Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
R iley read and reread the text from Lucas.
Yep, the Nutella was calling her again. If she was smart, she’d walk away from that jar.
And yet, how could she refuse a meeting with her boss? Good employees didn’t do that. He probably just wanted to see the new flyer she was designing.
And if kissing ended up being involved in that meeting, what would one more kiss matter when they’d already kissed twice during the team-building exercises?
Lucas definitely knew how to build a team.
Man, she had no willpower.
She would have to talk to Lucas about maintaining a professional relationship. If they were going to work together, they’d have to set boundaries. Kissing was out. Making her fall in love with him should also be out.
If it wasn’t already too late for that.
Riley was finally able to text Lucas back, and she even managed not to turn her reply into a joke because for sure, he’d psychoanalyze that response.
She just wrote OK. I’ll see you then .
And then every moment of the day dragged on.
Near the end of her shift, her fellow employees wanted her to critique their methods of disposing of a body. Since she hadn’t been part of that impromptu exercise, they decided she’d be an impartial judge.
She sat behind the front desk while Sara and Kathy awaited her final judgment so they could post the results in the break room.
Each team had written their idea on a slip of paper, and Riley read through them. “First off, I’m disqualifying the chefs’ suggestion because I don’t care how good they think their culinary skills are, serving a corpse as ‘mystery meat’ is gross. Also, this is why I don’t let them have free rein with the menu.”
Riley turned that suggestion face down on the desktop and read the next. “Housekeeping’s suggestion of dissolving him in cleaning chemicals is intriguing. I hope it’s not actually possible to do that, though, or we need to consider switching our brand of toilet bowl cleaner.”
She put that paper face down with the first. “Glen and Kathy’s suggestion of burying him in the flowerbed so he can literally push up daisies is a bad one because the police always check the landscaping first. I’m sorry, but you’re both going to prison.”
Kathy shook her head in disappointment. “I knew you’d choose the front desk team. That’s just nepotism.”
Riley picked up the last paper and read it out loud. “The front desk team would put the body in the lost and found because no one ever looks there.”
She added that paper to the rest. “I give the front desk team bonus points for cleverness, and they’re not wrong about the state of our lost and found. Seriously, I sometimes lie awake at night and wonder how all those people who lost their car keys at the inn ever made it home.” Riley steepled her hands together, giving Sara and Kathy her best teacher look. “But you’ve all overlooked the easiest and most effective way to hide the body, so you all lose. The inn is doing renovations soon. We just dump the guy into the foundation of the new conference room. I say, if the method is good enough for the mafia, it’s good enough for us.”
It was then that she looked up to notice that the Smiths, an elderly couple who weren’t supposed to be checking out until tomorrow, had come to the front desk and were both staring at her in horror.
Riley straightened and cleared her throat. “Um, that was just a theoretical exercise. We aren’t really hiding any bodies here.”
This statement did little to change the look of horror on the Smiths’ faces. Mr. Smith handed her his key card. “We’re checking out early.”
Part of Riley knew that they weren’t checking out early because they’d heard her talking about hiding a body. They had their suitcases with them, so they clearly meant to check out before they walked up.
She felt their disapproval anyway. After she settled their bill and said her usual, “Hope you’ll come back and see us soon!” the couple hurried away a little faster than politeness called for.
Kathy watched them go out the front door. “They’re never coming back.”
“I know,” Riley said.
Sara took her place behind the desk to replace Riley. “Maybe your next marketing slogan should be: No one is actually hidden in our cement.”
“Oh dear.” Riley’s gaze fell on the mockup flyer she’d been working on. It sat prominently on the desk, and no doubt the Smiths had seen it. The slogan read: Lose yourself in Montana’s best bed and breakfast!
She picked it up and showed it to Kathy and Sara. “This probably didn’t help matters.”
Sara was still laughing and writing the words We’re like Hotel California onto the flyer when Lucas strolled up. He’d taken off his tie and unbuttoned his collar. He still managed to look crisp and professional, just more approachable. And adorable. And sexy. And a bunch of other things that shouldn’t be crossing her mind.
His gaze circled the group. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just experiencing more pain,” Riley said. “Deflection is going full blast.”
Kathy nodded. “For sure the Smiths are never coming back.”
“Oh?” Lucas asked, waiting for more of an explanation.
