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.Then he’d turned off and packed his phone.In theory, that should’ve been enough to keep him off everyone’s radar.In reality, it felt like he had a freaking homing device in his shoe.Sighing, Ben rolled up into a stretch.“Seriously.Cut the Brit speak.You’re freaking me out.”Gib sat on the fly machine across from him.“How are you?”“Told you already.Life’s great.My career’s back on track, all’s right with the world.” Ben took a long pull from his water bottle.“Don’t be flip.Look, I came here today to check on you.”The troops were circling.Did they want him to have a security escort? Make sure he didn’t do anything else to upset Ivy? Maybe they’d settle for house arrest—keep him here in the Cavendish.“Don’t worry.I’ve got a flight out of town tomorrow morning.I’ll give Ivy a wide berth until then.You don’t have to protect her from me.”“Clearly the Queen’s English isn’t doing the trick.” Gib rested his left foot on his knee, after straightening the pleat in his pants.“I’m not here about Ivy.I came to see how you were doing.Quite a bit of dirty laundry got aired last night.Wanted to be sure you’re okay.”Ben assumed he’d been shifted to persona non grata status by Ivy’s entire circle of friends and family the moment he left the ballroom last night.While he’d braced for a black eye from Sam, Gib wasn’t the type to lead with his fists.Ben did expect he’d be blackballed from every Cavendish around the world.But first Sam surprised him, and now here was Gib acting suspiciously solicitous.“What’s it to you?”Something…off flickered in Gib’s eyes.A moment later, his expression cleared.“We’re friends.Friends look out for each other, offer a shoulder when one of them takes some lumps.”“You’re Ivy’s friend,” Ben corrected.“Quite right.In my capacity as Ivy’s friend, I’ll be popping by her place this evening with a cheery yet elegant bouquet.And a couple of bottles of chardonnay.”It took a lot to slam the door on the memory of Ivy’s smiling face peeking over the rim of a wineglass.“Aren’t you supposed to pick sides? Love her, hate the guy who walked out on her?”“Not everything in the world is black and white.You’re walking away from a rather nice life.Can’t be easy.Are you sure this new job is worth losing everything you’ll leave behind?”Why did everyone insist on second-guessing him? “I’m returning to my old job, the one that put its foot on my ass and booted me out the door.If I don’t grab this opportunity with both hands, I’ll never get another one.”Gib stood.“Would that be so bad? You closed that door once, Ben.Just because it opens again doesn’t mean you’re obligated to walk through it.Think about what—and who—you have here.A second chance at life-long happiness doesn’t come around very often.You sure you want to risk it?” He shook Ben’s hand, grimaced, wiped his hand on a fresh towel and left the room.Maybe some self-enforced house arrest would be the only way to get any peace and quiet, Ben thought as he whaled away on the heavy bag.He’d rather hole up in his room for the rest of the day than endure any more unwanted soul-searching from his friends.Hell, he’d rather go sit at O’Hare for the next twenty-four hours than sit through another conversation like that.* * *“Bennett? Are you decent?” Before Ben could answer, Julianna let herself into the hotel room.Cursing under his breath, he cinched the flimsy towel around his waist a little tighter.He held his ground at the threshold of the steam-filled bathroom.“What the hell do you think you’re doing? How did you get in here?”“Gib gave me a key.” She lifted the thin plastic card and waved it in the air.“Said he was quite sure you wouldn’t let me in, and he believes you need to hear what I’ve got to say.”Great.Another person who thought they had the right to tell him how to live his life.Should’ve gone to the airport and parked on a barstool after all.“What is this, a fucking intervention? How many of you are going to come and butt your noses into my business?”“I don’t know.” She closed the door and planted her sensible black flats right by his bare toes.“How long will it take you to rip the blinders off your eyes and face the truth?”Christ.They were in Chicago—at this rate Dr.Phil would be the next one through his door to talk some sense into him.The redhead picked the wrong day to pick a fight.If she didn’t get out in two minutes, he’d call security and have her removed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]