We shook hands. I told him I was pleased to meet him.
“You’re not getting ready to go, Mr. Smith?”
“As a matter of fact, I was.”
“Well, you’re not going to leave just as I come in. You usually bring me luck, and somehow I feel you’re going to bring me lots of it tonight.”
I thought I could complicate the situation by making Parker jealous. I looked at him and said, “Mr. Parker looks like a very capable mascot.”
She said, “He’s my escort. You’re my mascot. Come on over here to the tables.”
“Really, I’m a bit tired and—”
Her eyes bored steadily into mine. The light caught her hair, and it looked more than ever like that piece of hangman’s hemp that I’d seen years ago. “I’m not going to let you get away,” she said, laughing with her red lips, “even if I have to call the cops.”
There was no laughter in her eyes.
I smiled and said, “Well, after all, that’s really up to Mr. Parker. I never like to horn in.”