Chapter 17
JESSE
Dinner with the investors was going suspiciously well. On paper, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Just overpriced wine and the same careful conversations I’d heard a hundred times, but something about it felt different.
Back in my solo days, dinners like this had been a party. Deals had been made between rounds of drinks, laughter had come easy, and no one had cared all that much about stepping on toes as long as the money kept moving.
But now, I sat under the Westwood umbrella and it was obvious it had changed things for people.
The investors were still vying for me to scoop up this client’s west coast portfolio before he retired, but they were subdued.
Like they were all acutely aware that one wrong move wouldn’t just cost them a deal—it would bring the entire Westwood hammer down on them.
As boring as it was, it did make things easier. I didn’t need to shmooze, turn on the charm, or play the game at all. They were already sold, careful, and watching themselves.
If anything, I was the most relaxed person at the table, which was saying something given my current mental state. I was beyond distracted—and not only by the memories of having Jacque’s hands all over me.
At least three people had taken pictures of us together today. I’d noticed it at the beach. They’d tried to be subtle, but their phones had been angled just a little too precisely and it was bugging me more than it should’ve.
One of the major reasons I’d brought her with me was because all of this was supposed to be public. We were feeding the press a narrative, piece by piece, until our story became something people believed, but the snorkeling and the sunscreen incident had felt private.
Like something that should’ve been mine and mine alone. God, feeling her surprisingly strong fingers on my skin?
I shifted slightly in my seat, tuning back into the conversation to nod at something someone had said, but even now, in this crowded, lofty restaurant, I could feel eyes on us. On her.
She sat beside me, composed and engaged when she needed to be, and naturally people were looking. Because she’s fucking stunning.
I exhaled slowly and shook my head as if that might break the spell she was casting on me. But yeah. They’re looking, alright.
And I didn’t like it. Not one bit. I didn’t want them staring at what I considered… mine.
I froze for half a second. Easy, tiger. Keep it cool. Keep it emotionless. You never fall for anyone. Don’t start now.
I swallowed hard, forcing my attention back to the conversation even though I honestly didn’t give a shit what they were talking about. I just needed to focus on literally anything that wasn’t the direction my brain had just gone.
Jaqueline was a friend. A good one. Hell, maybe she was even becoming the best one I’d ever had, and that was it. End of story.
She’s still hot, though. God, seeing her in that bikini? Talk about a test of restraint.
I shifted again, adjusting in my chair like I could physically dislodge the thought from my mind. Holy hell. Why can’t I keep it together around her? I barely recognize myself.
Reaching for my drink, I took a long sip and focused on the slight burn of the red wine as it hit my throat, gliding down smoothly from there, but I was just one bad thought away from losing my mind. I shifted again. And again.
Suddenly, a hand slid into mine under the table, Jacqueline’s fingers lacing with mine like it was completely normal. But my entire nervous system short-circuited with that one simple touch.
She squeezed my hand, obviously trying to ground me, but instead, every muscle in my body locked up. To make matters worse, she leaned closer then, her shoulder brushing mine as her voice dropped so that only I could hear.
“You’re fidgeting like a second-grader during a spelling test,” she murmured. “Calm down.”
Her thumb brushed lightly against my hand again, and weirdly, the nerves actually settled. The noise in my head quieted, the tension eased, and I stopped spiraling. Exhaling slowly, my grip on her tightened before I could stop myself.
“Okay, I’m calm. I’m good.”
She let out a quiet laugh at my side. “Sure you are. We’re almost done, okay? Just breathe. We’ll be back on the beach before you know it. Just make it through a little bit longer.”
I dipped my chin in a nod, grateful that she obviously thought the boredom of it all was what was getting to me.
It was that too, if I was being honest. At least if there was something happening, I could’ve focused on that, but as it was, by the time we could finally leave, there had still been nothing different going on.
Just the same careful politeness. But we had a deal on the table and an understanding that I’d likely sign tomorrow or the next day.
After the contract had been emailed to Nate to review.
That gave us at least a couple more days before we had to fly back to Chicago. I just didn’t want to think too hard about what would be waiting for us when we got there.
Back at the house, Jacqueline disappeared almost immediately, walking out onto the deck with her laptop in hand, muttering something about emails and deadlines. “It’s time for me to be a responsible adult now too. See you later, Jesse.”
I gave her ten minutes, maybe fifteen, before I got bored. The house was suddenly significantly less interesting without her in it, so I strode out to where she was curled into one of the lounge chairs overlooking the pool.
Her laptop was balanced on her knees, the soft glow of the screen lighting her face. I propped a shoulder against the doorframe, just watching her for a beat. “You’re really working.”
She didn’t look up, but one corner of her mouth twitched. “How very observant of you.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be on PTO?”
“I’m a lawyer,” she replied. “PTO is a myth.”
