When she accepted the key card for her room, he gave her a close look. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.
She smiled at him, as bright as she could manage. “Of course. It was just a kiss. Did you think it would leave me sobbing in a corner or something?”
“Of course not.” His face twisted slightly. He obviously felt as terrible about this mess as she did. “But it should never have happened.”
“It did. It’s fine. It’s forgotten.” She smiled again. “It’s not like I’ve never been kissed before, you know.”
“I didn’t mean—” He broke off when she took the handle of her case and started wheeling it after her as she walked toward the elevator.
He reached for his bag and followed her. “Did you want to grab dinner?”
“Nah. I’m not very hungry. I think I’m just going to turn in.”
“Okay.” He looked worried but didn’t object. Just rode up the elevator with her in silence.
When they reached their floor, they headed for their rooms, which were next to each other. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said with another smile that felt like it might rip her face apart.
“Okay. Have a good night.”
Then finally she was able to step into her room and close the door behind her. She turned the deadbolt and leaned against the door, shaking slightly as emotion ripped through her.
It was fine. It was fine. She would be okay. She had a new job. A great job. The kind of job she’d always wanted.
She didn’t need Jake. For anything.
And he was a grown man. He would be okay without her.
She kept telling herself this as she pulled out the outfit she was going to wear tomorrow and hung it up. Then she called Raney and Meg and told them what happened.
Raney was convinced this was proof that Jake was desperately in love with her, and Meg told her not to do anything stupid. Anne felt a little better when she hung up, so she drew herself a hot bath, since it was a nice room with a great tub.
She was telling herself again that everything was fine as she got in to soak and try to relax.
Every time the thought of Jake flickered into her mind, she pushed it away intentionally. She ended up thinking about crazy things—like what would have happened if Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightly got into a fight—but it was better than thinking about Jake.
She stayed in the bath too long, until the water was lukewarm and her fingers had pruned. Then she finally made herself get out.
She was drying off with one of the thick hotel towels when she heard a knock on her door.
It startled her so much she actually jumped.
She pulled on the little pink robe she always brought with her when she traveled and hurried to the door. When she looked out the peephole, she saw Jake standing in the hall, still wearing a suit and his hair more rumpled than ever.
She froze for a moment, torn between the need to open the door to discover what he wanted and the realization that her hair was piled unattractively on her head and she was just wearing a short, thin robe.
“Anne, please open the door,” he said from the hall.
He must have known she was standing on the other side. She swung the door open without thinking.
He stared at her, his eyes moving from her messy hair clipped up haphazardly to her slightly damp robe to her bare legs and feet.
“I was in the bath,” she said, by way of (obvious) explanation.
He didn’t say anything. Just stared at her. There was a tension in his body she just wasn’t used to seeing.
“What did you want?” she asked at last, shifting from foot to foot.
“I wanted to see if you were all right.”
She gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m fine. For God’s sake, Jake, why do you think I’m going to fall apart? Why would you assume I think a kiss is the end of the world?”
“Because I do.” His eyes were suddenly nakedly urgent. He took step toward her. “Because I do.”
“Because you what?”
“Feel like it’s the end of the world.”
She leaned against the doorframe, her heart overflowing again in that way that was so incredibly dangerous. “It’s not. It doesn’t matter.”
“It really didn’t matter to you?”