He liked that too.
He also liked the glance he caught of Josette watching them with a look on her face that couldn’t be interpreted as anything but ecstatic.
He had her best girl’s approval.
He wouldn’t have cared if he didn’t.
But it didn’t suck that he did.
They set up the phone plans and got the phones, doing it using credit cards in Franka’s and Josette’s names that Valentine had left behind for them in envelopes that also included driver’s licenses, social security cards, passports and debit cards.
The cop in Noc didn’t like that. But there was no way around it. They didn’t exist in this world and they were going to be living there. This meant it had to be done so they didn’t have to live off the grid like criminals.
He still didn’t like it.
Regardless, Noc wasn’t a cop anymore. Valentine had returned him to that world a week ago so he could get his shit sorted, find a place to live, move his stuff that was in storage into that place and start his life so he’d have all of that out of the way when Frannie showed.
But when Valentine had brought him home, she’d given him a choice. She could pull strings to get him a job on the force or he could work with a private firm who she contracted with to do jobs for her. They’d seen his résumé, talked to his captain in Seattle and received a referral from a valued client (Valentine). They wanted to meet him.
After he sat down with them, he had an official offer within an hour.
All this was done within two days of arriving home.
The pay was three times more than working for the city, he had a lot more autonomy, his hours were more flexible and he liked the two guys who owned the place.
He took the job.
He started in two weeks. Two weeks to get Frannie settled. Two weeks to settle them.
And then back to life, one with Franka in it.
All was good.
Better, the plans he’d made to wine and dine Franka in order to talk her around to his way of thinking about where they should take what they had, he didn’t have to spend time doing because they took it that way the night before.
Now he could spend his time wining and dining her and end that with her beautiful face, great hair, fantastic body and adorable attitude in his bed.
Which meant all was great.
They were walking out of the store, Frannie again tucked in his side, arms around each other when she asked, “What’s next for our day?”
“I’d like to learn to operate one of these conveyances,” Josette declared, her attention on the cars parked outside the store.
“Think maybe you should give it a few days before you get your first driving lesson,” Noc replied, saying a few days, meaning a few months.
“I’d like a luncheon repast of pizza,” Frannie announced, and Noc smiled.
His girl liked her pizza. That was not in question.
And that was something else Noc liked.
“Pizza? What’s that?” Josette asked.
“You have to experience it to understand the wonders of it,” Frannie answered.
Noc felt his smile getting broader.
“Circe took me to what she called ‘a boil’ last night,” Josette shared. “She said it’s quite the done thing here. It was very unusual. After boiling the lot of the food, they drained it and dumped all of it on a table and you ate it with your fingers. The food was delicious and it made eating fun. Though, while consuming it, Circe said her favorite food from this world is tacos. She explained what they were to me and they sounded most odd but also most delicious.”
Franka had wobbled on her heel when Josette started speaking.
As Josette kept talking, Noc tightened his hold and, after she righted herself, murmured, “Good?”
It seemed she wasn’t meeting his eyes when she replied, “Yes, good.”
“What do you think for next?” Josette carried on. “I agree with luncheon. As delicious as those morsels were at the café this morning, I’m starved. So this pizza? Or tacos? And I should make it be known that I’d be happy again with a boil. The shrimp here are exceptionally succulent. And their petites homards are almost as flavorful as home.”
“Tacos,” Noc decided, watching Franka’s profile, all he had since she was keeping her face averted.
She didn’t only seem to be avoiding his eyes, she was also suddenly stiff, and he didn’t get it.
“I’m happy with that,” Josette decreed. “Franka?”
“Fine,” Franka said softly.
Noc beeped the locks to his SUV and Josette skipped to it excitedly.
She dug riding in cars, as in really dug it.
Franka didn’t feel the same.
He steered Frannie to her door but didn’t open it.
He turned her into him in a way she had no choice but to look up at him.
When she did Noc knew she was hiding something.
“Everything okay?” he asked quietly.
“Fine,” she repeated, moving to pull out of his hold and turn to the car.
He curled her closer and her gaze that had skidded away came back.
“Babe, you sure?” he pushed and added, “Cars are safe, sweetheart, and I’m a good driver.”
She nodded but made no verbal reply.
He looked into her eyes.
She was totally lying.
“Frannie, what’s up?”
“Nothing, Noc, though I am hungry so perhaps we can move along to luncheon?”
“We have that word, Frannie, but it’s mostly called lunch here.”
“Ah,” she murmured, her gaze again sliding away.
He didn’t like her weird change of mood, the suddenness of it or the fact she was lying about it. It could be she was nervous about taking another ride, she hadn’t taken to being in a vehicle like Josette had done. It could also be she was embarrassed by her misstep on her heels. Frannie didn’t make many missteps. She wore her dignity like armor and didn’t do embarrassment very well.