Sara handed Lucas the flyer. “They saw this and heard Riley judging our where to hide a dead body contest.”
“Ah,” Lucas said. “You’re right. They’re never coming back.”
Just then, the front door opened, and the Smiths shuffled inside.
“We spoke too soon,” Lucas said.
“Hide the flyer,” Riley hissed and grabbed it from Lucas’s hand. She shoved it face down on the desk.
Mr. Smith headed to the desk while Mrs. Smith parked herself by a window in the adjacent sitting room. She peered out with wide eyes, wringing her hands.
“A couple is fighting in the parking lot,” Mr. Smith said, his voice faster than normal. “The man is a big guy, and he’s got something in his hand—either a knife or a gun. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt her.”
The humor vanished from the room like a snuffed candle. “Call the police,” Riley told Sara. She was closest to the phone. Without a word, Sara picked up the receiver and dialed 911.
Lucas headed to the door with a determined stride. Riley could tell by his set jaw that he meant to confront the weapon-wielding man. “The inn’s procedure,” she called, “is to let the police handle dangerous situations.”
“I am the police,” he said.
“You’re not,” she said.
He glanced over his shoulder without slowing his pace. “I’m not waiting for them. The rest of you stay inside.”
Riley followed after him with quick worried steps. “What if he has a gun?”
“That’s why you’re staying inside.” Lucas pushed the front door open and marched outside.
He didn’t have a weapon or any protection, just stubbornness. That sort of stubbornness could get a man killed. It would only take him a couple of minutes to go down the walkway and reach the parking lot.
She turned back to Sara. “How far out are the police?”
“They’re on their way, but it’s a twenty-minute drive.”
Riley knew this and yet had hoped for a different answer.
Only a few seconds passed while she stood by the door debating what to do. A few seconds in which the worst outcome rushed through her mind. Lucas would intervene, and the man would stab or shoot him. Lucas had left the police force because his family wanted him to have a safer job, and instead, he would bleed to death in the cold.
She saw herself with vivid clarity weeping in the parking lot, cradling Lucas’s head in her lap as his life slipped away, all while waiting for an ambulance that wouldn’t come quickly enough.
The revelation was instant. Despite all the walls she’d erected around her heart, she was in love with him again. Stupidly, foolishly, in love. She couldn’t lose him. The searing pain of that thought was enough to overpower her sense of self-preservation. She grabbed the biggest thing she could wield as a weapon—a ceramic lamp with some heft to it—and hurried out the door.
She heard the shouting right away. Across the lawn in the parking lot, a large man leaned threateningly toward a woman who stood, hands clenched into fists, near a couple of cars.
“Leave me alone!” she shrieked back at him. “You don’t own me!” She was too thin, making her legs seem stork-like against her puffy white ski jacket. A black ski cap poked up awkwardly over her blonde hair. A battered suitcase sat at her feet.
The man hit a hand on the nearest car hard enough to dent it. He was tall, with a protruding belly and dark hair that seemed to spike out of his head. “Shut up and get in the car!”
Riley understood the situation at once. The woman was Ms. Jenkins, their month-long reservation scheduled to check in today. She was breaking off her relationship with the man, and he didn’t want to let her go.
Lucas had told Riley once that domestic violence calls were the most dangerous, the ones where people, emotional and irrational, struck out and injured police officers.
And he was seconds away from this one.
Riley ran to catch up, but he was still far ahead of her, his long legs eating up the distance.
“Sir!” Lucas called to the man. “Drop your weapon and step away from her!”
The man turned to face Lucas. He wasn’t as tall as Lucas, but he had a hefty girth and no apparent fear of losing a fight. His chin jutted outward, and he lifted both hands in a, I don’t care if you come at me gesture. Something dark was gripped in one hand. “Back off. This ain’t your business.”
“I manage this inn. It’s my business.” Lucas gestured to the woman. “Move away from him.”
The man stepped toward Lucas, raising his hand to show a knife. The blade caught the light and glinted threateningly. “Don’t tell my wife nothing.”
This was where Lucas should back up. That was clearly the smart thing to do.
He didn’t.
Instead, he lunged, seizing the man’s wrist in a brutal grip and twisting his arm behind his back. The knife clattered to the pavement. In the same motion, Lucas slammed him against the car. Metal rattled with the impact, and the man’s head cracked against the frame.
He went limp.
