She was glad for the dark interior of the cab. It was one thing to cry in front of Maddie and Stuart (and even Ethel), but she didn’t need another person she cared about seeing her in tears today. When she didn’t continue, he finally spoke again.

“Look—I don’t want to tell you how to live your life. And I know you’re successful and you run an important business, but Maddie’s the best person I know.”

“I care about her, Jai.”

“I know you do, and she knows you do. And she cares about you, too. So what’s the problem?”

“It would never work. We’re from two different worlds—”

He laughed. “Do you think she’s worried about that? She told me the other day she was pricing apartments in New York.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back more tears. Eventually, Jai’s enormous hand covered hers, and she put her other on top of his. He glanced her way, the light from a passing car illuminating his warm, soft eyes.

“Just think about it, okay?” he asked. “You’ve got some long international flights ahead of you. Maybe think about what you could have if you let yourself accept it.”

She managed a quiet assent, and they stayed like that, holding hands all the way to the airport. He gave her a rough hug outside on the curb in the drop-off zone, and she stood there waving at him until his ugly truck disappeared. When it did, she turned toward the airport door, suddenly desperate to get through security and put this whole mess behind her.

Chapter Eighteen

Ryann managed to get drunk in the airline lounge. She’d planned to do that, and it took very little time to cross that line. Maybe the elevation was still working in her favor, or the fact that she’d barely eaten all day, but it was a quick transition. She was alone at the bar for a while, and the bartender seemed to know she was ready for a next one even before she asked, replacing her last glass of wine with a full one. Midway through her fourth, a handsome, middle-aged guy tried to buy her fifth, and she laughed so hard, he sat down as far away as possible, clearly unnerved. She guessed she looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown. She hadn’t even had a chance to clean her face from crying earlier.