Stupid, stupid. You can’t just drop by Reed’s apartment. He’s a single guy who obviously has a life that includes . . . gorgeous women who take showers after . . . no, she wouldn’t let her mind go there.
The woman was looking at her curiously.
“Uh, hi,” Liza managed. “Sorry. I must have the wrong address.” God, she sounded like an idiot. And she knew very well she didn’t have the wrong address. The name Davies was spelled out right below the number on the front door. She just needed to turn and leave.
“Are you here to see Reed?”
“Well . . . yes, but I should have called. It’s uh, about a case,” she mumbled. “Sorry, just . . . I’ll call him later.”
Liza turned to slink away when the woman called, “Wait. My brother should be home any second, do you want to wait?”
Brother? Liza didn’t exactly want to acknowledge the unbidden joy that rose in her chest, but it was too intense to ignore. “You’re his sister,” she said, barely managing to contain the sigh of relief that threatened to follow the words.
The girl grinned. “Yeah. I’m Arryn.” She pulled her towel higher. “Sorry about this. I was playing my music a little loud. I figured it was crotchety old Mrs. Prentice next door coming to tell me to turn it down.”
Liza shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t ring the downstairs bell because I—”
“You knew which apartment was his,” she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She stepped back. “Come on in. I’m going to run and put some clothes on.”
Arryn shut the door and Liza entered Reed’s apartment. “I really can’t stay,” she lied. She’d been temporarily distracted by her happiness that the half-naked beauty at Reed’s door was his sister, but now she felt insecure about dropping by again. “Maybe I could leave him a note,” she said as she glanced around at what she’d barely noticed before.
The foyer area where she was standing was small, and to the left was a kitchen. She could only see the edge of a refrigerator and a gray tiled floor. To the right was a living room that looked comfortable and modern, with a huge television on one wall.
“Just for a few minutes?” Arryn asked, stepping out of the room across the hall from what Liza knew to be Reed’s bedroom. She was now dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tank top, and was twisting her dark, curly hair up into a bun on top of her head. Arryn smiled, turning toward the kitchen and nodded her head in that direction. “Something to drink?”
“Sure,” Liza said. “Just a few minutes though.” If Reed was out, he was probably still at work, and he’d be tired when he got home. She’d told herself not to overthink dropping by his apartment, but really, thinking it through for a minute would have been the polite thing to do.
Liza entered the kitchen that was a decent size for a downtown loft apartment. There was even a small round table in the center with a couple of chairs. Arryn had the fridge door open and was bent inside but stood straight as Liza pulled out a chair and sat down. “Pitiful,” Arryn said, rolling her eyes. “Boys.” She turned to Liza. “Water?” she asked on a laugh.
Liza grinned back. “Water’s great.”
Arryn grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and filled them from the filtered water on the front of Reed’s refrigerator, bringing them to the table, where she handed one to Liza and sat down. “So how do you know my brother?”
Liza took a sip of the water, stalling. “I, um, met him on a case, actually.”
Arryn’s eyes opened wide. “One of the murders from the Hollow-Eyed Killer case?”
Liza grimaced slightly like she’d done the first time she’d heard the name. “Yeah. One occurred at the hospital where I work.”
“Whoa. Sorry to hear that.” Arryn eyed her over the glass as she took a sip of her water. “So that’s how you started dating Reed?”
Liza let out a nervous laugh. Wow, this girl was forward. “No, no, we’re not dating. We’re only friends. Not even really . . . I mean, sort of. But . . .” She took a long sip of water hoping Arryn would move on. But when she glanced at her, there was deep interest in her eyes.
Arryn tilted her head and squinted her eyes slightly. “But you’ve been to his apartment before. In a .