Keira couldn’t help but think Cristiano was being rather blasé. He was reacting in almost the opposite way that Shane had. Shane had been practical, considering his family, their jobs, their money situation. Cristiano seemed to not be thinking of anything at all! Just that they ought to be together. He made things seem so simple. For Keira, it just wasn’t quite as easy as all that.

For starters, she had no apartment. Zach hadn’t been in touch since his suggestion of going for a drink so she had no way of knowing when she’d get the deposit back from him to secure a new one. If Cristiano came with her, they’d both be squeezing on Bryn’s couch.

Plus, Thanksgiving was approaching. She couldn’t bring him, this stranger, into her family’s plans. Bryn had been furious enough that she was seeing Shelby and Maxine in the evening. If she brought a tagalong—even a hunky one like Cristiano—to the meal her head might explode.

Keira noticed Cristiano’s face fall.

“You do not want me to come,” he stated sadly.

“It’s not that,” Keira said quickly. But then she stopped. It was exactly that. Cristiano was moving too quickly and she needed time to think things through. “Just not right away. Not tomorrow. I need to sort some things out.”

“What things?” he asked, his face falling even more now that she’d confirmed it.

“Work. An apartment. I’m sleeping at my sister’s at the moment.”

“I do not mind,” Cristiano said.

“But I do,” Keira replied, a little more firmly. “Things back home are a bit of a mess for me at the moment. It wouldn’t be any fun for you.”

“Of course it would!” Cristiano said, contradicting her again. “I would be with you. In an amazing country. It will be thrilling.”

“It won’t, that’s what I’m saying,” Keira replied, sounding a bit more forceful, a bit more abrupt. “I’m saying that it will be the opposite of thrilling. We won’t be making love in orange groves or watching the sunset. It will be me running around busy trying to find an apartment, going to the office every morning and leaving you in my sister’s messy, pokey flat. It will be the opposite of romantic.”

She finished her tirade and sat back against the chair back heavily, unlinking her fingers from Cristiano’s as she did so. Keira was surprised by how heated she’d just become, by the tangle of her internal thoughts and emotions. She had not expected herself to react that way. Why hadn’t she leapt at the opportunity for Cristiano to come with her?

Cristiano looked at her, silent. He seemed hurt. Crushed, even.

Keira took a deep breath, trying to steady the thrumming of her heartbeat. “I don’t mean to dampen your spirits,” she said, more softly. “But there is a reality in New York City that we didn’t have to face here.”

“I know this,” Cristiano said. “I never expected otherwise. But I’m thinking you did? Because when will that not be the case? When will New York City ever be anything other than you working hard and dealing with life? I expected as much. I know it will not be a fantasy. The question is, do you?”