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I cross to the window. Rhonda stands on the sidewalk beside the Voss site, leading a smaller crowd than last time. Their signs rise and fall as they call for the council to reject the hotel.

Rhonda called me yesterday. She has no doubt the application will fail. A few week ago, I would’ve celebrated. Now, all I can think about is what losing the project will do to Eric. We agreed to be exclusive four days ago, and he’s spent the last three nights at my apartment. He arrives after work with dinner or wine. We eat, finish whatever work we brought home, then end up in bed. In the morning, he makes coffee while I feed Percy. Neither of us has suggested spending a night apart.

Being with Eric is easy. Hiding him from Chloe isn’t. But if I tell her about us now, her first question will be when it started. There is no honest answer that doesn’t reveal every half-truth and secret I’ve kept from her. She’ll also take one look at me and know this isn’t only sex or a few dates. I’m not ready for her to say that aloud when I’m still trying to understand it myself.

But I’ll have to tell Chloe soon. Grandma too. I’ve decided to wait until after Friday’s vote, when the city has rejected the application.

I’ve tried to prepare Eric without telling him what Rhonda knows. But I can’t tell him that four council members plan to reject the hotel. Voss would have time to pressure them, make new promises, or offer changes before the votes are cast. I’ve fought too hard for the Hartwell to give his company that advantage.

I still hate keeping it from him. His first major project as CEO is about to fail, and when it does, he may blame the protest, my interview, and every argument I made against him. He may look at me and see the person who cost him the hotel.

Eric said the vote wouldn’t affect us. On Friday, I’ll find out whether he still means it after he loses.

My phone vibrates on the desk.

Eric: Are you free tonight?

Rachel: Yes

Eric: Let’s go out for a drink?

Eric: The Lennox. Seven thirty?

Rachel: Sounds good

Eric: My brothers will be there

I stare at the message.

Rachel: You waited until I agreed to mention that?

Eric: I secured your initial commitment before disclosing the full terms

Rachel: Meeting your brothers doesn’t sound very secret

Eric: They already know about us

Rachel: How?

The three dots appear, disappear, then return.

Eric: I may have let it slip a couple of weeks ago

Rachel: Before we were exclusive?

Eric: I was optimistic

I can’t be too annoyed that Eric’s brothers know about us if he told them before we agreed to keep this quiet. Maybe it’s better that they know now. If Rhonda is right, by Friday I’ll be the woman who helped stop their new hotel. They may not feel very friendly toward me after that. Tonight gives them a chance to meet me before the vote—not just as the woman fighting Voss, but as someone Eric cares about. And if Eric and I are going to make this work, I want to know the people who matter to him. I want them to know me too.

The Lennox is hidden inside an old theater in downtown Alton Hills. From the street, there’s little to mark it. Only a brass L set into the stone beside a black door.

Two men stand beneath the awning, checking names. Eric waits beside them. He greets me with a kiss, then rests his hand against my lower back.

One of the doormen welcomes him by name and opens the door.

Everyone in the hotel business knows about the Lennox. You need an invitation from a member to join, and the wait can take years. I’ve wanted to see inside for almost as long as I’ve known it exists, but I don’t tell Eric that. He already looks pleased enough.

At reception, a woman takes our phones and locks them in numbered drawers.