“God, you really want to go, don’t you?” she asked, turning her head so that the guards couldn’t see that her tears were about to escape.
“I want you to be happy,” Thomas whispered, and when she looked up at him, she could’ve sworn that he was going to start to cry, too.
“Great,” she said. “Fantastic. You will make me instantly happy by trusting me. Just give me a few hours—get out of here, go take a shower at the hotel, then wait for me in the hotel lobby. I’ll be there as soon as I talk to Ted.”
He was already shaking his head, like he couldn’t even muster up enough faith and trust for a few short hours, when the elevator bonged.
And the doors opened.
“Tasha!”
It was Jeff Willems. He was alone in the large elevator but he burst out of it as if he’d been physically expelled.
“Jeff!” Tasha said. “Where did you come from?”
It was possible he didn’t hear her, he was vibrating on such a high frequency as he looked wildly up and down the corridor—from Thomas to Tasha and then to the guards at the end of the hall.
“Is that his room?” He looked bedraggled and rumpled—a far cry from his usual impeccably groomed self. Apparently he’d stolen one of the queen’s jets and piloted it back to the airfield near the ski lodge, all to create a diversion so Tedric could make the trip by car. Jeff had been arrested and spent at least part of the day in a local lockup. “Tasha, my God, they said Ted got shot, but no one would give me any details—just that he needed a CAT scan of his head before he gets an MRI. Was he shot in the head?”
He was so frantic, he was shaking.
“He’s fine,” she told Jeff, even as she pushed Thomas into the open elevator—even though he still hadn’t promised to wait for her at the hotel. “He was not shot in the head. Teddy didn’t even hit his head—the queen’s just being the queen and insisting the doctors give him every medical test available, out of an abundance of caution. His head is fine. Trust me, okay?”
Jeff nodded gratefully. At least someone trusted her. “But they said he was shot.”
“He was, in the leg. It’s not bad, but when he fell, he messed up his ankle. The MRI’s for that—they’re checking for torn ligaments. Really, though, he’s gonna be okay. We’ll help him with the PT—I promise, he’ll be back to hiking mountain trails in no time.”
Thomas was holding the elevator door open to keep it from leaving with him in it. Tasha could tell from the growing realization in his eyes that he was doing the why’s-this-guy-so-upset math and coming up with a very accurate Jeff plus Ted equaled Ted absolutely didn’t love Tasha the way Thomas thought he did.
“Tasha,” Thomas said.
“I can’t,” she told him curtly. “Not right now.” She gave her full attention back to Jeff. “That’s Teddy’s room, with the guards outside. Go in there, there’s a bathroom—wash your face and breathe. Andrea just told me that Ted’s coming back soon. He’s awake—that’s good—but he won’t be alone, and he’ll probably be loopy. So pull yourself together for him. Can you do that?”
Jeff nodded.
“Good,” she said. “Go.”
As he went, she finally turned back to Thomas. The elevator was starting to beep because he’d held the door open for too long.
She stepped forward, pushing him back and holding the door open with her hip as she reached in to jab the button for the main lobby, because that noise had to stop.
Of course, it didn’t. It wouldn’t until the doors shut.
“Tasha,” Thomas said again. “I didn’t know.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“I’ll wait for you,” he said, “in the hotel lobby.”
“Wow,” Tasha said. “Now you’ll wait. Now that you don’t have to trust me. That’s just great. Good to know.” She glanced down the hallway, because she knew she had to be in the room before the hospital aides brought Ted back. “I gotta go make sure Jeff doesn’t... I gotta...” God, she was so frustrated, her tears were back. Damn it.
“Tash,” he said again, this time reaching out for her.
But she stopped him with an upheld hand. “Don’t even.”
He stepped back.
“Maybe you should just go with Dave and Rio,” Tasha told him. “All you had to do was trust me, all I wanted was a few hours. But you wouldn’t or you couldn’t—and I’m not sure which is worse. God, Thomas, I don’t know what this is between us, if it doesn’t include such a small, almost miniscule amount of trust. It’s definitely not what I thought it was, so... Yeah. Go back to California. I could use a little time—and space. Right now, my friends need me, and I’ve got to go.”
And with that she stepped back, and as the elevator doors slid toward each other, Thomas stood there looking back at her, his heart in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Me, too.” As the doors closed with a clunk, she turned away, heading back to Ted’s hospital room, brusquely brushing away her tears.
Chapter Thirty-One
Early Thursday
It was hours later, nearly two in the morning, before Andrea dropped Tasha off at the hotel.
It had been a long, long night, but she was still marveling over the fact that, essentially, she’d nearly died because the internet thought she wasn’t skinny enough.
“You’re all checked in, room 508,” the queen’s assistant briskly said as she handed Tash the key card and three of the shopping bags. “That’s pajamas, fresh undergarments, an outfit for tomorrow. The room is equipped with toiletries, but if you need anything else, just give me a call—wait.” She dug into her handbag and pulled out a phone. “New phone—your old number. Your contacts have been uploaded. Don’t forget to set a passcode.”
“Thanks, Andrea.” Tasha got out of the car.
“Call me if you need anything,” the woman reiterated.
Tasha had to hit a buzzer to get the doors to open via the tired-looking person who stumbled out to the front desk. Andrea waited until she was safely inside before she drove off, heading back to the hospital, no doubt.
The hotel lobby was nice. It was decorated in clean lines and bold colors. At this time of night it was empty, save for the sagging front desk clerk.
And Thomas.
Her always-hopeful heart skipped a beat.
He’d been sitting near the entrance, clearly waiting for her, because he stood now as she came in.
He’d showered and changed. He was wearing a pair of nicely worn jeans and a Coronado T-shirt under a Patriots hoodie that he must’ve picked up at a gas station nearby.
She didn’t wait for him to start. She dove in, headfirst, herself. “I know you love me. You said you do, and I believe you, so what was that? I also know you hate hospitals, and maybe being there started you spinning, but on what planet do you think, after everything that happened, after everything I told you, after the way we made love, that I’d suddenly go Huh, looks like the prince is into me after all. Guess I’ll choose him instead of the man I’ve loved forever.”