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“If that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not,” Chloe replies.

“You have too much at stake to waste your time on revenge.”

My gaze drops.

“The stakes are different now,” she continues.

“You have two children, Blaire.”

“I know.”

“I’m not telling you what to do,” Chloe says.

“I’m telling you that this isn’t only about whether you still enjoy being around Ross.”

The words land harder than I want them to.

Chloe sees it.

“You do enjoy being around him, don’t you?” she asks.

I look toward the darkened windows.

“It feels comfortable,” I admit. “That’s the problem.”

“Comfort doesn’t automatically make it a mistake,” Chloe says.

“With Ross, I don’t know what it makes it.”

Chloe’s expression softens again.

“Go to the Cotswolds,” she says. “Just don’t lie to yourself about why you’re going.”

We talk for another few minutes before she has to go deal with whatever crisis is waiting on the other side of her door.

When the call ends, the suite feels too quiet. I return to the desk and sit down, staring at Ross’s unanswered message for another moment before I finally type the response I’ve been avoiding all evening.

Blaire: All right. I’ll go.

***

The first thing I notice when I step out of the hotel is Ross leaning against a black Range Rover at the curb, looking far too comfortable for a man who usually seems most at home behind a desk or at the head of a conference table.

He’s dressed more casually than I’m used to seeing him, in dark trousers and a charcoal sweater, with his sunglasses pushed into his hair. The change suits him more than I want it to.

Ross straightens when he sees me and reaches for my overnight bag.

“Good morning,” he says.

“Morning,” I reply as I hand it over.

His gaze drops briefly to the bag before returning to me.

“You packed for the weekend,” Ross says.

“I decided I might as well commit properly.”