Chapter 30
Zara
”What are you thinking about?” Jackson whispers in my ear as he strokes my shoulder softly. I know it sounds crazy, but I can feel the love in his tender caress.
”Nothing,” I say, touching the tip of his nose and then grabbing his head and bringing him down for a kiss.
”You were thinking about how much you love me, weren”t you?”
”How do you know that, Mr. Pruitt?”
”Maybe because I was thinking about how much I love you as well.” He grins and kisses the side of my face. “And I was thinking about how I can’t wait until I can make you Mrs. Pruitt.”
”Well, what do you know?” I say. ”Maybe we”re both psychic, after all.”
”Talking about psychics.” He leans back against the pillow, and I see a thoughtful expression cross his face as he relaxes.
”What? Don”t tell me you want us to go to a psychic for a reading.”
”No,” he says quickly, shaking his head. ”I”m not into things like that. But do you want to know something weird?”
”Always,” I say, nodding, gazing up him with love in my heart, loving the way that he was staring at me, loving the way he made me feel.
”I do believe that Maisy is a lot more intuitive than I gave her credit for.”
“What do you mean?”
”She knew that we weren”t really engaged and she knew that I loved you.”
My jaw drops. “Wow, so do you think she really is clairvoyant? Do you really think she has powers?”
”No, of course not,” he says, shaking his head. ”Don”t be silly.” He pauses as my eyes widen and I glare at him. ”Sorry, I didn”t mean to call you silly.”
”You hurt my feelings,” I say, pouting slightly and blinking. I look down and rub my eyes and pretend like I”m going to cry.
“Oh shit, I”m so sorry. I didn”t mean that, Zara. I just...” I look at him and start laughing.
”Gotcha.”
“Zara, don”t do that to me. I thought I really hurt you, and that”s the last thing I want to do.”
”You didn”t hurt me. I understand that you don”t believe in psychics. I mean, I don”t know if I necessarily believe in them myself, but how else would she have known that we weren”t really engaged? Even Lila bought it.” I stare at him. “Talking of which, I don”t know how I”m going to tell Lila today that it”s not true. I don”t want to break her heart. I don”t want her to think that she can”t trust me.”
”I think that you will be surprised at how loving she is and how forgiving she will be toward you.”
”You didn”t tell her already, did you?” I ask him suspiciously. ”Jackson Pruitt, did you tell my best friend that this was all a fraud after you told me I couldn”t tell her?”
”Of course not. I wouldn”t do such a thing. But you know she and I spoke at the party and,” his voice lowers, ”I like her a lot. I know why she”s your best friend, and I”m really glad that you guys have each other. It”s really important to have a special person in your life that you can trust and love.”
”I know,” I say. ”That”s Ethan for you, right?”
He nods slowly. ”Yeah.” He looks over at the wall and for a couple of moments, he”s silent. I can feel that his body has stiffened slightly, and I know he”s deep in thought about something that”s upsetting him.
”What is it?” I say, grabbing his arm. ”Is everything okay?”
”It”s fine,” he says. ”I just...”
”It”s your parents, huh?”
He looks over at me with bleak eyes and nods slowly. ”It”s weird,” he says, ”because I”m quite literally the happiest I”ve ever been in my life. I”ve never felt anything like this before. The love I feel for you is so special. It”s so grand. It”s so great. And yet, there”s a tiny part of me...”
”That feels sad?” I say.
He nods slowly. ”Yeah. I really thought that my dad changed. I really thought that he wanted to make amends and rebuild our relationship but,” he frowns, ”he doesn”t give a shit.”
”Maybe he does. Maybe...”
“Maybe nothing. He’s still the same selfish asshole he always was. He had a stroke and he thought about his own mortality and then he decided he wanted to give up the day job,” Jacksons voice monotone. ”He wants me to take it over because I”m the next in line and because he wants to spend his days golfing. He knew that he couldn”t approach me with the same cold demeanor that he always has because I would not be willing to even go to lunch with him. He fooled me. And attempted to emotionally manipulate me.”
”He”s still your dad and you”re still the heir apparent to Pruitt Holdings, thought,” I say, squeezing his hand.
”I am,” he says, ”but I don”t want it.” He shrugs like he doesn’t care, but I can tell that he does. His green eyes are full of hurt and pain. ”I don”t want to take over Pruitt Holdings. I don”t care that it”s been in my family for decades. I don”t care that it would be my own company. I like working at Rosser International. I love working with Ethan. I enjoy going to work each day. I enjoy making decisions with him. I may not be the CEO, but I have a lot of power.”
