Aces and Knaves

can I get you a drink?"
    "No. In fact, that's why I came here. I'd like to take you out to dinner. Someplace better than Norms and you don't have to put it on your expense account because I'm buying."
    Arrow looked perplexed, perhaps because of the solemn manner in which I had delivered my message, and said, "Is this...is this like a date?"
    I had been subconsciously wondering that very thing. Now, faced with it on a conscious level, I said, "Yes. I'd like to ask you on a date."
    "I hope you're not doing this because you feel you owe me something," Arrow said. "We've been through a lot together, but I think that basically we're even."
    I had to say something to remove the reserve that had grown between us. I said, "I know I acted standoffish before, but it wasn't because I wasn't attracted to you." Double negative—great. "There were other reasons. But they no longer apply. I am...attracted to you and I would like to go out with you." I suddenly had doubts. "Of course, if you don't want to..."
    "Give me five minutes to change into something suitable for a real date," Arrow said, smiling and moving toward the stairs. "I have just one question; if this gets beyond casual, how are we going to see each other, with you in San Francisco and me in LA?"
    "I have a lot of experience with airline commuting," I said, gaining confidence, "and I don't want to let it go to waste."

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    After spending more than a quarter of a century as a pioneer in the computer industry, Alan Cook is well into his second career as a writer.
    Run into Trouble is about a footrace along the California coast in 1969 during the Cold War. But is the Cold War about to heat up? Drake and Melody, who worked undercover together in former lives, need to find the answer before all hell breaks loose.
    The Hayloft: a 1950s mystery and prize-winning Honeymoon for Three feature Gary Blanchard, first as a high school senior who has to solve the murder of his cousin, and ten years later as a bridegroom who gets more than he bargained for on his honeymoon.
    Hotline to Murder takes place at a crisis hotline in Bonita Beach, California. When a listener is murdered, Tony and Shahla team up to uncover the strange worlds of their callers and find the killer.
    His Lillian Morgan mysteries, Catch a Falling Knife and Thirteen Diamonds , explore the secrets of retirement communities. Lillian, a retired mathematics professor from North Carolina, is smart, opinionated, and loves to solve puzzles, even when they involve murder.
    Alan splits his time between writing and walking, another passion. His inspirational, prize-winning book, Walking the World: Memories and Adventures , has information and adventure in equal parts. He is also the author of Walking to Denver , a light-hearted, fictional account of a walk he did.
    Freedom’s Light: Quotations from History’s Champions of Freedom , contains quotations from some of our favorite historical figures about personal freedom. The Saga of Bill the Hermit is a narrative poem about a hermit who decides that the single life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
    Alan lives with his wife, Bonny, on a hill in Southern California. His website is alancook.50megs.com .