“The job is my life,” I said.

Val lifted her chin, not trying to hide that she was impressed with my answer. “You’re already one of us. Maddox is a hard ass, but he’ll see it, too.”

“What’s his story?” I asked.

She took a sip of water. “He was focused but tolerable when I came to San Diego until a little over a year ago. Like I said, he was burned by some girl in his hometown—Camille,” she said the name as if it were poison in her mouth. “I don’t know the details. No one talks about it.”

“Weird.”

“Will you feel like having a drink or five later?” she asked, losing interest now that the conversation wasn’t centered on my personal life. “There’s a cool little pub in Midtown.”

“I live in Midtown,” I said, wondering if I would see my neighbor again.

She grinned. “Me, too. A lot of us do. We can drown your sorrows together.”

“I don’t have sorrows. Just memories. They’ll go away on their own.”

Val’s eyes were bright again with interest, but I wasn’t enjoying the interrogation. I wasn’t that hard up for friends. Well, I was, but I had boundaries.

“What about you?” I asked.

“That is a Friday night conversation, told over stiff drinks and loud music. So, are you here to swear off men? Are you finding yourself?” she asked the questions without an ounce of seriousness.

If my answers were yes, I wouldn’t admit it. She was clearly hoping to ridicule me.

“If I were, I have already failed miserably,” I said, thinking of the night before.

Val leaned forward. “Are you serious? You just got here. Someone you know? Old high school classmate?”

I shook my head, feeling my cheeks flush. The memories came quickly but in flashes—Thomas’s hazel-green eyes glancing over at me from where he’d sat at the bar, the sound of my door from him pushing back against it, how easily he’d slid inside me, and my ankles high in the air, jerking with each amazing thrust. I pressed my knees together in reaction.

A wide grin spread across Val’s face. “One-night stand?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”

“Complete stranger?”

I nodded. “Sort of. He lives in my building, but I didn’t know that until after.”

Val gasped and then sat back against her wooden chair. “I knew it,” she said.

“You knew what?”

She leaned forward and crossed her arms, resting them on the table. “That we are going to be great friends.”

Chapter Three

“WHO THE HELL IS LISA?” A loud voice bounced off the four walls of the squad room. “Lisa Lindy.”