Ted was pulling her inside the lobby, still talking and letting the bellboys take care of their luggage. He didn’t stop talking all through check-in, or in the elevator, and not even when they made it inside her room. She made Ted overtip the bellboy, the kid’s face going a dark shade of red at the sight of the £٥٠ note Ted handed him. Finally, the young man bowed himself out of the room, near tears. She and Ted shared an amused glance, and she made her way to the luggage rack, unzipping her garment bag. She hoped that would be obvious enough for Ted to realize she wanted him to leave, but he didn’t.

He had fallen silent, and when she turned back, he was staring at her critically, brows bunched with seeming concern.

“Just so you know, I was totally testing you.”

“Oh?”

He laughed. “That’s all you have to say? Normally, if I admitted something like that, you’d be halfway down my throat and yelling at my spleen. I kept wondering how long you were going to let me talk about Bill. After five minutes, I knew something was up, so I decided to keep talking as long as I could. I told you every goddamn detail I know about the man and then had to make some stuff up so I could keep going.”

“Did you really?”

He bit his lip, his face crinkling with worry. “Jesus, Ryann. What’s gotten into you? You’re like a ghost.”

She opened her mouth to reply and then closed it, tears welling up in her eyes again, and choking on a lump in her throat. She was glad for the sunglasses still perched on her nose even here inside, but he seemed to have seen through them anyway. He walked closer and pulled her into his arms. She let him, knowing it would make him feel better. It was only the second time they’d ever been this close, physically. Their first and last time had been a couple of weeks ago in her office, right after she’d told her board about this deal. Another stab of guilt followed this thought. She’d known this man for years now—almost a decade—and this was how she behaved? She really was a cold bitch.

Finally, she gently pushed him away. “I’ll be fine.”

“But—”

“Maybe later. Let’s get through this goddamn meeting. I need a shower, and I need some very strong coffee, I need some aspirin, and I need these fucking idiots to see how much money they’re going to lose if they don’t get their goddamn heads out of their asses.”

His shoulders sagged with relief. “That’s the woman I work for. Okay,” he checked his watch, “you have exactly forty minutes before we have to leave.”

“I’ll meet you in the lobby in thirty.”

* * *