What would it feel like to kiss my husband?
My heart started galloping as the air between us thickened, charged with an arc of electricity so real, it was like it was begging for one of us to just do it. Almost at the point where I didn’t care if it would be a bad idea, I shifted my weight and seriously considered taking a step closer, but then he stepped away.
It was just one small step, but it was enough to break the moment clean in half, like snapping a thread pulled too tight. I blinked hard, back to my senses, but unsure of where to look now.
“Goodnight, Jane,” he said quietly. “Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight,” I replied, hoping he couldn’t hear the shift in my breathing—or slight lack thereof.
If he had noticed it, he didn’t give anything away, simply shooting me a tight smile before I watched him walk down the path, his back broad and familiar now in a way that unsettled me. When his car disappeared down the street, I finally exhaled and went inside.
Wyatt had already vanished to his room, no doubt with his headphones already on, the world effectively shut out. Nora’s door was closed, the absence of a thin line of light beneath it telling me she was already asleep.
Good. I don’t have the energy for questions tonight.
When I reached my own bedroom, I kicked off my shoes and leaned my forehead briefly against the wall.Get it together, Jane. Tomorrow matters.
The gala loomed large in my mind as I went about the motions of getting ready for bed. I hadn’t worn a gown in years. I’d stopped needing them when spectacle had turned into survival, but now, I would be stepping back into that world. Alex’s world that used to be mine but I never thought I’d belong to again.
As I brushed my teeth, I pictured Alex beside me in a fancy ballroom, his hand at my back and his voice in my ear, looking as dapper as he undoubtedly would.
The thought sent a ripple of warmth through me and I shook my head at myself, trying my best to remember that feeling this way wasn’t part of the deal. What he and I had was a business arrangement. At most, it was a convergence of interests that happened to involve rings.
Yet the way he’d looked at my lips had said that in that moment, he’d wanted to forget every rule he’d ever lived by.
It was inconvenient as all hell, but I couldn’t deny that I was looking forward to the gala tomorrow. Looking forward to stepping into that room beside him and seeing how the world reacted to us as a couple. Maybe even looking forward to spending an entire evening with my husband.
The thought startled me with its honesty, but there it was. I, Jane Thayer who was now technically a Westwood, was excited to spend time with the man who’d vowed to spend the rest of his life with me—and who I’d promised to stay beside for just as long.
CHAPTER 16
ALEX
Iwas running behind, which rarely happened to me. Naturally, that meant that I had to make up for it tonight, so I wasn’t only running behind. I’d only left the office over twohourslater than planned.
As soon as I’d realized my schedule for the day had gone to hell in a handbasket, I’d arranged for a driver to pick Jane up and bring her to my apartment. At the time, I’d still intended to be there waiting for her when she arrived, calm, prepared, and in control.
Instead, I was coming off a meeting with the Westwood and Sons board that had left me as aggravated and frustrated as a caged animal. For some fucking reason, our board insisted on calling the Thayer Steelworks acquisition amerger, and it had dominated the agenda.
Most of the board wanted blood. A full acquisition. A clean swallow.
Uncle Harlan had even flown in from San Francisco for the occasion. Why he hadn’t sent Sterling, I didn’t know, but I suspected my dad had insisted my uncle attend instead.
Either way, he’d insisted this was the time to be aggressive. Hell, he’d even accused me of being sentimental, reminding methe Thayers were vulnerable right now and advising me that this was the moment to press. To apply real pressure and take everything.
I’d listened, I’d let them talk, and then, as CEO, I’d said fuck no. We weren’t going down that route of attack. The structure in place already gave us leverage. Time would do the work for us and aggression now would only create chaos later.
They hadn’t liked it. Uncle Harlan probably least of all. But the final say was mine and I’d used it. What I didn’t say was that the idea of putting any more stress on Jane made me see red.
For whatever reason, I hadn’t even been able to bring myself to consider the points they’d made. Logically, I knew there had been some good ones, but shit, Jane had been under nothing but pressure for years. From her board. From her family. From the weight of a company she’d been running without the title, the respect, or the salary.
By the time I’d left the meeting, I’d been so pissed off that I’d spent most of the evening trying to cool down, replaying the arguments, imagining different outcomes, and convincing myself I’d made the right call. Time had gotten ahead of me and now I was hustling through the lobby of my building with my coat open, my phone in my hand, and ignoring the concierge’s greeting as I headed for the car waiting outside.
I pulled the door open and slid inside, but then I stopped short. Jane was already there. She was bundled in a faux-fur coat, but even that couldn’t hide the glimmer of the deep red gown beneath it. Her hair was loose, falling around her shoulders in soft waves, and her wedding ring glistened on her finger.
My breath left me in a rush. Just for a second, I couldn’t move or remember how to draw air into my lungs. I had to clear my throat before finally shutting the door against the cold and turning to face her.
“This is giving me déjà vu,” I said as the car pulled away from the curb.
