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“See you.” Sam waved after them.

Arden had stopped a few paces away from Sam. She felt like the pavement had dropped out from under her feet.

He didn’t introduce me. He’s ashamed of me. He’s hiding me. He—

Get a grip, a more rational voice in her mind hissed. He’s not hiding you—his whole family met you. He probably just doesn’t like those coworkers.

Sam joined her with a bland smile as though nothing had happened.

“Coworkers?” Arden was surprised that her voice sounded casual.

“Yeah.”

They fell into step beside each other and headed inside the glass building. The heat enveloped them, and Arden took off her hat and unbuttoned her jacket.

“Are you close with any of your coworkers?”

“Oh yeah. It’s a great group.”

“Just not those guys.” Arden leaned in and half laughed, as though they were in on a joke together.

Sam looked startled. “What? No, I love those guys.”

Arden had no response to this. It felt like a challenge to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Why didn’t he introduce me to his close work friends?

If the situation had been reversed, Arden would have jumped at the chance to introduce Sam to her colleagues.

For a moment, she allowed herself a brief daydream about running into Peter Blake and seeing the look on his face when she introduced him to Sam, holding his hand proudly.

Arden feigned interest as Sam pointed out a chaotic mass of colorful glass.

Should she ask him why he hadn’t introduced her?

I couldn’t. At the thought, she could almost feel the unpleasant, awkward surprise that Sam would feel as soon as she posed the question. Like a buzzing swarm of bees in the chest. He would be scrambling for an answer—something to make Arden feel better while not being an outright lie. But what would make her feel better in this situation?

Nothing. He had already confessed that those were his close work friends. He had chosen not to introduce Arden to them. Nothing could make that feel better.

And why should he try to make her feel better? What was the point? This was, exactly as Arden had told herself only last night, just a Christmas romance. It was never meant to last longer than a few days. In fact, it was only meant to last one night—the night Sam had taken her to the Hanukkah party, simply out of charity, because Phoebe had asked him to.

Arden had already gotten more out of this situation than she could have reasonably hoped.

And falling for some guy was not the point of this trip. The point was that it was her first solo trip—key word solo. It was ending soon, and there was no point in letting that make her feel bad. She wanted to hold on to the sense of confidence the fling with Sam had given her. The feeling of being admired, of being lovable.

But love was too strong a word. And the feeling of Sam’s admiration was slipping through her fingers. She didn’t know if she’d be able to get it back.

She needed to end this before it was too late—before this sense of rejection poisoned her entire trip. She was supposed to go home feeling like a new, better version of herself. It was time to focus on the list. It was time to focus on Arden—alone.

Chapter 21

Phoebe

Their library work session started with coffee in paper cups, then progressed to sandwiches from the shop across the street and finally to afternoon snacks from the vending machine. Phoebe was delighted by how much they’d gotten done.

“I don’t usually say this,” she said, stretching her arms overhead. “In fact, I never say this, but I think I’m done for the day. My eyes need a break.”

Hunched over his laptop, Jonathan looked as bleary as Phoebe felt.

“We seriously hit a stride there,” he said.