He wasn’t fighting me anymore, watching me instead like he was trying to figure something out and the answer was someplace inside of me. Annoyingly, it made my stomach flip and another part of me tingle to life.
Yep, he really is dangerous. Even when he’s not trying. Actually, especially when he’s not trying.
“This isn’t so bad, right?” I murmured when I was almost done with his chest.
He didn’t respond right away, tense and standing so still, it was like he was afraid he might snap if he moved. For just a second, as I looked up at him waiting for an answer, he felt a little too close. Even the sound of the water faded into the background.
I cleared my throat, stepping back before my brain could do something stupid and snapping the cap shut. “There we are. You’re welcome.”
It took a beat before he pulled his sunglasses off, blinking like he’d just come back from somewhere else. Then he let out a quiet laugh and nodded.
“Right, yeah,” he said, dragging a hand over the back of his neck and squeezing. “Thanks.”
I smiled, turning toward the water before he could say anything else and calling out to him over my shoulder. “Last one in’s a coward.”
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 wassupposedto 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.