AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bryan shook his head. “She stopped by her on her way to the elevator and said she’d be leaving early, but she hasn’t come back down yet.”
“What room?”
He glanced over at his computer monitor, then back at me. “I’m really not supposed to tell you.”
“Bryan, this is serious. I need to know what room.”
He sighed and turned toward the screen. After clicking around for a few seconds, he finally said, “Twelve-twelve.”
“Thanks!” I called back, rushing toward the stairs—no time to wait for the elevator.
Normally, I’d slip Bryan a tip for helping me out, but there was no time for that. I’d give him a free drink later when he stopped by the bar.
I hit the top of the stairs and shoved through the door, then took a sharp left. I plowed headfirst into something on the other side of that door. Something warm and soft. Something that was everything to me.
“Bo?” Emerald called out, startled. She reached out and grabbed my arms as I tried to steady myself. I’d nearly toppled both of us over. “What are you doing here?”
That should be pretty obvious. “You just left. Bill said it was an emergency—”
I could pretend I’d rushed over here out of concern, but really, love had driven my movements. Yes, I was in love with this woman. I’d known it almost from the first time I saw her.
“I just—” She looked around and shifted the oversized bag hanging from her shoulder. “I really should be getting on to my next assignment.”
“Did Bill say something?”
I’d kill him. Or, at the very least, kick his ass. He’d been known to say an inappropriate thing or two before, but nothing that would send a woman running from the bar.
“No, nothing like that.” She shook her head. “The woman at the bar… I don’t want to get in the way of anything you have here.”
The woman at the bar? What was she talking about?
Finally, it hit me. “Abbie?”
My sister wouldn’t say anything upsetting to Emerald, would she? No, not intentionally. But she might have let something slip. I couldn’t imagine what. Maybe that I hadn’t been able to hold down a serious relationship…ever. Or that I’d been a horrible boyfriend to the few women I did date seriously, and eventually, I’d settled into a life of occasional one-night stands.
But my sister didn’t know about the flings I’d had over the years. She was way younger than I was, which meant I’d been grown and out of the house by the time she was old enough to pay attention.
“I didn’t see a wedding ring, so I assumed you weren’t in a relationship,” she said. “I know someone doesn’t have to wear a wedding ring to be in a committed relationship. You could live together or even be engaged. Although I didn’t see a ring on her finger, either.”
“What are you talking about?”
A door opened somewhere down the hallway, and I suddenly became aware that I was speaking loudly. There were likely people behind some of these doors.
So, I lowered my voice. “What are you talking about?”
“The woman at the bar. She’s your girlfriend, right? If you’d just mentioned it, I would never have wanted to get in the way of that. You really should have told me.”
“I’m not in a relationship. I don’t understand.”
And then it hit me. The woman at the bar. She’d mentioned her specifically.
“Abbie’s my sister,” I said. “Your client’s daughter. Normally, I would have been excited to see her. She’s supposed to be away at college. I have no idea why she’s here.”
She broke into a smile. “That was your sister?”
But I still had questions. “Why would you assume she was my girlfriend?”
The smile on Emerald’s face faded, and she squeezed her eyes closed. She pulled the strap off her shoulder and settled her bag onto the ground in front of her. Then she waited as the couple who’d opened the door swept past, their ski pants swishing as they went.
