Chapter 2

The retreat was at a lakeside resort in Wisconsin.

For six years, Damian had disliked me spending time with male coworkers, so I’d skipped team dinners, holiday parties, and even most lunches with my own department. Eventually, everyone decided I was aloof.

It wasn’t until I sat beside a bonfire with my team that I realized how much more I’d missed than a few free meals.

People talked about work, skiing, and spectacularly bad dates. Nobody asked me to account for every minute. Nobody went cold because I’d spoken to a man for too long.

Diana dropped a burned marshmallow onto my plate. “Welcome back to how normal people spend a weekend.”

I laughed, and my phone started vibrating before the sound had faded.

[Who are you with?]

[Why did you turn off your location?]

[Who’s the man sitting next to you?]

[Why aren’t you answering your phone?]

At ten, Diana posted a group picture in the company chat. Evan, one of our engineers, was in the shot with one hand on the back of my chair because it had started sliding on the frozen deck.

Damian’s message came through seconds later.

[Tell him to get his hands off you.]

I gave him one reply.

[You’ve always said adults need space. I assumed that rule applied to both of us.]

He didn’t send another message for an hour.

Because I couldn’t drive in the walking boot, Diana arranged rides home for everyone who needed one. Evan lived closest to downtown, so he offered to drop me at the penthouse on his way back.

He’d barely taken my suitcase out of the trunk when the window of a black Cadillac lowered across the street.

Damian sat in the back seat, looking cold enough to freeze the whole block. “Who is he?”

“A coworker.”

“I asked for his name.”

Evan read the room, handed my suitcase to the doorman, and left. Damian stepped out of the car. “You ignore me for two days, shut off your location, and let another man drive you home. Is this payback?”

“I’m living by your rules.”

“Don’t play games with me.”

“I’m not. I just made the mistake of thinking your rules applied to you too.”

He wrapped one hand around the suitcase handle and refused to let go. “Inside. We’re settling this tonight.”

The lights in the living room had already been dimmed. A tub of caramel popcorn sat on the coffee table, and the television was paused at the opening credits of an old movie.

“You’ve been talking about watching this forever,” Damian said. “I’ll watch it with you tonight.”

I recognized the poster. “No need. I watched it on my birthday.”

His expression darkened as he seemed to grasp that I’d spent my entire birthday alone in a hospital room.

He still didn’t say he was sorry.

I took my suitcase and started toward the bedroom. His gaze caught on the new luggage tag, a plain white card stamped with the code for Charles de Gaulle Airport.

“Paris?”

“Yeah.”

He gave a short, humorless laugh, as if he’d seen through my little performance. “Getting away might do you good. Call me when you’re done making your point.”

I didn’t correct him.

He still thought it was a vacation.