Page 47 of Play Our Song

“I’m sorry.”

“What?” That didn’t make sense.

“I’m sorry,” Tilly said again.

“What do you have to be sorry for?” asked Sophie, very confused. Her hangover wasn’t helping matters, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t know what was happening here even if she was stone cold sober.

“I’m sorry because I reacted badly,” Tilly said. She took a breath. “Sophie, I didn’t know who you were and when you told me, I was shocked. Shocked and… and, to be honest, afraid. Afraid because this is who I am. This job. It’s all I’ve ever wanted and for a second there I saw something that might compromiseme and I blamed you for that. Blamed you for something that wasn’t at all your fault.”

“No,” Sophie said, swallowing down her tears again. “No, you were right. I should have told you. I… knew that you were looking into the garage, into dad, I just didn’t really put two and two together and… Well, it’s not like we’ve spent a whole lot of time together, is it?”

There was another silence. Sophie studied Tilly, the way the light hit her hair, the long lashes that brushed her cheek when she thought. She was beautiful, Sophie thought. Beautiful and fragile and very, very desirable.

“Can we start again?” Tilly said.

“What?”

“You heard me,” said Tilly, straightening up. “Can we start again? Hear me out here. We’ve only met a handful of times. Maybe those times shouldn’t count. Maybe we both screwed things up a bit and we should get a do-over.”

“How did you screw things up?” asked Sophie.

“I over-reacted when you told me who you were so that you had to go out drunkenly trespassing in people’s barns,” Tilly said. “Which, now that I say it, sounds completely insane.”

“It does,” Sophie agreed. “But you have a point. I mean, I can’t help who I am. I’m sure that my dad doesn’t have anything to do with your car thefts, but he’s no lover of the police. I don’t want to compromise your career. That’s the last thing I want.”

Tilly held up both her hands. “I get it, I get the obstacles. But if we just put those aside for a second…” She took a breath. “Sophie, I really like you.”

“You do?” Sophie’s heart leaped in her chest. “Um, I mean, I like you too, if that’s what we’re doing here.”

“Mmm, police stations aren’t the most romantic places in the world.” Tilly scratched her nose. “And we’ve both been up most of the night, not sure we’re looking our best.”

“Do we get a do-over on this, too?” Sophie said with a small laugh.

“No,” Tilly said. “No, we don’t. This gets done once and I might be messing it up already.” She took a deep breath. “Alright, here goes. You’re the most interesting, prettiest, nicest woman that I’ve met for a very long time. I like you. There.”

Sophie smirked. “Can I just say the same?”

“No,” Tilly said. “No, you have to tell the truth. We’re in a police interview room. Those are the rules.”

“Fine,” said Sophie. “Fine. You’re the most interesting person that’s come to town in forever and the first time I saw you, I fancied you. Happy?”

It was Tilly’s turn to smirk. “Alright, so we’ve got that part sorted out. Now let’s deal with the obstacles. I should not assume things about you because of your family. Actually, I shouldn’t assume things about your family either. I’m a police officer. I work with evidence. And other than drunken trespassing, I’ve no evidence at all that you or your family have done anything wrong.”

“Thank you,” Sophie said. “That means a lot.” She sighed. “But we can’t pretend that my family isn’t an obstacle. They won’t be pleased about any of this. But they’ll be far more displeased if they learn that I’m involved with a police officer.”

“Involved with,” Tilly repeated.

And Sophie had a sharp pain in her heart. Had she assumed too much?

“We barely know each other,” Tilly said, looking at her with deep blue eyes. “We have no idea where this is going or what it is. All we do know is that we have to sing together and that there are some feelings swimming around.”

Sophie bit her lip.

“I’m just saying… I’m saying that maybe we don’t have to be so official yet. It’s not like we have to announce things to your family. There might be nothing here. We could… wait a while.”

A warmth was growing inside Sophie’s stomach. “We could wait a little while,” she agreed. “And, um, your job?”

“Max knows,” Tilly said. “Don’t worry, he’s not going to spill the beans. But he’s my boss, and he knows that there are, um, feelings. So I think that helps a little. And as long as you’re not going to be robbing any banks or anything, I think we’re alright.”

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