I’ll be in the fighting spirit. We can go a couple of rounds. Eva may be the bulldog, but I remember how to fight with you quite well, and I think I have a few unfair advantages.”
“I’m sure you do. I look forward to it.” He winks at me. “Be careful. You’re sitting at the grown-ups’ table now, and so is he. Rewriting history isn’t as easy as it sounds. Believe me. I’ve tried and tried and tried.”
I ignore any of the subtext and instead take that at face value, which causes me to place an impromptu kiss on his cheek.
“Eva loves beluga whales. Can’t get enough of them. There’s even a little stuffed one in the top drawer of her desk. Coincidentally, I hear they have a pretty nice aquarium here. They might even have some beluga whales there.”
“Who even said I was interested?”
“You don’t fool me. Not one bit.”
“Neither do you, Hallie. Make sure he’s all right?”
“Yes. I will.”
He pulls me into his arms for a long embrace.
“I missed you, kid.”
“I missed you too, old man.”
He shakes his fist at me and blows me a kiss before disappearing back into the room. I don’t want to waste any more time, so I take long strides to the elevator bay. Unfortunately, running is seriously out of the question in these heels.
When I reach the stairwell on the highest floor, I tentatively push on the doors, which are marked by a gigantic, “Do not push. Alarm will sound” sign. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, but I remember that generally, the signs are all talk and the alarms don’t actually sound. I’m hoping that’s still the case. Sure enough, I manage to open the door a bit and it looks like I’m not actually going to be the cause of a hotel-wide evacuation.
I’ll take the minor miracles wherever I can get them.
Chapter 16
CHRIS
I’m still twisting the bottle in my hand, feeling the cool glass between my fingers, even after listening to all of the war stories of the people who’ve fought this battle time and again. I push it deeper into the pocket of my coat and remember the Polaroid and the way her smile makes everything around her disappear.
Maybe I can still catch them at dinner. But before I can make it back inside the hotel, I get hit by a barrage of flashbulbs from the paparazzi stalking the front door. I raise my hand to shield my face, but I don’t think I’m quick enough to avoid all of them.
I’ve never been one of those guys who boohooed his bad luck to be so rich and famous that people actually wanted to buy the grainy photographs of me doing exciting things like getting a cup of coffee. I even like some of the paparazzi.
That doesn’t stop me from wishing that just once, they would leave me alone.
I step into the elevator. My fingers curl again around the little glass bottle in my jacket pocket. I’m not going to have a drink. I’m not going to have a drink.
I think about going to dinner, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to see her, especially if she’s just going to keep saying goodbye.
Instead, I make my way up the stairs at the end of the hallway. I push on the door, knowing that the alarm will not, in fact, sound.
Flakes of snow fall on me the second I open it, but I don’t feel the cold.
She’s there.
Chapter 17
HALLIE
I’m not even sure that he’ll even be on the roof, but I want to believe that he hasn’t changed that much, that he still does his best thinking in the open air. The cold whips through my body and I shiver in the wind as I glance around.
He’s not here.
My heart drops.
I make my way to the edge and peer out over the city, the flakes of snow melting as they fall into my hair.
Where could he be?
Just as I’m about to give up and spend the rest of the night worrying in my room, I hear a slight thud and I stiffen. It’s either him or security. At this point, I’m not sure what I would prefer.
There’s impatience and anger in his face when I turn around to meet his eyes.
“What are you doing on the roof, Hallie? I would have expected Marcus to come up here. Not you.”
I shrug my shoulders in response and cross to him, staying just out of his reach.
“Sorry to disappoint. I’m