“Wow,” a voice behind Riley said.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Kathy sidling up to the group. She carried the matching lamp from the sitting room, lifted like it was a club.
Lucas noticed the two of them for the first time. He didn’t say anything, just returned his attention to the man sliding down the side of the car.
Ms. Jenkins’s hand covered her mouth, her eyes wide with alarm. “Is he okay?”
Lucas checked the man’s breathing. “He’ll be fine, but he’ll have a goose egg when the police take him away. Did he hurt you? Do you need medical help?”
She trembled, sucking in deep breaths. “I’m fine.”
None of this was fine.
Riley handed her lamp to Kathy. “We need to take this guy inside so he doesn’t freeze while we wait for the police.” She went to pick up the man’s feet.
Lucas grabbed the man underneath his arms. “I’ve got him.” He flicked his chin toward Ms. Jenkins. “Help her inside.” Without another word, he began dragging the man across the parking lot.
“Ms. Jenkins,” Riley said, drawing the woman’s attention to her. “Do you still want to check in? I can give you the number for a women’s shelter if you’d rather go there.”
Ms. Jenkins’s head jerked back in surprise. “How do you know my name?”
“It was on your reservation,” Riley said.
The woman looked around as though just remembering where she was. “Do you memorize all the names of your incoming guests?”
Wasn’t hard to do today.
“We’re all about customer service,” Kathy chimed. She had the two lamps, one tucked under each arm.
Ms. Jenkins glanced at the suitcase and some boxes that sat in the back of her car. “I guess I’ll take the phone number for a shelter. I don’t want my husband coming here again.”
That made two of them. Well, more than two. Nobody in the inn would want a repeat visit from this guy. “I have the contact information at the front desk,” Riley said.
The group followed after Lucas. Riley asked Ms. Jenkins again if she needed anything. “Food? Money?” Riley would’ve given her everything she had in her purse just because she felt so sorry for the woman.
Ms. Jenkins shook her head. “No, but thanks for the offer. I guess you weren’t joking about your customer service.”
It would’ve been nice if the Smiths had heard that pronouncement, but she uttered it right before Lucas dragged her husband inside.
The Smiths both stood stationed by the window and watched Lucas haul the man, still unconscious, onto the lobby floor. They looked at the body, at each other, and then at the door.
It probably didn’t help matters when Kathy plunked the lamps back on one of the end tables and said with evident pride, “The guy had no idea who he was dealing with.”
She meant Lucas. Because he used to be a police officer and had taken the man down with amazing speed and dexterity.
But Mr. Smith said, “I suppose not,” and he and his wife headed to the door. They made their exit as quickly as they had the first time, even though Lucas called after them that they ought to stay and make a statement for the police.
Nothing doing. They didn’t look back, just walked faster.
Mr. Jenkins woke up a few moments later, still angry, although less violent. He sat up, massaging his head and wincing while he glared at Lucas. “I’m gonna file assault charges against you.”
“Be my guest,” Lucas told him.
The man pulled out his phone and punched in the number with an angry flourish.
He seemed a bit surprised when two police officers showed up before he finished speaking with the operator and even more surprised when Officer Martinez and Officer Blake started speaking to Lucas about the case using police lingo.
Officer Blake handcuffed Mr. Jenkins and took him to sit in the back of the police car while Officer Martinez spoke to Ms. Jenkins. Next, he took statements from Riley and Kathy because they’d been witnesses.
When that was done, Ms. Jenkins thanked them all again and left for a shelter, making her way out of the building with quick steps and a marked air of relief. Officer Martinez spoke into the radio for a bit and told Riley and Kathy that someone would contact them if the police needed further information.
Kathy returned to the kitchen, but Riley stayed in the lobby. Lucas had said he wanted to talk to her after her shift.
Before Officer Martinez left, he turned to Lucas, and in an understated drawl, said, “So you decided to become a hotel manager because it was less dangerous. How’s that working out for you?”
“Some days better than others,” Lucas said grimly. “Don’t tell my mother about this.”
Officer Martinez chuckled. “Mum’s the word for your mum.” He gave Lucas a fist bump and strode out the door, speaking into his radio again.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Lucas turned to Riley. He put his hands together in a gesture of frustration. “Do you remember that I told you to stay inside?” He was gearing up for a lecture.
“Yes,” she said.
