d make it through the night.
“Emma, please,” Jackson called back. “I just want to explain.”
Righteous fury lit up inside of her. What was there to explain? “No.”
“Please, Emma,” he begged. His voice was low and full of hurt. For a moment, Emma almost felt bad for him. Then she remembered that he was an expert in getting women to do what he wanted.
“Go away,” she repeated.
“Emma, I didn’t kiss her,” he said through the door. “It was a set up.”
She evaluated that statement for a moment. It could be true. She’d seen enough of the business world to know that people were willing to lie, cheat, and have babies for the company. It wouldn’t be crazy to pay a woman to kiss him.
But that didn’t change the fact that this caught her completely unprepared. He’d had a full two days to tell her. He’d kept it from her, hoping she’d never find out. He had lied by omission. It was just the first step down the path to him actually kissing another woman.
He didn’t trust her. She told him everything, yet he thought it was okay to keep secrets like this from her. What kind of relationship could they have without trust?
She threw open the door, daggers shooting from her red, teary ears. “A set up?” She glared at him. “A strange woman kissed you, but you didn’t think it was important to tell me. Thanks for the heads up.”
She reached over, grabbed the pizza from his surprised hands, and slammed the door again.
“Emma!”
She put the pizza on the counter and locked the door. Her hands shook and tears ran down her face. She peeked through the peephole and saw him still standing there, his hand on the door like he was trying to reach out to her.
“Emma, I didn’t think it was important,” he said softly. “I didn’t want to upset you.”
“I think that turned out marvelously,” Emma replied, still watching him. He winced.
“Can I please come in?” he asked again, looking around the hallway.
She chewed her bottom lip. She didn’t want to see him, but she knew this needed to be done. They needed a conversation and shouting through the door wasn’t the best way to do that. Who knew what the neighbors would tell the reporters.
She undid the lock and opened the door. “You have five minutes,” she informed him. “Then you leave or I call the cops.”
“Thank you,” he said, stepping quickly inside.
She slammed the door behind him and crossed her arms. “Four minutes and thirty seconds,” she reminded him. His shoulders slumped.
“Here, I brought you these,” he said, holding out his hands. He had a bouquet of red roses and a large velvet box. She assumed there was some kind of jewelry inside, but she didn’t really care. She kept her arms crossed.
“Four minutes,” she said coldly.
He set the box and the flowers down on the counter and ran his hand through his hair. The soft blond hair stuck up at funny angles.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“You should have led with that.” She tapped her watch.
“I didn’t kiss that woman,” he told her. Her heart squeezed a little, but she wasn’t about to let him know that. “It was a setup. I went out on the balcony to call you and she came to me. I told her I had to leave and she kissed me. I pushed her away, but the picture was already taken. Please, Emma. I didn’t kiss her.”
He looked at her, his beautiful green eyes pleading for her to understand.
And she did understand. She just wasn’t ready to forgive him for this. The fact that he had kept this a secret hurt almost as much as him kissing someone else. It was still a betrayal.
“I believe you,” she told him. Relief flooded his features and he took a step toward her, his arms outstretched. She moved away from him. “But I don’t trust you.”
“What?” A confused hurt filled his face that made her heart ache.