Maybe I could just plop myself on a chair in the lobby and…wait. The guy at the front desk probably wouldn’t kick me out and I didn’t think anyone else was around to notice. I could wait here until the morning. It would be fine. And maybe my luggage would show up too.
Jay caught up with me, saying, "You're certain you have this under control?"
"Completely."
He let out a quiet laugh. "Stop playing this game with me, Elizabeth."
"And which game would that be?"
“The one where you insist you don’t need any help.” He dropped his hand to my elbow and steered me out of the lobby. "It’s been a long day. You were in surgery at six which means you were up at four—”
“How did you know that?”
“—and you have to be exhausted after all these delays. I have an extra bedroom and there’s no reason you shouldn’t take it. All I’m asking is that you be reasonable.”
“Pardon me,” I snapped. He led us down a dark, winding walkway that snaked between the resort’s buildings. “But I’d like to point out I’m being quite reasonable.”
“You have a big day tomorrow. You need to be prepared for your talk.” His fingers flexed on my elbow and I wanted to shake him off yet I couldn’t get my brain to fire that command. “I’m sure as hell not letting you wander around the resort until you find a cabana to crash in for the night.”
“I would not.” I mean, not unless the lobby chair plan fell apart.
“You'll stay with me."
“But I made a reservation,” I said, a pathetic little whine in my words.
“I know you did, darling. It’s their mistake. We’ll see about straightening out those issues in the morning.”
If it was just one night…that wouldn’t be so bad.
I didn’t want to say yes but I didn’t have the strength to say no, even when that meant willingly sharing space with a man I disliked in a significant way. But I was tired and quietly panicking over the work I had to do before my presentation, and a wedge of tension had wedged its way into the base of my skull since my argument—breakup?—with Grant this afternoon. Yes, breakup. We’d broken up. Finally. One of many things I’d left on the shelf long past its expiration date.
"Dr. Acosta—"
"Please," he said with a crooked smile that reached up to those intense brown eyes, "you’ll call me Jay."
We stopped walking though he didn’t release my arm. “I’m not going to be very good company,” I said. “And I want to pay for my share of the villa.”
That earned me another crooked smile and a soft laugh, as if I'd said something amusing. "Understood."