I rub his shoulder. ”Well, if you want to stay at Rosser International, I think that”s what you should do. But if you do want to take over Pruitt Holdings and the only reason you”re not doing it is because you want to spite your dad, then think about it. Just because he”s a shitty-ass, self-absorbed, narcissistic asshole, you shouldn’t let that stop you.” Jackson”s lips twitch at my words, “Live your life for your dreams and don’t even give him a second thought.”
He nods slowly. “Well, you’re a dream I didn’t even know I had come to life.” He his hands through his hair. “I’ll think about it.”
”It”s okay. I”ll help you figure it out. I”ll listen. I”ll talk. I”m sure Ethan will as well. Shit, even Lila will even though she knows about as much about business as I do.” I giggle. I lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek. ”I love you, Jackson. And whatever you want to do with your life, I”ll be by your side.”
”I don”t know how I got so lucky as to meet someone like you,” he says. ”I don”t know how...” He pauses.
”What is it?”
”I used to think that you had a hard time saying no to people,” he says softly. ”I used to think that you were a little bit of a pushover. I mean, I know your heart is really big, but...” He pauses and makes a face. ”I know about Sandra,” he says. “I know why you find it hard to walk away when people take advantage of you. I want to say I’m sorry for ever judging you.”
I stare at him for a couple of seconds, my heart filling with emotions I hadn”t felt in a really long time. There”s sadness in the pit of my stomach, and I can feel myself tearing up. ”She was my best friend.” I stare at him. ”We did everything together. We shared our dreams and our life and our hopes and our wishes at an age when you think anything and everything is possible. You know?” He nods, but doesn”t say anything. ”I just always thought we”d be in each other”s lives forever. I always thought I could just pick up the phone and call her. And when she started hanging out with those college guys, I was so mad. I wanted her to understand that she was giving up her life. She wasn”t studying. She wasn”t taking classes. She didn”t take the SAT, and this was something we”d talked about for years. We were going to go to college together. We were going to date college guys together when we were freshmen.”
I bite down on my lip. ”I was so mad at her, so, so mad, and I felt like she dropped me. She used to say things about me to the guys and they would tease me and say that I was going to be a virgin for the rest of my life because I didn”t want to hang out and go drink and smoke with them. And it hurt me, and I think that was part of the reason why I didn’t want to help her that night.” I take a deep breath. ”There were so many years that I thought I would never forgive myself for not being there for her. And I understand that I”m not responsible for her death. I understand that I can”t carry that with me, but I never want to feel like I wasn”t there for someone again, especially someone I love.”
He nods and holds my hand.
”I know you look at me and you think, ”How are you letting Elise get away with so much?” I know you look at me and you think that she”s a horrible mother and I enable her.” I take a deep breath. ”Her ex, he wasn”t a good guy,” I say. ”He was a really, really bad guy. And don”t get me wrong. Elise is self-centered and all she thinks about is herself, but she was a child when she had those kids. She was young and dumb and stupid and she made bad decisions.” I lean forward and lower my voice, ”he hit her. Only once,” I say, ”but once was enough. She came to me with the kids that night. She didn”t know what to do. She didn”t have a job. She didn”t have anything, and I told her that I”d always be there for her and for them, and I take that responsibility seriously. Trust me when I say I know that maybe I”ve been too easy on her. And that”s about to change because as much as I love Elise, I love Luke and Charlotte more, and they need stability in their lives.”
”You”re wonderful,” he says, touching the side of my face and bringing me into his arms. ”Are you Mother Teresa?”
”Very unlikely,” I say, laughing.
”I know. I don”t think Mother Teresa would have gone home with me that first night in the bar.”
”I don”t think she would have either,” I say, shaking my head. ”But I”m really glad that I did.”
”I”m really glad that you did as well.” He smiles at me. ”So your parents are coming today. Are they going to hate me?”
”Why would they hate you, Jackson?”
”Because they think they”re coming to meet their daughter”s fiancé and instead, they”re coming to meet her boyfriend.”
”They”ll just be so impressed by this house and the fact that you”re a billionaire that they”re not going to care. Not that I think that”s nice or anything,” I say quickly, and he starts laughing.
”Oh darling, even rich people are impressed by the fact that I”m a billionaire. It”s okay. I know that you”re not with me for my money. I know that you”re not with me trying to get anything from me.”
”And you know I”m not with the New York Times trying to write a story about you, right?” I say with a straight face.
”You are never going to let me forget that, are you?”
