Page 125 of Puck and Prejudice

Jane looks at me. “Do you think he’d have taken things further than kissing?”

Feeling tired suddenly, I sit on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know, but Jackson warned me about him from the start. I think he might have done something similar in the past. Jackson couldn’t elaborate because he had to sign an NDA.”

Jane’s eyes widen. “Wow. And then he had to work with the man for years. That must have been difficult.”

I nod. “I can’t believe I thought Jackson was the bad guy when I met him.”

“He didn’t really help his case, did he?” She gives me a tiny smile.

I reciprocate, not caring if my face now betrays the swell of emotions in my chest. I wait for Jane to comment on it, but she gets distracted by a text message.

“Chad wants to know if it’s okay for him to come into the room. He wants to say good night.”

Jane and Chad aren’t spending the night before the wedding together. It’s sweet, although I suspect they didn’t plan to follow through with it. But now that Lydia is here…

“Do you want me to take Lydia to my room?”

Jane glances at our sister and shakes her head. “It’s okay. She can stay here.”

Lydia’s breathing is even, and she hasn’t stirred since I came into the room. She’s truly asleep then.

The door opens, and Chad and Jackson come in. My heart leaps into my throat. I wasn’t expecting Jackson to come along. Jane must have told Chad I was here too.

“Hey, how is Lydia?” Chad asks.

“She’ll be fine. No lasting harm done, thankfully,” Jane replies. “What happened to Wickham?”

Chad’s gaze darkens. “We got him kicked out of the hotel.”

“But he’s still part of the team. How’s that going to work?”

Jackson replies, “I had a quick talk with the GM. Wickham is no longer a Lion. It’s a done deal.”

Jane’s brows arch. “It had happened that fast?”

“They already wanted him gone based on his subpar performance this season. What happened tonight just sped up the process.” Chad walks to Jane’s side of the bed and caresses her cheek. “I’m sorry he went after Lydia.”

She glances at our sister. “Yeah, me too.”

“I wonder if he was drunk or had a concussion. Why would he do something so stupid while all his bosses were around?” I muse.

Jackson moves closer and touches my shoulder. “He didn’t think he’d get caught.”

“Wait a second… what’s this?” Jane points at Jackson’s hand on me.

My face becomes hot in a second. I totally forgot Jane wasn’t around when I kissed him.

“These two were yanking our chain this whole time,” Chad chimes in. “Our plan worked, babe.”

Her jaw drops. “How long have you been faking that you still hate each other?”

“Not that long. I only convinced Izzie that we belong together last night.” Jackson strokes my face with his fingertips, making me melt.

“I can’t believe you two.” Jane crosses her arms and pouts. “That was mean.”

I get up and wrap my arms around Jackson’s waist. It feels good to be this close to him. “If it makes you feel better, it was torture to pretend I didn’t like him.”

He places his index finger under my chin and lifts my face so I’m looking into his eyes. “Absolute agony.”

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