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“I know,” she says, but she doesn’t sound like she believes me.

“Hey.” I stop in the middle of the lobby and take her arm after all. Screw it. We’re alone. There’s no one here who could see us. She turns around, and there’s fear in her eyes.

“It would really be okay. If Pearson fired me, I’d find another job.”

“Where?”

“We’ll see. But everything will be fine.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because everything has to be okay. I won’t accept anything else.”

A sad laugh escapes her lips. “Let’s hope you’re right.”

“Do you trust me?”

She answers without hesitation. “Yes.”

“Then trust me when I say that somehow everything will be fine. How remains to be seen. But everything will be fine.” I look at her imploringly. Her shoulders slump a little, and finally she seems to believe me.

“I just don’t want you to regret it someday. That you did this for . . . me.”

“I won’t,” I promise. “I didn’t do it only for you. I did it for me too. For us.”

“Okay.” She nods and sighs softly. “I guess I just expected him to make a decision right away.” A few strands of hair have come loose from the knot at the back of her head and are framing her face. I want to brush them behind her ear.

“Me too. But he’s had a few very hard days. It’s probably better if he takes the time to think about what he wants to do first.”

“Yeah, probably.” Another sigh, her gaze meets mine. “Then I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” She grimaces. “I’ll try not to freak out in the meantime.”

“Come to my place and we’ll try together,” I say with an encouraging smile.

“I’d like to kiss you right now,” she says, her eyes fixed on my mouth, and I immediately get hard. Just because she’s looking at me and wants to kiss me. “But I don’t think we should push our luck any further.”

My smile widens and my pants tighten. It’s ridiculous. But I can’t do anything to change it. “What do you say, Ophelia? Will you come home with me? Fall asleep and wake up together. This time without an alarm clock, for real.”

“You still have to go see Olivia,” she reminds me, as if I could have forgotten.

“I know. But Clark hasn’t gotten in touch yet. Could you just stay at my place until I get back?”

Lia’s finely arched eyebrows rise. “You’d leave me alone in your apartment?” She sounds like she’s surprised that I’m fine with leaving her in my private space. “After all, I am a little thief,” she continues, the corners of her mouth twitching with amusement. But her smile isn’t quite genuine. It isn’t an Ophelia smile yet. She’s trying to hide the fact that she’s still worried.

“Yes, but now I’ll know where to find you if anything is missing.”

“Hmm,” she says, taking a step toward me but staying far enough away that we don’t touch. She tilts her head back to look into my eyes. “Maybe just because you miss me.”

I feel warm, and it feels suspiciously like happiness. Despite everything. Because of her. “Yes, that’s entirely possible.”

“It is.” There’s a challenging sparkle in her green eyes, and her gaze feels like a caress on my skin.

“It’s quite certain, actually.”

There it is, her genuine smile. Her Ophelia smile. She taps me on the chest. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

I’m on my way home from dinner with Olivia when my phone rings and Brooklyn’s name lights up the display. I immediately feel guilty. It’s been weeks since I last spoke to my brother. I called Mom to tell her about Olivia, but I’ve been avoiding my brother because I knew he would ask me about Lia sooner or later. And I could never have told him what he wanted to hear. I still can’t. Because Lia is in my apartment, in my bedroom, in my bed.