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From the outside, it was a simple one-night stand. But it felt like much more than that—and not just because of the omelet. It was the connection I felt with him. It was how completely cared for I felt. And when I saw him outside his apartment the other day, I knew it wasn’t in my head. When I’m close to him, I feel protected. It’s like some kind of invisible force field that surrounds us and blocks out the rest of the world.

It’s unnerving. But I also want to feel it again.

“So, are you two dating now?” Poppy asks.

“Of course we’re not dating. It was just sex.”

“But he said he’s into you.”

“Why would I date a guy who won’t help me?” I ask. “Doesn’t he realize that I’m much more likely to sleep with him if he helped me?” I cringe. “That sounds wrong, even to me.”

“Maybe that’s what he was getting at. He didn’t want a gratitude fuck.”

“I would never.”

“I know that.”

“He also knows that,” I say.

“It sounds like he’s made up his mind and it’s a definite no. We have to move on. Look at the bright side. I know you had your heart set on Boston, but New York will be easier logistically. And we can keep in touch with the Boston realtors and maybe our third hotel is in Boston.”

I blow out a breath, white tendrils curling out in front of me. “I hate February. I need a drink!”

“We have dinner with Aurora and Deacon and Scarlett and Ryder.”

“Oh, I forgot about that.” I check the time on my phone. “If we go now from here, we’d only be a little early and we could do a couple of shots before everyone arrives. Maybe that will improve my mood.”

“Do I need to worry that you’re using alcohol as a crutch?”

“Well, I’m definitely using alcohol as a crutch, but you don’t need to worry about it.” I grin at my sister. She rolls her eyes and, lucky for me, the realtor arriving interrupts us before Poppy can give me a lecture on my alcohol use.

The fact is, I don’t misuse alcohol. But next to Poppy, I look like I should be living under a bridge. She never drinks more than one glass and she does that a maximum of three times a month. She’s always been the same. I tease her about having a secret cocaine habit, but it’s only teasing. Poppy is just a Goody Two-shoes. That’s who she is, and who she’s always been.

“Sorry for my delay,” Sujoy says, hurrying toward us. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”

Urgh. I hope this site sucks. I follow Poppy and Sujoy inside.

“As you can see, it’s all set up as a hotel,” Sujoy says, as he takes us into the dark lobby. “It closed about a year ago because of various code violations.”

“Perfect,” I say sarcastically.

“I think it’s got great potential,” Sujoy says. “I know you wanted to find a hotel if possible, so the build was less substantial.”

“Yes,” Poppy says. “Our current hotel was a complete gut job. It would be quicker and less expensive if all the walls were in the right place. Then it’s mainly cosmetic work.”

“How many bedrooms does it have?” I ask, hoping he tells us it’s either three or three hundred and three. I’m not mentally ready to like something in New York City. My heart is still set on Boston.

“A hundred and twenty rooms at the moment, although, I think using Hotel on Ninth Street as a guide, you might want to lose some of the rooms to create bigger suites.”

Typical! It’s the perfect number of bedrooms. The Boston site we were looking at had a hundred and fifteen.

“That’s a really good size,” Poppy says. “Isn’t it?”

I shrug and follow them through the ground floor of the hotel. It looks like a ghost town. Everything’s just been abandoned. I pick up one of the dead flowers from where it’s dropped from the arrangement on the table in the middle of the lobby. How sad. “We could call it Hotel Miss Havisham.”

Poppy laughs. “It does have that vibe.” She glances up. “But that chandelier is incredible.”

I follow her gaze. Above the dead flowers is a grand chandelier that looks like it might be as tall as me. It’s huge. And I bet it would look gorgeous, cleaned and illuminated. “It’s not very Art Deco,” I say. Hotel on Ninth Street is a very different vibe. Much less Victoriana and more cool Art Deco meets mid-century modern.