Close to the Bone (29 page)

Don put the ring in a Petri dish and made to leave also. ‘You go home and get some sleep,’ he told Theresa. ‘I mean it.’

‘I will. I—’ But she spoke to his disappearing back and let her words trail off.

Then she was left with no one save Sergeant Shephard, who watched her with arms crossed.

‘I get it,’ he said without preamble. ‘He’s Just Not That Into You, but you don’t want to accept it. We’ve all been there. It sucks.’

She didn’t have the strength to deflect the topic, and she certainly did not have the strength to begin this conversation.

‘But I’m here.’ He came forward and put his hands, quite deliberately, over hers, letting his palms spill over on to her thighs. His brown eyes were soft and deadly serious. ‘I’m right in front of you.’

Very slowly, her cheeks lifted into a smile.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘So you are.’