Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,83
so deep in my calendar that I didn’t see Jett until he set a white paper bag and a cup of coffee stamped with the name Blanche’s on my desk. My taste buds exploded in anticipation.
“Oh my God, you brought me Blanche’s,” I stated the obvious, tearing into the bag to find a beignet, a Cronut, and a lemon-cream filled donut.
“I didn’t know which you’d want, so I got all three.”
“I want all three, so you did good.”
He chuckled, pulling up a chair to watch me tear into the beignet. His deep blue eyes were a little sad, a little worried.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Nope,” I said around a full mouth. “How was the mixer?”
“Fine. The usual.”
“Heart wasn’t in it?”
“Not even a little.”
I took another bite, chewed, swallowed. Asked, “Talk to Georgie?”
A small shake of his head, his eyes shifting so he didn’t have to look at me. “I tortured myself long enough. Nothing left to do but move on, right?”
“And how’s that going for you?”
“Fucking terrible, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.”
My face fell when I saw the truth of the words in his eyes. “I hate this.”
“You and me both. But what can I do about it?” He scrubbed his hand across his lips. “I think I love her, Lane.”
My throat closed around a lump.
“But it doesn’t matter. I won’t be the reason she loses her family and legacy—I can’t be. There’s no choice to be made. But time heals all wounds, or something. Right?”
“I sure as hell hope so.”
A pause. “So were you working late last night?”
“Yes.” I didn’t elaborate.
“Here or at the firm?”
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“I know. But I think you should.”
“Pushy.”
He shrugged. “Don’t act surprised. We share DNA.”
I stuffed the end of the beignet in my mouth and dusted off my hands, considering how to approach the topic through a swallow.
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Which makes me think you were at the firm, and that whatever’s upset you has to do with Liam.”
“Yes,” I admitted. “On both counts.”
His dark brows gathered. “What did he do?”
I watched him. “You don’t want to know.”
At that, all of him went dark. “Laney …”
“He brought me dinner, insulted me, kissed me, and then … I don’t know, Jett. Things got out of hand.” He was so still, I wondered if his heart might have stopped. “It would have been …” I swallowed hard at the memory. “It would have been good. We could have been good, I think. But he’s who he is. He insulted me, and I won’t go back there. I’m through.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“Please, if you kill him, do it for yourself. I won’t have you going to jail on account of me.”
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Jett spat. “It’s like it’s his personal mission in life to fuck with us.”
“I’m sure it’s not just us. Georgie gets plenty of it, but for some reason, she hasn’t disowned him. I want to believe he’s somehow redeemable, but he’s hellbent on proving me wrong.”
“Like, seriously, Laney. How did he end up … I mean … how?”
“I don’t even know. One second he’s yelling at me that he acts this way because I drive him crazy, and the next he’s an inch from my nose, daring me to deny that I want him. And then he just … kissed me.”
Jett swore in a long stream under his breath.
“It gets worse.”
“It’d better not get worse,” Jett warned.
I nibbled my bottom lip. “I wanted more.”
His face flattened.
“I know,” I groaned, dropping my face to my hands. “I’m feeling a lot of self-loathing about it.”
“Please tell me how it’s possible that you could actually want that son of a bitch.”
“Maybe it’s just because I hate him so much. They say your brain produces the same chemicals for both emotions. Plus, hate-fucking is a thing people do.”
He cringed.
“But don’t worry—I’m done. I’ll finish what I have to do with the firm, and then they’re on their own. I already have permission from Cam to not go to their offices anymore. I’ll work at the bookstore and at Longbourne and go to whatever meetings at the firm I’m obligated to be at, but I refuse to work with him. I’m exhausted, and it’s largely his fault. The pain’s not even necessary—I don’t have to deal with him, so why do I keep putting myself through it?”
“Because I think something is wrong with you and you really do like him.”