Fox can't help but smile. She looks so doubtful - but she sounds like she kind of wants to believe him, and that means something. No one ever listens to him on the first round. They only come around when there's no other choice.

"I could tell you the whole story -" and he's tempted, if only to see how wide her eyes can get - "but not here. I don't want to risk getting banned from the premises if it gets back to Carinda."

And that, he assumes, is the end of it: she won't go someplace with him, not when he's basically a stranger. The thought disappoints him, for reasons he can't really place.