Page 62 of The Enemies With Benefits Deal

“Just wait.” She holds me tighter.

What she doesn’t know is that I don’t think I could take a step even if I wanted to.

Something about the way Grayson watches me keeps me pinned in place. It’s like he and I are the only two people in the room, even though I’m fully aware of everyone watching the spectacle.

He gives me a crooked smile that makes me feel like my heart is going to pop right out of my chest. “The truth is, I fell in love with her. But because I’m the biggest idiot in the world, I let my pride get in the way, and I ruined my chance with her.”

Lara squeals, tugging on my arm.

My hand flies to my mouth. “Did you know about this?”

“No, I didn’t. Call it a feeling.” She smiles and bumps her hip against mine. “He takes some time to come around, but eventually he figures out what’s important to him.”

“I didn’t think he was going to do this.” I bite the inside of my cheek, trying not to make eye contact with all the people turning to look at me.

Grayson chuckles. “And now she won’t look at me.”

A bright light swings my way, focusing on me.

If I could die right then and there, I would.

Lara laughs and gives me a gentle push forward. “Stop trying to hide.”

Grayson’s smile falls. “Jade, I’m sorry. I screwed up, and I said some things that I would do anything to take back. I was on my way to come find you when they called me up here.”

I take a step back, disappearing from the light and into the shadows.

This is too much right now.

Grayson is making an effort, and it’s melting the steel wall I built around myself before I came here tonight.

I turn and run out of the room, craving fresh air.

The walls of the hotel blur past me as I head to the front door, shoving the heavy glass open and stepping into the night air as rain drizzles down.

“Wait!” Grayson’s voice booms through the hotel as the door swings shut behind me.

I hurry down the steps and over to a garden box, pacing as he runs down the stairs after me.

“What the hell was that back there?” I ask when he catches up to me. “I know you just didn’t tell an entire room of people that you love me. Not after everything that happened.”

“I did, actually.”

“Grayson, this is insanity.” My shoulders slump as I look up at him, hair dampening from the rain. “You can’t just stand at the front of the room and tell people that you love me and then think that everything is going to be okay.”

“Not what I was doing.” He steps in front of me as I turn to pace back the other way. “I owe you the biggest apology of a lifetime.”

I pause, feet stopping on the sidewalk. “You do.”

“I’m sorry.” He clears his throat, his voice slightly choked, his eyes glassy. Wet strands of his hair plaster against his forehead.“I’m sorry that even after you told me you didn’t want to take anything from me, I didn’t trust you.”

My breathing comes in short bursts, my chest tightening to the point of feeling painful. Everything else around me falls away as I look up at him.

Grayson takes a deep breath. “And I’m sorry that I let something like being a CEO get between us. I thought that I should spend time chasing after my dad’s approval when I’ve always had yours. Even in college, your messing with me pushed me to get more creative. I thought in different ways about everything, but I was too stupid to see how important you were to me back then, too.”

“And now that you have everything you want, you can see that?” I ask, bitterness in my voice as I cross my arms, though it feels more like trying to hold myself together. “You think that this is going to make everything okay now?”

“I think that I love you. I’m an idiot, and I hurt you, and I understand if you never want anything to do with me. After the way I acted, I wouldn’t want anything to do with me either.”

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