Eliza blushes and blinks fast, a small smile curving her lips. “Only if you’re by my side.”
“Always, kitten.”
Jackie sits on one of the swing benches, half-hidden behind a potted citrus tree, pretending to read. But her head tilts enough for me to spot the twist of her lips, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.
Fuck me.
“Change of plans.” Carter turns to me. “My fiancée and—”
“I’ve never heard anyone use that word as much as you,” I snort.
“Yes. It’s my favorite word,” he grins at Eliza. “So far. Wife has an addictive ring to it, too.”
She looks like she’s going to burst from happiness.
“We’re going to stay in tonight. But you two should go,” he says, shooting a glance Jackie’s way. “I had to bribeandthreaten somebody to get a table.”
“We should go if—” Eliza jumps in.
“You need to rest,” he smiles warmly, then bends to whisper in her ear. My internal alarms scream when she giggles and peeks at me, nodding at whatever Carter is saying.
Tonight’s going to be interesting.
The first couple of days in Venice have been awkward, to say the least. Painfully so. Jackie’s polite now. Too polite. Even Carter scowled at her behind the columns of San Marco’s Basilica, as if he didn’t recognize this version of her.
She’s skittish around me, like her admission handed me a valid reason to retaliate. It drives me crazy. Fuck… Even before, I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her. Not really. They were childish, petty games. Bruising words and empty jealousy.
It’s not going to fly. I drop onto the cushion of the small stool facing her, resting my elbows on my knees, trying to keep my voice casual. “My mom wants some more photos. Walk with me before dinner.”
Jackie lowers the hardcover she’s been clutching like a shield, and those blue eyes shine over the top, uncertain. “You still want to go? Together?”
I still haven’t processed her apology, but I’m not going to miss out on any chance to be near her. Even if it twists something sharp in my chest.
I’d take all that, any time, over the numbness.
The tree is a good cover, and I lean in, my voice low. “You’re done with all the hiding, baby.” My fingers curl on the cold flowery armrest, stilling the swing. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not—” She catches herself, lowering her voice. “Hiding. You were right, OK? Isn’t that enough? I’m just… playing nice. What more do you want?”
To kiss you again. To pretend we never ended.
But that can’t happen, so I settle for something in reach.
I lean in, close enough for her breath to ghost over my lips. “The real Jackie.”
My Jackie.
The security detail assigned to her today straightens when the porter holds the door open for a vision in green. Light fabric clings and drapes over the soft curves of her body, the airy summer dress swaying with the salty breeze.
And the color. God help me.
Roughly the same shade as my own eyes. It coils heat low in my gut, slow and molten.
“Did you pick this dress especially for me?” I whisper as she falls into step beside me, our path slipping into one of the winding alleys behind the palazzo.
Fighting a smile, she keeps her gaze fixed ahead. “It’s my favorite color.”
Well. Kill me now.
