Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I raise a hand to cut him off. “Bottle? Are we back to bottles and babysitting?”
“When you’re the baby of the family, it’s always going to come back to bottles and babysitting. Point being, I’m on your team. And part of why you wanted me to work closely on your business is to make sure someone you trust implicitly is always looking out for you. I’m looking out for you when I say I’m behind you one hundred percent.” He slows and takes a beat. “And I also want you to be realistic, too.”
I rub a hand over the back of my neck, heaving a sigh as we resume our walk. “Yeah, I get it. I can’t assume that just because I feel this way about her, everyone else is going to clap their hands in glee and say oh, we’ve been hoping you’d fall in love, Jones.”
He laughs. “If only it were that simple.”
Nothing is simple in this situation. I haven’t proven myself when it comes to relationships, and that’s the risk I’d be asking Paleo Pet to take—to stand by a guy who’s never gone the distance. “They’ll worry it’ll end in a few days, a few weeks.”
Trevor nods. “Yeah, they might. They might also worry it’ll blow up into a huge mess. They won’t want to be collateral damage.”
“They’d worry it’d look like a scandal,” I say, thinking of Jillian’s words in Miami. No matter how deeply I feel for her, I can see how the press would twist the two of us to suit a narrative. “I need to think carefully about how to broach this with Liam when he returns this weekend.”
“I’ll help you brainstorm, but I think you know what to do,” Trevor says.
I complete the thought. “Be honest.”
That’s who I want to be—the guy who handles things right. I want to do the hard work to earn the rewards. That’s what my dad taught me.
In this case, the hard work lies in communication, being open with people I care about, people I do business with.
But that also means that if Liam cuts me off, I have to be willing to let the deal go. Saying the words out loud tonight for the first time—that I’m in love with her—yields a stark and beautiful kind of clarity to the dilemma.
I might want both Jillian and the contract. But if I can’t have both, I choose her.
First, though, I have a wedding to attend.
30
JONES
It’s like prom, only so much better because I like Jillian way more than Cassie Perkins, the girl I took to the dance. We had a fun time, danced to a couple songs, laughed at a few jokes. But I didn’t feel this stirring of excitement down to my bones when I picked her up.
The limo Harlan and I rented stops at Jillian’s home in Hayes Valley. Dressed in my dark navy tailored suit, I bound up the steps and ring the bell. A minute later, Jillian appears at the door, and I’m speechless. I drink her in, and I want to eat her up.
Sexy but classy, the black dress she wears clings to her, hugging her curves alluringly. The V of her neckline offers the tiniest peek of her cleavage, a hint of flesh. I groan my appreciation. “I want to take that off. Kiss you from head to toe, get my mouth all over every square inch of your skin, skip the wedding, and spend the night with you.” I lean closer. “Inside you. Exploring you. Having you.”
Her lips part, and her breath comes in an unsteady rush. Her hand moves to her chest. “If you talk to me like that, I don’t know how I’ll make it through the wedding.”
“If you keep looking at me like that, I don’t know how I will.”
“How do I look at you?”
“Like you want all the same things.”
Gripping the railing in one hand, she answers in a soft, sexy voice, “You know I do.”
Somehow, I muster the strength to tear myself away from her porch and the possibility of what’s behind door number one—her, alone with me, tonight. I offer her an arm and walk her to the car.
Harlan lounges in the back, tipping his imaginary hat as he says hello. I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse that I picked him up first. I decide on blessing for now, because maybe he’s the roadblock I need.
We pick up Katie next, and as she slides into the car wearing a pale pink dress, it’s safe to say Harlan’s eyes pop out of his head. “How do you do?” He extends a hand as if to shake hers, then dips his head to kiss the top of her fingers.
“My, my, what a gentleman,” Katie remarks.
“I can dance, too.”
“You don’t say,” Katie tosses back.