Page 109 of The Last Close Call

“Sure.”

She spied her sweater on the floor by the nightstand. She scooped it up, snagging her bra, too. She grabbed her purse off the dresser and stuffed everything inside.

“Rowan.”

She looked at him.

He stepped over, gazing down at her with a furrowed brow. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m leaving.” She retrieved her phone from the dresser, then tucked it into her back pocket.

“You don’t have to race out of here,” he said. “Sleep in if you want. They’ll have coffee in the lobby at seven.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I can’t. I’ve got an early meeting with a client, so—” She spied her down jacket on the back of the chair and grabbed it. “I need to take off.”

He eased closer, gazing down at her again with those sharp brown eyes that saw way too much.

“What’s the problem?”

“No problem.”

He darted an impatient glance at the ceiling. “Why are you lying?”

Her chest tightened. “I’m not lying.”

“Yes, you are. I know your tells.”

“My tells?”

“Something’s wrong. Why won’t you just talk to me?”

“Nothing is wrong. Like I said, I have a meeting to get to.”

He watched her for a moment. “All right. Can I call you later?”

She shoved her coat under her arm. “Aren’t you working?”

“Yeah, but I can talk on the phone. And maybe when this operation wraps up—”

“You know what? Focus on your work. You need to concentrate and I”—she reached for the door—“I’m getting behind on my own stuff. I can’t really deal with this right now.”

“Deal with what?”

“This—whatever. Hookup.”

His eyebrows arched. “Hookup? That’s what you want to call it?”

“I don’t know—thing. Sex. Whatever.” Panic bubbled up inside her, and to her horror, she felt tears welling in her eyes. “Call it whatever you want, but it’s not going to happen again. I shouldn’t have even come here!”

He drew back like she’d slapped him. “Okay. You mind telling me—”

“Forget it, all right?” She jerked open the door. The latch caught it, and she let out a frustrated huff.

Jack stepped over, calmly pressed the door shut, and undid the latch.

She opened the door again and glanced up at him, and he was staring down at her like she was crazy.

“Good luck with your case.”

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