Her sarcasm set a tick in his jaw, and his hand tightened a fraction on his bottle.

"What I do is my own damn business."

Up until now Bill had been standing on one side of a line with Clarice. In just a few words, he'd retreated to the other side, and began laying a foundation for a wall that was about to go up.

"Right now she an' I are friends. I've got to at least wait until she gets back before I go an' try screwin' that up."