Charlie looked into the blonde’s face—a face she’d expected to be so familiar. It all took only a few seconds for her to realize that the woman she’d just chased down numerous flights of stairs wasn’t Lacey at all.
“What?” the woman demanded, pulling her arm free.
Charlie was so shaken for a moment that she couldn’t speak. “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
Looking indignant, the blonde continued out the door. Charlie realized that other people in the lobby were staring at her. She started to stumble back when a pair of hands grabbed her and steadied her.
“This way.”
She recognized Greg’s voice. He was the last person she wanted leading her out of the lobby. He quickly drew her into what appeared to be a small atrium. But she was still so shocked, horrified actually, that she didn’t want to add to the scene by shaking his hold from her arm. It was a wonder she hadn’t tackled the woman to the floor.
“Are you all right?” Greg asked as he let go of her.
Charlie blinked. Her horror began to fade as she realized this was the last place she wanted to be with the last person on earth.
She took a step back.
“Charlie?”
She took another step back, then realized that all she was doing was moving deeper into the shadowy atrium. “Please let me leave.”
He looked surprised. “Why are you acting like this?”
The shock of earlier was wearing off quickly as anger and fear took over. “Why are you determined to get me alone? You’re getting married tomorrow. I don’t want to hear about your old loves or your new ones and I certainly don’t want to hear how you feel about me. I don’t want to hear about any of it. Don’t you realize that you’re making it impossible for me to work for you?”
Greg took a step back, holding up both hands, a shocked look on his face. “Oh no, that wasn’t my intent at all. I’m so sorry. I... Yes, I had been wanting to tell you something—not apparently what you were thinking though. I’m in love with Amanda. But I can see now what you must have thought. I certainly didn’t mean to scare you.”
He took another step back. “I...I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to lose you at the company. I’m such a fool. Please forgive me. I promise nothing like this will ever happen again. You have my word.”
* * *
ALL SHEP CAUGHT was the last part of Greg’s speech. He’d found them in the atrium after asking in the lobby if anyone had seen the woman he’d described. Apparently a lot of people had. Another guest pointed toward the atrium, saying, “A man took her in there after...” The woman had smiled rather than go on. “She seemed upset.”
In the atrium, two figures were silhouetted against the lights coming from outside the hotel. “Charlie?” Shep said.
By the time he’d caught his breath and limped down the rest of the steps after almost colliding with a door, he’d lost Charlie and feared she’d caught up with Lacey. Instead, it seemed Greg had caught up with Charlie.
At the sound of her name, she glanced over at him, then quickly moved toward him. Greg stepped out of the way to let her pass without turning around. As Charlie rushed into Shep’s arms, he saw Greg hang his head.
“Are you all right?” he asked quietly as he led her out of the atrium. People in the lobby were watching them with interest.
“I’ve been better,” she said as they headed for the elevator.
Back in their room, she told him everything that had happened. “It wasn’t Lacey. If you could have seen the look on that woman’s face.” She began to laugh, then cry.
He pulled her close. “Hey, it was an honest mistake. That woman had no idea what you’ve been going through.”
“I definitely acted as imbalanced as I have been,” she said between sobs.
“You’re fine. I would have done the same thing. What am I saying? I ran after you.”
She met his gaze. “You did the same thing and you got hurt because of me.”
“It’s just a twisted ankle as I tried to avoid nailing the edge of the door face-first. It wasn’t one of my most graceful moments. But we both survived.”
She nodded. “You heard what Greg said?”
“He sounded sincere. You getting angry at him must have done the trick. Once he realized he’d lose you as an employee...”
“I still don’t know if I’ll be able to continue working for him,” she said.
“Well, you don’t have to make any decisions tonight, maid of honor.”
Charlie groaned. “Oh, the wedding. We still have that to look forward to.”
“Once it’s over, I say we go back to your apartment in Bozeman.”
Curling against him, she nodded.
“What a night, huh?” he said.
“What a week,” she said, sounding as if she would be asleep before her head hit the pillow. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Hopefully, you’ll never have to find out,” he whispered into her hair and realized that she’d already dozed off.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“PINCH ME,” AMANDA said when a still half asleep Charlie opened the hotel room door to her. “Pinch me. I can’t believe this is really happening. I’m getting married today!”
Charlie wanted to do more than pinch her. “What time is it?”
“Get dressed. We have so much to do. You do remember that it’s a morning wedding, right?”
Charlie groaned, telling herself all she had to do was get through the wedding.
“I’ve had coffee and breakfast sent up,” Amanda went on. “Enjoy. But I expect to see you in an hour downstairs in the anteroom.”
“You got it,” Charlie said and closed the door on her. Before she could reach the bed though, there was another knock at the door. She grimaced at Shep, who had sat up in bed and was grinning. Why was he so cheerful in the mornings? She turned back to the door, anticipating not being so nice to Amanda this time, only to find it was a young man from the hotel with a cart full of food.
She had him leave it in the center of the room, found a tip for him and closed the door behind him.
“Come back to bed,” Shep said and patted the space next to him.
“You heard what Amanda said. You want her coming back here?”
He only grinned as she climbed back into bed.