15. Grayson

CHAPTER 15

GRAYSON

V ictoria beams as she looks up from the report in front of her. "Readership is going up across the board, even with the minor advertising we've done so far.

Dad nods from beside her, still skimming through the numbers. "It looks like we're going to be climbing closer to the black this month. How did the meeting go on Friday?"

"Exceptionally well," Jade says, smiling as she stands at the front of the room, commanding the attention of everyone around her. "Christian had spoken to the designer I've worked with, and based on that reference and the interest they had in our rebrand, they were more than willing to take on the project."

"And they're going to have it done before the end of the quarter?" Dad leans back in his chair, arms crossed like this is too good to be true.

Jade nods. "They're going to have it ready two days before the end of the quarter, which is a Friday. Grayson and I were discussing the possibility of a launch party."

Victoria presses her lips together until they nearly disappear. "A launch party is going to cost more money."

Jade shrugs. "It is, but I'm sure that sticking it to your competitors and proving that LRH Global isn't going anywhere would be worth the expense."

She's playing Dad like a violin. He bends under her words, moving to the song she's crafting.

"I'll cover the cost of the party from my personal funds." He glances at the board, making sure that none of them are going to object.

After years of fighting against them, it's odd to see him working with them now.

It's funny how people can come together when they're forced to.

I never would have sought Jade out if she hadn't been forced in front of me. I would've been more than happy to spend the rest of my life without seeing her again.

At least, that's what I've been trying to convince myself since Saturday morning, when she turned icy with me.

Though it's true that we talked about a launch party, it was nothing more than a brief mention as we boarded our flight. After that, Jade put on her headphones and got to work, ignoring me for the rest of the journey.

When we landed, she rushed off the plane like there were dogs snapping at her heels.

I've sent her a couple messages since, to which she's given me one-word answers.

Now, she won't even look at me.

She turns that stunning smile onto Dad. "Thank you. I know how much this company means to you, and since you started it in the eighties, I was thinking that we could theme the launch party after an eighties' prom."

Dad claps his hands together, laughing and nodding. "That's perfect. Do you need someone to help plan the party, or are you okay to manage on your own?"

"I should be fine." She clasps her hands in front of her, still not looking at me even though I try to catch her eye.

The board members filter out of the room, talking about reliving their own proms while I remain sitting, staring at the side of Jade's head.

She finally turns to look at me, biting her bottom lip. "Is there something you had a question about?"

"Yeah, actually," I say as I get up and walk over to her. "I was wondering why, after all the time I've spent with my head between your legs, you're suddenly shy around me."

"I'm not shy around you."

"You are." I twirl a strand of her hair around my finger, tugging on it lightly. "You've barely looked at me since we went to dinner Friday night, and I can't figure out why."

She shrugs, pulling away from me. "I just have a lot going on between my own businesses and this place. There isn't enough time in the day to get everything done."

I study her for a moment, noticing the way she rubs her thumb on her ring finger like she's twisting a ring.

It's the one tell she has.

"You're lying to me."

Her eyes widen. "No. I'm not."

Still twisting an imaginary ring.

"You are. But if you don't want to tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours, you don't have to."

"We agreed that this was just going to be casual between us. No strings attached, right?"

"We did."

"Then take me home and let's have a good time tonight. No more worrying about what's going on in my head."

Even though I want to stand there and keep pushing her until she tells me what's wrong, I know it's a battle I'm not going to win.

She's going to have her secrets, and right now, it's not on me to figure them out.

Jade sits down on my couch, sinking into the plush cushions with a sigh before she tilts the bottle of beer to her lips.

No sooner does she make herself comfortable than there's a knock at the door. I head over and pull it open, taking our pizza from the teenager on the other side and handing him a generous tip.

"Now," I say as I take the pizza to the balcony, "I know this is nothing special compared to your apartment, but I like it well enough."

She follows me out onto the balcony, our drinks in her hands. "Honestly, I think I might like your place better. My apartment feels so cold and impersonal at times, probably because I spend so much time traveling. My mom's always saying that she barely sees me, even though we live in the same city."

"I didn't know that you grew up in New York." I put the pizza on the table between the loungers and take my beer from her. "You didn't mention that when you were talking about your mom the other night."