”No, I”m never going to let you forget the time you told me that I wasn”t a good actress and would never get an Oscar even though I wasn”t acting or lying.”
He bursts out laughing. ”Well, that”s a story we will have to tell at our wedding.”
”Yeah,” I say. ”I think by the time we get married, that will be a fun story.”
”What does that mean?” He looks at me with narrowed eyes.
”I”m just saying that by the time we actually get married, I”ll be able to laugh at that story.”
”Does that mean that you”re not anticipating us getting married for a really long time?”
I realize then that he”s nervous, and I shake my head. ”Oh honey, I get over stuff very quickly.”
”So you think you could possibly see us getting married within a year?”
”Jackson,” I say. ”A year”s nothing.”
”It”s a long time.”
”What about if I say I”m okay with getting engaged within a year?”
”And you”re okay with having a short engagement?” he says eagerly, and it”s my turn to laugh.
”I”m okay with having a short engagement.” I nod.
”Good,” he says. He kisses me on the lips again, and I run my fingers down the side of his face. I can feel his heart beating next to mine, and I”ve never felt so at peace about anything before in my life. There”s a slight knock on the door and we both pause. ”Who is it?” Jackson says.
”It”s Lila.”
”Come in.” He calls out.
She opens the door and walks in slowly, her hands over her eyes.
”Lila, what are you doing?” I say, giggling.
”I didn”t want to look in case you guys were naked or something.”
”We wouldn”t have told you to come in if we were naked, silly.”
”Oh yeah,” she says, moving her hands from in front of her eyes. She walks over to the bed and has a seat. ”So what”s the plan for today?”
”I think we”re just going to hang out,” Jackson says.
”Hey, Lila. I have something to tell you,” I say softly.
She stares at me for a couple of seconds. ”What is it? Oh my gosh, don”t tell me you”re pregnant. I mean, that”s kind of cool. I”ve always wanted to be an aunt and most probably a godmother, but...”
”I”m not pregnant.” I laugh. ”Come on now. How would I be pregnant this quickly?”
”I don”t know. Stranger things have happened.”
”No, it”s not that I am pregnant. It”s just something that I need to tell you,” I say.
She looks at me for a couple of seconds, and realization dawns in her eyes. ”Holy shit. She was right.”
”What?” I stare at her in confusion. ”What are you talking about?”
”Last night, I was walking around the back of the house because I wanted to check out the pool. And Maisy, Jackson”s grandma”s friend, was there and she said to me that she knew a secret.”
”She did?” Jackson says. ”And what was that secret?”
”She said that you guys weren”t really engaged, but you were really in love, and that everything was going to work out but that I shouldn”t be nervous if the engagement gets called off.” She looks at me as my face flushes. ”Holy shit. She was right. How did she know that?”
”I have no idea,” I say. My jaw drops and I look over at Jackson. ”Now, do you think she”s a psychic?”
”No,” he says, though I can tell that he”s confused as well. ”But you”re right, Lila. I asked Zara to pretend to be my fiancé because my grandma kept trying to hook me up. And I knew I had feelings for her and I wanted to be closer and spend more time with her. But we both kind of realized that the feelings we have for each other are real, but we don”t want to have to fake the engagement because when I propose to Zara for real, I want it to mean something.”
Lila falls back onto the bed and holds her hands up in the air. “Take me away! That is so sweet and so romantic.” She rolls over and stares at us, her big blue eyes happy. ”I think I”ve just died and gone to romance heaven. That is so amazing.”
”You”re not mad at me?” I say.
”Of course not. You were just trying to help him because you love him.”
”Yeah, I guess so.”
”Like I said,” Lila grins, ”I knew you loved him before you did. And I knew the first time I saw him with you that he loved you, so it”s all good.” She giggles. ”But we should head downstairs because Elise just got a call from your parents and they”re on the way, and I have a feeling that your mom is going to be more drama than Hank was in that play.”
”Oh my gosh, don”t say that, Lila. Because you know what that means, right?” Lila looks at me for a couple of seconds, and we both burst out laughing.
”What is it?” Jackson says.
”Well, we both know that my mom...” I pause and Lila grins, and we both speak in unison, ”is going to suck, suck, suck.” We roll around on the bed laughing.
Jackson”s staring at us like we”re crazy. ”What is going on?” he says.
”I”ll explain to you later, my darling. I love you.”
”I love you too,” he says. ”Every single goofy piece of you. And I will never stop. Never ever. Because you’re my lobster, Zara Hathaway. My one and done, forever love.”