Chapter 25 Helena #3
It might have been fruitless going after Carter, but at least it had had the same effect as getting some fresh air, in that I felt sufficiently bolstered to return to the dinner.
As for Jess and Celia, I decided to just let it all wash over me, make my excuses as quickly as possible, and go back to my room.
I made my way back toward the reception room.
They must have been about to serve dessert, as the corridor was almost empty.
Only one man stood at the very back of the hallway.
When I realized who it was, I stopped. Jess.
He had his hands in his pockets, and he was looking right at me as though waiting for me. Was he? Or was it just coincidence?
Just as I was wondering whether to risk talking to him in public, he stepped to the side and vanished behind a dark green curtain.
I looked around, but no one had seen him, so I went to the spot where he had disappeared.
My heart was beating out of my chest as I reached for the heavy velvet material.
I pushed past and found myself in a kind of anteroom containing a few chairs and a low coffee table.
Jess stood at the window, watching me expectantly.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I replied. I thought about Celia’s smile, and suddenly my frustration was back.
“Are you okay?” asked Jess. “You don’t seem very happy this evening.”
“Yeah, unlike you,” I scoffed. It was a childish thing to say—Celia was the one flirting with him, after all, not the other way around. But this whole crappy situation was unfair, so I wasn’t being fair either.
“Are you serious?” Jess sounded amused. “You don’t actually think I’m interested in Celia Woodraw?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Without realizing, I’d clenched my hands into fists, and I forced myself to unfurl them now. “It didn’t exactly seem like you weren’t interested, the way you were talking to each other.”
“You want me to talk to you instead?” The amused tone was gone. I looked up, and saw that he was piqued. “In front of your family? In front of everyone in the room?”
He was baiting me. I knew it, but I still had no defense against it.
“Of course not,” I shot back, more forcefully than I’d meant to.
“Still, you didn’t have to…” I broke off, realizing I was making a fool of myself.
I had no claim to Jessiah Coldwell, just because we’d shared a pizza at Bella Ciao.
Jess took a step toward me. “You think I’m enjoying pretending to be interested in whatever Celia’s saying to me while you’re sitting right there?”
“Well, if not, then you’re a really good actor,” I replied.
“Yeah, I am, because I have to be.” Something in his voice made me look up again. “You have no idea how sick it makes me to have to pretend to everyone out there that I don’t know you. When what I actually want to do is something else entirely.”
Without realizing it, we’d moved closer to each other; Jess was just one step away now.
I was close enough to study the details of his face—the hair falling across his forehead, his mouth, and most of all, the expression in his green eyes, more alive than anything I’d ever seen.
How was I supposed to stay away from him?
Right now it felt impossible. No matter what I’d told myself the last time we met.
“And what’s that?” I asked softly.
“You know what,” he replied, just as softly.
I took a deep breath but didn’t say anything else—instead, I closed the gap between us, so close to him now that I could feel the heat radiating from him. Not that I needed it; the fire inside me was already fierce enough, and it reached a peak as Jess touched a hand to my face.
“Helena…” He murmured my name in a way no one had ever said it before, provocative and raw.
I knew how impossible this was. I should have left. But I didn’t. I did the opposite. I brought my hands to his chest, drawing them gently upward, waiting for him to put us both out of our misery. Jess gave the merest, sexiest half-smile, and leaned in…
Just then, there was a noise—voices in the corridor. It wasn’t anyone I recognized, but it was a sharp reminder of where we were, and I came to my senses. I gathered all my composure, and stepped away.
“Wait,” I breathed. “We shouldn’t… not here…”
“Helena?” Someone outside was calling me now, in a hushed tone, as if to avoid attracting attention. Lincoln. Right—he must have noticed that I’d left the dining room.
“Fuck,” I exclaimed, with a glance at Jessiah. “You should go. If he finds us here together…”
Jess’s eyes darted to the curtain between our room and the corridor, with that rebellious glint in his eye that I liked so much.
If he left, he would be doing the exact opposite of what he wanted, and that wasn’t in his nature.
I felt exactly the same. But there was too much at stake, including some things he didn’t know about.
I touched his arm. “Please, Jess.”
Finally, he nodded, giving me a look that didn’t exactly douse the fire in my insides. Then he disappeared behind the curtain that separated our little nook from the next one.
Not a moment too soon. That very second, the corridor curtain ripped open and my brother appeared—and from the look on his face, he had some idea of what had just happened.
Uh-oh.