Deadly Questions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 8) by Lily Harper Hart

peachy.”
    “I wasn’t flirting,” Grady protested. “She was talking to me.”
    “And she had her hands all over you.”
    “She had her hand on my arm,” Grady said. “It’s not like her hand was in my pants.”
    “Oh, well, I suppose you wouldn’t care if I let everyone in the free world put their hand on my arm while they were flirting with me,” Sophie countered.
    Grady had never seen Sophie so worked up. He didn’t know what to think – or say. “Sugar, you know I would never cheat on you, right?”
    “You’d better not,” Sophie muttered.
    “Of course I wouldn’t,” Grady said, irritated. “And, quite frankly, I’m a little disappointed that you think I would.”
    “I didn’t say that,” Sophie seethed.
    “You kind of did.”
    “Oh, Grady, stop it,” Sophie said. “You’re being a baby.”
    “I’m being a baby? You’re the one flipping out because some woman touched my arm.”
    “Not some woman,” Sophie said. “Heather Harrington. She hates me.”
    “I think you’re taking this too personally,” Grady said. “She just seemed like she was being a typical woman.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “She was just flirting to get a rise out of you,” Grady said. “It’s not a big deal.”
    “It’s a big deal to me.”
    Grady sighed, pulling into the driveway of the house they shared. “I have never seen you act like this.”
    “And how am I acting? Like an emotional woman who likes to play games to get a rise out of people?”
    “Yeah.”
    Sophie’s mouth dropped open, hurt swimming through her eyes. Grady immediately wanted to take it back. “Sugar, I’m sorry,” he said. “I … that was uncalled for.”
    “I can’t deal with this right now,” Sophie said. “I’m feeling ridiculously stupid – and angry. I know it’s not your fault, and yet I’m just … I’m going to take a bath.”
    Grady nodded, remaining mute.
    “I just need a little time alone,” Sophie said, refusing to meet Grady’s eyes.
    Grady watched her go, his heart sinking. He wanted to call out to her. He wanted to stop her. He didn’t. The only thing he could say to make her feel better was the one thing he couldn’t find the courage to say. Again.
     
    SOPHIE’S skin was starting to prune. She’d been in the tub so long she’d had to drain it and refill it twice to keep the water warm. Ever since Grady had purchased the hot tub, she’d grown accustomed to long soaks – and that was precisely what she needed to clear her mind.
    She knew she was being unreasonable where Heather was concerned. Grady had never shown the slightest inkling that he would cheat on her. Still, watching another woman put her hands on the man she’d given her heart to had jolted her.
    The problem was, while Sophie knew that Grady cared about her, he’d never said the one thing she longed to hear. Of course, Sophie had never said it either. She was terrified he wouldn’t say it back. And, if she put the words out there, she could never erase them. How could she knowingly live with a man who didn’t love her?
    So, Sophie kept putting off the inevitable. She kept hoping he would say it to her. She kept praying that he would take her in his arms, brush her hair away from her face like he so often did when they were being intimate, and say those three little words. Everything would be okay then. She would be able to relax. The longer she waited, the harder it got to deal with.
    Something had to give.
    Sophie sighed and pushed herself to a standing position, grabbing a towel from the nearby rack to dry off. She caught sight of her reflection in the steamed mirror, her bedraggled hair curling around her angular features. She looked … unhappy. Sophie knew there was only one way to fix her predicament. She had to apologize.
    She found Grady on the couch, his gaze fixed on the television – even though his eyes had a faraway look in them. He glanced up when he saw her come into the room, the towel tied tight around