He had screwed up. Big time.
Why hadn’t he just told her? He could have come home from the party and told her then. He could have mentioned it the next day. It would have been so easy.
He wanted to say it was to protect her. He wanted to believe it was because he was keeping her calm for the baby.
But that was a lie.
He was doing it to protect himself. He was afraid she would leave him. That she wouldn’t smile up at him like he was the best thing in the world. That she wouldn’t tease him or make him laugh because she would finally see his true nature.
And he had made it a self-fulfilling prophecy. By not telling her, he had ruined things. He had broken their trust.
He should have told her loved her the moment he knew. She deserved love. He didn’t need to wait and make a spectacle out of it. Their whole lives were a spectacle. Their love didn’t need to be.
But, he had waited to make himself look better. He had kept the kiss to himself to make himself look better.
It had only made him look worse.
A slow resolve started to form, deep in his core. It took hold, growing like a chain of iron, link by link until he was full of strength.
He would prove himself. He would win her back. He would show her that he was the kind of man she deserved.
He would make this right.
He turned off the water and got to work.
“You must be the luckiest son of a bitch I’ve ever met,” Jane said, walking into his office the next day.
He’d spent the night trying to think of a way to make things right with Emma. He hadn’t come up with anything that felt right, so now he was out of ideas, exhausted, and cranky.
“What do you want, Jane?” Jackson snapped at his PR adviser. She really needed to learn how to knock and not just waltz into his office.
“Is that any way to speak to the woman about to save your company and possibly even your relationship?” Jane asked, crossing her arms. A cocky smile crossed her lips.
“If you can do that, then I’ll change my tone,” he replied. He wanted another cup of coffee, but coffee always made him think of Emma.
Jane grinned. “Then change your tone and smile, Jackson. I’ve got your saving grace.”
“Spit it out,” he said, not changing his sharp tone. “Nobody likes a tease.”
Jane put a thumb drive on his desk.
“Let me just turn into a computer and magically read what’s on that,” Jackson said, looking at the drive. He didn’t bother to pick it up.
“Well, aren
’t you in a pleasant mood,” Jane commented. She sat down on her favorite chair and grinned. “It’s you obviously pushing the girl away. In video.”
Jackson’s breath caught. “How? I thought the club’s security cameras were off. You said Max was thorough this time.”
“He was. I’m just better than he is,” she replied casually. “That’s why you hired me.”
Jackson picked up the small silver thumb drive, hope forming for the first time in days. “Where did you get it?”
Jane grinned. “The dock holds some of the most expensive yachts in the world. You don’t think they have their own security cameras?”
Jackson looked up at her.
“I deserve a bonus for this by the way. I had to contact fifty yacht owners, convince them to let me look at their security footage that wasn’t mysteriously missing, and then go through all of it.” She pointed to the thumb drive. “I haven’t slept, and all so I could get you that little one minute and twenty-three seconds of tape.”