Jade opens the box, reaching for the slice with the most cheese, the same way she used to back during our college days.

It was good to see that some things about her never changed.

She takes a large bite, the cheese stretching from the slice to her mouth. She chews for a couple seconds before nodding. "Queens, born and bred."

"Odd that it never came up in college." I reach for one of the slices with the least amount of cheese.

"We didn't do a lot of talking in those days," she says, an impish smile on her face. "You and I were far more into the physical side of things and competing with each other."

"Maybe that was our mistake all those years ago."

"It might have been." She nibbles away at the crust before eating the rest of the slice. "All right, then. If you think we should spend more time talking, tell me about your plans for the company once you finally become CEO."

"I don't know." It hurts to say the words out loud, but after the last few weeks of watching Jade take control and reimagine the company, I don't know what else there is to do.

She hugs her knees to her chest as she reaches for another slice of pizza. "I don't believe that. You always used to know where you were going. Now, you're telling me that you don't know?"

"I thought I was going to be the one who swept in and fixed the business. I had all these ideas of how I was going to do it, and I had been trying to get Dad on the same page for years."

"I'm sorry I took that chance away from you." She bites her bottom lip before taking another bite of her pizza.

As she picks at the crust, I lean back and look at the lights shining over the city. It's nothing compared to the view at her place, but I love it here, especially when she's sitting beside me.

"You didn't take the chance away from me." I reach for my beer, taking a sip. "If any of my ideas really were that good, Dad would have implemented them a long time ago."

"I don't think it's that," Jade says, her voice soft as she looks over at me. "You're a smart man. You may not be the most creative person in the world, but you have a good head for what people will and won't like."

"Is that a compliment I hear?" I say, tone teasing as I lean closer to her. "Can I get that in writing?"

Laughing, she shakes her head. "Not a chance in hell."

Her smile sends my heart racing as she reaches for her own drink. "Do you ever see yourself settling down and having kids one day?"

It's a well-aimed knife to the chest, slipping beneath my ribs and poking me in the heart.

I sigh. "I've thought about having a family, but to me, the family business always had to come first. I thought that if I was ever going to get it off the ground and back to what it was, I had to put the rest of my life on hold."

"It sounds like you regret making that choice."

"In some ways, I do. I know we're only thirty and there are still years ahead of us, but I think I regret not taking the time to find my person."

Her eyebrows raise as she twists to face me, still hugging her knees to her chest. "You believe in finding your person?"

"I do. I think there's somebody out there meant for each of us. I don't know if we always end up with our person, though." The corner of my mouth twitches as lights across the road shine bright. "Before she passed, my mom used to say that there was someone out there for everyone."

"When did she pass?"

I swallow the lump in my throat. "Right before sophomore year of college."

And just like that, I know I've gone too deep with Jade.

She's going to hear that comment and the journalist in her is going to start piecing the story together. She's going to see the real reason why I was so horrible that year.

Instead of saying anything, she gets up and moves over to me, tapping my thigh until I part my legs wide enough for her to sit between them.

Her back presses against my chest, her head leaning against my shoulder. "It's been me and my mom for as long as I can remember. She says that my dad didn't want to be much of a dad."

"That must have been hard growing up." My voice is still a little choked, but I'm grateful for the subject change.

As if she knows I need it, Jade grabs my hands and pulls my arms around her, encouraging me to hold her while I fight back memories in my mind.

She takes a deep breath. "I don't know about that. You can't miss what you never had, right? Mom and I might have been broke, and I might have put myself through college on a massive academic scholarship while working three jobs through the summer, but I was happy."

"Are you happy now?"

Jade looks at me over her shoulder, those blue eyes piercing straight through to my soul. "I think I am."

Those four little words send me into a tailspin.

In that moment — after that small sliver of vulnerability she showed for the first time since I met her — I know that there is no leaving Jade.

It isn't as simple as seeing her for the flawed person she is and deciding that she isn't worth my time.

I thought that way in college. But I'm willing to bet that back in those days, she needed the internship more than I ever did.

This time, I can't see the darker parts of her and decide it's easier to not deal with that.

Not again.

We both deserve better than that.

Even though I already think I'm in too deep and need to start swimming for the surface, I can't.

She has bewitched me.