His jaw clenched. "You meanourroom."
I knew what he meant. And if I were feeling any less distressed, I might have admitted that he was right. But Iwasdistressed and tired of being reasonable at all. "No. I meanyourroom, just like I said."
"Your bags are upthere. Not here."
"So what?" I threw up my hands. "And why are you puttingmeon the spot, anyway? You're the one who's running around doing Lord-knows-what." My voice rose. "Seriously, whatareyou doing here, anyway?"
In a deadly calm voice, he replied, "I might ask the same of you."
As if he didn't know."I woke up and you were gone." I crossed my arms and waited for his response.
None came.
I tried again. "And I couldn't fall back asleep."
"So?"
With a sigh, I pulled the paperback out of my purse. I gave it a little wave and said, "So I was going to read until I got sleepy."
He barely glanced at the book. "We have a suite."
Now it wasmyturn to say it. "So?"
"So what's wrong with reading up there?"
"Maybe I needed a change of scenery." I made a scoffing sound. "And obviously, hanging out in the lobby isn't an option." Under my breath, I added, "At least according tosomepeople."
He didn't look thrilled with the reminder. "And that's a problem?"
"Yes. Sort of." I paused, and my shoulders sagged. I was angry, but I didn't want to be unfair. "All right, I guess not. I mean, I see your point about safety. But don't you get it? That's why I came down here instead. I thought this room would be empty."
From the look on Jack's face, he wasn't buying it. "Right."
"What, you don't believe me?"
"Should I?"
And just like that, I was playing defense yet again.I didn't like it."Hey,I'mnot the one skulking around at night."
He gave a low scoff. "You sure about that?"
"Of course I'm sure. Unlikeyou, I haven't left the hotel."
"But you left our room."
I stared up at him. "You say that like I'm some sort of prisoner."
He stiffened. "Is that how you feel?"
"No. Of course not."It was true. But once again, he was missing the point. "And thisisn'tabout me." I extended my arm and pointed to the photos. "Whoarethose people? And why do you have pictures of them?"
"No questions. Remember?"
I forced a laugh. Even to my own ears, it sounded wrong – half-crazed and devoid of any real humor. "How could I forget?" My head was swimming, and my thoughts were a mess. I blurted out, "And do you realize, I don't even know where you live?"
As I said it, it occurred to me how disturbing this was. For months, we'd been spending nearly every day together.Nights, too.
And we'd talked.A lot.
