raced at those words. I stood there battling internally. Say no, Harlow. Be firm. When I couldn’t bring myself to say it, he went for the kill.
“Aw, come on,” he said gently. “You never know what the future holds.” When he saw my eyes widen as I wondered what he meant by that, he added, “Like when you’ll need a friend.”
Now it would just be awkward. So, fine. I would take his number, but not give him mine. I’d just delete it later.
“Okay.” I pulled up my contacts and handed it to him. He added his number and saved it.
“I wish you all the best, Harlow Robinson.”
“You too, Captain Shawn Fowler.”
He gave me a mock-salute and I left him, going over to the dancing group to give Jerome Smith a hug and thank him for everything.
And then I went to the elevator and climbed in without looking back at the man who checked every single box that I wanted from a dream partner, except the most important one: single.
The plan was to go back to my room and check out that stupid Sparks app in more detail, but by the time I changed into a T-shirt and brushed my teeth, the room was spinning. All I wanted to do was pass out.
I woke to my phone buzzing, and sat up quickly, a surge of panic going through me because I hadn’t set an alarm and I was late to work. But then I remembered the current situation, and my head gave a slight pound. Oy.
A text from Silas asked: You up? Hungry?
I stretched with a loud groan and texted back: 10 minutes.
This was so strange. We were often up and out of hotels before breakfast was even served. As I ran a brush through my hair and dabbed a little makeup under my eyes, I thought about Shawn. The same dark swirl of sadness went around in my belly that I felt last night when he told me he was engaged.
Why, God? Why introduce me to him if I couldn’t have him? It felt like such a cruel tease of fate. I hoped that he and his soldiers were sleeping in because I didn’t want to see him. It wasn’t quite 8 o’clock yet. My stomach turned with a hangover as I stood.
Silas knocked on my door precisely ten minutes after our texts, looking like six feet and one inch of freshly shaved grinning gorgeousness. I glared at the sexy little indentation in his chin.
“Did you at least have good phone sex with Jacquie, Mr. Early Bird?” I asked as I closed the door and we headed down the carpeted hall. His grin immediately fell away, and I wondered if I’d overstepped.
“She was out with her friends.”
Hm. It seemed like there was more to the story and I wondered if they’d had another fight. He rarely spoke bad of his wife, but now and then he’d let things slip. Silas was forbidden to have a social life here on the East coast. But those same rules didn’t apply to her while he was away.
“Any news about when we leave?” I asked.
“Be ready to go by three. That’s when the airport’s supposed to be cleared.”
I nodded. It had stopped snowing during the night and the temps were supposed to be above freezing today.
He peered over at me. “You look tired—”
“Never tell a woman that,” I scolded. “It’s code for you look like shit.”
“No.” He laughed. “I mean that you seem tired. You’re sort of slumping. But still as cute as ever.” He tried to bop my nose but I brushed his hand away.
I pulled my shoulders back and rolled my eyes. “Hungover. And yes, tired.”
We got in the elevator. “Oh, yeah? Partied late with the Marines? I felt the music thumping through the floors all night long.”
I smiled to myself thinking of the dancing and shenanigans. “It was fun.”
“Did you and that officer hit it off?”
I gave him a grimace. “He’s engaged.”
Silas grimaced back as the elevator stopped. “Damn. Sorry.”
When the doors opened a cacophony of voices filled the air and I shared a surprised glance with Silas. We walked into the common area, and holy crap. It was all the same people as last night, minus the music and dancing. In fact, they all looked as rough as I felt. All of the tables were filled, and soldiers sat along the walls with plates on their laps. My heart began a nervous thumping.
The minute they caught sight of Silas and