Page 83 of Failure to Match

“You kissed me back.”

I stopped short, my throat constricting.

He took a step forward, eyes searching mine. “You didn’t push me away; you didn’t pull back.”

My mouth stuttered uselessly for a beat. “I can’t… you have no idea what…”

This wasn’t about losing my job at Charmed. If word got out that I’d kissed Jackson Sinclair, my professional reputation would be scorched. I’d be blacklisted.

The industry didn’t fuck around with stuff like this. Getting romantically involved with a client was a massive conflict of interest. I knew of exactly two people who’d been caught doing it, and neither of them worked in the industry anymore.

Not to mention the gossip, the rumors, the unkind labels, and general shaming they’d had to endure…

“What?” Jackson asked when I remained silent.

But I couldn’t tell him, could I? If he knew how big of a deal this was, it would give him alotof leverage to use against me if this whole friendship thing didn’t work out.

Protocol dictated that I report the incident to HR and take myself out of the situation immediately. Except I’d also royally pissed off my boss, who was a PR genius. She, too, could very well use this against me.

I had no idea what to do.

“Why… justwhy?” Why had he kissed me? We’d been making such good progress. I didn’t understand.

“Judging by your reaction, I’m not sure now’s the time to?—”

“Just tell me! What the hell were you thinking?” He couldn’t beintome. I wasn’t sure he could beintoanybody, based on the conversations we’d had about romance and love.

Was it just an attraction thing? If so, why the hell would he act on it, knowing we’d be stuck together for another three weeks? Did he not realize how fucking awkward it would be?

“All right, I guess I’ll just spit it out.” And then Jackson Sinclair, the absolutebaneof the last eight months of my existence, looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I was thinking that you and I should get married.”

22

WHAT?!

Stunned silent seconds turned into minutes, then hours, probably. Was he joking? He had to be joking.

He was so sarcastic, his humor so dry, that I genuinely couldn’t tell. But Jackson Sinclair was not proposing to me right now. Even the notion was laughable. So I opened my mouth to laugh.

What came out was: “Is this a joke?”

“No,” he said. “It is, however, the most clear-headed conclusion I’ve come to in years. It makes so much sense.”

My heart was hammering inside my mouth. “What?”

“You process this however you need to.”

What the actual fuck was he even talking about?

“What the actual fuck are you even talking about?”

“Think about it.” And then he just stopped speaking. As though the reasoning was so abundantly clear, it didn’t require an explanation.

“We can’t getmarried, Jackson.” It was unbelievable to me that it even needed to be said. “We barely even know each other.”

“We’ve got three weeks left in the Immersive. That’s plenty of time.”

My head was spinning. “What the hell type of mental gymnastics… How the hell do you imagine you and I could fall in love in the span of three weeks? Orever?”

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