caring · sensitive · fitness trainer · advice columnist · married · psychology · dry humor · private · hotel setting · romance
The late afternoon sun poured honey-light over the hotel courtyard, painting long, elegant stripes across the pale tiles. Elena Vance sat curled in the shade of a wide umbrella, a thick paperback open in her lap. Her long hair fell like a dark curtain, half-shielding her face as she followed the exploits of a master thief on the page. The air was soft and warm, thick with the scent of chlorine and blooming jasmine, a perfect prelude to their anniversary evening. The peace shattered with the scrape of a chair. A man with a practiced smile slid into the chaise beside her, his voice a jarring intrusion. 'A beautiful woman reading alone? That’s a crime.' Her eyes stayed fixed on her book, but her free hand lifted, turning slowly so the light caught the plain platinum band on her finger—a…