Shit. He hadn’t realized she had tears in her eyes just now. They weren’t there when he kissed her.

  He pushed her back to look. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “I’m just emotional and am not normally this way. It’s been a long day.”

  “Are you going to Hugh’s?” Ivy asked Dahlia.

  “No, I’m going home.”

  “Then I’m going home too. I’ll be with you tonight.”

  Which meant he wouldn’t be with her when everything inside of him wanted to make sure she was fine.

  “Call me later,” he said, giving her a kiss, then walking to his SUV.

  He’d go home alone again, something he was all too familiar with.

  Too bad he didn’t want to do it anymore.

  20

  PROTECTING OTHER PEOPLE

  Two days later Dahlia was working away at her desk, calm that life seemed to be on the right track.

  Her sisters didn’t seem as annoyed at her. Her attorney, whom she now retained and would be getting a bill for, had confirmed she was no longer a suspect and could breathe a sigh of relief.

  Her boyfriend didn’t have any issues either. He’d even tried to calm her on Sunday when she’d been upset over her family's reaction and the embarrassment she’d tried to avoid.

  When Rose showed up in her doorframe she lifted her head. “Hi,” she said.

  Rose walked in and sat. She talked to this sister the least. Not that she didn’t have much to say to her, but Rose was always buried in her work or rushing home to be with her son.

  Lily and Dahlia were the closest and probably had the most similar of personalities. Rose though, she liked Rose a ton because she was no nonsense like Dahlia was.

  Rose kept to herself and had no problem telling people in a dry snarky tone to move along, that there was nothing to see.

  “Got a few minutes?” Rose asked.

  “Always,” she said, leaning back.

  “I’ve got two things to talk to you about. One work related, one kind of work related.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  “First, Thomas would never tell me what happened on Sunday or even yesterday.”

  “I know,” she said. “I’m not worried. But you could easily find out from my sisters. Ivy tries to keep things to herself, but it doesn’t always work.”

  Rose’s cheeks turned a tad bit pink. “I might have heard her and Jasmine talking when they thought no one was around. I walked away.”

  “But you heard enough,” she said, sighing.

  “Enough to come in and tell you a little story,” Rose said.

  “Storytime, yeah me.”

  Rose smirked. “You’ve got a personality hidden in there and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  “I don’t,” she said.

  “You do,” Rose argued. “You worry or are annoyed that people put you in this slot because you’re quiet when it’s really nothing more than minding your own business and you just wished everyone else around you did the same thing.”

  “That is true.”

  “Myself excluded,” Rose said.

  “Of course,” she said, grinning.

  “You know how the Holly Bloom Foundation came about,” Rose said. “Everyone does.”

  “I’ve heard enough,” she said. “We all know what happened to your mother.”

  Holly Bloom was a single mother raising three girls and working in the flower shop downstairs. She was out on one of her moonlight walks when she was hit by a driver and left on the side of the road where she died.

  Lily, who was eighteen at the time, married the owner of the flower shop, a much older man, to secure guardianship of her younger sisters and keep them together.

  Fast forward years, Carl had passed, leaving the flower shop to Lily. Lily had already started Blossoms with her candles and lotions and expanded the business yearly with her sisters to the multi-million-dollar empire it was today.

  “That’s common knowledge. What isn’t talked about as much is why the foundation came about,” Rose said. “We did keep that as quiet as possible.”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” she said.

  “It’s not a secret. Not to those close to us. And I think you’d understand more than most. Or you can relate. I dated someone older than me when I was in college. A professor of mine. My sisters knew about him, but they didn’t know what my relationship was like. I wouldn’t call it abusive. Not physically. But it was verbally. I knew it was wrong in my heart and kept it from my family. He was manipulative on top of it. The first time he grabbed my arm during a fight I ended things. Years later, he was accused of abuse by another student. Then more and more came forward.”

  “I had no idea,” she said.

  “I wanted it that way. When it hit the news, my sisters were concerned I’d kept it from them. I was clear that I understood what he was doing to me and ended it. But the signs were there all along and rather than report him, I just moved on and put it behind me. Had I told my sisters, maybe I would have made a difference and prevented it from happening to someone else.”

  “You don’t know that,” she said.

  “That’s right. I thought no one would believe me. Not with my background or my word against his. I told myself all sorts of things rather than letting anyone know what was happening in my life.”

  Dahlia smiled. “I get it,” she said.

  “We do what we need to to survive, even if we think it’s protecting other people. But maybe we need someone to protect us at times too,” Rose said.

  “I realized that recently.”

  “I figured as much. I let my sisters talk me into going forward years later. To making a statement. I wanted my name kept out of the press that I was a victim because I didn’t believe I was. I still don’t. I looked at it as just a poor choice in a boyfriend.”

  Dahlia laughed. “Definitely that,” she said.

  “We’ve all had them and it’s no reflection on us as a person. We aren’t weak because we chose a loser. We are strong because we recognized the fact early enough on our own to walk away.”