“I’m your boss and a former cop. In either of those two capacities, you should have listened to me.”
“I couldn’t let you face the knife-wielding maniac alone.”
His eyes flashed in disbelief. “Yes, you absolutely could’ve done that. I’ve been trained. You haven’t. Also, what were you going to do with that lamp? Offer it to him as a parting gift if he agreed to leave peacefully?”
“I was going to hit him over the head with it if he came at you with the knife.” Lucas was still looking at her incredulously, so she added, “I’d hit him with the bottom part, not with the lampshade. I do realize that whacking someone with a lampshade wouldn’t do a lot of good.”
His jaw worked on choosing his words for some time before they actually came out of his mouth. “I appreciate the sentiment. I really do. But I need you to promise that you’ll never insert yourself into a crime scene again.”
He could have managed a little bit of appreciation that she’d been concerned. “I’ll try,” she said. “But the siren call of some crime scenes might be too much to resist.”
He made an unhappy grumbling sound. “Also, Kathy never would’ve trotted out with a bonus lamp if you hadn’t come out first. You put her in danger too.”
Riley had been trying to be self-sacrificing, and he was just making her feel stupid. “Ok. I’m sorry I attempted to help you.” She folded her arms and tapped a foot against the floor. “What did you want to speak to me about?”
His eyebrows dipped in confusion. He had no idea what she meant. “We’ve covered staying out of crime scenes. That’s probably enough managerial feedback for the day, isn’t it?”
“Maybe,” she said. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about after my shift? If so, consider that box checked.”
Realization dawned on his face. “Oh. I forgot all about that.” He ran a hand through his hair, looked at the ceiling, and returned his gaze to her. “Now I’m wondering if this is the best time to have that conversation. You’re staring at me all prim and offended.”
“And you’re standing there all ungrateful that I nearly sacrificed an expensive lamp to save your life.”
Kathy appeared from the dining room entrance and swept over to Lucas. “With all the crime-fighting, I forgot to get the food ready for your dinner date tonight. So sorry. I’ll do that now and bring it to your room.” She glanced around the lobby. “I guess it’s a good thing your date hasn’t arrived yet.” She headed off to the kitchen, humming.
Date? Riley’s breath had hitched in her lungs during Kathy’s monologue, and breathing was still hard. She lowered her voice to an angry whisper. “You have a date tonight? You kissed me this morning, and you’re seeing someone else?” Her hands flew up in exasperation. “How did I become the other woman again? What is it with you and Jace?”
Before Lucas could answer that question, Riley added, “Ok, I know I wasn’t actually the other woman for Jace. It was just you lying to me. Because apparently that’s what our relationship is.”
She spun on her heel and stormed to the back room to get her coat. She wasn’t going to do something horrible like cry in front of her coworkers. She ripped her coat from the hook and shoved her arms into it. When she turned around to go, Lucas stood blocking the doorway.
“On second thought,” he said with annoying calmness, “I’ve decided we should have this conversation right now. You don’t need one more reason to be angry at me.” He strolled over to Riley, took her hand, and while she was still processing that he was holding her hand, he led her from the room.
Curiosity got the best of her. Curiosity and hope. She hoped that Lucas was about to tell her that Kathy was mistaken and his date was actually with his sister. He was, after all, holding her hand. That meant something, didn’t it?
Riley assumed he was taking her to his office, but they went past that room to the elevator. He let go of her hand to press the button and motioned for her to get in with him. It was small, only big enough for two people.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
He pushed the button for the third floor. “We’re going to have a conversation that we should’ve had last year.” Then he didn’t say more.
Ok. A conversation. They definitely should have one of those. Only he wasn’t speaking. “Well?” she asked as the elevator rose.
He looked straight ahead. “Be patient.”
Patience was not her strong point.
The door opened on the third floor, and they headed across the hallway until they reached the stairs to the fourth floor. He trekked up them, hardly checking to see whether she followed.
So they were going to his apartment. He was no doubt taking her there so he could prove her wrong somehow. She would walk inside and see that he was actually having dinner with a sixty-year-old woman who was partnering with the inn to raise money for an orphanage, and then he would give her one of his talks about jumping to conclusions.
And that would be fine because it meant he didn’t have a date with someone else.
After they reached his door, Lucas opened it and made a sweeping gesture for her to go inside.
