“Good night.” He turned away from her, frowning at the breakfast bar.
“Sleep tight,” she whispered, though she was pretty sure he hadn’t heard her.
Chapter Fourteen
“What do you want?”
Becca blinked her eyes open at the sudden sound. She looked around, trying to center herself. It took a moment to remember she was in the guest room of Daniel’s hotel suite.
“Is that any way to greet me? You were eager enough to open the door.” A woman’s voice. Vaguely familiar. Becca sat up and twisted until her feet hit the floor.
“I thought it was room service. I’m hungry.” Daniel sounded almost bored. “Is this a social visit? Because I’d have put a tie on if I’d known you were coming.”
Becca padded across the bedroom, putting her ear against the door. Why didn’t they put peepholes on interior doors? It would make eavesdropping so much easier.
“I was on my way to the gym, thought I’d drop in and say hello. Where’s your friend? Did she go home?”
“Her name’s Becca. As you well know.”
“It’s a cute name. She’s a cute girl.”
“Is that why you’re here? To tell me you like her? Because you didn’t show it last night. And since when do you go to the gym, especially at seven a.m.?”
“Since Lawrence decided to renovate the west wing. My yoga studio is out of bounds. So I have to go to the club instead.”
Becca’s eyes widened in recognition. Melissa, Lawrence’s wife.
“Don’t let me stop you.” There was a click, as though Daniel had opened the door to the lobby.
“Oh stop being such a grump. I only stopped by to see how you are. You were in a terrible mood last night. No wonder Becca didn’t stay.”
“I’m fine.”
There was a shuffle of feet, then silence for a moment. One of them cleare
d their throat.
“I miss you,” Melissa said, so softly that Becca had to push her ear against the wood until it hurt.
“Don’t.” It was the same tone he’d used on Becca the time she’d tried to touch him in the rickhouse. It made her grit her teeth together.
“I miss you smiling at me the way you used to,” Melissa said, her tone full of sugar. “Why didn’t you smile at me last night?”
Becca’s heart was hammering against her ribcage.
“You should go to yoga.” There was that bored tone again. Becca almost smiled at the sound of it.
“We should dance at the ball. To show everybody there’s no hard feelings. I’ll save one for you.”
“But there are hard feelings, Melissa. For both of us I imagine.”
“Are you ever going to forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive. It’s history.”
Her voice dropped so low that Becca couldn’t hear what she was saying. She heard Daniel say something in response, but she couldn’t make that out either. Frowning, she slumped down on the edge of the bed, trying not to imagine his sister-in-law touching his chest with her elegant hand. Or Daniel gazing down at her the way he’d looked at Becca last night.
What an idiot she was. No wonder there was bad blood between Daniel and his half-siblings. He’d lied to her, told her it was all about his mother. He’d let her touch him and kiss him and pretend to be his girlfriend, all while he was sitting opposite Melissa.