Page 76 of False Confidence

Jazz bit her lip, trying not to laugh as India looked between the two of them.

“I was hoping to talk to you alone.”

Liam tucked Jazz closer to his side. “Jazz and I are a package deal.”

India’s face fell, a perfect curl of blond hair slipping from her ponytail as she dipped her head, staring at the polished floor. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, looking up again. “I made a mistake. Obviously, but I mean…” She toyed with the silver pendant hanging around her throat. “I love Bart. I’ve always loved Bart. You know how it was with the three of us. But it’s not what I thought it would be. He’s not you, Liam. It’s always been you.”

Jazz’s stomach twisted as India pleaded. It’s always been you. How many times had she heard those exact words in the audiobooks she’d listened to since Liam had started recommending them? The people saying it in the books always got back together. How the hell was she supposed to compete with that?

“I need to know,” India continued, “if there’s any chance we?—”

“No.”

Jazz started as Liam interrupted, his voice firm but not unkind.

“There’s no chance. You gave up that chance when you slept with my best friend.” India winced. “But even if you hadn’t, we were on borrowed time. It was never going to work out between us. I hadn’t met Jazz yet, and once I did…” He turned to face Jazz, looking at her like India wasn’t even in the room.

Holy shit. There was no need for him to finish that sentence. The implication was clear enough: India wasn’t Jazz.

Liam might have forgotten India was standing before them, but Jazz hadn’t. She resisted the urge to give the woman who’d broken Liam’s heart an I win! smirk—she was petty, not an asshole—and India mustered a weak smile for her.

“You’ve got a good one. Don’t do what I did and mess it up.”

“I would never do what you did,” Jazz said instantly. So maybe she was a little bit of an asshole. India gave Liam one last longing look and spun on her heel, fleeing the gallery room.

Jazz blew out a breath. “Are you okay?” she asked Liam.

“I’m fine. At least you’re not wondering what she wanted when she called now.” He slipped his hand over her ass and squeezed. Well, then. He really did seem fine. How was he so unfazed? “Are you okay?”

Jazz nodded. “I think she bought it.”

Liam raised a brow at her. “Bought what?” He had a pleased little smirk on his face when he turned back to look at the painting, because he knew exactly what she meant. I hadn’t met Jazz yet, and once I did…

And she knew exactly what he was implying: it wasn’t an act. He’d made his feelings pretty damn clear. She just didn’t know what to do with them.

And maybe India interrupting them by calling at dinner, and again at the museum, was a sign from the universe that Jazz had no business going on dates with a man like Liam. But she was nothing if not spiteful, and, frankly, the universe could go fuck itself.

Jazz pushed a roasted tomato around her plate with her fork, trying to look engaged in the conversation she was supposed to be involved in. Maggie had texted Jazz as she and Liam were walking out of the museum to invite her to brunch with her and Nadia. And, after seeing how well Liam had handled India, Jazz had figured she could try to be friendly with Nadia.

She’d spent minimal time with Nadia since she and Maggie had become friends, mostly around Maggie’s wedding, when Jazz had been too busy with her maid of honor duties to get to know her much. That hadn’t stopped her from building up a picture of Nadia in her head, a picture that Nadia, in person, was tearing to shreds.

Why did she have to be so fucking nice?

She’d greeted Maggie and Jazz with hugs and given Jazz three compliments before they’d even sat down. And not one of them was a simple, “I like your shoes!” It was things like, “Oh wow, Jazz, that necklace really brings out the gold in your eyes, it’s gorgeous,” and, “You have the most infectious laugh. I love it.”

Jazz really fucking hated being wrong. But Nadia being so nice didn’t make her feel any less threatened. Instead, she was more convinced than ever that she was going to lose her best friend to someone who was clearly a better fit for her.

After Friday night, she’d planned to take the weekend off from drinking, which had meant telling Liam’s moms they were seeing each other sober. Eliza and Danisha hadn’t seemed surprised in the slightest, and they’d played it pretty cool, but Eliza had given her more hugs than usual, and Danisha had given her the biggest slice of the apple crumble cake she’d made. Jazz took that as approval on their parts.

She longingly eyed the servers passing with trays of mimosas. Brunch without a mimosa was sacrilege, but she couldn’t trust herself not to be an asshole to Nadia with so much as a drop of alcohol in her system. Instead, she grumpily sipped her hazelnut iced mocha.

“So, Jazz,” Nadia began, giving her a warm smile. “You must be super busy at work right now. Maggie was telling me about the pay discrepancy case you all have been working on?”

“Yeah, it’s been a lot, but we have a ton of good people on the case, so we’re getting there.”

“That’s great. I know Maggie used to work like really long days when she was doing your job, and trust me, I know what that’s like.”

“I have a pretty good work-life balance,” Jazz replied. “Cal doesn’t like us to take work home and I have an amazing assistant, so it’s not so bad.”

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