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I glance around the busy hotel restaurant with a tingle on my spine. It doesn’t matter where I go in this building, I can still feel her everywhere. I instinctively look for her everywhere, even now. I search for that head of gorgeous blonde hair and those big, blue-rimmed glasses. But she’s not there.
She’s avoiding me as much as I’m avoiding her.
Angela tilts her head. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” she says with the wave of her hand. “Relationships are meant to be push and pull.”
I nod. “Right.”
“Eventually, if it’s meant to be, one of them will stop fighting it and everything will magically fall into place. They’ll hold hands and make love and all that rubbish.” She winks. “In books like that, I mean...”
“Because it’s a romance novel,” I say, clearing my throat.
“Of course.” She raises her teacup again. “And if you get too bored with it, you can always pick up one of those horrific torture porn pulps you like so much instead.”
I chuckle. “That’s true.”
Our server returns with a tray effortlessly balanced on her shoulder. She lowers it down and sets our plates in front of us; Angela’s turkey club and my alfredo.
“Enjoy your meal, ma’am,” she says with a smile at Angela.
“Thank you, Stefanie,” Angela says.
Stefanie gives me a respectful bow. “Let me know if you need anything,” she says to us before shuffling off toward the kitchen.
I set my cloth napkin in my lap, still lost in thought. “Hey, Angie…”
“Yes?”
“Are men with deeply tragic backstories really a huge turn-on?” I ask, curious.
She subtly bites her lip. “Oh, god, yes,” she says.
I recoil as I reach for my fork.
CHAPTER 30
OLIVER
“I love you,” Richard said. “You’re the closest thing in my life I have to a home.”
I exhaled slowly. “Richard?—”
“I’m not leaving.” He pinched his brows together. “I’m not leaving.”
I fought it. I fought the urge for as long as possible, but I couldn’t deny it any longer. Richard was here now. He’d made mistakes. He’d left me so many times before tonight, but he was here now; right when I needed him the most.
Right when he needed me the most.
When we needed each other.
I look up from the book to peek around the airport terminal. As I scan the crowd, I make eye contact with a woman in ripped jeans. She purposefully points her eyes toward the book and back again, as if she were waiting for me to finally glance at her. She smiles in approval. It must be one of her favorites, too.
I bob my head in acknowledgment before looking down at the pages again. Normally, I might feel a tad self-conscious about reading a romance novel in a crowded place, but I’d do just about anything to distract myself from the nausea in my gut. Flights are never fun for me, but I’ve never flown at night before. I’m not sure if the dark sky will be a comfort or just make it worse.
At least Paige will be there.
I think.
We rode to the airport together. No words spoken between the hotel and here, other than to say that she’d be back in a moment as soon as we arrived at our gate. She walked off with her carry-on in one hand and her phone in the other, and I haven’t seen her since.
