“I’ll risk it. You can pay me in ice cream.”

“Deal. What’s your favorite flavor, by the way?” For no good reason whatsoever, I hoped he’d say rum raisin.

“Mint chocolate chip. Why?”

“Just curious.” I bent a stray paper clip between my fingers. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be nice?”

“I mean, what’s in it for you?” A knot formed in my stomach at what I left unsaid about the discontinuation of our sexy times.

“Besides the satisfaction of knowing I helped someone?”

I raised an eyebrow.

He extended his foot to lightly kick the leg of my chair. “Maybe you’ll acknowledge me in your story.”

Laughing awkwardly, I said, “The pieces I write don’t have acknowledgments.”

“I was jok—” He was interrupted by the ringing phone on the nightstand. “You mind?”

“Of course not.” I refocused on my notepad, wrote: Get to know the town, and the story will follow.

“Tell me what happened.”

I instinctively spun around at the urgency in his voice.

“Just calm down.” He ran his free hand through his thick hair while pacing the room.

I stood, desperate to know if he was okay.

He lifted his head, as if sensing me watching him, and frowned. “I’m just gonna…” He pointed at the door. “Take this in the hallway.”

“Okay.”

He stepped outside, and my eyes remained fixed to the door for half a minute until I forced myself to look away. I sat back down. Finn’s phone call was none of my business. He was none of my business, and I had a story to write. But since I was following Finn’s advice and not planning my interviews ahead of time, there was nothing for me to do until the next morning.

I knelt in front of my roller suitcase and moved my toiletry bag from the right side to the left, then rearranged my dirty clothes from the top to the bottom. I stared absently at a dirty sock. Where was its other half? I grabbed my toiletry bag and a pair of purple-and-white polka-dot pajama pants from my suitcase and stood.

Who was calling Finn? Andrew Hanes? It didn’t sound like a business call, but what did I know? Inside the bathroom, I slipped out of my jeans and into my PJs. Then I washed my face, removing all traces of makeup, and tied my hair in a ponytail. Staring back at me in the mirror was a woman I was confident Finn would have no problem keeping his hands off. It was for the best.

I reentered the room at the same time Finn returned from the hallway. I froze with one foot still in the bathroom. “Is everything all right?”

“It’s fine.” He turned his back to me and toyed with something on his dresser.

“It sounded…” What word was I searching for? “Not fine.”