Page 109 of What Started In Deception

“Yeah. Mostly, I’m just tired.”

He read the room easily enough, understanding that she didn’t want to talk. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“’Kay.”

He stared at the ceiling, replaying what he’d heard by the kitchen window as he listened to the waves in the quiet, waiting to doze off.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lydia stared at the clock in the dark, watching the hours tick by, knowing that she still had three more to go before the sun started to rise again. She’d been awake all night, and at this point, she didn’t see that changing.

Sighing, she inched her way out of bed and went downstairs, turning on a dim light as she headed toward the kitchen for a glass of water.

Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, she pressed it against the refrigerator dispenser, gasping when Ty walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.” He wrapped her up tighter against the warmth of his body as he held her gaze in the window’s reflection. “Can’t sleep?”

She sipped the water. “No.”

“Come with me,” he said, putting the glass on the counter as he captured her hand and walked with her to the couch. He took a seat on one of the middle cushions, then pulled her down on top of him, holding her gaze as she straddled him. “Is this okay?”

She nodded, even though sitting like this was new. But she didn’t hate it.

He settled his hands on her hips. “I think it’s safe to say that we’ve both been staring in the dark for hours. How about you talk to me instead.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”

“Obviously, our night didn’t end with ice cream and a movie.”

“Which I’m sure you immediately reported to your FBI buddies.”

His brow furrowed slightly. “Don’t get pissed at me for doing my job. That’s not fair, Lyd.”

She sighed as she stared at his glorious pecs, knowing that he was right. “I’m sorry.”

He moved his palms to her thighs, sliding them up and down in soothing strokes. “It’s okay.”

She shook her head as she looked at him again. “Nothing about this situation is okay. Everything about tonight took me by complete surprise.”

He nodded. “I can’t say I saw that one coming either.”

She hesitated before she let her hands wander along the smooth skin of his excellent triceps. “Mac’s marriage is falling apart. She thinks Will is cheating on her, and she didn’t tell me.”

“Maybe she’s not ready to talk about it yet.”

“I just—We’ve been here for days, and she’s said nothing. We tell each other everything.” She rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “I guess maybe that’s not true for either one of us, is it?”

“She probably just needs some time.”

She sighed as she thought of Mac crying—of how devastated and vulnerable she’d sounded as she asked her husband if he was being unfaithful. “I just wonder how long all of this has been going on. How long has she been dealing with this all by herself? She said weeks to Will, but how many does that mean?”

His hands moved to stroke up and down her back now. “I don’t know, Lyd.”

“I feel like I’m responsible to some degree—for why she feels like she can’t tell me.”

He frowned. “Nothing about their problems is your fault.”

She shrugged. “She’s comparing their relationship to ours. She sees a happy couple, but she has no idea that we’re a lie.”