Page 75 of Forbidden Game

“Seriously, Syd? The flight isn’t until midday,” Aleks complains.

“And you boys are a nightmare to corral, so we’re meeting at eight.”

“Okay, okay. We’ll meet you at eight.” I wave off.

She gives me a smile, and I see the hidden message in her eyes, the one meant just for me.

Thank you.

“Bye, boys.” She shuts the Escalade door and takes a step back. My heart already aches at the distance between us, and I watch her out the window as we begin to drive off.

I don’t know what I’m going to have to do, but someday soon, I’m going to convince her to never leave my side.

In the meantime, I have an idea.

FIFTEEN

PARKER

I knock on the door a few times and wait in the silence that responds.

After the fifth knock, I pull a key card out of my pocket to open it.

“Room service,” I sing, kicking the door closed behind me.

Sydney bolts up on her bed, eyes wide. “Parker! What the hell?” She hits pause on the show playing on her laptop before she clutches the silky robe she’s wearing close to her chest. “How’d you get in here?”

I wiggle the key card in my hand as I walk in and place the takeaway bag on the small coffee table.

Her eyes flit from the bag to the key card as she takes everything in. “How’d you get a key card to my room?”

“Unlike the Kelton, I have a lot of sway at W Hotels.”

“That’s an abuse of privilege.”

“Comes with the territory.”

I sink onto the edge of her bed and begin untying my shoes, trying my hardest to keep from grinning as Syd continues to stare at me. It’s not until I unbutton my shirt sleeves and start rolling them up that she snaps out of her daze and quickly moves off the bed.

She shuffles around me at a slight distance.

“What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you went for food?”

“I did. I went for food, and I brought it back. Couldn’t have my girl eating alone when she wasn’t feeling well, could I?”

“Your what? No. I—I actually feel completely fine. I’m just a little tired.” She averts her gaze as it fills with guilt, pulling her robe tighter. “Honestly, I just needed some downtime. I was going to order room service and relax.”

I push off the bed and walk past her, purposefully brushing up against her shoulder in the process.

“Why have room service when you can have this delicious pho in the company of a dashing British man?”

I hold up the white plastic bag I brought in with me before placing it back down. I take out the four containers inside and begin setting them up on the little table, opening the ones with the noodles and veggies before carefully cracking open the ones with the soup inside.

The smell of the warm broth immediately fills the air, and Sydney takes a few steps closer.

“You got me pho?”

I hold out a pair of chopsticks toward her. “Vegan, too.”

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