Chapter 26
JACQUELINE
Itried to stay present during the afternoon out in the city with Jesse.
Chicago in early autumn was objectively stunning.
The air had a perfect crisp edge to it, the trees were just starting to turn, the lake looked like something out of a postcard, and I had a very attractive man beside me who, for all intents and purposes, was mine for the day.
In theory, I should’ve been thriving on all this, but in reality, I kept catching camera flashes.
Little glints of light from across the street, from behind parked cars, and from reflections in windows, and every time it happened, it reminded me we weren’t just two normal people, wandering around like we didn’t care about tomorrow’s headlines.
Jesse, on the other hand, seemed completely immune. He had his sunglasses on and he was walking like he had all the time in the world, occasionally glancing down at me with that easy, infuriating grin.
“How do you not care?” I asked at one point, ducking slightly when I thought I saw another flash.
He didn’t even look around. “What don’t I care about?”
“The people capturing our every move like we’re part of a nature documentary,” I muttered.
He laughed and nudged my shoulder with his. “It’s not so bad. Give it another week and you’ll be waving.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“You’ll see,” he said confidently. “By this time next week, you’ll be singing a whole different tune.”
I rolled my eyes, but there was something about the way he moved through it all so completely unaffected that made it easier to breathe.
People around here were obviously pretty taken with the Westwoods, or perhaps just with Jesse, but that also made me wonder if he could possibly be as bad as my mom seemed to think.
If he was, it stood to reason that people would know.
That it’d be plastered all over the internet.
The fact that they seemed to hold a completely different opinion of him seemed to mean that she was wrong, but just as I was starting to relax, his phone rang and he groaned when he glanced at it.
“Shit, I’m going to have to make a quick stop at the office. ”
“That sounds like fun for you,” I said.
He slid his hand into mine and started tugging me toward a crosswalk. “You’re coming with me.”
“Marvelous. Do I have to?”
“Yes.” He smirked. “Do try to contain your excitement.”
My eyes rolled again, but he just laughed and slid an arm casually around my shoulders, guiding me toward the W&S building. I leaned into him a little, inhaling the masculine scent of him and finally even slipping my arm around his waist.
I wasn’t sure if we were doing it for show, but I also didn’t care so much right now. It felt too good to overanalyze it. When we eventually arrived at their headquarters, though, I straightened up and let go of him.
The building itself was tall and imposing, but the looks we got as we strode across the lobby intimidated me far more than the glass and steel structure.
I glanced up at him as we waited for an elevator, genuinely confused as to how he just went about his business when he was constantly being gawked at.
“Do they always stare at you like that?” I murmured. “I mean, this is your workplace. Surely, they must be used to be you being here.”
“Nah. It’s not always. Only on days ending in y,” he joked, then waved me into the elevator ahead of him. “Besides, I don’t think it was me they were staring at.”
I sighed. “Well, that’s comforting. Anything I should know about what we’re walking into here? Other than the fact that your entire office seems obsessed with me.”
“Only because I am,” he joked, but after that, he paused for a beat before he shrugged, the movement tighter than usual. “I’m not actually sure what we’re doing here, but we’ll be fine.”
“Excellent.” I blew out a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. It wouldn’t help me look much less windswept, but any change was bound to be an improvement. “Who are we meeting with?”
“Probably Nate and Zach,” he said. “Maybe Alex too.”
I nodded slowly, nerves thrumming through me as the elevator let out a low ding that told me we’d arrived at the correct floor. The doors slid open silently and Jesse led me down a hall, pushing open an office door without pausing to knock.
“What’s up, boys?” he said when he walked in, and I wondered if he felt out of place in his jeans and fitted T-shirt.
He’d slid his sunglasses into his collar when we’d entered the building, but he still looked very much like a guy who’d been in the middle of a casual day while the other two men in the room had on suits and ties.
