“I know a few ways I can put you to sleep,” he replied.
“You’re underselling yourself,” I said.
He laughed. “What do you prefer, chocolate, strawberry or vanilla?”
“Oh,” I said. “I don’t know. Surprise me.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in a bit. Stay up and wait for me, okay?”
“If you hurry.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I will be right there.”
I walked over to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. He had seen me when I wasn’t looking my best, and I didn’t mind that, but there was something that made me feel so sexy about the way he looked at me even when he just approached the door. I brushed my hair out of the ponytail and curled my eyelashes. I didn’t want to do much more than that, because all we were going to do was eat dessert together and hang out for a bit.
I smiled at myself. Despite everything that had happened between us, the truth was that I was enjoying myself. It seemed like he had changed, like he was a different, better person, and it was clear to me that I was falling for him and that I was enjoying it.
I liked Jody.
I could feel myself falling for him, starting to more than just like him, and that scared me a little bit. I didn’t really have time for a relationship and my schedule was all over the place, but Jody seemed to be happy to adapt to my needs, which was wonderful, and I was excited about it.
I was nervous, but nerves aside, I was reveling in the feeling of having a crush again, and thinking about Jody made me feel like a teenager. It made my knees wobbly and it made my heartbeat speed up. My entire body got hot when I thought about him for too long, and I felt like giggling even when I was by myself.
I was a full-grown woman, but I felt like a kid around him, a kid who was falling in love. I was smiling when I heard the door ring. I furrowed my brow as I walked toward it, wondering how close he had been when he had gotten dessert, since I knew his apartment was practically on the other side of the city and it was going to take at least thirty minutes to get to my place, even if there was absolutely no traffic.
I walked over to the door, didn’t look through the peephole, and opened the door with what felt like a flourish. I looked over at where he was supposed to be standing, and set my gaze, instead, on a tall, burly man and a small wiry woman, both of whom were wearing suits and were immediately recognizable as police officers even without showing me their badges.
I blinked, my heart dropping to my stomach. “Is… is everything okay?”
“Miss Meyer?” the tall one asked. “Do you have a second to talk to us?”
“Dr. Meyer,” I said, slipping out of my house and closing the door behind me. “What is this about?”
“Dr. Meyer,” he corrected himself, and I could see that he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “We are investigating a crime that occurred on the seventeenth of April. Do you remember where you were?”
“I—no,” I said. “Sorry. Which day was that?”
“Saturday,” the woman replied, then got closer to me. She dropped her voice to a whisper before she continued. “Dr. Meyer, I don’t want to tell you what to do, but your neighbor will notice us speaking to you in the hallway. It might be in your best interest to invite us in.”
Her partner nodded. “We won’t take too much of your time,” he said.
“What are your names?” I asked, my gaze darting between them.
“I’m Detective Bryson,” she said.
He nodded. “I’m Detective Moss,” he said.
When they saw that didn’t satisfy me, they both raffled off their ID numbers. That did a little bit to make me feel better, but I still couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious.
“Okay,” I said. “Come in. But I have visitors coming soon, and I won’t have much time to entertain you.”
Bryson smiled, her eyes shining. “I promise you; you don’t need to entertain us.”
I opened the door, moving away from them. “Okay, go ahead, come on in.”
They looked at each other for a second, and I could tell this was a victory for them. I had a sinking suspicion that the visit from the officers had something to do with Jody, so I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I thought about texting him, then I wondered if that was going to get me in trouble. I decided it was better if I didn’t tell him anything, maybe I was just overthinking things, maybe this didn’t have anything to do with him.
After washing my face, I walked outside, to the living room, where they were still standing. “You can sit down.”
“We won’t take long,” Detective Scott said. “We just have to ask you a few questions. So do you remember where you were on Saturday, the seventeenth of April?”
I thought for a second. “I was at work. I’m usually at work on Saturday. I mean, during the day, I was sleeping. Then I was working, during the night.”
“Great. Can you just confirm where you work for us?” Bryson said.
“I work at the emergency room at South Regional. I’m an attending there.”
“Do you remember an incident which occurred around three, maybe four in the morning?”
I looked at
