Page 72 of Still Afraid

“Are you? Calling the cops seemed like a jump.”

He chuckled, but it lacked humor. “It sent the message I wanted.”

“Hopefully, she stays gone.” Chloe stepped away and turned toward the kitchen. She wanted too much to stay close to him right now. With temptation so high, though, she needed to distract herself. Nine days.

She almost tripped over Poirot, who had once again taken up residence next to the secretary. “Dude, you have a perfectly good bed on the other side of the room.” She bent down and petted him. “I don’t understand you sometimes.”

“Maybe it’s too hot for his bed.” Josh shrugged and walked toward the living room.

She strode to the kitchen. What was Breana’s problem? Chloe understood the attraction to Josh. He was handsome and charming. But he was getting married. Why would she be so aggressive to get his attention? It was wrong.

Chloe opened the pantry, not looking for anything specific.

“Hungry?”

She closed the door. “I don’t know.” She walked to the counter peninsula and stood opposite of him.

“You know you have nothing to worry about with Breana, right?”

“Never questioned your side of it. It’s just her. How far is she going to push this? And what is her angle? She doesn’t seem the type to latch on to someone out of simple fixation. She strikes me as the manipulative type who’s always working some kind of angle.”

“Maybe, but she was distraught after the tornado.”

“Sure, so was I.” Chloe’s vision tunneled, and she gripped the counter.

“Chloe?”

She shook the fog away. “Does she have something to do with what’s been going on with the break-ins and such?”

Josh flinched. “I don’t know about that. It seems like a completely disconnected event.”

Chloe shrugged. “It’s all too coincidental. I hate coincidences.”

“You also read a lot of mysteries where coincidences are never as they seem. Real life isn’t as neat and tidy as a crafted novel.”

“Maybe that’s what I need right now, to escape to England and solve a solvable mystery with one of my favorite detectives.”

“Reading sounds like a delightful way to spend the evening.”

“I still feel bad leaving other people working on my mess.”

“You didn’t cause the mess. And you aren’t alone in dealing with it.” Josh reached across the counter and grasped her hand. “It’ll all still be there tomorrow.”

“You have to work tomorrow.” She didn’t want to be out there without him.

“Nope. Starting my time off early. I passed off all my patients, and I intentionally made this week’s load light.”

The weight on her mind eased.

“We also have a few other things to take care of. Like getting you a new phone. Do you want to do that tonight or tomorrow?”

The weight grew again. Too many things. “I want to crawl in a hole at the moment.” She took in a shaky breath. Panic loomed. Something as simple as getting a phone shouldn’t stress her out. This was dumb.

Josh came around the peninsula and drew her against his chest. “Deep breath. We’ll get through this.”

“I know.” She rested her head on his shoulder. The comfort of his strength kept the panic at bay … for now.

Chapter Twenty-Eight