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I look down at myself, then back at him.

“How convincing do I look?”

Ross lets his eyes move over my rumpled dress and loosened hair before answering.

“Not especially.”

“That’s helpful,” I say.

“It’s accurate,” he replies.

I give him a look while I fix the last stubborn crease in my dress. Ross waits until I am finished before leaning back against the wall beside me. His breathing has settled, but there is still something warmer in his expression than there was when he led me in here.

“I have to be in Geneva in two weeks,” he says.

The change in subject catches me off guard.

“For work?” I ask.

“Mostly,” Ross replies.

“There’s a meeting with one of our banking partners, and I need to review several family holdings while I’m there.”

I nod. “The Geneva collection?”

“Yes,” he says. “A few of the pieces there connect back to records you’re already working through here.”

“I’ve seen the catalogue references,” I tell him.

“I haven’t seen the pieces themselves.”

Ross holds my gaze for a moment.

“You should.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Should I?”

“Come with me,” he says.

I stop smoothing my dress and look at him properly.

“To Geneva?”

“Yes.”

“For the collection?” I ask.

“For the collection,” Ross says, then pauses.

“And because I want you there.”

The directness of it lands differently after what we have just done. I study him for a second before answering.

“I’d have to clear the time with Margaret.”

“I’ll speak to Margaret,” Ross says.

I look at him. “You’re very confident I’m going to say yes.”