Page 61 of No Reason to Trust

Livvy let her shoulders drop. Took a deep breath. “Yes, ma’am. That’s what I need to know.”

“Good luck with Jake,” Diana said. “I hope your meeting goes well.”

“Thank you, ma’am. And again, please don’t tell him we met today. If we can’t work things out, there’s no point in him knowing.” She shrugged. “If it does work out? I’ll tell him myself.”

Diana’s eyes softened. “I sincerely hope you can work things out, Olivia. Good luck.”

“Thank you, ma’am. And thanks for taking the time to talk to me.”

“Anytime, Olivia,” the Director said.

Livvy pushed back the chair and reached across the desk to shake Diana’s hand. “Thank you again, ma’am.”

“You’re very welcome,” Diana said.

Livvy walked to the door. Just before she pulled it open, Diana said, “Good luck, Livvy.”

Livvy looked over her shoulder. “Thank you, ma’am. Very much.”

She slipped out the door and blew out a breath. Then she squared her shoulders, stepped out of the office and headed for the nearest elevator. The last thing she wanted was to run into Jake in the building.

Once out of the FBI parking lot, Livvy drove toward Jake’s building, anxiety ratcheting tighter the closer she got. Would Jake be home? Would he be willing to talk to her? She had no idea. All she could do was knock on his door and say what she’d come to say. After that, the ball was in Jake’s court.

By the time she pulled into the parking lot of Jake’s building, her heart was a hard drumbeat battering against her chest. As she looked around for Jake’s car, her heart rate quickened and she pressed her hand against it. It pounded against her palm in a rapid rhythm, both too hard and not hard enough to make up for what she’d done to Jake.

She scanned the parking lot again, but didn’t see Jake’s car. That was okay. She’d wait. She swung out of the car, leaving her suitcase and briefcase in the trunk, then headed for the door.

When she walked into the small vestibule of his building, the access door was locked. So she pulled out her phone and pretended to be looking up someone’s number. After about ten minutes, someone entered behind her, and Livvy followed her into the building. Got into the elevator and got off at Jake’s floor. There was no one in the hall, and she didn’t hear any noise coming from any of the nearby units. She knocked on Jake’s door, not expecting him to answer. But after a few minutes, he yanked open the door. Studied her for what felt like a long time. Finally, he opened the door more widely and stepped to the side. She walked in, then turned to face him.

Chapter 23

They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally he said, “Come in and have a seat. Want a beer?”

She didn’t. She wanted to keep a level head. Wanted to be able to say what she came to say. But it would be something to hold. She could take occasional sips, just to make it look like she was drinking it. “Yeah, a beer sounds good,” she said.

He walked into the kitchen, saying over his shoulder, “Go ahead and sit down in the living room. I’ll be right there.”

He came in a few minutes later, holding a can of Guinness and a bottle of Yuengling. She focused on the Guinness, touched that he’d bothered to get her favorite beer. He must have noticed her staring at the can, because he said, “Leftovers from when you were here a couple of weeks ago.”

Her face heated. Of course it was. There was no way he’d gone out today and bought Guinness for her. If he needed beer, he’d get whatever he liked, and if she wanted a beer, she’d have to drink that.

He sat on the couch perpendicular to the one she was on, so he was as far away from her as it was possible to be and still be in the same room.

He took a gulp of his beer, then set the bottle on his coffee table. “Okay, Williams, cut to the chase. What are you doing here?” he asked.

There it was. Trust Jake to go straight to the bottom line. She gripped the Guinness so hard that she was pretty sure her fingers were gonna leave dents on the can. Finally she set it on the coaster in front of her. “I need to apologize for the way I treated you in Brooklyn, especially after we’d just…” She swallowed.

“Had sex, Williams. It’s okay to say it. It’s not gonna make me jump you.”

His words were a stab to her heart. They slid right through all four chambers and left her bleeding. “That’s not what I was going to say,” she said, staring down at the can of Guinness.

“Okay, then. What were you going to say?”

“It wasn’t just sex, Jake,” she said, her hands shaking so hard she had to set the Guinness back on the table. She wanted to look down, but she forced herself to hold his gaze. “We made love.”

Jake snorted and took a gulp of his beer. “That’s what it was for me,” he said. “For you? I think sex is the right word. Unless you prefer fuck?”

She stared down at her hands and swallowed hard, forcing the tears to the back of her throat. “No, Jake. Making love is the right word for me, too.”

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