Page 65 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

If he or she did exist, I suspected it was probably whoever had been with Lily before her death.

Maybe those boots would provide a clue, assuming they were hers and if any fingerprints hadn’t been erased while they’d been turned into garden décor.

“Thank you for bringing in the boots.”

“I’ll get out of your hair.” He stood and took a step for the door.

“Griff,” I called, waiting for him to turn. Then I squared my shoulders and straightened my spine.

I hated the question I was about to ask. “Are you sleeping with another woman?”

“Excuse me?” His jaw ticked.

“That woman on Wednesday. Emily.” The reporter. “Are you sleeping together?”

He fisted his hands on his hips.

“We used protection but it’s not foolproof. I’m on birth control but I’d like to know so I can get tested if necessary.”

Griffin raised his eyebrows, then with two long, stomping strides, he planted his hands on the desk, leaning so far down that the fury in his gaze hit me like a heat blast. “I don’t fuck two women at the same time.”

The air rushed from my lungs. Thank. God.

Ending this relationship was for the best, but that decision hadn’t exactly translated to my emotions. Every time I pictured Griffin and blond Emily, jealousy would eat at me for hours.

“That’s not the type of man I am,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Okay.”

“It’s not fucking okay. You shouldn’t have had to ask me that question.”

“Well, you seemed rather cozy at Eden Coffee.”

“Did I touch her?”

“Um . . .” She’d touched him. But he hadn’t touched her, had he?

“No, I didn’t fucking touch her. Did I kiss her?”

I swallowed hard. “No.”

He was pissed. Really pissed. I liked that he was mad. His character was in question, and for good men, they’d stop at nothing to set the record straight. “No, because I don’t play with women. Understood?”

“Loud and clear.”

“Good.” He shoved off the desk and stormed out of the office. His footsteps down the hallway pounded as hard as my heartbeat.

It wasn’t until I heard the exit door open and shut that I breathed. Then a smile tugged at my mouth.

There was nothing going on with the reporter. I sighed, sinking into my chair. The days I’d spent being angry at Griff had been for nothing. Maybe I should have trusted him.

It was Skyler’s fault I’d jumped to this conclusion. Being betrayed by the man who’d promised to love me, to be my companion, to be my friend, had left its mark.

Griffin wasn’t Skyler. There was no comparison.

Griffin was honest and true. And he knew his way around my clitoris.

The smile was still on my lips as I shook the mouse on my computer and got back to work. Maybe tomorrow I’d see the surface of my desk again.