I turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t tell her anything like that.”
He chuckled. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how Jill operates. When she wants something, she always gets it. Right now, she wants you.”
I shook my head, but before I could respond, Jill appeared beside us, gripping my arm.
“Come dance with me,” she said, pulling me toward the dance floor while giving Greg a withering look, as though she suspected him of ratting her out.
“I love this song,” she said as a new Dua Lipa track came on. She guided my hands to her hips and began to sway while her arms wound around my neck.
She looked deep into my eyes. “So, what’s got you looking all worried, Jonah?” she asked.
I slowly extricated her arms from around my shoulders. “I’m worried that you think your new job at Altika means a new start for the two of us,” I said bluntly, letting my arms fall to my sides.
Her expression didn’t change. She studied me carefully. “Would that be so bad?” She looked meaningfully at my lips while bringing my hands around to her back, placing them on her ass. “And,” she gave me a coy look, “I seem to remember you were quite satisfied with the way we fit together when we made love.”
Surprisingly, I couldn’t remember that anymore. All I could think about was Lexi. I remembered the thrill I’d felt while touching her. Even with her clothes on, I’d been completely aroused. I remembered the way she’d looked when I touched her, the light in her eyes and the ecstasy in her voice when we made love.
That had been something extraordinary.
And yet we’d parted on such miserable terms, fighting at every turn. But I still felt the pull toward her. The urge to go back to her apartment instead of staying here.
What the hell did that say about me and my no-relationship stance? What did it mean given that Dad had encouraged me to only get serious about a woman who could fit into our lives?
“Who are you thinking about?” Jill breathed out, her eyes darting around my face as she studied my expression.
“No one,” I lied, removing my hands from her ass and crossing my arms.
She laughed. “Don’t lie, Jonah. I know you too well.”
She reached up and slid a thumb over my lips, and I flinched.
“You’re going to be my employee, Jill,” I said, pushing her hand away. “You can’t do this anymore.”
She smiled in a slow, seductive way. “As far as I remember, I start on Monday,” she said, leaning close to my ear. “So, I could still get away with doing whatever I want with you until then.”
God, the parallels that led me to Lexi were unbearable.
“Jill,” I warned. When I saw her eyes fill up, I knew I had to be gentler. She couldn’t handle the aggressive side of me like Lexi could. I took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “We’re done after tonight. Once you start working at Altika, we can’t meet each other again.”
Her lips trembled. “You don’t mean that,” she said finally. “We just … reconnected.”
“I didn’t promise you anything more,” I said as she clung to me tearfully.
“I was hoping you would. You were the only reason I moved back to New York. I turned my life upside down for you.”
Anger surged through me. “I didn’t ask you to do that, Jill. You showed up here out of nowhere, hoping to pick up where we left off. You didn’t think to ask if I was seeing anyone else.”
“Are you?” she asked, her eyes searching mine.
“I am,” I said. I didn’t know why I was doing this. I hadn’t had this conversation with Lexi, yet. “I’ve been seeing someone, and I didn’t know how serious I was about her, until now. I want to date her, Jill. Be exclusive with her, and call her my girlfriend. I’m sorry.”
She released my hand, staring at the floor in despair.
“You’ll still work at Altika,” I clarified. “And we’ll still be friends.”
“But we won’t sleep together anymore?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. We’re done.”