I finally stepped out onto the deck, slowly crossing toward her. “You cannot be serious. You’re in Hawaii.”
“Ah, but the law persists.” She finally glanced over at me. “Not for nothing, but you’re in Hawaii too and you’ve been working plenty since we got here.”
“Yeah, but I’m not on PTO.” I scoffed, nudging the edge of her chair with my foot. “It’s really tragic that you’re spending what could be one of our last nights here like that.”
“What’s tragic is you standing there, hovering like a bored golden retriever.”
I grinned. “I am bored and I will totally retrieve some gold for you if you want.”
“Go entertain yourself.”
“I am,” I said. “I’m entertaining myself with you.”
She rolled her eyes before turning back to her screen. “Go swim. Or bother a fish. Just do whatever it is you do when you’re not harassing me.”
“I’m not harassing you,” I argued lightly. “The fish just aren’t nearly as interesting. Especially not in the dark.”
I reached down, snapping her laptop shut before she could stop me and she sighed, exasperation written all over her features when she looked up at me again. “I was working, Jesse.”
“It’s time to take a break,” I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I only just started.”
“Exactly. You started when you’re supposed to be resting and I mean, come on, it’s after ten at night.”
She huffed and pushed herself up from the chair, clearly ready to argue, which was exactly what I wanted. I’d been starting to crave this back and forth with her, the easy, stupid, unnecessary bickering.
“So what if it’s after ten?” She took a step forward and I took one back. “You’ve been working all night. It’s my turn. Surely, you can keep yourself busy for an hour.”
“I can?” I shook my head, feeling my lips curve as I watched her eyes light with righteous indignation. “How? If you can give me any better ideas, I’ll back off.”
“Give you any better ideas? I’m absolutely certain you can come up with those all by yourself. Besides, after what you just did, you’re lucky I’m even tolerating you.”
“You love me.”
“I’m contractually obligated to not love you.”
I laughed, taking another step back. “Fair enough.”
She followed, jabbing a finger into my chest. “I mean it, Jesse—”
Her voice cut off when I suddenly wasn’t on the deck anymore.
Another half-step back and a split second of weightlessness later, I realized that I’d misjudged exactly how close I’d been to the edge.
The realization hadn’t even fully formed yet when I hit the water with Jacqueline only a moment behind.
She’d reached for me when I’d started falling, her eyes growing wide when she’d realized she couldn’t stop gravity. It also didn’t help that she was half my size.
Dropping straight into the warm water, I surfaced just in time to see the splash when she landed next to me. There was a brief, chaotic struggle to figure out which way was up. Then her head popped up next to mine, too close for comfort.
Water dripped from her hair, and her hands braced against me like she hadn’t quite registered what had just happened yet. “You idiot.”
I laughed, treading water and trying not to kick her. “You jumped in after me.”
“I was trying to help!”
“I think it’s safe to say you made it worse.”
She held my gaze for a beat, mascara streaking down her cheeks and her hair plastered to her head, and then she laughed. “You fell off a deck. That’s on you, buddy.”
“You were advancing on me,” I protested, my jeans weighing a ton. “I had to get out of the way.”
We were still too close, though. Maybe even closer now than we had been before. Her hands slid against my shoulders as her laughter faded and she refocused on me, but it all happened slowly, like someone had hit slow motion on the world’s remote.
As if she’d also suddenly realized how close we were, her lips parted and her gaze dropped to my mouth. I felt it when the shift happened, that pull to her kicking in stronger than it had any right to be. The fact that she was looking at my mouth right now…
“Despite you being an annoying pain in the ass, I’m having fun,” she said softly, her eyes darting back up on mine. “Thank you for bringing me with you, Jesse.”
I swallowed, my hands landing at her waist underwater without any conscious thought involved. “Thanks for coming, and for pretending to be mine.”
The second the words left my mouth, something deep and instinctive snapped inside. I didn’t even give myself time to think before I leaned in and kissed her. Soft at first. Barely more than a brush of my mouth against hers.
When she didn’t pull away, I kissed her again, but this time, there was nothing soft about it. It even felt like I blacked out a little, my lips crashing into hers, hungrier and deeper than before. I hadn’t asked for permission, but I also wasn’t leaving room between us for second thoughts.
Her fingers tightened around my shoulders and I pulled her closer until her body was mashed against mine. I could feel every soft inch of her, groaning when I felt her leaning into me like the warm water was melting her.
It was hot as hell, my body responding like it had been lit on fire. I kissed her harder, already sliding my hands down to her ass when reality hit like a bucket of ice straight to the face. You’re pulling the pin on a hand grenade. This will complicate everything.
I pulled back immediately, but it was too late. Jacqueline was staring back at me with wide, stunned eyes, and my stomach dropped. There was no way I could take back what I’d just done. I had no idea how to put that genie back in the bottle.