same direction, but he angled toward the ops room as Mandi used her keycard. She watched him take off his jacket, drape it over his arm, and knock on the ops room door, then saw the door open for him before she let herself into their room. As soon as she'd closed the door, Mandi adjusted her vision and hearing and watched Cade head for the coffee pot in the ops room. He asked, "Anybody here using nine millimeter ammo?" and a brunette woman with her feet propped on the writing desk raised a hand. "I am. Why?" Cade reached in his pocket for the magazine and tossed it to her as he said, "Happy birthday, Beth." She caught it and examined it, then asked, "Where'd you get this, Cade?" Shrugging, Cade said, "I haven't used nine millimeter for years. No need to hang onto it if you can use it." That seemed to be answer enough for Beth. She nodded and said, "Thanks," then dropped the magazine in her purse on the desk and asked, "Where's Mandi?" Shrugging, Cade said, "Dunno. In the room, I think." Peering at him, Beth asked, "Aren't you two getting along?" With a small sigh, Cade said, "No, not really. That's why I dropped in here for coffee." "Want to talk about it?" "No. She's tense about some things that don't mean shit to me, that's all. Remember when I wouldn't go with Connie when she switched our Perlman tickets for that Barbara Streisand thing without telling me?" "Yeah. She was max pissed at you, Cade." Parking his butt against the desk, Cade sipped his coffee and said, "Well, this is the same kind of thing and I didn't cooperate tonight, either. Is the lost and found in here?" "You lose something?" Turning up the bottom seam of his jacket, Cade said, "Nope. Just want to swap jackets. This one's gotten kind of ratty at the edges." "Try the closet, left side. Have you had dinner yet?" Shrugging, Cade said, "I could probably eat something." "Then pick a clean one. Something fairly nice, so you can take me to dinner tonight." Grinning slightly, Cade said, "You're a pushy woman, Beth." Returning his grin, Beth asked, "You gonna do it or not?" Laughing, Cade asked, "Are you kidding? You're half my age and you're beautiful. Hell, yes, I'm gonna do it. I just wanted you to know you're a pushy woman, that's all." As Cade headed for the closet, Beth lowered her feet to the floor and said, "Crap, Cade. I'm thirty-six and I'm never the woman men notice first in any room."