I followed him in, knowing that I, for one, felt completely out of place. Thankfully, the first person I spotted was a familiar face. I remembered him from the dinner and I nodded when his gaze met mine, figuring I might as well try for polite since professional wasn’t going to fly today.
Jesse had brought me here wearing jeans and jumper, for heaven’s sake. “Hi, Nate.”
“Hey, Jacqueline,” he said, friendly but seeming stressed about something as he swept a hand toward the other man. “Have you met Zach yet?”
I shook my head, my gaze drifting to the younger brother. He was very handsome, with blond hair and light green eyes, and he seemed immediately quieter than Jesse. Calmer and more composed, like he’d apologize if someone bumped into him.
“Hi,” I said eloquently. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jacque.”
“Hey,” he replied, finally rising from behind the desk and walking around it to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot.”
“Bad things?” I asked.
He smiled, but even that was shier than Jesse’s beaming sort of grins and cocky smirks. “Not a single good word.”
“Hey,” Jesse protested from my side, sending a mocking glare toward his brother before he ambled to a sitting area in the corner and dropped into an armchair. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”
Zach chuckled and gave me another smile, a softer, more apologetic one this time. “It was all good stuff. I promise.”
Nate’s sudden frown drew my attention away from the younger Westwood. As I watched, his gaze flicked from Jesse to me and something visibly clicked into place behind his eyes. “So you’re the fake girlfriend.”
I nodded.
Zach looked between Jesse and me, his confusion very much still intact. “This is a fake relationship? Why?”
For just a second, I panicked, having assumed that they all knew what was going on between us, but now, it was very much looking like Zach had been left in the dark. I widened my eyes at Jesse, who opened his mouth to respond, but Nate stepped in first.
“It’s for Jesse’s image, that’s all. You know the drill.”
Zach arched an eyebrow at Nate, then sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Oh. Right. Of course.”
Jesse didn’t correct him, simply gritting his teeth as he rose. He didn’t even look at me, but there was suddenly an awkward tension in the air, his posture unnecessarily tight and his eyes narrowing when they met Nate’s.
It took me a beat to discern the obvious reason for the change in him, but honestly, he shouldn’t have been worried. I wasn’t offended. I could probably take it personally that he hadn’t stood up for me, but it wasn’t like we’d talked about what last night had meant.
“Why did you need to see me right now?” he asked his brothers, already striding back toward me. “It’s a Saturday and this doesn’t seem important.”
Nate held his gaze for just one more extended moment before waved his brothers toward his desk. “We need to talk about the Baker and Sons meeting.”
Baker and Sons? Who the heck is that? Somehow, I doubted it had anything to do with me. In fact, I was suddenly wondering why I was even here.
“That’s only on Wednesday,” Jesse said, his eyes rolling as he reached for my hand. “If you want to spend all weekend preparing for something we’re already ready for, have it at, but we have plans.”
He wound his fingers around mine and walked out, pulling me with him without even saying goodbye. Leading me down a different, tighter hallway around the back, he didn’t stop moving until we’d reached another bank of elevators.
“I’m sorry about that,” he muttered, letting go of my hand to jam the call button.
“Why? I’m not.” I took a breath and turned to face him, looking up into those blue eyes that suddenly seemed so stormy. “Should we talk about last night?”
“Now?” He considered it for a moment, looking me up and down before taking a small step closer. “Okay. Sure.”
As he leaned in closer, the hallway suddenly seemed even smaller, the air charged and the mere presence of him making me think about doing something wildly inappropriate against the wall of a corporate building.
The elevator doors slid open, but neither of us even glanced at them, let alone actually turning away from one another to enter.
“We may have rushed into it, but I don’t have any regrets.” Those eyes were locked on mine, the scent of him on every inhale making it difficult to think straight. “Do you?”
“No,” I said honestly, so drawn to him that my feet shuffled me another step closer of their own accord.
I moved closer until there was barely any space left between us, tipping my head back to drink in the messy dark hair and the shadow of stubble on his jaw.
“Do you have anything left to do here, or are you about ready to take me home?”