Page 14 of All Yours

“But it would do you a world of good,” she insisted.

“Look, just because you’re all lovey dovey with Camden doesn’t mean the rest of us have to pair off.”

“Oh, come on. When’s the last time you got laid?”

I laughed. “There’s more to life than getting laid.”

“Says the romance novelist.”

True. But I haven’t had a lot of genuine romance in my life. “It’s a fantasy that I’m selling.”

“It could be your reality,” she said without a hint of irony in her voice. “And besides, maybe it’ll help you finish this book.”

“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Is it?” she asked. “Why else are you having problems with writing romance? You don’t have any romance in your life to inspire you.”

“I don’t need romance to inspire me.” I’ve been alone since my writing career started, and I’ve been fine.

“If you say so,” she said.

“I say so.” A shiver ran through me in the chill of the morning air off the water. I stood and moved back into the house and topped off my mug of coffee.

“It’s just that you two would be so great together—”

“There’s security camera footage of what happened on the trip,” I blurted out. Anything for Lauren to stop heading down the path she was on with Jonah and me having a romantic relationship. Not that Jonah wasn’t smart, kind, and good looking. But we’d been friends for four years. If it didn’t work out, I couldn’t stand the idea of losing him. He’d become too important.

“What?”

“Jonah saw on the news that there’s security camera footage of Eden jumping into the car and us driving off, and the guy that held onto Eden was an undercover detective.” I set my mug on the end table and dropped onto the couch, pulling a blanket over me.

“Oh my god.”

“That’s what we fought about. He wants me to call the Chattanooga police and tell them it was me.”

“Oh crap.”

“Yeah.”

“And there’s one big reason why you can’t.”

“It’s only a little,” I said, pulling the blanket to my chin in an effort to cocoon myself. “I have a new name now. Hopefully, no one will figure it out.”

“I’m not so sure. Have you asked Eden about why a detective tried to talk to her?”

“No. I haven’t seen her. I guess she worked late last night.”

“You need to discuss this with her.”

“Should we just turn ourselves in?” I fell over on the couch, pulling the blanket over my head.

“Not until we know more. Are you sure it was the police after Eden?”

I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “The article Jonah showed me said it was an undercover detective looking to question the woman, but they didn’t release why.”

The attached apartment had two entrances, one door on the outside and one inside my cabin. Both of us had been careful of the others space and privacy needs. One of my favorite things about Eden is that she doesn’t ask too many questions. Perhaps I should have asked a few more.

I tapped on the doorway inside the cabin. “Hey Eden.”

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