The suites weren't necessary, and I told him so, repeatedly. But Jack had insisted, and I had to admit, itwasreally nice.
To keep up appearances – Jack's idea, not mine – he'd continued getting me hotel rooms of my own. I never used them, and neither did Jack, who cradled me close every night – or throughmostof the nights, anyway.
But that was an issue for another time.
Now, I was too busy staring at his ex.Should I say something?
Do something?
Or should I play it cool and pretend to not notice her?
I was still trying to figure it out when the guy at the front of the line said, "So, I can go, right?"
I blinked. "Sorry, what?"
He pointed toward Jack. "His table's free, so…"
"Oh. Yes. Of course. Sorry."
God, how many times had I said that already?
Too many– not because I minded apologizing, but rather because I shouldn't be messing upthisbadly. Normally I did a pretty good job of keeping the line flowing. But the sight of Imogen had thrown me seriously off my game.
It was time to get back on track – and quickly, too.Plastering a bright smile onto my face, I escorted the guy to Jack's table and announced, "This is Blake."
The guy frowned. "You mean Blain."
I winced. "Sorry," I told him yet again. "I'm not normally this dense, I promise."
When I looked to Jack, he pushed back his chair and stood. He looked to Blain and said, "Hang on. We'll be back in a minute."
And with that, Jack hustled me toward the private storage room, where we'd been keeping our stuff. When we reached it, he shut the door behind us and said, "If you want her to leave, say the word."
"Who? Imogen?"
He smiled. "Unless there's someone else you want me to kick out."
Something about his smile made me feel warm and wonderful all over. "Would you really do that?"
"Hell yeah."
Now I couldn't help but laugh. "But what about the negative publicity? I mean, that would look pretty bad, don't you think?"
Jack shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."
"But wait," I said, "I'msupposed to be the one shuffling people around. Andyou'resupposed to be famous and charming."
"Forget fame," he said, pulling me close. "And if you want, I'll charm you right here."
I stifled a giggle. "Actually, I'd rather be 'charmed' without a hundred people outside the door, thank you very much."
He grinned. "You're welcome." His grin faded as he glanced toward the door. "So, do you want me to get rid of her?"
I gave it some thought. It was so incredibly tempting. Still, I shook my head. "No, but thanks, seriously." I gave him my sunniest smile. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
But guess what?
It wasn't.