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“Hey.” Zander taps my shoulder.

I look up. I hadn’t even noticed they’d all hung up.

“Are you okay?”

All three of them are looking at me, waiting. When I open my mouth, my voice cracks. I can’t lie to them. I can’t tell them I’m fine when it feels like the floor is dropping out from under me. And I know they’d risk everything to protect me. I can’t let them.

There’s only one thing I can do for the men I’m trying so hard not to fall in love with. End this before it goes any further.

“We can’t keep doing this,” I say, trying to keep from crying.

Their faces fall.

“It’s too much, and it’s only going to get worse,” I go on, talking fast before I lose my nerve. “I’ll finish out my contract. But anything personal ends here. When the holidays are over, I go back to Denver, and we go our separate ways.”

I press my palms to the table and push my chair back. If I stay sitting here, they’ll tell me everything’s going to be fine, that they’ll handle it. They’ll try to change my mind, and I’m afraid they’ll succeed.

So before any of them can say a word, I head for the stairs.

“Nina!” Pascal calls after me.

Tears sting my eyes, but I don’t stop or turn around. When I reach the top of the stairs, I hear footsteps behind me. Three sets, together.

I walk quickly to my room and close the door.

The footsteps stop right outside.

For a moment, I stand in the middle of my room, waiting for the door to open. It’s unlocked. They could come in if they wanted to. Instead, I hear a few low words between them, and then the sound of footsteps slowly fading back down the hall.

CHAPTER 30

NINA

As if things weren’t bad enough, I wake up from a restless night to my phone ringing.

It’s a friend from Denver. I haven’t really heard from anyone at home since this job started. Everyone knew I’d be busy through the holidays. So, when I see Jess’s name on the screen, I sit straight up in bed.

“Sorry to bother you, Nina. I know you’re working. But I wanted to give you a heads-up. Reid made an announcement today. He’s doing one of his live podcasts from the town you’re in.”

“What?” I ask. “Are you sure? Why is he coming here?”

“I’m sure. He already announced it. Something about a special live broadcast ‘straight from the source of the drama.’ As for why, no idea. His cohost quit, so maybe he’s just desperate to stir something up. But more than likely, he’s probably trying to get more publicity for his new book.” She sighs. “I’m sorry. I just figured you’d want to know.”

His cohost quit? The woman he was cheating with? For a self-proclaimed relationship expert, Reid sure has a hard time keeping anyone around once they see who he really is.

“Thanks, Jess. Really.”

I hang up, trying not to freak out. If Reid comes here, it means one thing—trouble.

More podcasts full of lies, more gossip following me around town, and more chances for him to ruin whatever’s left of my Christmas.

The guys might be able to shrug him off more easily than I can, but this is a whole new level of invasive. I need to tell them.

I head down to the kitchen, expecting them all to be at breakfast, and wondering whether Zander will still have my coffee waiting after what I said last night.

When I get there, I’m relieved to see my mug on the counter, made exactly how I like it, with a lid on top to keep it hot. Beside it is a note.

We went skiing. Needed some fresh air to clear our heads. We’ll be back early, and hopefully we can talk about last night. —Zander