Page 87 of Let Me Say It Again

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Jade

I couldn’t sleep. No, that was inaccurate. I didn’t want to.

I forced my eyes to stay open as I fought immense exhaustion so I could stare at the clock, watching the minutes tick by.

If there was ever a time I wanted a superpower, it was now, and it was to stop time because I knew in my heart nothing would ever come close to how good this was or how good I felt with Red.

There was no turning back, and I’d known what I’d signed up for. The terms were clear—this would end after he got the investment he needed. That time was coming. We both knew it. After the charity auction. Mark couldn’t put Red off for muchlonger. Red had done everything he’d asked. There were no more hoops.

The only question was, when this was all over, who could I blame for my feelings? Feelings I never in one million years thought I’d have for this man.

I turned over and watched for a moment as Red’s body rose and fell with his even breathing. He was sleeping peacefully. His bare back was to me, and I couldn’t help myself, so I inched closer to him and wrapped my arms around him and pressed a light kiss on his shoulder. I had to suck up every second because this could very well be our last night together.

Stirring, he groaned. “Something wrong?” he asked, lifting his head slightly.

I pressed the front of my body up against his back, my breasts on him as I continued to move my hands up and over his shoulders, then down the front of his chest. “Not a thing,” I answered earnestly.

He grabbed one of my hands and held it in his before bringing it to his lips.

My heart rate kicked up, and I didn’t even care that he could see the effect he had on me. “What was that thing you said to me the first time we slept together?” I knew the answer and had played it on repeat many times in my head, but I wanted to hear it come from him again.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he answered, “You’re beautiful.”

My cheeks burned with the fire of a thousand suns at his compliment. “Not that.”

“Then what?”

I licked my lips. “It’s silly. Forget it.”

“You’re so fucking special, Jade. And that’s something I’ll never forget.”

I chuckled. “I thought you forgot.”

“It’s just late. You had to give me a minute, but no truer words have ever been spoken, and I’ll repeat them for you as many times as you want.”

Every day for the rest of our lives.Even as the thought popped into my head, I knew it was crazy, but a part of me wanted it to not be.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jade

There was morebling in this room than in a jewelry store.

And more flipped lips than in the waiting room of LA’s finest surgeons.

And more stilettos than—

Okay, never mind, we were getting off track. The point was that I was standing in the ballroom where the charity bachelor auction was about to go down, and if there was ever a time I felt more out of place, I couldn’t pinpoint it. I was also feeling a little judgmental. Dressing for the event was one thing, but what was with all these people? Maybe it was the money. They didn’t know how to spend it, so they pissed it away on superficial stuff. Thankfully, Red wasn’t like that.

But I was supposed to be one of them, whether or not I liked it—the charitable Jade Logan, fiancée to wealthy businessman Reddington Lyons—so I was going to try to forget all of that and be the best damn actress New York City’s elite had ever seen.

“Jadey!” As soon as Sherrilyn spotted me from the entrance, she elegantly walked over to greet me, wearing a black, satin designer ballgown. “Kiss, kiss!” she exclaimed, giving me—I mean, what else?—air kisses.

“Good to see you. Didn’t this place turn out magnificent?” We’d only talked about the decor a million times over, and I had been brought in to help at the eleventh hour.

Nodding, Sherrilyn didn’t seem to give a damn about the room or the actual event that she’d had such a big hand in. No, her eyes were too busy taking me and my black sheath dressin. “You look divine,” she finally declared in her usual overjoyed way. “You must tell me who your designer is.”

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