Read Online It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis - Free Book Online Page B

room and kitchen. Luke stood by, watchful. Impassive.
    Not Ali. Her thoughts raced. Why was Teddy was acting so sure that it’d been her? Had he set her up? And what was the motive for that? Did he think that would keep her quiet about what he’d been doing in his office that night? “Where was the money in the first place?” she asked.
    “In my locked bottom desk drawer,” Teddy said stiffly. “As you very well know.”
    “I don’t know,” she said, just as stiffly. But she’d gone through his desk looking for the pencil pot. Had there been a locked drawer? She didn’t think so. “You sure you locked it?”
    “Yes.”
    “ Sure sure?”
    “Jesus! Yes!”
    But Ali knew that expression and defensive tone. He wasn’t sure. “You’re lying about being sure,” she said. “What else are you lying about, Teddy?”
    Both officers straightened and gave him a long, appraising look. He raised his hands. “Hey, I’m the wronged party here! I put the briefcase in the bottom drawer to keep it locked up until the bank opened so I could deposit it. Hell, it was all just for show to begin with. Most of the money that had been actually collected was in electronic form. But we wanted to display cash that night to make it look impressive and to encourage more donations. I had it in my bottom desk drawer. I just…”
    “What?” asked one of the cops.
    Teddy sighed. “Okay, so maybe I can’t remember if I locked the drawer. I was in a hurry.”
    “Doing what?” Ali asked, knowing damn well what—just not who.
    “It’s not pertinent,” Teddy said.
    The cop looked pained, and the look he gave Teddy said he didn’t appreciate being put in the position of having to push. “It’s pertinent. What did you do directly after putting the money in your bottom desk drawer?”
    Teddy opened his mouth, and then closed it. After a long pause, he sighed again. “Melissa Mann.”
    “What?” the cop asked.
    Teddy sighed. “I was doing Melissa Mann.”
    There was a beat of stunned silence.
    Melissa Mann was a local manicurist, fun and sweet and pretty. She worked at the Hair Today salon a few doors down from the flower shop. Ali absorbed the hit and stared at Teddy.
    Surprisingly, he had the balls to meet her gaze, an apology there behind his lingering temper. “I’m sorry, Ali. But we’d been over for a while.”
    That was not even close to true, but she didn’t dispute it. Because dammit, he meant for him. It’d been over for him, and she’d not paid close enough attention to notice. But hell if she’d admit to being stupid.
    “So you had Melissa in your office,” the second cop said, “with the money.”
    “Yes,” he said. “Apparently money is an aphrodisiac.”
    Ali felt the snarl catch in her throat and thought about how satisfying it’d be to wrap her fingers around his neck, but the witnesses were problematic. If she was in trouble for a crime she hadn’t committed, she could imagine how much trouble she’d be in for murder.
    A hand settled on her shoulder. Luke’s. Clearly she’d projected the murderous urge…
    Teddy took in the touch and narrowed his eyes.
    “And afterward?” the first police officer asked him.
    Teddy was still eyeing Luke’s hand on her shoulder. “I gave Melissa a ride home.”
    “You gave her a ride home,” Ali repeated slowly. “Let me see if I have this right. You stood up your girlfriend, dumped fifty thousand into your desk, maybe forgot to lock the drawer, had sex with Melissa, and then gave her a ride home and left the money there.”
    Ted grimaced again. “Listen, I realize that makes me look bad.”
    “Actually,” Luke said, “it makes you look like a douche.”
    Teddy flushed an angry red. “Which still doesn’t make me a thief.”
    The cops moved on to check the rest of the house, including the bedroom Ali had been using. They went through her drawers, which was embarrassing enough, but then the closet. One of the cops pulled out the Fun ’N Pleasure bag