Page 41 of What Started In Deception

She stepped back. “Should we clean up?”

“Sure,” he said as he sent her the picture in a text, then put his phone in his back pocket. “Do you want to hang around for a while and watch a movie?”

She shrugged as she started stacking their dirty dishes. “Yeah, I guess I could.”

He scooped up the plates and bowls before she could. “Unfortunately, I don’t really have any junk food for us to snack on. I try not to eat it when I’m at the house.”

She grabbed the silverware and paper napkins. “That’s okay. I don’t eat a whole lot of it either—mostly only when I’m out with friends. But stuffing our faces isn’t a movie-watching requirement.”

He grinned. “That’s true.”

She nodded. “Especially when we just had such a nice meal.”

He smiled again as they headed for the door. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“I did.” She opened it for him. “What are you thinking about for a movie? Something funny, action-packed, or sad?”

He shrugged, mostly just happy that she wanted to stick around. Undercover ops tended to get lonely after a while. That wasn’t a problem with this one. “I’m game for whatever.”

They moved down the stairs to the second story, heading down the hall.

“Then how about not sad,” Lydia suggested. “I don’t like to be sad.”

“Who does?”

She smiled. “We’ll have to peruse our options.”

He led the way to the kitchen. “Let’s fill up the dishwasher, and we’ll get to it.”

“Sounds good.”

He watched her move to the counter, staring as she tucked her silky hair behind her ear, giving him a better look at her gorgeous face before she opened the dishwasher door.

He’d been assigned to numerous cases over the last seven years, but he could say without a doubt that this one was turning out to be his most fascinating.

Chapter Twelve

Ty knocked on Lydia’s front door, dressed comfortably in light-gray cargo shorts and a black T-shirt, very much looking forward to the next couple of hours after their evening together. Dinner and a movie at his place had turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun and something that he rarely ever did. In fact, it was something that he never did. His career was his constant companion, not beautiful, hazel-eyed women.

He smiled when she opened the door, then frowned when he noted that her eyes were teary. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, wearing a black exercise bra with her Michigan State University tank top and frayed short shorts. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail, giving him a good look at her long, slender neck. “Nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”

“I’m good,” she said, opening the door wider, stepping aside to make room for him. “Come on in.”

He breathed in flowers and vanilla as he stepped inside and immediately captured her hand as he shut the door, then led the way to the couch, sitting down next to her. “What’s wrong, Lyd?”

She shook her head again. “I promise I’m fine. Truly.”

“I thought we were working on you trusting me.”

She frowned. “You don’t have to know everything, especially the embarrassing stuff.”

He raised his brow as he held her gaze. “Well, now I’m extra intrigued.”

She stared at him for several seconds before she huffed out a breath. “I’m a sympathetic crier, which really sucks sometimes.”