He realized it was a pointless question the moment he asked.

“Yes, I am.” Hadley smiled. “If I’d known, I would have definitely asked you to ride with us.”

Zane let out a quiet laugh. “True.” He then gestured toward the front desk. “I’ll go check in first.”

“Alright.”

Once he finished, he returned to her side.

“We’re on the same floor,” she said, clearly surprised.

“Looks like it.” A smile tugged at his lips.

He couldn’t help thinking fate was really being generous.

They took their keys and headed upstairs, only to discover that their rooms were right across from each other.

Another surprise.

They shared a glance and a quiet smile.

“It’s getting late, so… get some rest. Goodnight.”

“You too. Goodnight.”

Hadley turned and stepped inside her room. Zane unlocked his door, wheeled in his luggage, and entered. He showered and got ready for bed. The day had worn him out; he’d flown for hours and worked nonstop. Still, when he lay down, sleep refused to come.

So, he grabbed his phone and opened Hadley’s Twitter page. He tapped a link and was redirected to her fan forum.

There were dozens of posts from fans. He scrolled through each one, a quiet smile forming on his face.

One post mentioned her event the next day—time and location included.

Discover stories now gαlnσνs?com

“There it is.” He recognized the place. It was just a block from where he had a client meeting. Close enough.

He kept scrolling for a while longer. His eyelids began to grow heavy, and before long, sleep finally found him.

Zane set his phone down on the nightstand, screen facing the wood. It was time to get some rest; tomorrow was going to be a full day.

He couldn’t afford to meet a client while stifling yawns. That would be unprofessional.

The next morning, he got ready and was about to head out when his phone buzzed with a call.

“Hello?”

He answered and learned that the client had run into a sudden issue and needed to move their meeting.

“Mr. Hayes, I’m really sorry about this.”

“It’s alright. I understand. Let’s reschedule.”

“Thank you. I apologize for the trouble.”

After the call ended, Zane stared at his screen for a moment, then exhaled. Waking up this early had turned out to be in vain. Or maybe not.

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.

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