Alex’s brow furrowed thoughtfully, but Nate didn’t say anything. I made the mistake of glancing at him only to realize that his eyes were already on me, filled with something I refused to name.
Regret. Guilt. Maybe anger. Maybe something worse.
He’d told me he would choose me. But men like Nate Westwood didn’t make choices like that when the world was watching. Growing up the way I did, I knew that better than most. I wasn’t a naïve, doe-eyed girl hoping for her knight in shining armor. Maybe that’s what hurt most of all. I knew better. I had from the very beginning.
I looked away first. I could be hurt in a million different ways right now, by my family, by my godfather, by my flaky boyfriend, and by Nate, but if I was being honest, I was most disappointed in myself.
For letting it get this far. For kissing him. For wanting to kiss him again even now, sitting across from him while legally binding my life to his.
“I’m going to grab my things,” I said, standing before either man could respond to my suspicions about Abram, but neither of them even tried stopping me anyway.
The walk to Nate’s office felt surreal, like moving through someone else’s routine—myfuturehusband’sroutine. My laptop sat on my side of the desk along with a small stack of files. I gathered everything methodically, stacking, packing, and organizing, finding control in the smallest places I could still have it.
When the door clicked shut behind me, I froze for half a second before I turned to find Nate leaning back against it. His broad shoulders filled the frame and his eyes were on mine, not stormy today, but I saw the knot at the back of his jaw again.
I didn’t give myself time to think. If I thought, I’d spiral. If I spiraled, I’d break, and I refused to break in front of him. So instead, I just got straight to it. “We should make it quick. Get a notary to come to the office, have a few witnesses, get married, and be done with it.”
His eyebrows drew together slightly, but he stayed silent.
“It doesn’t have to be a big show,” I said, feeling compelled to explain myself in the face of his utter silence. “No press circus. Just a basic, private ceremony that checks all the legal boxes. We don’t need to drag it out, Nate. The sooner it’s official, the sooner everyone can stop speculating and focus on the actual business that needs to be run.” I shifted the strap of my bag higher onto my shoulder. “I know we still have things to figure out.”
“Kate—”
“If I need to stay in Chicago for a while, I will,” I barreled on, the words spilling out faster as I tried to outrun the storm building inside. “Alex was right about the media. They’re eating this up and it looks great for your family and your stock price. I get it. Public perception alone is stabilizing investor confidence, and if that keeps the acquisition clean?—”
“Kate.”
I pushed forward, trying not to remember that I was planning myweddinglike it was nothing more than a formality. “It’s strategic to do it this way. It makes sense. Especially with the way things are looking for your company right now.”
“Kate, stop.” The sharp edge in his voice when he said my name again made me shut up this time.
A little breathless, I finally looked into his eyes, defensiveness crawling up from the very depths of my being. “What? What do you want?”
For a moment, he just stared at me like he wasn’t sure how to answer the question, then inhaled deeply and strode further into the office. “I need to talk about what happened.”
My stomach dropped straight to the floor. Memories of that kiss surged through me, the way his hands had braced against the door, the heat of his mouth on mine, and the way my body had lit up like it’d been waiting years for that exact moment.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you. I crossed a line and I’m sorry.” If he had said it over the phone, I would have thought hewas being clinical about it, but in person, the tightness in his shoulders betrayed him. “There’s a lot of personal shit we need to handle and we don’t have to rush into anything until we’ve done that.”
“Have you told your girlfriend what’s happening?” I asked before I could stop myself.
His mouth closed and tension flashed across his face, that same conflict from the other night flickering through his eyes before he slowly shook his head. “No, I haven’t.”
Relief trickled through me. I felt terrible about what we’d done, but it did make me feel a little bit better that he was in this boat with me. “I haven’t said anything either.”
His gaze snapped back to mine, searching, the memory of the kiss hanging between us like a living thing. Hot, undeniable, and impossible to ignore no matter how hard we tried to wrap it in logic, contracts, and necessity.
As he looked at me, I became acutely aware of everything about him. The way his suit jacket strained across his shoulders. The faint shadow of stubble along his jaw. The slight part of his lips like he was about to say something.
My pulse hammered harder, and for one, crazy second, I thought he was going to kiss me again, but then he exhaled slowly and moved around the desk. “I’m hoping to clear things up with her over the weekend.”
I clung to the practicality of that statement like a life raft. “What’s coming up this weekend?”
He hesitated like he hated the answer but gave it anyway. “Our first public-facing event. Hinds is being honored before officially retiring. It’s basically the ceremonial transition before the acquisition goes through.”
My stomach twisted into a hard, firm knot. “Do we have to go?”
He gave me a curt nod. “We’ve been summoned to attend. As an engaged couple finally stepping out in the world together for the first time. It’ll be our grand reveal.”
