Chris clears his throat and sits up with a frown. His voice is a little gruffer when he says, “I have some work I need to do. Do you want to turn on a movie while I do it?”
Pushing the emotions down, I force a smile. “Absolutely. That sounds great.”
For the rest of the day, we stay in his condo. Sometimes talking, sometimes not. Sharing a laugh a few times, which is a welcome relief from the heaviness of the conversation over breakfast.
I’ve never had a more perfect day with anyone, ever.
I pinchthe bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes shut. The morning has been packed. We had two new client project kick-offs and a brainstorming meeting for a new campaign for an existing client.
At least the day is going by quickly.
So I can get home to Chris.
My eyes pop open.
“Lily, don’t be stupid,” I chastise myself under my breath.
“You talking to yourself, boss?” Anna chirps as she strolls into my office.
I force a smile. “Sorry, yeah, I was.”
She plops down in the chair. “These new clients we have coming on board are exciting. Thank you for letting me sit in on those meetings.” She rings her hands. “So I was thinking, I have a few ideas I’d like to pitch to you if that’s okay with you?”
A genuine smile replaces the forced one. Anna reminds me of myself when I first started. “Absolutely. I’d love to hear whatever ideas you have.”
She beams at my response, and my heart warms. Before we can continue our conversation, the front desk receptionist pops her head in my office door. Her eyes cut to Anna, then back at me. “Uh, Mrs. Bennett. Sorry to interrupt, but I have two men out here asking for you. They said they’re detectives.”
Lightheadedness engulfs me as my heart races.They wouldn’t arrest me here at work, would they?
It takes me a few moments before I’m able to respond. My voice is weak and strained when I say, “Okay, you can show them back.”
She leaves, and Anna rounds the desk, gripping my forearm. “Lily, it’s going to be okay. Do you want me to stay?”
I swallow hard and shake my head. This is mortifyingenough that they’d show up at my work; I can’t take her being a witness even more to what’s about to happen. “No, but thank you for the offer. I need to do this myself.”
The grip she has on me tightens. “I’d say text your attorney, but there’s no way he’d get here in time.” Lowering her voice, she adds, “Don’t answer any questions. I’m serious.”
“I won’t,” I reply just as my door swings open farther.
Anna lets go and walks around my desk. She nods at the detectives on her way out and their way in.
I press my palms into the top of my desk to steady myself as I push to stand, waving to the chairs in front of my desk. “Detectives. Would you like to have a seat?”
They share a look between them before the one I remember as Barrington nods. “Sure, thank you.”
We all take our seats, and I clasp my hands together on the desk in front of me to hide the tremors. “What can I do for you?”
Barrington adjusts in his seat. “We got the report of the attempted break-in at your house.”
My body calms a little at that statement.Maybe they aren’t here to arrest me after all.“Yes, that’s right. I provided the video to the officers who showed up the other night.”
The other one, I think Chris called him Wilcox, nods. “Yes, ma’am. We’ve seen it.”
There’s something in his tone that makes me nervous all over again. “Okay, do you have any leads?”
With a shrug and a frown, Barrington says, “Well, not exactly. But we had some…observations.”
I stay silent and raise my eyebrows in question.
