Page 176 of What Started In Deception

He couldn’t stop thinking about Lydia. Her big hazel eyes and how gorgeous she’d looked in her pretty summer dress. And of course, she’d smelled amazing.

I do miss you.

Lydia’s simple sentence that he’d replayed in his head since she said it yesterday morning.

Goodbye, Ty.

He clenched his jaw, remembering the finality he’d heard in her words, knowing that she’d meant them.

Huffing out a breath, he set down his pen, scrubbing his hands over his face, trying to get a grip. But he paused as he looked around the squad room, studying his co-workers immersed in their tasks like he always used to be.

It was his sixth day back in the office, and he still couldn’t find his rhythm or his absolute passion for the job that he’d loved since day one.

Just this morning, he and his squad had snagged their latest bank robbery suspect after DNA came back on a glove they’d found at the last crime scene.

Typically, he loved the adrenaline rush and thrill of bagging another bad guy, but after they’d thrown the cuffs on their man, he’d only felt the relief of knowing that they’d gotten another dangerous fucker off the streets.

He sat up as his phone vibrated with a text, forever hoping that it might be Lydia. Picking it up, he steamed out a breath as he read Lainey’s message.

I heard you’re back in town. What are you up to tonight?

He swallowed, knowing that all he had to say was ‘not much,’ and he could try to move on with his life. Sex with Lainey was simple and just sex. But the idea of being with anyone but Lydia did absolutely nothing for him.

Lyd was his hands down dream woman. The way she tasted. How amazing she felt. The sexy noises she made. She was the only one he wanted.

His thumbs moved over his screen. I met someone.

Lainey typed back. Oh. Well, good for you.

I’m pretty happy about it.

Good luck with your lady!

He smiled. Thanks. I’ll take it. Because he needed it.

Sighing, he tracked his gaze around the room again, thinking about what Marietta had said about his dad—about how he would want him to be happy.

But he wasn’t. Not even close. He hadn’t been for days.

He exhaled another long sigh because nothing about being at Headquarters felt right anymore. The FBI no longer felt like his place. The life he wanted was two hours away in Oliver Heights with the woman he desperately loved.

Waking up his laptop, he hesitated for only a moment before he hit ‘print’ on the document that he’d drafted up late last night.

Getting to his feet, he headed for the elevator and the seventh floor. It was time to take a walk down Mahogany Row and talk to the brass. It was time to lay it all on the line.

Lydia stood on her front lawn in a pair of frayed short shorts and an old tank top, giving her pretty flowers a drink as the sun made its way toward the horizon. Another summer day was slowly coming to a close. Another day that she’d lived without Ty.

She shook her head as she sighed, waiting for it all to feel easier, but after Gram-Gram’s sneak attack yesterday, she was starting the mourning process from scratch.

He’d been on her mind all day, which was nothing new, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how good it had felt to be wrapped up in his arms—and she’d definitely tried to distract herself.

She’d spent her morning doing extra laps in the pool at the gym. After a shower, she headed to her classroom, determined to get her space in order so she could surprise Camille and help her friend when everyone started heading back to work in a couple of weeks.

Time. It would take lots of it to heal her heart and move on. But she would. Because she planned to have everything that she’d always dreamt of for herself.

She snagged her bottom lip with her teeth as she frowned, trying to fathom the idea of loving someone else…

The sudden blast of country music down the street had her turning her head, and any and all thoughts disintegrated as she stared at the red Jeep Wrangler heading her way with the top down.