I'm touching up my lipstick when two women enter, mid-conversation. I recognize one of them as Helena Chen,the woman Callum mentioned that first night. The one the matchmakers wanted to set him up with.
They don't notice me in the corner, too absorbed in their gossip.
"I still can't believe he brought someone." Helena sounds more curious than upset. "Callum Ridge hasn't dated anyone in years."
"My mom says she's from out of town. Chicago or something." The other woman, a blonde I don't recognize, pulls out her own lipstick. "Apparently they met two days ago. It's obviously not serious."
"Two days? That's barely a hookup."
"Right? My mom talked to his brother Declan at the ceremony. He said Callum's never even mentioned her before this week. It's probably just a fling. You know how those mountain man types are. They get lonely in the winter."
Helena laughs. "So you think he'll be back on the market by spring?"
"Definitely. No way some city girl sticks around Crimson Hollow long term. She'll get bored and go back to her real life, and everything will go back to normal."
They finish their primping and leave without ever noticing me frozen in the corner.
I stare at my reflection. The happy, glowing woman from earlier is gone. In her place is someone I recognize all too well. Someone waiting for the proof that she's not enough. That she never was.
He's never even mentioned her before this week.
Of course he hasn't. Why would he? I'm a stranger he met in a bar. A convenient solution to a temporary problem. The fake girlfriend who got upgraded to real sex because we were snowed in and bored and the chemistry was too good to ignore.
No way some city girl sticks around Crimson Hollow long term.
They're right. I live in Chicago. Or I did, before I got laid off. My whole life is there. My apartment, my friends, my career prospects. What am I going to do, move to a mountain town with one traffic light because I had a nice weekend with a man I barely know?
She'll get bored and go back to her real life.
The words echo in my head as I walk back to the reception. Callum spots me immediately, his expression shifting from pleased to concerned.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." The lie tastes sour. "Just tired. Long day."
He doesn't believe me. I can see it in the way his eyes narrow, the way his hand tightens on my waist.
"Nadia. Talk to me."
"Not here." I force a smile. "Later. Let's just get through the rest of the reception."
The next two hours are torture.
I smile and dance and make small talk while my mind spirals through every reason this thing with Callum can't work. The distance. The lifestyle differences. The fact that we've known each other less than a week and I've already built an entire fantasy future around a man who might just see me as a convenient distraction.
He feels the distance. I know he does. Every time he touches me, I stiffen slightly. Every time he tries to catch my eye, I look away. The easy connection from earlier has curdled into something strained and uncomfortable.
When the reception finally winds down, he drives us back to his cabin in silence that's nothing like the comfortable quiet we've shared before. This silence has edges. Weight.
I don't go to the playroom. I don't even go to his bedroom. I head straight for the guest room where I slept that first night, before everything got complicated.
"Nadia." He catches my arm in the hallway. "What happened? You were fine at dinner and then you disappeared and came back like a different person."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're shutting down." His grip is firm but not painful. "I've seen you vulnerable and I've seen you scared and I've seen you come apart in my arms. I know what you look like when you're okay and this isn't it."
The gentleness in his voice cracks something in my chest. I want to collapse into him. Want to let him hold me and fix it and make the spiraling stop.