  “Thank you for that,” she said.

  “You’re welcome. My sisters and I, with the help of Thomas, created my mother’s foundation for young girls like us who felt like no one would believe us. That thought maybe we had no one to help. As you know, we provide scholarships and counseling to the three colleges we attended. We will be branching out to local high schools in the area too. Girls in foster care. Everyone has a voice and that voice can only be heard if it’s spoken.”

  “I know,” she said. “I appreciate what you’re saying. I know I wasn’t a victim of my ex. He was just an asshole and that is why I broke up with him. He changed and when he did I told myself I didn’t like how he made me feel and ended it.”

  “Like anyone else would have done with a shitty boyfriend,” Rose said, laughing.

  She knew Rose had to be aware of the crime Shawn was being accused of. At least thought it, but maybe Rose only overheard her sisters talking about how Dahlia was embarrassed about her ex and why she never said a word.

  Which wouldn’t explain why she needed an attorney to make a statement with the FBI.

  She sighed. She should tell her bosses and didn’t know why she never thought of that.

  “Are Lily and Poppy available?” she asked. “I need to let you all know something.”

  “They are,” Rose said. “But before we get them, can you run some more of those reports for me on certain items?”

  “Absolutely,” she said, grinning. “I’d love to.”

  “I’ll email you the ones I’d like and then I’ll get Poppy.”

  “I’ll go knock on Lily’s door,” she said.

  She got up and went to Lily’s office while Rose went to get Poppy.

  “You wanted to talk to me?” Lily asked.

  “Do you know already?”

  “I just know something is going on with you and hoped that you would feel you could talk to me.”

  “I need to talk to all three of you,” she said.

  Lily stood up and went to the conference room, Rose and Poppy following them in.

  Before she could sit down, Ivy and Jasmine joined them.

  “I rounded up your sisters too,” Rose said. “Sometimes we all need a little extra support.”

  She felt her eyes fill a bit. “Thank you for that. Let me begin by saying nothing major is going on, but I should fill you in. You have a right to know considering my position with your company.”

  She went on to tell them what she could. What her sisters knew but nothing more.

  That she was embarrassed and ticked off that she felt Shawn put a mark on her career and that was why she left, but she wouldn’t do that here. She wouldn’t allow it to happen.

  “Hugh is FBI!” Poppy said, bopping in her seat. “Whoa, talk about sexy. I need to meet this guy.”

  Everyone laughed and no one commented on what she’d said in a negative light.

  They nodded their heads and acted like it wasn’t a big deal.

  Guess she’d had no reason to keep it to herself.

  “Yes,” Dahlia agreed. “He is that!”

  21

  IN A ROUTINE

  At the end of June, Hugh was shocked to discover that he’d been dating Dahlia for over six weeks.

  It’s not that they spent a lot of time together.

  Normally he was fine with that, but lately he felt as if he wanted more than he was getting.

  She hadn’t said one word about it.

  A few weeks had passed since the truth came out on how the two of them met and no one seemed to have an issue with it.

  Dahlia even confessed that her employers knew, as she wanted to be upfront with it.

  Yeah, that told him everything he needed to know about her.

  “Are you doing anything this weekend?” Grant asked him when he appeared by Hugh’s desk.

  They’d been spending more time together on a few cases. Not just time in the car but in the office.

  Grant wasn’t a bad guy, just not the type of person Hugh would spend a lot of time with outside of work.

  “I doubt it,” he said.

  “Nothing with your girlfriend?” Grant asked, grinning.

  “We haven’t talked about it,” he said. “Why?”

  “I’m having a little get-together tomorrow. A bunch from the office will be there. Some of my other friends. Thought maybe you’d like to come.”

  It wasn’t the first time he’d been asked to attend something since he’d lived here, but he always turned it down.

  Maybe it was time to do more. There was part of him that felt bad that he and Dahlia didn’t do much more than hang out at his house on the weekends or go to dinner.

  Sure, they explored the area some, but it wasn’t as if it took a lot of time. They hadn’t once done anything with another couple other than him meeting her family that one day.

  “I’ll let you know,” he said.

  “Good,” Grant said. “I’ll text you my address.”

  Grant pulled his phone out and sent the message, then grinned and walked away.

  He looked at his phone and saw Grant didn’t live that far from him. Not on the water as Grant had busted on him about.

  He’d see Dahlia in a few hours. He was picking her up and they were going to dinner, then he’d bring her home.

  Most times they made it to her bedroom, then he left after. It seemed they were in a routine.

  Keri hated that.

  He knew he shouldn’t be comparing his ex-wife and his current girlfriend, but it wouldn’t hurt to put some more effort into things.

  “You look nice,” he said to Dahlia when she opened the door hours later. She was changed out of her work clothes and had on a pair of light purple shorts and a white T-shirt. There were colorful flats on her feet. “And bright.”

