“I can’t. Not yet. If you could let this drop for now, I’d appreciate it,” I say with a level of cool detachment that I don’t feel.
She nods, casting her eyes about the room for a change of subject. “Remind me what his book is about?”
I roll my eyes. It’s not the hard pivot I was hoping for, but it’ll do. “Oh god, I don’t even know.” I rack my brain for the passage I read last night, but that’s when I was at my tipsiest, andI can’t remember anything other than a man, a desert, and a vague sense of familiarity that probably comes from knowing West’s voice so well. “Let’s find out, shall we?”
I scan the room for my bag from last night, but I don’t see it on the nightstand or the desk by the window. I can’t find it anywhere. “We have a problem.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I lost my bag.” I hadn’t noticed because my phone and room key were in the pocket of my dress and I was so emotional coming back, but I’ve lost my wallet with my ID and credit cards. My conference badge and credentials. My Kindle. The book West signed for me.
“Did you leave it at the bar?”
I run my hand through my hair and attempt to recall the non-West events of last night. “Maybe? Probably? I’ll stop by later and check.”
“We have time now. I’ll come with you.”
“But your presentation—”
“Isn’t until nine. We’ll be fine.”
I shoot her a grateful smile as I make my way to the bathroom to change. “Thanks. You can help me brainstorm ways to screw up West’s panel this morning.”
“You’re still doing that?”
I lean out of the bathroom. “Have you had a personality transplant since yesterday? What is going on?”
She shakes her head and then surveys me with a critical eye. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
I look at myGirls Just Wanna Have BooksT-shirt. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“I crocheted this dress that would look really cute—”
I disappear back into the bathroom.
Unbothered, she calls through the door. “I assume you were awake devising a sabotage plan all night?”
I should have been, but instead I spent the night tossing and turning, stuck between awake and asleep, my mind wandering through my past, visions of West and me disappearing before they fully materialized.
“I have one vague idea, but I don’t know if it’s possible. I’d need to recruit help.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Bright lights glowbehind Gentle Ben’s locked door. Ignoring theClosedsign and the empty dining room, I knock until a manager answers. She has a stack of receipts in one hand and a pen tucked behind her ear. “We open at nine.”
“I think I left my bag here last night. Would you mind checking the lost and found?”
“What does it look like?” she asks as we follow her to the bar.
“Tote bag. Covered in books,” I say as she crouches down to look in a small box.
She laughs. “You might have to be more specific.”
“It’s black-and-white. It says ‘Waterstones’ on it.”
“Bingo!”
I open the bag and exhale an immediate sigh of relief when I see my wallet and Kindle. I take inventory as I stack my possessions on a barstool. Sunglasses, conference badge, two paperbacks, a notebook, three pens, and a handful of snacks.