She did and noticed a draping tablecloth covering his kitchen table. Flowers from the wedding reception mingled with a grouping of pillar candles in the center. Two place settings waited on either side of the table.
So definitely a romantic date.
Her stomach dropped with disappointment. Why had he kissed her this morning if he had a date with someone tonight? Also, whoever his date was, that woman hadn’t just charged into danger, armed only with a lamp, to protect him.
“Can I take your coat?” Lucas asked.
She didn’t shrug out of her coat. She didn’t want to stay here any longer than she had to. Just looking at the table made her chest hurt.
“This is all very nice.” She forced her voice to be steady. “You went to a lot of trouble. Who’s your date?”
He came up behind her and slipped her coat off her shoulders. His breath brushed against the back of her neck. “You are.”
The world seemed to still as she processed those words. “I’m your date?”
He tossed her coat onto the couch. “Yes.”
His brilliant blue gaze remained firmly on her. “I told you I wanted to talk to you. You agreed. I just thought it would be nice if we talked over dinner.” He sauntered over to the table and pulled out a chair for her. “You heard Kathy. She’ll be up soon with the food.”
Riley took hesitant steps toward the table but didn’t sit down. This conversation still didn’t make sense. “Why did Kathy think you were having someone else to dinner?”
“I didn’t tell her who was eating with me because if you shot me down, I didn’t want her to feel like she had to take sides. While we’re working, we should keep our relationship professional.” The corner of his lips tilted up into a grin. “Kissing in the kitchen when no one is around is still fine, though.”
Was it? All of this felt like emotional whiplash. She wasn’t sure what he wanted from her and needed to know before her heart rushed into places it shouldn’t. “Um, a few minutes ago, weren’t you just yelling at me for not following your orders? Now you want to set up kissing terms?”
He sighed, abandoned his position at the chair, and came around to face her. He took hold of her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. “I spoke to you sharply because the scariest part of the evening was when I looked over, saw you standing there, and realized you could’ve gotten hurt. That’s the last thing I want.” His thumb glided over the back of her hand. “The very last thing.” The smile returned to his lips. “Plus, as you pointed out, it was an expensive lamp.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
The warmth of that touch raced through her body, stealing her breath and all rational thought. He didn’t let go of her hand, and she didn’t let go of his. “So, is this part of the kissing terms?” she asked.
He turned her hand over and kissed her wrist, his head bent, eyes shut like a supplicant in prayer. She watched him, mesmerized, captured. Any walls she’d built up between them had toppled. She had no ability to resist.
He took her hands, put them on his shoulders, and slid his hands around her waist.
Every nerve was buzzing. Her body, acting on its own accord, leaned into him. “Is this your way of saying you want me back?”
His voice went soft and intense. His hands moved from her waist to her back. “This is my way of saying I never should’ve let you go.”
He was lowering his head to kiss her when a knock sounded on the door. He straightened. “There’s Kathy.”
He went to the door, opened it, and took the food tray from her. His movements were easy enough, but Riley felt like she’d been transformed into a quivering mass.
Kathy craned around him and spotted Riley. “Oh,” she said knowingly. “Are you the one who’s having dinner with Mr. Clark?”
Lucas nodded. “We’re working on our trust-building exercises.”
“Oh,” Kathy said, still knowingly.
Lucas told her goodbye, shut the door, and brought the tray to the table. It held salads and a chicken dish with asparagus draped over it. “JoAnn made this especially for us.”
“Did she know she was cooking it for me?”
“I’m sure she will by tomorrow.” Lucas set the dishes on the table.
Riley’s stomach fluttered with nerves, with anticipation. She’d completely fallen back under Lucas’s charm. She was going to forgive him for the past, agree to any kissing terms he suggested, and hope she wasn’t tearfully telling a therapist about this moment someday. Yes, there were red flags along the way, but Lucas was handsome and funny, and the way he could disarm a criminal in under a minute was hot. What was I to do?
What she did now was glide to her seat, to Lucas, like a moth to the flame. The food smelled amazing.
He picked up a box of matches from the counter, struck one, and lit the candles. Then he dimmed the lights and sat across from her.
She noticed an envelope on the table with her name written on the front. “What’s this?”
She reached for it, but he put his hand over the envelope, stopping her. “Not yet.”
She withdrew her hand, intrigued. “Please tell me it’s a letter from Carson saying he found a new architect.” She was only half joking about that.
