Page 32 of First Comes Revenge

“And as much as I would love to pretend I reserved these the moment we met, the truth is I love the zoo. I’ve got connections. And I was planning to bring Nolan to see the Halloween decorations. You’re way cuter, though, so plans changed and you get his ticket.”

I laugh. For some reason, I can’t picture two moguls of the publishing world chumming around at the zoo together, enjoying Halloween vibes. “You and Nolan like to come to the zoo together? That’s super cute.”

The way he tries not to smile too wide is adorable and sexy. He’s close with his friend and also a little embarrassed to admit it. “We’ve been friends a long time. Halloween used to be our thing. You know, prank some kids, haul in the candy, wear the best costumes. I usually drag him to one or two Halloween related things each season. Of course, he’s harder to get out of the office lately, but I still try.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Nah, it’s manly. Don’t go trying to make it weird.”

“I wasn’t!” I laugh.

He’s smiling as he hooks his arm in mine and leads us toward the entry gate. “Watch this,” he says quietly.

The man at the ticket counter spots him and brightens. “Mr. Wolfe! I told Sarah you would be coming to see her this week. She’s excited.”

“Don’t bullshit me,” Jameson laughs. “I bet she’s not even out of bed.”

The man happily waves us through without even asking for tickets or ID.

“Wow,” I say, raising my eyebrows in a bit of mock awe. “You’re like some kind of VIP here at the Central Park Zoo? I’ve never dated someone so important.”

He straightens his lapels and rolls out his neck. “I try not to brag about it. But, yeah, I’m a pretty big deal around here.”

I let him take my arm again.

“So, who is Sarah? Some other girlfriend I should know about?” I ask lightly, but the truth is my heart is pounding a little.

Jameson winces theatrically. “Sarah does have a special place in my heart. I’ll admit that much. But she moves too slow for me. I’m a fast paced kind of guy. She couldn’t keep up.”

I narrow my eyes. I can tell he’s joking, but I’m not entirely sure what he means. I’m also more than a little scared I’ll find out Sarah is the hot zookeeper he sleeps with on the side. I’m scared because I realize I don’t have any promises of exclusivity from Jameson. I don’t think I even have any right to expect as much. If I wanted him to myself, I’d need to admit I wanted him in the first place. “Did you and Sarah date before?” I ask carefully.

He must see the concern on my face, because he stops walking and turns to face me. The crowds of people pass around us. Some are in costumes. Many are with kids. The night is chilly and perfect, with the sounds of conversation and children’s laughter all around us. Occasionally, a little kid or a young girl screams playfully. There are silly monster blow ups and wood cut-outs placed all over.

He takes my hand, lips twitching with amusement. “Did we date?” As perfect as the night feels, none of it is a match for how my chest tightens when Jameson’s light brown eyes find mine. The eye contact is so intense it almost feels like my feet start to lift until I’m floating just inches off the ground, held captive by his focus.

“Sarah and I…” he says, pausing to search for the right words. “I mean, she’s cute as hell. Don’t get me wrong. But date? No.” He finally laughs and cups my face with one hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tease you. Sarah and I definitely didn’t date. Come on. You’ll understand once you meet her.”

I give him an uncertain look. I hate how even the little hint of jealousy is making my insides churn. I’m not supposed to be this invested already. The whole point of holding back my emotions was to protect myself. If a little mention of some cute ex of his is going to send me spiraling like this, I’m already screwed. “Okay. I trust you.”

He throws his arm around my shoulder and leads me across the path and around a bend in the trail.

I replay those three words I just said again and again as we walk. Maybe it should be a small thing.I trust you.The old me would’ve trusted him with my life from the first meeting. But after Vaughn, I told myself to be more careful with my heart. I told myself I was done trusting men, especially. And yet I’ve fallen right back into the old me, haven’t I?

Sure, there’s this little flimsy wall of pretend we’ve put up between us, but none of that really matters. Because I do trust him. I do feel like I want to lay it on the line again to see where this goes, and as soon as he gets tired of waiting for me to admit the truth, I think I’ll tell him what he wants to hear.

We find a small building and he knocks on the door twice. A young kid in his teens spots us and opens it, letting us in. The building smells musty and it’s not set up like one of the exhibits. It seems like a holding area for small animals in cages. There are bunnies, chinchillas, and lizards everywhere. A girl is deeper in the room dumping some pebbles into a rabbit cage.

“Oh good,” the boy says. “I was just telling Sarah you’d probably come to see her this week.”

Jameson goes to a little area in the corner that’s fenced off. He steps inside and points. There’s something furry curled up in a ball.

“Hey big girl,” he says. “Guess who came to see you?”

The animal lifts its head from the tangle of fur and my heart melts. It’s a sloth. She has black fur around her eyes and a sleepy, adorable little smile as she blinks in recognition at Jameson. She lifts a long, clawed arm toward his face and touches his nose with the rounded center of one of her claws.

He gives her head a scratch, then points to me. “Sarah, don’t be jealous, but this is my girlfriend. Things just weren’t moving fast enough with us. I had to move on. Don’t be mad.”

Girlfriend?The word makes my heart start beating a mile a minute, even though I know he’s probably just filing it under the whole “practice” category. We’re practicing, Charli, remember? Part of practicing would include not freaking out when he refers to you as his girlfriend. Although he has made it pretty clear he’s only calling this pretend for my sake. Maybe Jameson really thinks of me that way.

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