“Take your time.” He glances over his shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do about getting reservations at that restaurant..”
The smile I offer him is automatic. “Sure.”
The woman behind the desk chimes in, “Elevators are to your right. You’re on the sixth floor.”
I thank her, though my focus stays on Beckett’s retreating back as he turns toward the business center.
Something in my chest gives the smallest twist. Because even when the lies stop, the habits take longer to die.
Still…
Tonight, I’m choosing to trust him.
Not forever. Not blindly.
Just… tonight.
When I step into the room, though, I still feel a little out of sorts.
The bed’s crisply made, the bathroom spotless. Everything familiar because it’s like every hotel room ever made. But we’ll only be here for a few hours.
It’s temporary.
I drop my bag on the bench and dig out the sari cover-up I’d packed as a backup. It’s deeply wrinkled after being stuffed inmy bag all day, so I run a wet washcloth over it and hang it by the air vent, hoping that some of the creases will fall out before I have to leave for dinner.
And if they don’t? Who cares? If they don’t let us in, we can eat at one of the twenty other restaurants on the ship.
No big deal.
I’ve got bigger problems than my wardrobe.
With a shiver from the air conditioning, I peel off my swimsuit and let myself actually think about what Beckett said on the beach—that he’s losing his job.
And now, that headline.
He didn’t want me to see it.
I saw the flicker in his eyes. The way he stepped in front of the screen.
What doesn’t he want me to know?
I’m almost certain the catalyst for all this traces back to that horrible night—the one where I asked about his bonuses, and he just… disappeared.
But what happened exactly?
Maybe he made a bad investment.
Lost money.
Maybe not just for himself—but for clients.
And then I suddenly remember, right after Luna came back from the Grand Canyon, my mom mentioning something about her portfolio underperforming. She’d brushed it off, and Beckett promised he’d turn it around for her.
Honestly, for being married to a man who works in finance, I’m embarrassingly clueless about how any of it works. But there is always risk involved. I do know that.
And Beckett? He’d been chasing wins, chasing more, his entire career.
But now he’s losing his job.
