“That could’ve been expulsion.”
“Yeah.”
“And was really, reckless?—”
“Yup.”
“Of me,” she says, setting Lucy down on the ground. “I shouldn’t have used my laptop, or I should’ve turned off my notifications. I’ll do it tonight,” she says, stepping into his arms. “This is crazy, Roman,” she says against his chest.
“We’ll be more careful,” he says, his body rumbling against her. “Two more weeks until the semester’s over.”
She pulls back, her stomach dropping. “Already?”
“Yeah. And then you’re all mine,” he says, smiling.
As long as this isn’t an itch.
CHAPTER 32
OPPORTUNITY
JAHLANI
Dear Ms. Jahlani Jones,
Our team would like to thank you for applying for a position with SION Consulting. At this time, we would like to formally extend an invitation for you to interview with us. Please reply to this email within the next forty-eight hours with a date and time that works for you.
If you are no longer are interested in this position, please disregard this email.
Thank you,
Angela Keighton
Director of Human Resources
SION Consulting
Jahlani stares at the email in her inbox two weeks later, blinking. She isn’t surewhy,but she isn’t jumping for joy. She should be touching the ceiling right now. Her head should be through the goddamn roof.
After all, this email is a position for her dream job.
The job that she’s been clawing, punching, and kicking at for the past few years. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A chance for her to free herself. To be happy.
But she isn’t jumping for joy.
She’s frowning instead. She remembers applying for the job at the start of the semester, she remembers seeing the qualifications and meeting them all. She remembers asking around for recommendations—Jackson included—but she doesn’t remember the position being in California.
Over two thousand miles from here.
Across the country.
And she isn’t sure why that information is so vital until her eyes meet his across the room. A few days ago, as she held Lucy while he shoved his shoes on in a rush, he bent forward to kiss Lucy’s head, and then did hers too, and it was so intimate and sweet andso much morethan she had ever expected.
And that was a problem.
Because now he’s what’s wrong with her. He’s the reason why she isn’t jumping for joy. He’s the reason why she’s questioning all her choices, why she keeps breaking her own rules, and keeps wanting to break them.
The reason the lump in her throat forms and her hands start to tremble. The reason she bumps into Jackson, mumbling something incoherent about needing to step out. The reason she flies down the hallway, turning corner after corner until she’s back in his office.
