Chapter 3

I was waiting for the elevator when my mother called.

She wanted to know if I'd booked my train ticket home yet.

"Soon," I said. "A few more days."

Behind me, a puzzled voice: "What are you booking?"

I hung up and lied without flinching. "There's a restaurant that's hard to get into. Needed to call ahead."

He didn't press.

He just steered me to the nearest hotel, checked into a suite, and opened his laptop to handle an urgent deal.

We worked in tandem until almost dawn. Waiting on feedback from an overseas client, I lost the battle with exhaustion and fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was tucked into the bed. Ashton was sitting against the headboard, reading the Financial Times.

He rang for breakfast.

Halfway through the meal, out of nowhere, he asked: "Why did you change your passcode?"

"Felt like it."

It used to be a combination of our birthdays. If we were ending, that code couldn't stay.

He set down his fork and knife.

"Rowan. You've been begging me for months to take you to a movie. There's a theater right around here."

The boss himself was skipping work. I couldn't exactly say no.

In a quiet, nearly empty theater, curled against my boyfriend with a tub of popcorn, watching a romantic comedy.

The picture I'd once fantasized about. Delivered, perfect.

I couldn't stop yawning.

Ashton frowned. "You picked this movie. What, you don't like it?"

"No. It's fine."

He heard the lie. His mouth pressed into a thin line. Like he wanted to say something. Then his phone buzzed.

He walked out without a word.

He didn't come back until after the credits rolled.

I was about to call him when I heard the unmistakable sugar-spun giggle nearby.

"Ashton, you're the best ever!!"

I watched Juliet—clutching an enormous stuffed bear—launch herself into his arms and smack a kiss on his cheek.

He was holding her thighs up to support her. The smile in his eyes died the instant he saw me.

"Oh! Rowan! You're here too."

She gave me a wide, startled look. Then she gasped dramatically, clapped her hands over her face, and slid off him.

"Please don't misunderstand, Rowan, I was just so excited—"

Ashton tapped her nose and told her, gently, there was nothing to apologize for.

Then he turned to me, as if nothing had happened. "The movie ended already?"

Before I could answer, fire alarms ripped through the mall.

People scattered, screaming.

Before I could even process it, Ashton had grabbed Juliet's hand and was sprinting her toward the emergency exit.

Five minutes later, the false alarm was cleared.

He came back.

He looked everywhere. He couldn't find me.