Did Someone Order Room Service?: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance Novella (Do Not Disturb, Book 2) by Charlotte Phillips Page A

after this week, however hard she might have denied it to herself.
    ‘Where did you go?’ he said.
    ‘Was there something I could help you with?’ she said, talking over him loudly. ‘I got your message.’ Oh yes. She’d well and truly got
that
. ‘Some kind of admin task was it? Because I’m not sure now that I’m the best person to meet your needs for the rest of your stay.’
    He opened his mouth to speak and she held up a hand to stop him.
    ‘I’m not going to leave you in the lurch, you needn’t worry. I can make sure one of the concierge team is available for you twenty four hours. Or possibly a butler, if that’s more the service you’re looking for.’
    He stared at her as if she were an alien.
    ‘I don’t want some concierge or butler. Why would I? I’m perfectly happy with the present arrangement.’
    Something inside her snapped.
    ‘That’s exactly what this is, isn’t it? An arrangement. I should never have let it get this far.’
    ‘What are you talking about?’
    She gestured madly between them.
    ‘This. Us. You and me. I should never have let things get personal. I should have just gone with my first instincts and kept things between us professional. And I definitely should never have gone out with you.’
    A sudden flash of clear understanding burst into Matt’s mind as she cut her gaze away from his. So that was what this was about. The fans they’d come across. Seriously, it wasn’t as if he’d been mobbed. It was three women.
    ‘You were jealous.’ he said in surprise. For some reason the prospect of that gave him a spike of happiness. For all her maddening indifference she
liked
him. This proved it. Her furious denial proved it even further.
    ‘I am NOT jealous!’ she snapped. ‘I am NOT some sad groupie. What I
am
is disappointed that there actually
isn’t
more to you than lucrative sponsorship, crazy publicity and screaming fans.’ She lowered her voice then, as if she was reigning herself in.
    ‘Of course there’s more to me than that, but that’s what people want from me, Layla. My sponsorship deals, my fan base, all that has come from raising my public profile, and that comes from interacting with the public, being seen in the press. Do you really think I’d have the kudos and success that I do if I kept my head down and never put myself into the limelight? This is the way things are. All I did was sign a couple of autographs and pose for a picture, you’re talking like we were mobbed. I just don’t understand what the big deal is.’
    He cast exasperated eyes at the ceiling. Just the fact he was arguing this point was new territory for him. In his usual remit, he’d be letting her walk out the door, possibly with a flash of gratitude that he’d had a lucky escape from such high maintenance grief. ‘This is my life, Layla. This is what it’s like. None of it’s
real
, none of it
counts
. Not on any level that matters at least.’
    He took her elbow gently and turned her back to face him, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes. She looked down at his hand on her arm, her lips pressed together so hard that they were white.
    ‘We were talking, Matt,’ she said. ‘Mucking about in the park, getting to know each other. Those things are real, normal. Those things are worth spending time on. And then a gaggle of women clock who you are and the moment’s over. I might as well have not even been there. You were swept up in their adulation before I had a chance to draw breath. Well I have absolutely no desire to be anyone’s second best, left shuffling from one foot to the other in the background, waiting until you get bored with the praise being heaped on you and remember that I’m actually there.’
    Exasperation began to rise in his chest as he held her frowning, angry gaze with his own.
    ‘I like the real you,’ she said quietly. ‘The one who was at the park, the one who talks about normal things, who told me a bit about his childhood.’
    Her refusal to