Bailey glanced down at her hands, her expression turning sheepish. “I um, since things didn’t work out with Russell, Olivia and I thought that we would invite him.”
No.She didn’t. “You invited him here as mydate?”
“No!” Bailey held up her hands defensively. “No, not at all. I mean we were hoping. But I didn’t, we didn’t know…that.” Bailey waved her hand between me and Adam. “Not that I’m saying you guys…”
“We had sex,” I told her, it was obvious and I was done lying. I didn’t know how the cards were going to fall at this point, but I was done sneaking around. “And it wasn’t the first time.”
“Oh.” Bailey smiled wider than I think I’d ever seen her smile. “Okay, well I’ll go distract the good detective.”
“No, I’ll go talk to him. I’m about to leave anyways.”
“Then I’m leaving, too,” Adam declared.
“Oh, actually,” Bailey stopped and took a deep breath, “your girlfriend, or um Genesis is here.”
“What?” Adam and I chorused.
“Yeah, she showed up with some photographer.”
Adam’s jaw clenched in defiance. “I don’t care, I’m leaving with Billie.”
“You have to talk to her,” I told him.
“No, I don’t. I’m leaving with you.”
“Can you give us a minute, Bails?” Bailey nodded and walked out. “Oh, and don’t say anything to anyone, okay?”
She mimed zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key.
The second she was gone, Adam closed the closet door behind us with enough force to rattle the glassware stacked on the upper shelf. “You’re not going out there alone,” he announced, like it was a non-negotiable clause in the custody agreement. “I don’t care if Genesis is here.”
“Adam, I’ll be fine. Detective Ramos is here, remember? I’ll talk to him and go home.”
He folded his arms, every muscle in his forearms bulging like a threat. “I’m taking you home. If you need to talk with Ramosfirst, fine but I’m taking you home.” His tone was so stubbornly sweet—like,I will physically carry you if I have to—it made my insides squeeze tight.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m a big girl. I don’t want a scene. Go talk to Genesis. I just want to go home and go to bed, I’m exhausted.”
His eyes softened, just for a second. “I’m sorry she’s here.”
“Don’t be. It’s fine.”
“I don’t want you walking to your car alone.”
“I won’t I’ll have Bailey or Detective Ramos walk me.”
His jaw twitched, he clearly wanted me to have an escort to my car but if the police escort was with the attractive cop I’d been set up with… I could see him running the Navy SEAL calculations in his head: threat assessment, tactical withdrawal, collateral damage. Or maybe he was just being a jealous boyfriend. Boyfriend? Was he my boyfriend? No. He couldn’t be because we were married. And he’d said we couldn’t even be friends.
“We’ll talk tomorrow.” I put my hand on his chest. “I’m tired.”
He covered my hand. “The girls are staying at Maddox’s tonight.”
He was right about everything he’d said. We couldn’t be friends, so I didn’t know why I found myself saying, “Come by when you’re done talking to her.”
43
BILLIE
The night airwas cool and flower-scented, the city’s spring energy morphing into something sweeter now that summer was right around the corner. I was so restless with happiness, or maybe just adrenaline and my legs felt wobbly. I wasn’t drunk. I was, for the first time in ages, just happy.
