Page 120 of Mark my Words

The rest of the night was a choreographed dance of avoidance on her part. I tried to sit near her at dinner, but she conveniently appeared at a different table after going to the bathroom the second I sat down. I attempted to corner her at the bar, and she pointed Adrian toward me. I tried to get Kelly to play wing-woman and get her to acknowledge me, and she gave her the cold shoulder.

It was like the beginning of our working relationship all over again. She was doing anything she could to avoid talking to me. But this time, at the end of the weekend, I wouldn’t be able to corner her in any elevators. This was my last chance to convince her what happened between us wasn’t over, but she was shutting me out at every opportunity.

By the time dessert rolled around, I’d all but given up and decided maybe it was best to return to the hotel. Kelly’s parents were still holding court at one of the tables with some of Evan’s relatives who’d made the trip up, so she asked to catch a ride back to the hotel with me.

“She’s still holding quite the grudge, isn’t she?”

“You think, Captain Obvious?” I knew I was being a dick to Kelly for no reason, but I’d mistakenly thought that I might be able to talk to her since Kristine had a few months to cool down.

“Don’t be an asshat, Spamela,” she laughed as she flicked me in the side of the neck.

“Please don’t call me that.” Kelly’s face sobered as she looked at me, probably sensing that I was emotionally wiped after being outright rejected all night. At least if she’d talked to me, even if it were to yell at me or tell me to fuck off, I’d be able to gauge how she was doing. Icing me out as she had just prolonged the torture for both of us. But she wasn’t exactly known for facing her problems head-on. I should have known better.

“You’re not giving up, right?”

“What the hell am I supposed to do? She made her opinion of me glaringly obvious.”

“So you’re not even going to try? I thought you said you loved her. Maybe you need to man up and figure this shit out. Make her listen.”

“No one makes Kristine do anything.” I didn’t want to admit defeat yet, but it was clear that I was losing the battle. And I’d probably already lost the war.

Kelly let me wallow in my misery, heading up to her room after we returned to the hotel. I was tempted to drown my sorrows in the hotel bar, but even I drew the line at drinking alone. Normally I’d text Adrian, he was always up for a fun time, but he’d left the dinner a little early when Isobel started getting tired. They hadn’t said anything, but the small bump she was sporting was hard to hide in the form-fitting dress she’d been wearing. I’d been around enough pregnant women to know when someone was expecting.

It was still strange not to see them at the office every day, and now I didn’t even get to sit on the sidelines with popcorn as Adrian tried to figure out how not to screw up fatherhood. Kristine was probably losing her shit over it, but she wasn’t working with the same team anymore, either. I wondered if Isobel would stay in her current position once the baby came, and I also wondered what would happen if the romance position was up for grabs. Would Kristine want to step into her place?

Loud knocking and a few muffled curses from the hallway startled me. I’d just been lying in the dark, trying to get my brain to turn off. My reservations were for another night, but I might drive back to Chicago early tomorrow after tonight. There wasn’t anything keeping me here. Evan and Chase were here looking at wedding venues, and despite them asking me to be an usher, it’d be a little weird for me to hang around while they were busy.

As I padded across the carpet toward the door, there were two more sharp knocks; whoever was out there was impatient.

“Hold on a sec. Let me unlock the door.”

“Hurry the frick up!”

My eyes widened as my hand paused on the lock. Only one person used that word, and she’d spent the entire night pretending I didn’t exist. Why would she be showing up at my hotel room?

“Kristine?”

As soon as I pulled the door open, she shouldered her way into the room, pushing it closed behind her and dropping her purse on the floor by the door.

“What are you doing?”

She narrowed her eyes, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at me.

“What do you think I’m doing here, Sam? I came to find you, you asshole.”

“Could have fooled me. I tried to talk to you several times tonight, and you avoided me like the plague.”

“Well,” she huffed. “I’m here now, so shut up and listen to me, Spamela.”

As soon as I opened my mouth to respond, she reached forward and pressed her palm across my mouth.

“Shhh. I didn’t say you could talk.”

Nodding, I took a few steps back and sat on the edge of my bed.

I expected her to take a seat on the desk chair a few feet away, but she shocked the hell out of me when she kicked off her high heels and climbed right into my lap.

Instinctively, I grasped her hips, noting the scent of wine on her breath once she was settled.

---