Page 142 of Failure to Match

And then it happened. I saw the change in his eyes when he made the decision. He took in a breath and?—

“Sir? Is everything okay?”

You have got to be kidding me.

The emergency button had been pressed like ten full minutes ago! They couldn’t have had worse timing if they’d tried.

Jackson sighed and tapped his forehead lightly to mine. “Everything’s fine.”

“Would you like to start moving again, sir?”

No.

“Yes.”

“Right away.”

The elevator started its smooth slide upward just as my feet hit the floor. Goosebumps spread over every inch of my skin, my body protesting the loss of heat as he stepped back.

It was a severely unpleasant sensation.

“What time do you have to leave?” Jackson asked, sobering.

I didn’t want to answer him. “A few minutes, probably. If I don’t want to be late.”

He nodded. “I’ve arranged for a driver to take you there and bring you back. She’s waiting for you downstairs.”

The elevator came to a smooth halt; the doors slid open; Jackson didn’t move. His gaze was stuck to mine, his jaw and throat working silently, almost like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how. Then he blinked away from me, his chin dipping as he scrubbed a hand over it.

“I’ll see you later, then,” he said.

My stomach sank, disappointment tugging hard enough at my chest to make it ache as he walked out of the elevator. The doors began shutting behind him… right before a hand shot out and stopped them from closing all the way.

The second they reopened, Jackson stormed back inside, cupped my face, and kissed me until my toes curled, my knees wobbled, and my head spun.

“It’s not him,” he whispered against my lips. “It’snothim. Come back to me, Jamie.”

And it broke my brain in half.

34

“Come back to me, Jamie.”

“Come back to me, Jamie.”

“Come back to me, Jamie.”

It was all I could hear, see, think.

I’d been sitting across Daniel Omori for the better part of an hour, and my brain was on autopilot.

It was polite smiles, polite chatter, polite answering of questions, and polite explanations of the services we offered at Charmed. I was going through the motions, but I wasn’t really here. I couldn’t pull myself to the present no matter how hard I tried.

I couldn’t remember how or why I’d crushed so hard on this man just a few weeks ago, because I felt none of it now. I felt absolutely nothing.

We shook polite hands after dinner, exchanged polite goodbyes and polite promises to keep in touch regarding the Immersive program. He’d be enrolling in July.

“Come back to me, Jamie.”

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