then she disappeared.”
“Save it,” she growled, jerking her arm away from his hand. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Oh come on, Emily. Relax.”
She stared at him. “Pardon?”
“It’s not a line,” he insisted. “You really are the most beautiful girl.” She knew he was trying to make her smile. He almost never failed.
“Really? I thought maybe it was that girl who was practically sitting on your lap at Cabo Cantina.”
She regretted her words the moment they left her mouth. Way to tell him she’d been watching him for at least some of the night, when from all appearances her attention had been fully captured by Cory.
“That was a publicist we had a meeting with this morning, whose agency we’re thinking of signing with. We invited her to our show.”
“Oh.” She turned away from him, taking two steps to reach the gate’s entrance.
“I care a lot about you,” he said. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I caught that at dinner the other night,” she muttered, unlocking the gate. She swung it open and stalked ahead of Jesse to the building’s front door. He followed closely behind her.
“So, about Wednesday night.” His voice echoed in the lobby.
“I think we’ve talked enough about Wednesday night.” She stopped walking when she reached the elevator and pressed the button to go up.
Jesse looked puzzled. “We did? When?”
“On Wednesday night.”
The elevator door opened and she stepped inside, then pressed the button for the third floor. He followed her, narrowly escaping being hit by the closing doors.
“You’re in quite the hurry tonight.”
Give me strength, she thought. “Jesse, why are you here?”
“Because I wanted to see you before I go back to New York, and because I get the feeling you’re not okay with what happened the other night.”
She leaned back against the elevator wall, not looking at him. “I’m fine with it.”
“Then why are you snapping at me?”
“It’s late, and I’m tired. Can we move on to a new subject?”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. She stepped out of it and walked down the hallway, staying a few steps ahead of Jesse. Once she got to her apartment door, she jammed her key into the lock and turned it with a force that surprised her. She forced herself to take a deep breath and gently turned the door handle.
Jesse waited until they were inside of her apartment to speak again. “Can you look at me, please?”
She did as he asked, trying as hard as she could to meet his eyes with an indifferent stare. The ticking of the second hand on her kitchen clock was all she could hear while they stood there, her mind keeping count of the seconds. Seven, eight, nine.
She’d mentally counted to thirty-seven seconds when he gave in. “Are you going to talk to me?” he asked.
She turned away from him and kicked off her shoes. “I’m not really sure what you want me to say.”
“We can start with what you’re thinking.” He began unlacing his boots.
“I’m not thinking anything.” Emily walked into her living room and flopped onto her sofa. Jesse finished pulling off his boots and followed her into the room.
“You’re lying.” He moved a throw pillow to the floor and sat down beside her.
“No, I’m explaining what happens at one a.m. after I’ve been awake since early in the morning and want to go to sleep. If it’s an interrogation you’re after, this isn’t the time.”
Searching the room for her TV remote, she spied it on top of a speaker beside the television stand. Too much effort to stand up and get that, she thought.
“Well, your attitude’s in check.” He sat back against the sofa cushions, folding his arms across his chest.
“If you’re here to be rude, you can go back to your hotel at any time. The door is that way.” She pointed at where they’d come in.
“Okay, let’s start this again. Why are you mad at me?”
“I’m not—” She stopped when she heard her phone’s text alert. Grateful for an excuse to move away from Jesse, she got up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen counter where she’d left her phone.
She read the message on its screen. Hey Em, it’s Cory. This is my number. Thanks for a fun night, and sweet dreams.
Jesse had also gotten up from the sofa and was now peering over her shoulder. “Who is that?” he asked.
She turned her phone screen away from Jesse before he could read the text. “Just this guy, Cory, who I met at your show. I was