He fell into step beside me as naturally as if we hadn’t just spent a week apart, pretending it would be easy to walk away from whatever this was. And me?
I just walked beside him, hyper-aware of every inch of space between us—and even more aware of how quickly it could disappear.
CHAPTER 41
JESSE
If I had any sense at all, I would have left the second I saw her. At the very least, that would’ve saved me from whatever things kept turning into whenever we were in the same room.
Instead, I stayed, standing at the bar like an idiot, just watching her and swatting away whoever came up to talk to me. Alex was going to have to be happy with the networking I’d done so far, because I was pretty sure I was done.
Jacque hadn’t seen me at first. She’d been laughing with that old woman and a group of her friends, but the dress hugged her in a way that made it physically difficult for me to look anywhere else. Elegant, sure, but not subtle. Sexy as hell, too.
With the plunging neckline and how it accentuated her curves, it was the kind of dress that made me want to walk across the room and remind everyone exactly who she?—
No, not mine. She doesn’t belong to me.
I tightened my grip on my glass, dragging my attention away for half a second, but as soon as I looked back, her eyes found mine and that was it.Game over on my productivity for the night.
She looked away fast, though. Like she’d burned herself on the sight of me.
“Hi.”
I blinked hard at the sound of the voice beside me, realizing that the blonde from before was back. Or maybe she’d never left. Either way, she was smiling like she’d foundexactlywhat she was looking for.
“Hey,” I said on autopilot, frowning a little when I noticed the friends who had been flanking her before joining us now.
“You’re Jesse Westwood, right?” the blonde asked, extending a manicured hand. “I’m Allison Rose. Of Brenton Rose and Associates, the financial risk management firm? I’m sure you’ve heard of us. Brenton is my father.”
“Sure, yeah.” I shook with her but withdrew my hand despite the fact that her grip didn’t ease when it should’ve. Her daddy was actually on my list of targets for tonight. “Is he here?”
She blinked rapidly. Her lips spread into a surprised but not displeased smile. “No. I thought everyone knew, but he’s been admitted to the hospital. I’m here on his behalf.”
My lips pursed. “Right. Is he okay?”
She nodded and flipped her hair over her shoulder, then flicked her fingers like she was dismissing the question. “Just some routine tests and the flu. He’ll be fine.”
“Great. I’ll talk to him when he’s out, then. Please give our regards and wishes for a fast recovery.”
I turned away from her, not in the mood to flirt my way into a meeting with her dad. Normally, this would’ve been easy. A few smiles, some light conversation, a drink or two, and the deal would’ve been done.
But tonight, I couldn’t focus on any of that. Jacque was here and that was the only thing that mattered right now. It felt like she was tugging on my heart with a string I hadn’t figured out how to cut.
“You know, Jesse,” Allison said, clearly not having caught the hint. “You and I actually have a lot in common.”
I tuned her out after that, just nodding every so often like I was listening to all the many things she seemed to think we had in common, but my eyes were fixed solidly on Jacqueline, tracking her movements even though I hadn’t intentionally decided to do it. She wasn’t looking at me at all, but I caught every laugh, every smile, and every time she tucked her chin to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.
“You’re very quiet,” Allison remarked lightly at some point, but despite her attempt at not making a big deal of it, I could hear a faint trace of offense in her tone.
I finally flicked a glance at her. “Am I?”
“Yes.”
“It must be the atmosphere tonight.”
She smiled, her fingers curling around my shoulder as she tipped forward on her heels to lean into me. “Or maybe you just need to be distracted.”
If only she knew.“No, thanks. I need to keep my eyes open tonight. There are lots of people here I need to talk to.”
