Kit grinned. “I’ll take a rain check, then. Don’t forget to order pizza or something.”
”Scout’s honor.” Connie melted another few inches down the bench while Kit finished her feet, then sighed and stood up. She wriggled cotton-clad toes against the concrete. “Blessings on your soul, Kit. I may be able to limp back, now.”
”Mind if I ask a stupid question?”
”Shoot.”
”How come you tortured yourself into walking halfway down the Commons in those things?”
Connie grinned. “I paced it out beforehand,-to the exact distance of the harlots’ processions through Yoshiwara. If I can go the distance in those infernal shoes, anyone can.”
Connie Logan wasn’t exactly sickly, but she was fragile. Kit scratched the side of his jaw. “Well, I guess you have a point. Still seems a helluva way to design costumes.”
Connie laughed. “This, from the man who pioneered masochism into a new art form. Just why did you become a time scout?”
”I cannot tell a lie.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Because it’s fun.”
”There you have it. l get to play dress-up, every day.” She stooped for the hideous shoes, then gave him a quick hug full of pins. “Thanks, hon. Gotta go. Oh …I saw that kid the other day,. with Skeeter Jackson.”
Kit groaned.
Connie’s brows twitched down. “Good grief, Kit, she really got to you, didn’t she? You ought to say something to her. She worships you, and Skeeter’s going to get her killed. You wouldn’t believe what he had her wearing.”
”Great. Since when did I get promoted to greenhorn daddy?”
Connie flashed him a grin. “You don’t fool me, Kenneth Carson. You care. It’s why we like you. Gotta run.”