“I really don’t.” Though she knew she wasn’t going to get away with that forever. “Not yet. I need some time alone. Call me when you get back?” He hesitated. “Leo. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” It was, she was pretty sure, a lie. But no need to ruin his honeymoon.

“All right. But you call me if you need me, okay?”

“Yes.”

Less than an hour later, Dani was on a plane. As it taxied along the runway, which was surrounded by mountains silhouetted against a setting sun, she realized that her worst fear, the one she had told herself was utterly irrational, the one that had stopped her from sleeping with any of the Tinder guys, had come true.

She’d had sex with someone and gotten her heart broken in the process.

The worst part was she had slept with Max because he wasn’t one of the Tinder dudes, because he was supposed to be safe.

No, the worst part, the part that made a pit of shame open up in her stomach when she thought about it, was that she had wanted to say yes. She had wanted to say, Yes, I will upend my entire life and stay here with you.

She had fallen in love with Max. That was the terrible truth.

But at least she had her list. And it had saved her in the end, hadn’t it? The list was supposed to keep her from making a mistake, from gradually subsuming her life into that of a man—a man who didn’t love her. And Max didn’t love her. Not like that. No lying, he had said. Relentless honesty. Max would never tell her something that wasn’t true.

And he hadn’t. He hadn’t said, “Marry me because I love you. Move in with me because I love you.” No, it had just been another business arrangement with a friend, like he’d had with Marie.

But it wasn’t his fault. He had never misrepresented himself to her. He had told her, time and again, that he wasn’t capable of love.

It wasn’t his fault she’d fallen in love with him. So really, she had only herself to blame.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Two weeks went by without a word from Dani, and Max was as gutted as ever.

He’d thought about calling, had written and deleted a thousand texts. But what would he say? She had specifically asked him to leave her alone, had said she would let him know when he was ready to talk.

After Vince left, I realized that he never listened to me.

That was what she’d said about Vince. The topic had come up several times. Max would let himself die of heartbreak before he’d be like Vince fucking Ricci. Clearly, he had already misstepped by cornering Dani with an unwelcome proposal. He wasn’t about to do it again.