Autumn watched it happen as if she had uncovered something rare.
“There,” she said. “That’s better.”
“What is?”
“That face.”
His smile faded, but not in a bad way.
In a careful way.
Like he wasn’t used to someone noticing.
Before he could respond, her phone buzzed.
A new message.
This one from a saved contact: LENA – MATCH SERVICE
Autumn opened it immediately.
Checking in! Heard there may have been confusion. Please confirm whether you arrived alone.
Autumn frowned.
“That’s weird.”
Luke held out his hand.
She passed him the phone without hesitation, which surprised both of them.
He examined the message.
“Who is Lena?”
“My contact at the service.”
“Did you tell her there was confusion?”
“No.”
“Then how does she know?”
Autumn stared at the screen.
“She shouldn’t.”
Luke typed nothing.
He opened the service’s prior email confirmations instead.
Scrolled.
Stopped.
“What?” Autumn asked.
He turned the screen so she could see.
The reservation number listed in the original confirmation email did not match the one she had shown the hostess upon arrival.
Autumn blinked.
“That’s impossible.”
“Did the hostess take your phone or just look at it?”
“She looked at it.”
Luke nodded once.
“Then either the system was altered before you arrived, or someone duplicated your booking and redirected it.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
He met her eyes.
“To make sure you and I either never met properly…”
“Or met under the wrong conditions.”
The weight of that settled slowly.
Autumn looked toward the room around them.
The polished windows.
The glowing tree near the bar.
The couples talking over candlelight.
The servers moving between tables with trays of wine.
Everything looked normal.
And suddenly none of it felt normal at all.
“Do you think we’re being watched?” she asked.
Luke did not answer immediately.
He looked instead at the booth near the bar where a man had been sitting alone with a laptop.
The seat was now empty.
His jaw tightened.
“Maybe.”
Autumn followed his gaze.
“What do we do?”
He stood.
“We leave.”
The word came too fast.
Too firm.
She stood too, but frowned.
“Just like that?”
“Yes.”
“What if I’m hungry?”
That startled him.
“What?”
Autumn stepped out of the booth, smoothed the dress at her thigh, and lifted her chin.
“I nearly froze getting here. Someone hijacked my messages. And now you want me to leave without even ordering dessert?”
Luke stared at her.
In another moment, with another woman, that would have sounded reckless.
From Autumn, somehow it sounded sane.
Or maybe brave.
Or maybe so stubborn it bordered on irrational.
He found himself liking her more with every inconvenient second.
“You want dessert?” he asked.
“I want cheesecake,” she said. “And then I want answers.”
A disbelieving smile tugged at his mouth again.
“You’re serious.”
“Completely.”
He rubbed a hand across his jaw.
Then sat back down.