I smirked. “Because they encourage me.”
She smiled, which kind of sucked because that had been more like something Jesse would say than me. Ordinarily,anyway, but then she glanced back toward the city lights and I forgot all about my brother again.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she murmured. “It’s beautiful.”
I kept looking right at her, cliched as it might’ve been. “It really is.”
She finally twisted in her chair and looked at me again. “You’re being terribly quiet tonight.”
I inclined my chin toward the various plates of food on the table. “I’m eating.”
“So? You can eat and talk.”
“Maybe, but I prefer one activity at a time.”
She shook her head at me. “You’re deflecting.”
“I’m concentrating on my pasta.”
“Jesse.” She let out a soft sigh. “Please tell me what’s going on in your head.”
Too much. Way, way too much, that’s what.
In a few days, this would all be over. Jesse would arrive and the lie would collapse. Eliza would belong to someone else. Technically she already did, which made everything I was doing tonight profoundly irresponsible.
“It’s nothing,” I said finally. “Just a long day at work. I’m sorry I’m not better company.”
She shook her head again but smiled. “Fine. I’ll talk then. You know, I’ve really been enjoying this. More than I expected I would, actually.”
“The cruise? Why didn’t you think you’d like it?”
Her voice softened. “The break, Jesse. I’m enjoying the break. I don’t think I realized how much I needed it until you forced me to take one.”
“I prefer the wordencouraging. Can we use that instead?”
She laughed. “You left me a mountain of money, had me taken to a spa, insisted I go shopping, and kidnapped me onto a boat.”
“Okay, so my encouragement comes with a bit of flair.”
She laughed again, and just like every other time she had, hearing it made the ache in my chest worse. I should’ve been pulling away. Creating some distance from her.
Instead, I kept doing the exact opposite. By the time the yacht returned to the dock, I felt like I’d spent two hours walking directly toward a cliff with no intention of stopping. I hailed a cab, not saying much after I gave the driver my address.
Once I shut the door behind us, Eliza slipped out of her coat and hung it on the rack near the door. I did the same, but I paused halfway through the movement when I realized she was staring at me.
As soon as my eyes met hers, she drew in a deep breath. “Can I ask you something?”
Fuck.
My heart started hammering. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“How difficult the question is.”
She crossed her arms lightly over her chest. “It’s not hard. I just want to know if everything is alright, Jesse.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, even forcing a small smile. “Just tired, is all.”
