Emily started to laugh. Her question at the pizza place had been answered. “So you’re getting recognized now?” she whispered.

“It’s been getting worse at each tour stop,” he said under his breath. “There was a crowd waiting for me when we landed this time around. Diana insisted I wear a disguise to come get you. Thank goodness for hotel sundry stores.”

“Diana’s the tour manager I met in New York?” she asked. “The woman who asked me to come backstage?”

Rob nodded. “Did you check a bag?”

“It was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Emily said. “So I haven’t got much. I’ll need to buy something to perform in. And maybe some flip-flops.”

Rob nodded. “Our car is outside. We can make a stop before we get to the hotel—there’s a little shopping village in the hotel zone.”

Emily and Rob walked outside, where a black Suburban was waiting for them. The driver got out as they got closer and opened the door.

“Thanks,” Emily said, as she got inside. Then she looked at Rob, who was taking off his hat and sunglasses. “Do you always have a personal driver now?” she asked quietly, so the driver wouldn’t hear.

Rob shook his head. “Not always. Raúl works at the hotel. He drives people to the airport and back, sometimes out to dinner. That sort of thing.”

Emily nodded, impressed—and also proud of Rob that he’d gotten here, achieved what he’d dreamed of when he was in college.

“We need to make a quick stop at a shop where Emily can get some clothes,” he told Raúl. “Can we go to that little shopping village across the way?”

“Of course, sir,” Raúl said.

The seats were leather and the air conditioner was on full blast. Emily leaned back and closed her eyes.

“So what happened?” Rob asked. “Seems like something big for you to be here.”

Emily opened her eyes, not wanting to relive it but knowing she owed him an explanation. Knowing that Rob would understand. “I told Ezra I wanted to take a leave of absence from NYU and his response was not what I would have hoped.”

“Ah,” Rob said. “But it’s not his decision.”

“Right.” Emily leaned farther back into the plush seat. “Not his decision.”

“I learned that the hard way when we were in college. I can make my own decisions, but I can’t make anyone else’s. I couldn’t make yours, as much as I’d wanted to.”