My Ex Was the Cop Who Questioned Me

"Officer, I'm innocent, I swear! I wasn't even in there ten minutes, I didn't do anyth—" At the police station, I pounded the table and pleaded my innocence at the top of my lungs.

I'd eaten exactly two slices of watermelon at a male revue bar when the cops raided the place.

Halfway through my sentence, I suddenly spotted the exboyfriend I hadn't seen in three years, staring at me with a dark look on his face.

The officer rapped on the table. "Keep going.

What did you do in there?" I swallowed the rest of my sentence, leaned back in my chair, and put on a look of pure swagger. "Everything I should've done, and everything I shouldn't have.

Did it all.

So what?" My ex stared at me for a few seconds, then abruptly pulled the statement out of the officer's hands. "Step out." He sat down across from me and fixed me with a crushing stare. "I'll question her myself." Chapter 1 "Officer, I'm innocent!" I sat in the police precinct, wailing at the officer taking my statement.

I was trying to make him see, from the sincerity in my eyes, how pure and spotless I was. I had no idea what was wrong with today.

In the morning I stepped in a puddle on my way out. At lunch I got food on my clothes. Tonight my rideshare driver took a wrong turn.

And of all nights, tonight was when my company was throwing me a welcomeback party, and they'd let me pick the place.

So I'd barely gotten to the bar and eaten two slices of watermelon when the whole place got raided. What cosmic law had I broken?

The officer looked at me, his face completely blank. "Let's start with this.

Why did you go to Rapture Lounge, a male revue bar?" He put extra weight on the words "male revue." "I asked my rideshare driver to recommend the hottest bar in town, and he took me there!" "I swear I never saw the words 'male revue.' I'd barely sat down before your people showed up." "What exactly did you do after you arrived?" I kept defending myself. "I'd only been there ten minutes.

I really didn't do anyth—" I was halfway through when, out of the corner of my eye, a familiar figure suddenly barged into view. I hadn't even seen his face clearly yet.

My heart had already lost its rhythm. Let me be clear: this was not me still being hung up on Beckett. It was mostly that the man really did stand out.

His height stood out, his build stood out, and his face stood out most of all. Especially now, in uniform—broad shoulders, long legs, a cold, stern expression.

A stark contrast to me, meekly pleading my innocence. He'd clearly recognized me too, and he was walking slowly toward me. No, no, no.

When you run into your ex, you absolutely cannot lose the upper hand! Seeing me zone out, the officer rapped on the table. "Don't stop. Keep going.

What did you do in there?" In a split second, I swallowed the rest of what I'd been about to say. Leaned back in my chair. Put away the face of someone about to cry.

Switched to a careless, cocky look. "Everything I should've done, and everything I shouldn't have.

Did it all." I met Beckett's darkening gaze and jutted my chin arrogantly. "So what?" Beckett stared at me for a few seconds, then abruptly pulled the statement out of the officer's hands. "Step out." He sat down across from me and fixed me with a cold, crushing stare. "I'll question her myself." The young officer who'd been taking my statement gave Beckett a puzzled look, but he still got up and walked out.

The moment the door shut, it was just the two of us in the interview room. The air went so quiet it almost froze solid. I'd imagined running into Beckett again so many times.

Maybe he'd have a pretty girl on his arm and walk past me with a cold face.

Or maybe I'd be holding hands with a man even betterlooking and better built than him, and I'd give him a breezy little nod.

Chapter 2 At worst, we'd run into each other on some street and look at each other from across a crowd. Anyway, it was not supposed to be like this!

I was still seriously weighing whether my first words to him after all this time should be "hi" or "long time no see." Meanwhile, Beckett had already calmly opened the statement. "When did you get back?" His tone was completely natural, as if we were just old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while. "…A week ago." Beckett frowned. "And the first thing you do is go to a place like that?" I quietly steadied my breathing and did my best to act like a seasoned player who'd been through more men than she could count. "Yep.

You know I've been in London these past few years. I got used to the bright lights and the nightlife, a guy on each arm." "Being back takes some adjusting.

I just got a little carried away. My bad." Beckett's hand paused on the page. He looked up at me. "And how far do you usually get carried away?

