The drive along Mulholland was the greatest of Jenna’s life. She witnessed the full breadth of the City of Angels at twilight, a burning glow cast across the mountains, the towers, the rolling landscape of buildings of all sizes, the darting shapes of thousands of cars moving in all directions. Tucked against Cade’s back, with nothing but the wind around her and the road beneath her, no worries at all in the world for just this one moment in time, Jenna enjoyed the simple pleasure of bearing witness to something truly awe inspiring. A marvelous feat of engineering, sprawling out across the land. A city with so much potential. A city where so many things had already happened—to her.

Cade took her the long way around to their new motel, which was the opposite direction from the convention center of their previous place. It was a bit more upscale, she noticed as they closed in, and she knew Cade had spent more than she recommended. And that he wouldn’t be asking her to pay him back. He’d never planned on asking her to pay for anything they did together, because he was loaded and she’d spilled early on that she was not. He even offered to pay her back for the cabbie she’d literally bribed in order to get him to hold her suitcase for her until she could retrieve it after rescuing Cade. (It was now secured to the back of the bike, thanks to Cade’s ingenuity with ropes.) She had accepted that offer too, because she had no qualms taking money freely offered. Nope. None at all.

Cade pulled the bike to a stop in an empty parking space. Jenna climbed off and started undoing the ropes that held her suitcase on the back while Cade cut the engine. He wasn’t as wobbly as before when he stepped off the bike this time, which Jenna took as a sign his head injury wasn’t too serious.

She’d tried to bug him again to go to the hospital, just in case, but he’d compromised by promising to go to an urgent care if he didn’t feel better in the morning. They’d passed one on the way here, so she intended to make sure he kept that promise. She wasn’t going to rescue a man from a crazy motherfucker with a knife just to have him fall dead from a punch to the head. Plus, Cade had been through enough. Poor man, losing his girlfriend like that.

As Jenna rolled her suitcase over to the stairs that led up to the second floor, Cade a few steps behind her, she recalled her own grief after her mother’s passing. It had been all-consuming for a while, like there was a physical hole in her reality that was threatening to suck her in and suspend her in darkness forever. That hole had gradually shrunk over the years, and now it was more a grim reminder hanging in the distance than a threat to her well-being. She missed her mother still, but the grief had long faded into acceptance.

Cade, clearly, hadn’t processed Madison’s death anywhere close to that degree. It had only happened two years ago, and with him blaming himself for it…Jeez, no wonder the guy looks so moody and serious all the time. He really needs to start working through his emotions. He’d let some of them out when they were at the Getty Center, but she knew there were more. Many more. A lot of emotional pressure could build up inside a person in two years.

“I can take it.” Cade’s voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she realized she was standing at the base of the stairs, staring up like she was unsure she wanted to carry her suitcase. Cade grabbed the suitcase by the handle before she could object and heaved it up. She followed behind, not bothered by the “chivalry.” That damn suitcase was way heavier than her backpack, and her feet already hurt from running around in heels all day. Best not to add back pain to the list, or she wouldn’t be able to move like a human being tomorrow.

When they reached room 212, Cade paused, pulled a key out of his pocket, and offered it to her along with her suitcase. “Your suite, princess.”

She snatched both items. “Didn’t I tell you to watch it?”

He leaned against the door. “Watch what? You traipsing around a motel room in your towel again?”

Her cheeks warmed. “Oh, no. We’re not going that direction again tonight. I’m sore enough already.”

He chuckled, but the sound was cut short. “What do you mean ‘tonight’? You make it sound like there could be other nights.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “Well, about that. I know we agreed on a one-night stand, but…”

“But what?” he said, and she caught the underlying thrum of longing in his tone.

“Come on in. Let’s have a talk.” She shoved the key into the lock and turned it. “And while we’re at it, maybe order some takeout. I’m famished after all that crap I did at the convention center today.”

She pushed the door open, and Cade stepped back, like he was unsure if he wanted to venture inside and irrevocably tie himself to someone else in some way that could one day cause him pain, unsure whether he was ready to move forward a distance that not even traveling across the country had taken him over the past two years. Jenna waited with bated breath to see what he would choose—because honestly, she wasn’t sure herself, what she was doing, whether it was a good idea or not, whether what she wanted, what she hoped for was even feasible.

Then Cade exhaled, and it was like a hundred pounds lifted from his shoulders and floated away. He walked through the door.

Jenna followed.