Free Collared For Murder by Annie Knox

we’d collaborated in solving a murder.
    I considered him one of my closest friends again, but the line between romance and friendship was a little fuzzy for us. First I’d thought that his high school passion could serve as the basis for a grown-up relationship, but we’d just never seemed to find our way back to that path. Then, when I started dating Jack, he and Sean had become hostile toward each other, acting like romantic rivals. Because we were friends, it wasn’t unusual for Sean to stop by at odd hours, sometimes just to chat, but I never knew if he might suddenly decide that we should be—that we
were
—more than friends. And I had no idea what Jack would think if he knew that Sean and I were hanging out in the wee hours.
    “Haven’t you been home yet?” His tie was gone, but Sean still wore the suit he’d worn through a day of lawyering.
    “No. You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had.”
    “Back at you.” I handed him his bowl of ice cream.
    “I heard you found Denford’s body?”
    I nodded.
    “That must have been horrible for you. Are you okay?”
    I froze. No one—not even dear, dear Jack, not even my own mother—had asked if I was okay with what I’d seen. And, frankly, I’d thought I was doing just fine. After all, it was my third body. I should have been used to death by then.
    But the moment the words came out of Sean’s mouth, I realized I’d been holding my emotions in all day. Yes, I’d seen dead people before, people I’d known better and liked more than Denford. Still, this was different. More brutal. More real. Phillip’s murder scene was by far the most viscerally violent scene I’d ever witnessed.
    And once Phillip’s meeting with me the morning of his death came to light, I might find myself a suspect. There was no question that I couldn’t keep my secretforever. . . . Thus far I’d only been staving off the inevitable. I had no idea how anyone—especially Jack—would react when the truth eventually came out.
    I felt wobbly inside and could feel tears welling in my eyes.
    Sean took the ice cream from my hands and placed both dishes on the counter, then pulled me into his embrace. The sound of his heart thumping beneath my ear made me lose it. I started sobbing in earnest and wrapped my arms tightly around Sean’s neck. He held me gently, whispering a steady stream of calming nonsense into my hair.
    The storm was hard but quick. I don’t know what possessed me, but as my tears subsided, I straightened in Sean’s arms, looked him dead in the eye, and kissed him.
    It was a nice kiss. No fireworks, no sparks, but a soothing warmth spread through my veins. For his part, Sean stood perfectly still. He didn’t lean in to the kiss or hold me tighter, but he didn’t step away, either. Rather, I was the one who, after just a few short seconds, jumped back as though I’d been teetering on the soft edge of a cliff.
    “Oh God. I’m so, so sorry,” I muttered as I wiped the lingering tears from my face. “That was horrible.”
    “Gee, thanks,” Sean said, his lips quirking up in a wry smile.
    “Oh, no . . . I didn’t mean to . . . Oh heavens. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
    “You’re apologizing for kissing me. No apology necessary.” I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “Before you say another word, I know you were overwrought and that you weren’t thinking clearly. I won’t hold you to it. Let’s just pretend it never happened.” He was letting me off the hook, but there was an impatient edge to his voice, one that made me feel small, like I was being a drama queen by thinking the event even merited an apology.
    For the most part, I was overwhelmingly relieved by his comment. But somewhere in the darkest, most shameful corner of my heart, his reaction stung. He was so matter-of-fact about it. The kiss had been spontaneous on my part, the result of an overabundance of emotion in general rather than emotion about Sean specifically. And I did