What did you do in that bar?" I kept up my smug act. "I got hauled in here, didn't I? What do you think I did?

The full service, obviously." Beckett stared at me, his voice even colder. "Explain to me, word by word, what you should have done and what you shouldn't have." "And be especially thorough explaining what 'Full.

Service.' means." He had a commanding presence whenever he spoke, and my crossed leg pulled back on its own. Then I forced it back out.

Legs, don't you dare let me down. "Why should I have to explain anything to you?" Beckett tapped the statement on the table. "Because I'm the one taking your statement." While we were going at it, the young officer from before came back in. "Maddox, Captain Hendricks wants you." Beckett hesitated, but he went out.

The second the door closed, my ramrodstraight posture collapsed.

At once I put the sincere, innocent eyes back on. "Officer, I really was just there for the watermelon, strictly as a spectator!

You have to believe me!!" In case he didn't, I hurried to pull up my rideshare trip history and my company's work group chat.

The statement was finally done, and I'd at last gotten everything cleared up. I looked around carefully, made sure Beckett wasn't there, and slipped out at once.

But I'd barely stepped out the front door of the station when the window of a black car parked by the curb slowly rolled down.

Beckett sat in the driver's seat, looking at me without any expression. "Get in." "No, thanks." I was still giving myself a mental thumbsup for such a smooth rejection.

Then, out of nowhere, it started pouring.

Seeing I wouldn't get in, Beckett just pushed his door open and walked over. "If you don't get in, I'll stand out here in the rain with you." People in front of the precinct were already throwing curious glances our way.

After a few seconds of standoff, I still got into the car, grudgingly and against my will. Beckett didn't say a word the whole way.

He held the wheel with one hand, the side of his face flickering between light and shadow in the glow sliding past outside.

I pretended nothing was going on and looked out the window, but I couldn't help sneaking looks at him in the glass.

Three years apart, and Beckett had grown more mature, more composed. The boyish immaturity in his features was gone, replaced by a quiet, understated intensity.

And his features were as goodlooking as ever. It was this face that made me fall for him at first sight back in college, when I lost my phone and went to the station to report it.

From that day on, if I wasn't losing something, I was getting scammed out of money. I found a different excuse every day to run to the precinct.

Chapter 3 Eventually, I guess he just couldn't take my relentless pursuit anymore, and he finally agreed to be with me. Looking back now, maybe it was only a moment of softness.

That's why, after I'd talked myself hoarse winning my parents over and run to tell him we could go to London together, he broke up with me without a second's hesitation.

I wouldn't give up. I went home again and had a huge fight with my parents.

When they finally agreed to let me stay, I ran straight to find Beckett, to tell him I didn't have to leave anymore.

But I'd just reached his door when I heard him talking to a friend. Being with me, he said, was the biggest mistake he'd ever made. See? Got my hopes up over nothing, didn't I?

The next day, I got on the plane. When I came back to myself, the car had already stopped outside my apartment building.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and said, pretending to be supremely, effortlessly casual, "I won't invite you up.

Wouldn't want things to get awkward with someone already up there." "Someone you met at the bar tonight?" There was no emotion at all in Beckett's voice. "Yep.

When fate strikes, things move fast." I answered without missing a beat. He couldn't exactly go upstairs to check. Beckett didn't say anything else, and started the car again.

But before he pulled away, he added flatly, "I checked the security footage. The only things you got acquainted with at that bar seem to be two slices of watermelon.

Remember to keep them refrigerated when you get home." Damn it. Beckett had always been like this—cool, reserved, restrained.

Even after we got together, he always kept a strong sense of boundaries. Every bit of intimacy was something I started. For a while, it made me wonder whether he was even capable.

I'd even seriously thought about whether I could stand it if we had to stay platonic for the rest of our lives. Until the time Beckett went out of town on a monthlong work trip.

I secretly went to the city he was in. The second he opened the hotel room door, I threw myself into his arms, wrapped mine around his neck, and kissed and nibbled at him.

Beckett held my waist with one hand and cradled the back of my head with the other, letting me run wild in his arms.

Later, worn out from all my fooling around, I fell asleep on his chest. When I woke up in the middle of the night, the space beside me was empty.