“Nope.” Lucas opened a bottle of sparkling cider that sat on the table. “Although I did talk to him about that briefly while he was here, and I have an idea that’s worth considering.” He poured the cider into her glass. “You were going to sell your grandmother’s house and put that money towards the down payment for the inn. What if you became a partner with Carson, and your money went toward making the renovations match the inn’s existing style?”
She blinked in astonishment. “Would Carson be willing to do that? He would make me a partner?”
“Not an equal one, but you’d get a percentage of the inn’s profits each year equal to the percentage of the money you invested into the inn. Carson would need to have his lawyer work up a contract, and since he’s on his honeymoon right now, it’s not high on his priorities. I’m only mentioning it now because it gives me good leverage for when we negotiate kissing terms.”
“Very good leverage.” Becoming even a small partner in the inn would make her feel like she wasn’t just another expendable employee working here. She would have a claim to it.
She smiled at Lucas, happy and glowing. Was it too early to blurt out that she loved him? It probably was. She should at least wait until dessert to do that. “Now I don’t care what’s in the envelope,” she said.
He picked up the envelope and tapped it against his palm. “That’s what I’m hoping.”
She cocked her head, curious, and waited for him to explain.
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “First, I need you to tell me if I’m wrong about this. Is the only reason we’re not a couple right now because you think I cheated on you? If that hadn’t happened, would you still hope the two of us would be taking our turn in the church soon?”
She felt her cheeks flushing. He was skipping right past the flirting stage and asking if her drunken confession about wanting to marry him was true. Admitting to it felt so presumptuous. Back when they’d been dating, Lucas had never hinted that he might propose someday.
Her voice came out much quieter than usual. “You already heard me tell you so.”
He nodded, gripping the envelope. “Okay. Back then, Winter had some difficult choices to make, and she turned to me for advice because she knew I would be understanding. She made me promise never to tell anyone about her problem, so I couldn’t give you an explanation. I knew you didn’t approve of the two of us talking alone, which is why I stupidly thought I would save you some aggravation and unneeded jealousy, and I lied to you about meeting her.”
He let out a deep breath. “That was a huge mistake. I realize that. You found out I lied about one thing and figured I lied about everything. I thought you should believe me, that you should know me well enough to know I wouldn’t cheat on you. Basically, I felt like you’d sentenced me to life in prison without a chance of parole for what should’ve been a small fine.”
His gaze fixed on hers, the candlelight flickering in his eyes. “I should’ve guarded your trust with more care. I should’ve realized that from a young age, you’d learned that you couldn’t trust the people who were supposed to love you. Why would you think I was different? No promise I made to a friend was worth losing you. I should’ve broken my word rather than broken your heart. I’m trying to rectify that. From now on, you’ll always come first.”
He slid the envelope toward her. “When you know why Winter came to me, you’ll understand why I felt I needed to help her. I know I can trust you to never breathe a word of what’s in this letter to anyone.”
While he spoke, tears found their way into Riley’s eyes. One blink sent them spilling over her lashes. She wasn’t even sure why she was crying. It wasn’t for the pain she’d felt last year. Looking at his steady expression, she had to believe he was telling her the truth. The earnestness in his tone and the pleading in his eyes all told her the same thing. Lucas had made a mistake back then, but not the one she’d accused him of.
She thought of Winter’s pictures, of Jace’s words, and one plausible reason occurred to her as to why a woman would stop taking full-length pictures of herself, why Winter might have lied about where she was.
And now Lucas was willing to tell her Winter’s secret. She knew what that was costing him. She picked up the envelope and turned it over, noting his familiar handwriting spelling her name. “Your dad used to say that a person’s most valuable possession is their integrity.”
“He still says that.”
She had hoped, back when she was sure that Lucas cheated on her, that those words had seared his conscience. Now they felt like a warning. She shouldn’t ask Lucas to compromise his integrity just to satisfy her curiosity and reassure her.
She gazed at him, weighing the issue for a moment longer. “If you’re the sort of man who can keep a promise to a friend, I know you’ll be the sort of man who keeps his promises to me.” She held the corner of the envelope to the candle flame. “I was going to wait until after dessert to tell you this, but I love you.”
Burning the letter felt like a grand gesture, a turning point, a very good thing to do.
Right up until the moment that the smoke triggered the fire alarm.