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“Of course he would. I am happy about that.” Gabby’s gaze softened even more. “Are you okay? That had to be…a terrible experience.”
“I’m fine. It was…not fun, but I’m fine.” Mia pointed at Gabby’s sleeve of her nice white blouse—that she had bought her—and winced. “I hope you didn’t burn yourself. You have coffee all over you.”
Gabby chuckled. “Well, you will need to borrow me a shirt because you know I won’t get this stain out like you can. Did you burn your hand?”
While the coffee stung at first hitting her hand, she didn’t feel any pain at the moment. “I’m good. Go find another shirt while I clean up this mess.”
Gabby hesitated, then listened. Thankfully. Mia needed a few moments to herself to get her mind in focus.
She had just lied to her best friend. It gutted her that the lie even came out. What was she thinking?
Yet, she knew she couldn’t confess about Jaxson. Not yet.
That damn fear always winning. She hated it.
She grabbed an old dishtowel from the top of her pantry where she kept an array of different things and cleaned up the mess in the foyer. Then she refilled her coffee mug as Gabby came back in the kitchen wearing a light-pink blouse that looked fabulous on her. Mia knew she wouldn’t want it back because it looked way better on Gabby than it did on her. Some pinks clashed with her red hair and that shirt happened to be one of them. She couldn’t even remember why she bought it. Probably because she loved shopping and clothes were everything to her.
“How’s the case going?”
Gabby paused in grabbing a mug from the cupboard. “How’d you know I had a case this morning?”
Oh, shit.
She was doing it again. Giving away the secret she wasn’t ready to share.
“You always have cases. And you were dressed for work. You came barreling inside with anger that I didn’t tell you what happened yesterday, which means someone told you. While you were at work. Which means you were working. On a case. How is it going?”
Gabby’s eyes narrowed as if pondering whether to use her interrogation skills on her. Mia wouldn’t blame her. She couldn’t believe how smoothly that came out. It technically wasn’t a lie either. But she wasn’t being truthful and that gutted her.
“It’s a doozy. Got woken up at 3 am, so I’m not in the best of moods. The coffee Jaxson and I grabbed around the corner of the victim’s place was crap, too. He went to interview the vic’s sister, who found the body—terrible, I know. I headed back to the precinct to do some digging into her life when I got sidelined by Detective Ramos. I can’t believe you didn’t call me.”
Mia took a sip of coffee, trying to work out how to answer that. This avoiding the truth business was no joke. She should confess she was with Jaxson all night and it didn’t cross her mind to call. Because she was having too much fun being loved by a man who had the most spectacular touch. Soft hands. Beautiful kisses. The skills with his hips. Oh. My. Goodness. Just thinking about it had her insides turning to jelly and her heart pounding, demanding more, right this second.
“I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t get hurt, and neither did anyone else. That’s what’s important. Plus, I have a party to plan. An amazing, epic party for Dane.” Mia looked down at her mug. “You know I don’t like to talk about those kinds of things anyway.”
Which was definitely not a lie or half-truth.
A hand landed on her shoulder, gently squeezing. She looked up into Gabby’s concerned gaze.
“I need you to know that you can always call me. I know things have changed somewhat with Dane in my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m not here for you. I always am. Always.”
“I know. Trust me.”
Or not. She was lying to Gabby’s face. She was so untrustworthy at the moment.
Gabby inhaled a few sips of coffee, sighing in pleasure. “I’m totally taking this to go. I need this java so badly, you have no idea. I better get going. I’ll call you later about party details? You got my list of invites with phone numbers, but I can help do that part. It’s totally fine.”
“I can handle it. I only work a half-day today, so I’ll have plenty of time to get the ball rolling on everything. Don’t worry about anything.”
“I never do. Not when it comes to my bestie.”
Gabby hugged Mia, refilled her cup, then left.
Mia glanced at her phone again, the urge to call Jaxson even stronger. This was not a good idea. What were they doing? She was lying to her best friend.
7
If he heard one more jackass comment about the damn hickey on his neck, he would lose his shit. Like Kung Fu kind of shit. Not that he knew Kung Fu, but he’d wing it and give them a good ass whooping.
