Her breath caught, those eyes tracking me as I shifted even closer. “I’ve learned not to make an enemy of you, but the board is unaware of your teeth, Killer. It might be time to show them.”
Her lips curved into a smile that was sharp enough to cut, but she was also pleased. I could tell by the light in her eyes and how her features changed into an expression that was more open but also more calculating.
“What do you suggest?” she asked, looking at me like she trusted me to guide her through whatever happened next.
As soon as I noticed it, my heart did flips that were deeply inconvenient, but I ignored it. There were more important things right now than my cardio health.
“Let me handle it,” I said. “You’ve done enough.”
She picked up her fork again, shaking her head as she glanced back at me. “God help the board.”
“God has nothing to do with it,” I said. “I do.”
“Wow.” She laughed, but when she met my eyes again, something purely fucking electric passed between us. “Alright. I’ll let you handle it.”
Relief hit me harder than it should have. Three days ago, I hadn’t known which way this was going, but it seemed we’d started figuring it out, and I, for one, was liking the direction we were moving in.
CHAPTER 19
JANE
Ihadn’t been to a real, luxury spa probably since high school. Back when my mother still believed rest was something you scheduled like a dentist appointment instead of something you earned by collapsing.
I also hadn’t taken this long off work since college, and even then I’d been working as adjunct faculty while finishing my PhD, grading papers between research meetings and sleeping in four-hour increments.
Alex had insisted, however, just saying “Jane” in that maddeningly calm voice when I’d tried arguing, and so, I’d stopped. Because going to a spa wasn’t a punishment and I was only human. This was a real treat for me and I decided to be gracious about it rather than confrontational.
Which was how I’d found myself standing in a marble antechamber, stripped down to nothing but a towel, being led by two serene spa attendants into a private room that looked like something out of an architectural digest spread. Steam curled lazily in the air. The hot pools were carved from stone, their surfaces glassy and inviting, and the entire space smelled like mint, cool, clean, and expensive.
There was a bottle of champagne on ice waiting on a low table, condensation beading down the glass. It was a little over the top, but it was also kind of incredible.
I took a cautious step forward, suddenly acutely aware of my bare skin and my damp hair twisted up on my head, and I wondered what I’d do if they realized I was an imposter. Not one of the elite who belonged here. Not anymore anyway.
I was already working at lowering myself into the water quickly, before anyone saw me or could kick me out, when I realized I wasn’t alone. There was a woman in one of the pools. Frankly, drop-dead gorgeous didn’t begin even to cover it. She had deep tan skin, dark curly hair slicked back from the steam, and sharp cheekbones softened by a relaxed smile.
She was watching me as I discreetly lowered myself into the water, letting the heat swallow me up, but she didn’t seem rude or appraising. It was more like she was just curious.
Relief rushed through my muscles almost instantly once I was submerged, and the attendants murmured something polite before they retreated. The door closed softly behind them, leaving us alone in the quiet hum of circulating water.
The woman caught my eyes again and smiled, swimming to the edge of her pool with easy grace and rested her arms on the stone. “Hi. I’m Zara.” She looked at me like I was familiar to her somehow, but I couldn’t place her. Thankfully, she didn’t wait for me to ask. “You’re Jane Westwood, right?”
It was the first time I’d heard it out loud like that, my name with Westwood on the end. I hadn’t legally changed it yet. Hearing it felt odd but not wrong. Strangely, I even kind of liked it.
Zara tilted her head though, then laughed softly. “Sorry. Dr. JaneThayer-Westwood, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” I smiled, finally breaking out of the surprise of being recognized like this. “I’m honestly not even sure what it looks like on paper yet.”
Her grin widened. “That’s fair. It hasn’t been very long, has it? How’s it going so far?”
“Uh, fine.” I blinked a few times, probably too rapidly since she laughed and quickly explained herself.
“You don’t have to worry about me,” she said. “My brother is one of Alex’s attorneys. That’s how I know who you are. Plus, our family is also deeply entrenched in the whole social-elite, arranged-marriage ecosystem.”
She said it with an eye roll and a shrug, like it was an inconvenient dress code she couldn’t quite escape. “So far I’ve gotten a pass. Hopefully having two unwed, older brothers buys me a few years.”
“And if not?” I asked.
“Then I become very, very difficult,” she replied cheerfully. “A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do, right? Just because my family marries me off doesn’t mean I have to make it easy for the poor dude they eventually choose for me.”
