"Elvis Cole LARKIN CONNER BARKLEY wouldn't talk to him. Cole asked about the property owners and tenants near her loft, but he might as well have spoken in a foreign language. Her lips pulled into a pensive bud, and she stared down the street as if Pike's car had been a shimmering mirage. "I can't believe he left me like this. He dismissed me." Cole said, "The nerve of him. That cad." "Fuck you." "That's the second time you've hinted at sex, but I still have to refuse." Larkin crossed the street without waiting for him and went directly to Cole's car. Some people didn't appreciate humor."