“Don’t be cute right now, Willow, not when I’m so fucking pissed that I’m seeing red. Tell me what he said to you.”
“Seriously.” I toss my hands in the air. “He didn’t say anything. Just that I need to be careful when it comes to you and not get attached because you date a lot and none of your relationships last long. But who the heck cares about that.” I roll my eyes. “I mean you’ve seen firsthand that I’ve not been sitting at home, knitting, waiting for the right suitor to knock on my door and ask for my hand in marria—” The word marriage tapers off when he takes two steps across the kitchen to where I’m standing and curls one hand around my waist and the other around the back of my neck so he can drag me into him. When his mouth lands on mine, I gasp and then moan and latch onto him. Okay, so the forehead kisses are nice, but lord, the man can kiss. When he pulls his mouth from mine, I blink my eyes open and find him staring down at me.
“I don’t need to hear about all the men you’ve dated, I’m sure I’ll meet them all eventually.” He grins.
The tension I didn’t even know was in my muscles loosens. “Whatever! Now, are you ready to go? I want to know if Miles has found anything out about Carly, then I need to eat because all I had today was soup, so I’m starving.”
“We can go.” He stands me up then reminds me. “Make sure you pack a bag for tonight.”
“I will.” I lift up on my tiptoes to kiss the underside of his jaw, then I head to my room to pack an overnight bag, because even if it might be reckless to trust Clay, I’m going to do just that.
Less than forty-five minutes later I sit with Clay in a dimly lit conference room at the police station with his hand wrapped around mine. Since we were ushered in here to wait, my leg has not stopped bouncing. I count the minutes as they tick by on the clock each one seeming to take longer than normal. How criminals are able to sit in these rooms for hours while being interrogated is something I can’t fathom doing. We’ve only been in here for a few minutes and I already feel like the walls are closing in on me.
“Hey.”
Clay startles me, making me jump and I look over at him.
“Relax. Remember, you already know what they are going to ask you.”
“I know.” I sit up when the door opens, and watch Miles walk into the room with a notepad in hand and a gentle smile on his handsome face.
“Hey, Willow.”
“Hey, Miles.” I smile or try to, as he starts to take a seat across from me.
“Where’s Tucker?” Clay asks.
Miles focuses on him as he sits. “He’s sitting this one out.”
“I bet he is,” Clay mutters.
I squeeze his hand.
“Did something happen?” Miles asks, looking between the two of us.
“He and I just need to have a conversation,” Clay mutters.
“Sounds cryptic,” Miles says, looking at me and raising a dark brow.
I press my lips together to keep from laughing because that would be inappropriate, especially right now.
“All right, well, let’s get this over with.” He leans back in his chair, then begins asking me questions about Carly.
I respond to each one the best I can, but there are some that I just don’t have an answer to, and those questions make me feel like the worst kind of friend. I wish I had taken time to find out more about her family and why she wanted to move to Tennessee to begin with, when she didn’t know anyone here. But I didn’t and now I don’t know if me not having that information will hurt the chances of her being found.
“That’s it.” He taps his pen against the notepad where he jotted down the information I gave him. “But if you think of anything else, just call.”
“Sure. Have you guys found anything out since last night?”
“Not yet.”
I nod, I should have known that, I mean it’s only been a few hours since anyone even knew she might be missing, so it’s not like they could have closed the case or even got a timeline for when she disappeared.
“As soon as we know anything, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. And thank you for bringing my car back to Clay’s last night.”
“Not a problem.”
“If you’re done, I’m gonna take her to get something to eat.” Clay stands and Miles follows suit.
“Yeah, we’ll talk later,” he says.
Clay lifts his chin, placing his hand against my lower back as Miles opens the door.
As soon as we step over the threshold into the hall, I feel a change in energy in the air around me and that’s when I spot Tucker at the entrance to the station, talking to a female officer who is in uniform.