Chapter 50 Jonah
JONAH
Sasha walked over to me while I waited in the living room for Lexi. I was happy to be back in Lexi’s apartment, because in a city that buzzed with millions of people, there were just two people who mattered to me.
Lexi and Evie.
“So, Lexi told me you took care of her when she fell ill while I was away.” Sasha paused. “I must say, I was surprised.”
I understood where this was going. The careful assessment in her eyes reminded me of another conversation a few days earlier, when my efforts had been weighed and found wanting.
“We restructured the entire European division, brought them from red to black in six months,” I’d said, on a rare video call with my Dad. “Ahead of schedule.”
He’d glanced at me, once, briefly before looking away from the camera. I hoped he was looking at the report I’d sent him. “Adequate,” was his only response.
Adequate? It had been months of eighteen-hour days, of rebuilding a team from the ground up, of proving I could do the impossible. Adequate didn’t even begin to cover it.
I’d paused, waiting for more.
“Was there something else?” he’d asked, already turning back to his phone.
The memory still stung, but sitting here in Lexi’s living room felt different. Sasha’s surprise wasn’t dismissal. It was protective concern for her friend. It was real, and grounded in something that mattered.
I’d spent years jumping through hoops, chasing approval that didn’t exist. I’d been running on a treadmill while pretending I was climbing toward something.
But being here for Lexi and Evie wasn’t a performance. And maybe that’s why it actually meant something.
“Lexi told me that you had qualms about us dating,” I said, my gaze straying across the room as I scanned it for a sign of Lexi. Not yet.
Sasha let her gaze rake over me, looking wary. “Well, she’s a sweetheart, and I don’t want her to get hurt. She doesn’t realize the problems that will arise with an age gap.”
I saw a flash of red in the corner, but, nope, it wasn’t Lexi.
Dejected, I turned back to Sasha, trying to recall our conversation.
The anticipation of seeing Lexi again fucked with my head.
It was like an addiction, the more I got of her, the more I wanted.
The way she smelled, the way she tasted, and the feel of her body under mine.
I tuned back in to Sasha’s conversation. “You mean that she may end up being more of a caretaker for me in the future than a partner?”
Sasha’s face flushed, but she didn’t deny it.
“I wouldn’t want that to happen either—” I broke off when I finally spotted Lexi.
She looked breathtaking in a beautiful white dress. Her hair was in beautiful curls around her face, and her lips were a soft pink. With a shock, I felt it in my bones that I would never tire of seeing her. She was the first woman I felt this way about.
“You were saying?” Sasha prodded.
I shook my head. The only thing I wanted to do was go over to Lexi. The only person I wanted around me was her. No one else.
“Sorry, but I lost all train of thought now that Lexi’s in the room looking for me. Nice talking to you, Sasha.” I shook her hand, eager to get to Lexi quickly. I didn’t want to keep her waiting.
I strode over to Lexi. “Every time I see you, I’m surprised,” I said. “Because the question running through my mind is, Is this beautiful woman really with me?”
She chuckled. “Ah, a compliment with a side of a humility,” she said lightly. “Who are you, and what have you done with my Jonah?” she teased while I put my arm around her waist and pulled her close.
“He’s lost. Gone, disappeared because with a woman as brilliant as you in the room, he’s nothing.”
She grinned and stood on her toes to kiss me.
“What were you talking about with Sasha?” she asked, when we broke apart.
“I don’t remember,” I said, still looking at her in awe. “You’re beautiful.”
She buried her face in my chest, holding me tight. “You’re … passable,” she whispered with a wicked grin, slowly lifting her head and looking up at me.
I could see so much in her eyes. How much she cared for me. I paused, the world around me fading into the background, wanting to talk to Lexi about us and our future, when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll be right back,” Lexi said, letting go of me to greet Anne, the nanny who had just arrived.
I turned to Sasha who was wearing a distinctly grumpy expression, and I realized how abruptly I’d left our conversation.
I walked over to Sasha while Lexi gave Anne instructions about Evie.
“Sasha, if I have the slightest hint that Lexi is unhappy with our relationship, if I ever feel like she’s settling for less just to be with me, I’ll be the one to walk away. Because God knows she’s shouldered enough in the past twenty-four years, and I’m not adding to that.”
I met Sasha’s eyes fully then.
“Not because she doesn’t mean everything to me, but because she does.”
Lexi’s breath hitched behind me, and Sasha softened.
“Well,” Sasha said, blinking, “I guess you’re not quite what I expected.”
“No,” I said, “I’m not.”
I reached for Lexi’s hand. “Ready?” I asked.
She nodded wordlessly. And hugging Evie goodnight, we walked out together.
Once we were outside, I turned and kissed Lexi deeply.
When she pulled away, she looked thoughtful. “Everyone around us will only see the age gap,” she said, sounding rueful. “Why can’t they see how much I care about you?”
I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and tilted her chin up gently.
“They don’t need to,” I said. “They will eventually. But until then … I see it. I feel it. And that’s enough for me.”
She gave me a shaky smile, one that was both brave and afraid, and she didn’t let go of my hand.
“Ready to meet my dad?” I asked, and she nodded.