  “I know,” she said. “I don’t normally dress like this and I’m trying. Or at least Ivy is pushing it on me. They are her shoes.”

  “Do you normally borrow each other’s clothing?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “Ivy and I don’t have the same style. Her clothes are more fitted at times. At least her casual clothes. She’s a bit smaller than me on the bottom and bigger on the top.”

  He laughed. “I like what you’ve got. And you’re pretty small yourself. I think you just purposely wear clothing that is looser.”

  She shrugged. “It’s comfortable. But these shorts aren’t loose. They fit perfectly.”

  His eyes went to her legs that were on display. “Turn around and let me see your ass.”

  She giggled. “If you insist.”

  She did a little turn for him. It was the most playful he’d seen her. Maybe it was him too. Though he felt he put work aside when he was with Dahlia. She never asked him specifics, but she would make comments on him looking tired and ask if everything was okay.

  He appreciated it, but always brushed it off.

  Work was fine. Nothing was stressing him much there.

  Sleep, that was another story and one that was getting slightly better.

  At least when he managed to fall asleep he’d sleep four or five hours straight. Once he woke up though, he was staring at the ceiling until his alarm went off.

  “I do insist,” he said, his hand landed on it softly and cupping her.

  “We can stay in if you want,” she said, turning and putting her arms around his neck.

  “I feel like that is all we do,” he said. “How about I feed you and we can tease each other, then come back here and I’ll let you have your way with me?”

  “You’ll let me huh?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll lie down and be at your mercy.”

  “Well then,” she said. “I can get on board with that.”

  She grabbed her purse, a small crossbody one and this time it was a floral print. “Is that new?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “From work. We get to pick lotion or soap each month. One bottle or bar. Sometimes a candle. Twice a year we get an item from Poppy’s collection and from Rose’s. This was the purse that was available. We got to choose from three different patterns. For once I went with the boldest one.”

  “Good for you,” he said. “And that’s very generous of them.”

  “They are generous people,” she said. “Great people. And wait, I’ve got something for you.”

  “For me?” he asked.

  “Yes.” He watched as she moved to the counter and picked up what looked to be a bar of soap. No way he was using some flowery scent and getting his ass busted on in the office.

  She handed it over, and he noticed it was two bars of soap. One was cedar scented and one peppermint. “Thanks,” he said.

  She laughed. “You always seem tired to me. I know you shower after work but then wash up before bed. Or you’ve said that before. That is our aromatherapy line. Heather said cedar helps you relax and sleep. Maybe wash your face and hands with it before bed. It can’t hurt. And the mint helps keep you alert. The same theory but in the morning. That’s from the men's line. Nothing soft and feminine, but I appreciate you trying to keep the appalled look from your face.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t think I was that obvious. Thanks though, I’ll definitely try them.”

  “Now we can go,” she said. She took the soap out of his hand and set it back on the counter. “You don’t need to leave these in your car. They won’t melt, but it’s better to keep them out of the sun. No reason to open your glove box and put them next to your gun either.”

  “Does that bother you?” he asked. “That it’s with me?”

  “No,” she said. “I honestly never think much of it. It’s not like I’ve seen it on you. The first few times we met in an official capacity it was hidden under your jacket, but I knew it was there.”

  “Do you want to see my gun?” he asked, grinning.

  Her hands went to his waist and then wiggled down some so that her fingers trailed over his crotch. “I plan on it later.”

  “You’re in a good mood,” he said.

  “I feel good. I’m not sure why.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m glad. I do too. Funny, don’t you think?”

  “No,” she said. “Ivy says it’s the endorphins of a new relationship and lots of sex.”

  “Could be that,” he said. “Though I’m not sure we have lots of sex.”

  “Not a lot,” she said. “More than I’ve had before. The funny thing is I want more. Is that bad?”

  “No,” he said. “No man thinks that.”

  “But I don’t want you to think I need more time with you,” she said. “I’m not saying that. Just that when I’m not with you I look forward to being with you. And being in bed with you. Like the anticipation is a good thing.”

  He never thought of it that way either. Maybe getting too much of something wasn’t good.

  “I’m sorry if I’m not around much. I just know you like your time alone too.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “We communicate during the week. We’ve had lunch or dinner together at least twice and then we’ve got time on the weekend.”

  Every Friday and Saturday they normally had plans. Sunday they often didn’t, but both spent it doing things around the house. Chores that had to get done.

  “You just need to tell me if you want more,” he said.

  “I think things work out the way they should or will,” she said.

  Which told him that maybe it was time to take that next step and see where it went.

  22

  STEP FORWARD

  “You’re sure you’re okay doing this today?” Hugh asked her the next day when he picked her up.

  Not only was she going to meet some of his coworkers, but she was also spending the night at his house.

  She’d been shocked he’d asked her and said sure. Ivy wouldn’t be home. Her sister was spending most weekends with Brooks lately.

  “Yes,” she said. She had a bag on the couch and a pair of jean shorts on, a peach T-shirt and brown sandals.