She playfully slaps my chest.“Making me dinner.Not making this all about sex.”
I study her, hoping this conversation doesn’t escalate.That’s when I remember something that has been bugging me all day about the case.
“Tuesday, yesterday, when I saw you at the park,” I begin.
“At lunchtime.”
I nod.“You raced off when you got a phone call.Was that bullshit, to get rid of me, or did something happen?”
I hope I’m not wrong about this.
Caylee’s eyes fill with sadness.“No, it wasn’t bullshit.I agreed to go out with you and we did.”
But?
“Right, but you looked pretty upset.Did something terrible happened?”
I might be wrong about this hunch, and if she digs, I can’t tell her why I’m asking, so I’m hoping she’s in a chatty mood.
The problem is, as Caylee has pointed out, we don’t know each other well.We haven’t talked about our lives, our jobs much, or the people we work with.I don’t know anything about her friends or the relationship she has with her family, except what I’m picking up from working at BHS and the time I spent with them all at the wedding.
They all seem close.
But that’s not what I’m asking about tonight.
“Was it your boss?”I ask.“He’s not aggressive with you, is he?”
“No.”Caylee shakes her head emphatically.“Brad?No, he...I’m not sure if I’m allowed to talk about it.”
The fuck?
I had no idea where my questioning would lead, but it wasn’t this.
“What the hell?”I sit up on my elbow.“You need to know one thing about me, Caylee.I might have fucked up our first chance together, but if someone is hurting you, I am not the guy who will stand on the sidelines and let you deal with it alone.”
Her cheeks turn pink, and it’s clear as day she’s highly turned on by that.
My cock thickens.
It’ll have to wait...ten or twenty seconds.
“Well, that’s very macho of you.”She grins.
Macho?
“So, what happened?”
Caylee glances to the side and shakes her head.“We had a patient go missing the other day.I guess it’s not a secret.It was horrible.The cops are looking for her.”
My blood turns icy cold.
Louisa Brown.
It has to be.
“From the clinic?”
“No, she had her braces taken off and was meeting her mother downstairs.What happened between her walking out the door and her mom showing up a few minutes later, we don’t know.”
