Page 46 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

Her hand lifted toward his chest again, stopped halfway, then fell back to her side. “Good night, darling.” Her eyes held his for a long moment.

“You take good care.”

“You too, Blane.”

She turned, unlocked her door, and stepped inside. Blane stayed where he was while she looked back at him once before closing it.

Then he heard the solid click of the lock sliding into place.

And that was that.

He stood staring at Bea’s closed door. The elevator dinged behind him, and he heard people get off, talking as they walked down the hallway. Still, he didn’t move. He should turn around and go. This was over. But his feet refused to move. Somehow, taking that first step away from her door felt like it would make the whole thing real.

He didn’t want it to be real. That was what finally got him moving. He took one last look at the door, at the place where she’d been standing a few minutes ago, then turned and marched back down the hallway to his room.

He shut the door behind him harder than he needed to and dug his phone out of his pocket. He called Cash, put him on speaker, and dropped the phone on the desk.

“What’s up, Blane?”

“How soon can you get me out of here?” He stared at the phone when Cash didn’t answer. “You still there?”

“Yeah, bud. I’m here. But getting you out of there might be a problem.”

“The fuck does that mean, Cash?”

“Whoa. Slow down. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m ready to come home.”

“You are?”

Blane folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall. “Why the fuck does that surprise you? The job’s over.”

“It was never a job, Blane. I told you to take a vacation.”

“Whatever. It’s done.”

“Yeah, I get that. But the jet can’t come back stateside yet.”

“Damn it, Cash. You know I don’t fly commercial. Find me another one.”

“Hold up. I said the jet can’t come back stateside. Didn’t say you couldn’t use it.”

His brows drew together. “Use it where?”

Cash went quiet again, but this time Blane knew damn well he was still there.

“Wherever you need to go,” he said finally. “Europe’s a big place.”

Blane went completely still.

“If you think about it, you’re not needed for anything back here for a few weeks,” Cash added.

Blane looked at his duffel.

Cash didn’t say anything else, and neither did he.

He stared at the bag he’d expected to pack for home, then pushed away from the wall.