Page 87 of Love or Leave

He looked at her expectantly, as the unspoken question hung in the air between them.

Fran hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can I come in?"

Antonio narrowed his eyes at her, but a flash caught the corner of his eye and when he looked down the hall, he saw Max.

Shit.

Max smiled and gave a nod, but his step faltered when he saw Fran.

Okay, it wasn't too bad. He could ask Max to give him a minute, tell Fran she needed to go, and get this back on track.

"Hey," he called over to Max. "Could you just give me a minute?"

"Yeah," he said, stopping abruptly.

"Ow, what are you…"

Cara's annoyed voice sounded, and it took a moment before Antonio realized she was behind Max.

Double shit.

Cara leaned over with a beautiful smile toward him, but when she fully sidestepped Max and finally saw Fran, her stride stopped, and her smile dropped.

"Sorry, Cara," Max said, completely oblivious to the shit hurling toward the fan in front of him. "We'll come back in a bit."

Max turned to walk away, but Cara stood, blocking his way, immovable.

Antonio shook his head and searched for words as Fran twisted and took in Max.

"Cara," Max said again. "Let's go."

Cara shook her head.

Antonio stared at the situation unfolding in the narrow, dark hallway as if he was watching a movie—a very, very bad movie.

He needed to do something—quick.

After a moment of awkward silence, Fran turned and glanced down the hall, then spun back toward Antonio with wide eyes and leaned in.

"Why is the girl from the party here?"

She'd said it in a whisper, but her voice carried the few feet down the cramped hallway and hit Max.

Max stopped trying to leave and turned toward Antonio, his head cocked to the side.

"Girl from the party?" Max asked.

Okay, the movie wasn't just very, very bad, it was a psychological horror flick where he was holding a detonator and had to decide whether to blow up an orphanage or a children's hospital.

Max's eyes darted between Cara and Antonio as he waited for an answer. Cara was silently staring at Fran, probably wondering why Fran was there and whether she was coming or going.

Panic bubbled up from Antonio’s chest and into his throat.

"Why are you here Fran?" Antonio asked assertively, hoping to divert from her party comment and make it clear to Cara that he hadn't invited her—that she'd just arrived on her own.

Antonio thought he could still get things on track. He just needed to get rid of Fran, make it clear to Cara that she wasn't there with him—in any way whatsoever—then fill in Max.

Fran hesitated and glanced back at Cara before she spoke. "Maria called and told me you spoke to Blake yesterday, and I just wanted to thank you for thinking about me."

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