Mind Over Matter

call. What is it?”
    “I wanted to talk to you.”
    “So I gathered.” She began, more roughly than necessary, to rub the towel over her hair. “About what?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Brady, have you been drinking?”
    He gave a quick laugh as he settled back again. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d eaten. “No. Don’t you believe in friendly conversations, A.J.?”
    “Sure, but not between agents and producers long-distance at dawn.”
    “Try something new,” he suggested. “How are you?”
    Cautious, she sat on the bed. “I’m fine. How are you?”
    “That’s good. That’s a very good start.” With a yawn, he realized he could sleep in the chair without any trouble at all. “I’m a little tired, actually. We spent most of the day interviewing parapsychologists who use computers and mathematical equations. I talked to a woman who claims to have had a half a dozen out-of-body experiences. ‘OOBs.’”
    She couldn’t prevent the smile. “Yes, I’ve heard the term.”
    “Claimed she traveled to Europe that way.”
    “Saves on airfare.”
    “I suppose.”
    She felt a little tug of sympathy, a small glimmer of amusement. “Having trouble separating the wheat from the chaff, Brady?”
    “You could call it that. In any case, it looks like we’re going to be running around on the East Coast awhile. A palmist in the mountains of western Maryland, a house in Virginia that’s supposed to be haunted by a young girl and a cat. There’s a hypnotist in Pennsylvania who specializes in regression.”
    “Fascinating. It sounds like you’re having just barrels of fun.”
    “I don’t suppose you have any business that would bring you out this way.”
    “No, why?”
    “Let’s just say I wouldn’t mind seeing you.”
    She tried to ignore the fact that the idea pleased her. “David, when you put things like that I get weak in the knees.”
    “I’m not much on the poetic turn of phrase.” He wasn’t handling this exactly as planned, he thought with a scowl. Then again, he hadn’t given himself time to plan. Always a mistake. “Look, if I said I’d been thinking about you, that I wanted to see you, you’d just say something nasty. I’d end up paying for an argument instead of a conversation.”
    “And you can’t afford to go over budget.”
    “See?” Still, it amused him. “Let’s try a little experiment here. I’ve been watching experiments for days and I think I’ve got it down.”
    A.J. lay back on the bed. The fact that she was already ten minutes behind schedule didn’t occur to her. “What sort of experiment?”
    “You say something nice to me. Now that’ll be completelyout of character, so we’ll start with that premise…. Go ahead,” he prompted after fifteen seconds of blank silence.
    “I’m trying to think of something.”
    “Don’t be cute, A.J.”
    “All right, here. Your documentary on women in government was very informative and completely unbiased. I felt it showed a surprising lack of male, or female, chauvinism.”
    “That’s a start, but why don’t you try something a little more personal?”
    “More personal,” she mused, and smiled at the ceiling. When had she last lain on her bed and flirted over the phone? Had she ever? She supposed it didn’t hurt, with a distance of three thousand miles, to feel sixteen and giddy. “How about this? If you ever decide you want to try the other end of the camera, I can make you a star.”
    “Too clichéd,” David decided, but found himself grinning.
    “You’re very picky. How about if I said I think you might, just might, make an interesting companion. You’re not difficult to look at, and your mind isn’t really dull.”
    “Very lukewarm, A.J.”
    “Take it or leave it.”
    “Why don’t we take the experiment to the next stage? Spend an evening with me and find out if your hypothesis is correct.”
    “I’m afraid I can’t dump everything here and fly out to Pennsylvania or wherever to test a theory.”
    “I’ll be back the middle of next week.”
    She hesitated, lectured herself, then went with impulse. “ Double Bluff is opening here next week. Friday. Hastings Reed is a client. He’s certain he’s going to cop the Oscar.”
    “Back to business, A.J.?”
    “I happen to have two tickets for the premiere. You buy the popcorn.”
    She’d surprised him. Switching the phone to his other hand, David was careful to speak casually. “A date?”
    “Don’t push your luck,