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Daphne stared at the letter. Reread it. Tried to see where she could be misinterpreting, because he would not have abandoned her. Not now.
But she wasn’t misreading. He was gone. He’d left her to fix this.
He wasn’t just gone temporarily, either. There was no closing “Love” or even “Yours.” No mention of calling or texting her. No mention of seeing her later.
He had been as sweet and supportive as he could be, but that only hid the real message.
I’m out of here.
Earlier she’d thought that if he wanted out, he’d say so.
Now he had.
Daphne’s stomach clenched, and she ran for the bathroom. She didn’t throw up, though. She clenched the sides of the sink and still tried to tell herself she’d misinterpreted the note. Chris would never have abandoned her like this. The note meant he was metaphorically stepping off the stage, but he hadn’t actually left. He’d be here, beside her, supporting her when she revealed herself as the real Zane Remington.
Holding herself very still, she stiffly walked through the adjoining door. His things would be here. He would not leave. His bag—
—was gone.
Every trace of him was gone.
She ran to the bathroom and made it just in time.
CHRIS
Chris sat in his hotel room and looked at his phone. Still no call from Daphne. It’d been an hour, and the event was coming up fast, and he’d expected a call.
Was she angry with him? He’d taken that chance when he wrote the letter and switched hotels. He hoped she’d see this was for the best. If he was gone, the publisher couldn’t blame Daphne for ignoring Milner’s demand that she not come out as Zane. She’d need to step up at the signing and tell the truth. It’d be Chris’s fault for putting her in that spot, and he was willing to take the blame.
He just… well, he’d hoped the blame wouldn’t come from Daphne herself. He’d given her an excuse to step forward and the gentle push of support to do it.
Still, he shouldn’t take her silence as a sign she was angry. Part of giving her that excuse meant it couldn’t seem staged. She was being careful.
And maybe a little bit upset?
Shit.
His phone rang, and even when he saw it wasn’t Daphne, he still exhaled in relief. Gemma. He could talk this through with his sister, who’d reassure him that he’d made the right choice.
“Another divorce meeting down,” she said when he answered. “I’m trying not to think of what these are costing me. I promised I’d call, and I’m making good on that. I expect to be distracted. Give me exciting book tour news so I may live vicariously through you.”
He told her about the signing the previous night. Then he gave her a detail-free summary of what happened afterward.
“Oh my God,” Gemma said. “You actually scored with the hot novelist!”
“Actually? Wow.”
“You can easily charm the pants off women you don’t really care about. But when you like them? Awkward teenage Chris comes stumbling out.”
“Thanks…”
“Did you tell her how you feel?”
“I did.”
“And she feels the same?”
“Seems like it. She agreed to a test run of a committed relationship.”
