“You couldn’t have known Kristy was going to scream at you,” he said after a moment. “You did fine with her.”
A little hope worked into her chest.
“Max on the other hand...” Jackson shook his head.
“I didn’t say anything,” Emma quickly told him. “I told him we were in love, but... but I don’t think he believed me.”
He hugged her a little tighter. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” she said, pushing him away. “I was supposed to be convincing tonight and he saw right through me. I don’t know who he is, but Max Singleton suspects exactly what we’re doing.”
Jackson stood silent for a moment, his broad shoulders unmoving. “He’s the PR manager for The Innocence Company. If he had tried to solve this problem instead of Jane, I imagine he would have come up with a similar solution.”
Emma stared at him, amazed at his calm. She felt like things were spinning wildly out of control. Max knew. Kristy was off telling the entire party how terrible Emma was. And yet, Jackson just stood there. Being calm.
“Why are you not freaking out?” Emma asked. She wanted to pace the floor. She wante
d to hit something, throw something to the ground. Nervous energy crackled through her skin.
“What would freaking out accomplish?” Jackson asked with a shrug. “It’s two people. Max might be a problem, but he has no proof. And Kristy? She’s a joke. Always has been.”
“What do you mean?” Emma asked.
“Kristy is a certified gold digger. She’s working her way through rich husbands, and her little stunt this evening was because she’s mad I’m not next,” he explained. “She is jealous of you, so I’d say her little freak-out is actually in our favor. She believes that you have snagged the prize.”
He motioned to himself like he was a prize winning fish on display.
“Oh.” That made Emma feel a little bit better. “Did you ever sleep with her?”
Jackson looked at her with those green eyes that made her knees weak. “Do you really want the answer to that?”
Emma thought about it. “Not really. It’s in the past either way.”
Jackson nodded.
“What about Max? What do we do about him?” Emma asked. There she felt like a failure. She should have done more to convince him. She should have done something. Anything.
“We make it so he has no proof,” Jackson replied simply. “If everyone else believes it, who cares what he says?”
“So we keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Emma said slowly. She nodded and took a deep breath.
She looked up at Jackson. She had been so sure he was going to be angry, but he had been the exact opposite. He wasn’t mad at all that she failed. It felt liberating to know that she didn’t have to be perfect all the time to make him happy.
She could fail and he would pick her up.
If that wasn’t the foundations for a successful marriage, she wasn’t sure what was.
“Kiss me,” she ordered him.
He frowned slightly, but did as she asked. A small peck on the lips. She shook her head as he stood up straight. She reached up, wrapping her arm around his neck and pulling his face into hers for a real kiss. One that lit up the room with heat.
All her nervous energy went into the kiss. Her tongue found his, caressing and tasting his lips. She moaned as he wrapped one arm around her hips and the other went to her hair.
She had to pull back. The kiss was too good. If she didn’t stop, she was going to rip his clothes off right here in the coat closet. The idea of him naked and pounding her with the party just outside their door was enough to soak her panties through.
Jackson pulled back. “If you kiss me like that, I’m going to take you right here,” he told her, his voice low and rough. She could see his excitement building in his pants.
Her fingers itched to undress him.