Not Guilty by Brit Ryder

Author:Brit Ryder [Ryder, Brit]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781635558975
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2021-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Jenn calls me to check in, and I read her the latest invitation that’s crossed my desk. April has flagged it as important, and I’ve learned to trust her. “There’s a retirement party next Saturday for a judge who’s been around forever, and I’m encouraged to bring a plus one. What are you doing next weekend?”

“Oh, that sounds like fun. We don’t have anything planned. I can fly out Friday and be home Sunday,” she says.

“Really? Nice. I thought for sure you’d say no.”

“Come on. I’ve been dying to see your new place and to visit my little town again.”

“We prefer the word city, but okay. Town’s fine, I guess,” I say.

“Let’s get dolled up and drink a lot. Can you book us at Skyline Salon? I miss cheap pampering.”

When Jenn told me she pays over four hundred dollars for highlights, I laughed. One of the perks of living in the Midwest is the inexpensive living. “I promise to take care of you here as well as you did for me there. Except the whole special massage thing. I did pay you back for that, didn’t I?” Panic flutters in my chest as I wrack my brain trying to remember.

“Yes, you did. At the airport when I dropped you off. I’ll have to pass on that kind of special treatment. I don’t think Orlando would approve.”

“Things are going pretty well there, huh?” My mind floats back to the last conversation I had with Emery, and I brush it aside. I need to focus on Jenn and not on Emery, who hasn’t contacted me since the night she left my house.

“They are. We got into a blowout the other day, and it turns out I really want this to work, but I’m fighting it so hard. Like if I give in, I’m giving up my independence or something. He told me that’s not going to happen. He’s not going to be the boyfriend who doesn’t trust his girlfriend when she’s out with friends. I ended up a sobbing mess on the couch,” she says.

I decide she’s got enough going on, so I keep my opinion on monogamous relationships to myself. “He’s a great guy and I really like him.”

“I just don’t know if I’m ready for insta-family, you know?”

“Quit fighting it. You make a powerful couple.” I learned a long time ago not to refer to Jenn as cute in any relationship, even if I felt it to be true. “Anyway, bring something sexy so I can show you off.”

I’m interrupted by a knock and April peeking her head in before I answer.

“I’m sorry, but Mayor Moore is here to see you,” she says.

I hold up my finger. “Okay. I’ll confirm times with you next week.” I hang up and nod at April, who’s been staring at me the whole time. I stand when Sterling enters, and April shuts the door. “Sterling, what a surprise.”

“It’s been a while,” he says.

I reach over my desk to shake his hand, finding comfort in the space between us.

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