I could faintly hear water running in the bathroom. I stumbled over halfasleep and pushed the door open, only to find Beckett sitting in the bathtub, soaking in cold water.

The cold water came up past his waist, but his shoulders and back were pulled tight. I stood frozen in the doorway for a few seconds, and then it suddenly clicked. Oh.

So it wasn't that he couldn't. My face instantly switched to a pitiful, wounded look. "Do you really dislike me that much?

You'd rather sit in cold water than touch me?" That was the first time I'd ever seen obvious panic on Beckett's face.

He shot up out of the tub and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist. "No, you're still in school. I can't—" Back then, I thought he really did like me.

Too bad it was all in my head. I shook my head, trying hard to push the memory out of my mind. Right then, my psychiatrist, Bella, called. "Pen, how are you doing over there?

Are you adjusting all right to the new dose?" "No problems." "You were already having tremors in your hands before, so I lowered your dose.

But you still need to watch your mood closely. If anything comes up, call me anytime." "Okay.

Got it." After the breakup, I couldn't eat and I couldn't sleep, but I never missed a single dose of my meds. I got as skinny as a stick insect.

Chapter 4 Whenever the wind picked up even a little, my roommates practically wanted to tie a rope around my waist so I wouldn't get blown off into the next county the second they looked away.

Later, I started therapy. But if Bella could see how cool and collected I'd managed to stay in front of Beckett today, she'd probably declare me cured on the spot.

I opened the block list on my phone and looked at Beckett, lying there inside it. I'd held out for three whole years. This time, I was never getting tangled up with him again.

The reason I'd come back this time was that an important trade secret had been stolen from the U.S. office.

Because the technical side was so complicated, it took me and my team half a month to finally get all the relevant materials sorted out.

Next, we had to submit the materials to the police and walk them through the technical details.

I was in the middle of a discussion with my team when Jake rushed in from outside. "There's a super hot cop here!

He's every bit as hot as the leading man from that romance show you all love!" I looked up, and my breath caught. It was Beckett. Again. Universe, are you kidding me?!

He saw me and stayed as calm and collected as ever. He walked up to us, composed, his voice even. "This case is complicated.

We appreciate your cooperation with the investigation." Everyone sat down in the conference room.

Beckett and his people asked the questions, I handled the technical explanations, and the rest of my team pulled up the corresponding materials one by one.

During the break, Jake couldn't resist teasing. "So this is where all the goodlooking guys went—the police force.

You guys really should make more promo videos for the rest of us to watch." As he said it, he looked at Beckett. "Detective Maddox, do you have a girlfriend?" Beckett kept his eyes on the materials and didn't answer.

His colleague laughed first. "Now that's smooth.

He clearly just wanted to compliment Maddox, and he managed to compliment all of us along the way." Captain Hendricks chimed in too. "Our Beckett's the hottest ticket in the department.

Plenty of people are lining up to set him up with their daughters and sisters.

If you want to introduce somebody, you'll have to take a number." I picked up my cup, planning to escape the conversation on the pretext of getting more coffee. "But hey, Beckett, I heard from your old coworkers at your last precinct that you used to date someone.

A student, even." Captain Hendricks went on. "Word is, back then you'd head straight to her school the minute you got off work—eating with her, going to class with her, studying with her.

But you kept her hidden the whole time, never once brought her around for everybody to meet.

Just how precious was she, that you had to hide her so well?" I stopped midstep, and the hand holding my cup trembled slightly.

Back then, I'd asked so many times to bring Beckett lunch or pick him up after work, and he'd turned me down every time. He never once introduced me to anyone in his life.

At the time, I tried hard to convince myself he was just a private person. Only later did I understand: how could he possibly show a mistake off to other people?

I couldn't help letting out a little laugh, and chimed in like it was nothing. "Maybe Detective Maddox's girlfriend just wasn't presentable.

Too embarrassing to show you all." Beckett's hand stopped turning the pages for a moment. He still didn't respond at all.

But Captain Hendricks studied me for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, "Huh. Why do you look kind of familiar?

Have we met somewhere before?" Before I could answer, Beckett had already cut the conversation off