I stiffened, instinctively bracing for her to either judge me for agreeing to it or to start talkingweddinglike we were suddenly besties, but she did neither of those things. For a quick second, she looked around, but her stylist had gone off somewhere and there was no one else within easy earshot.
Still, she leaned closer and lowered her voice before bringing her gaze back to mine. “Look, I realize we don’t know each other very well, but I understand how you’re feeling right now.”
Oh, I doubt that, I thought, but it hadn’t even fully formed yet when she gave me a knowing smile. “I married Alex to save my company too, Kate, so I really do get what you’re going through.”
My brain stalled. “You, what?”
“Yep. Your situation isn’t as unique as you probably think. In this family, it’s not unique at all, actually, but it’s not that weird in many others either. Mine being one of those.”
I shifted in my chair, trying to process what she’d said while the dryer hummed overhead. Finally, I just sighed. “Well, at least it makes sense now. I didn’t understand how anyone would marry Alex voluntarily.”
Jane snorted softly, which startled me almost as much as her confession. “I didn’t like him much at the beginning either. Actually, that’s an understatement. I thought he was arrogant, infuriating, and much too comfortable throwing his weight around in negotiations.”
“That sounds about right,” I said. “So how did you end up married to him and looking happy about it?”
“My uncle is a freaking beach bum who nearly sold my company out from under me for a quick payout. All he wanted was to keep funding his life’s goal of consuming as many cocktails with little umbrellas in them as possible.”
I winced and Jane nodded emphatically. “Unfortunately, he was the CEO of Thayer at the time. You know, because I was a woman, so I couldn’t possibly be trusted with so much responsibility. I would’ve lost everything if Alex hadn’t stepped in.”
I frowned. “What do you mean,he stepped in? He forced you to marry him.”
“God, no.” Her eyes widened. “In our case, we needed the votes on the Thayer board so Westwood and Sons could acquire the company instead of it being butchered and sold off in pieces. I didn’t necessarily like the guy, but I worked way too hard to take control of that company to just let my uncle tear it apart.”
“I know what you mean,” I said thoughtfully, then focused on her again. “I just find it hard to believe that Alex Westwood is somehow the good guy in all this.”
Jane snorted softly, but she managed to do even that elegantly. “Trust me, I found it pretty hard to believe myself, but he refused to let the other sale happen. He pretty much bet the farm just so I wouldn’t lose everything.”
I frowned. “That sounds uncharacteristically noble.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” she said dryly. “Our marriage came with plenty of benefits to his company too. I mean,Thayer Steelworks? I’m making him a killing.”
“I can imagine, but you also look really happy with him now. That’s what’s puzzling me.”
“I am happy. It’s ridiculous for a person to be as happy as I am with Alex. Seriously, it should be criminal, but at first?” She exhaled slowly. “I was furious. Miserable. Suspicious. I kept waiting for him to prove every terrible assumption I had about him.”
“But?”
She met my gaze in the mirror. “It didn’t take long to figure out he wasn’t who I thought he was.”
Something in her tone shifted, becoming softer and so much dreamier than it was, almost like just talking about him had given her a personality transplant right before my very eyes. I groaned, my head shaking as I tried to imagine ending up like this when I talked about Nate.
Yeah, that’s never going to happen.
“Do you ever regret saying yes?” I asked after a brief pause. “What I mean is, it’s pretty obvious that you’re totally in love with him, but I can’t get past how you started.”
“I’ve regretted the lack of choice,” she said. “I’ve never regretted the outcome, because here’s the thing. Maybe it starts a little unconventionally.”
I gave her a look and she cracked a smile. “Okay, a lot unconventionally, but as I got to know him, I realized that somehow, I ended up accidentally arranging to marry my soulmate. Truly. I’m not just saying it to make myself feel better about what we did. Alex is, in every way, the partner I was meant to go through life with.”
My chest tightened to a squeeze. “I don’t even know where to start with this. It feels like I’m signing away my life as if it’s just another transaction.”
“I know,” she said gently. “What you probably haven’t considered is that you may just be walking into something you don’t understand yet, but is going to turn out to be the very best decision you’ve ever made.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know that.”
“No,” she agreed easily. “But I know the family. And I know Nate. And I know that you’re very lucky it’s him.”
“I am?” I sure as hell didn’t feel it.
