Jackson (Wild Boys After Dark, #3)(25)

She was way too confused to figure any of this out. The day a man proposed was supposed to be the happiest day of a woman’s life. Instead, Bryce’s proposal felt like a death sentence—and that was even more stupid! He was a good man, an honest man. A man she could be happy enough with.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she scrambled to snag it from the corner of her desk.

Her heart skipped at the name on her cell phone screen—Charlize Martin, Zac Posen’s assistant. Clutching the phone tightly, she whispered, “Please, please, please,” then opened and read the text message.

Good news! Mr. Posen has agreed to the interview. Pls call to schedule.

“Yes!” Her chest swelled with excitement. She immediately pushed the speed-dial button for Jackson, turning on her heels and grinning like a fool. As the second ring sounded, she realized what she’d done and hung up.

“Fuck,” she whispered to the empty room. “Fuck, f*ck, f*ck.” She paced by the window. Something wonderful had happened and the first person she wanted to call was Jackson? Not Bryce. Not one of her girlfriends or her assistant. But Jackson?

It was always Jackson.

Before the proposal, it never felt wrong that he was the center of her universe.

She turned at a knock at her door and managed a semi-smile as George, her assistant of three years, walked into the room, carrying a bouquet of white roses. His spiky hair and skinny slacks gave his already lanky body an even thinner appearance.

“I heard a very loud, ‘Yes!’ Does that mean someone’s in a good mood?” He set the flowers on the desk, positioning them just right in the sun. “And does it have anything to do with these lovely flowers?”

“I have no idea.” Jackson doesn’t send flowers. “No. I’m sure not, actually. It has to do with this.” She handed him her cell phone just as it vibrated.

He arched a brow as he read the text. “Um…Erica! Bryce proposed to you? And I’m hearing about it from a text from Jackson Wild?”

“What?” She snagged the phone from his hand, wondering what the hell he was reading. Have you accepted Bryce’s marriage proposal yet? Her heart fell to her knees. She grabbed the windowsill to remain erect.

Yet.

He expected her to accept the proposal.

“That’s…” She paused to try to find her breath. “That’s not the text I wanted you to read.” She couldn’t tear her eyes from the text from Jackson, couldn’t believe he really wanted her to marry Bryce.

“What could be better than that?” George asked.

She lifted her eyes, and George’s eyes widened as he sat in the chair beside her and reached for her hand.

“Oh, Erica.” He lowered his voice. “I had a feeling about you and Jackson…But I wasn’t sure.”

She pushed from the chair, turned her back to George, and crossed her arms—a barrier against the truth. “We’re…friends.”

“With benefits?” George was the only employee who would have the guts to challenge her. It was one of the reasons she’d hired him, besides the fact that he was organized to the hilt and had a golden touch with clients.

“Friends,” she insisted. She couldn’t even fool George. It was no wonder that every time she said the word her heart cracked a little more.

“Oh,” he said casually. “My error. Then you’ve accepted the proposal from Bryce? The sexy stockbroker who turns every head in the office and treats you like gold? Because if so, then I owe you an apology and I’m definitel—”

She spun around, silencing him with a narrow-eyed stare as she stomped over to her desk and ripped the card from the flowers.

“Hey, hey, now. Those gorgeous blooms don’t deserve to be manhandled.” He primped the petals as she read the note.

I can’t wait to see you this weekend. I know you’ll make the right decision. Celebrate at Club 21? I love you, Bryce.

“Ugh.” She slapped the card on the desk.

“You’re making this way too easy for me.” He picked up the card and scanned it. “Have you not accepted his proposal?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “No proposal acceptance can mean only one thing.”

“That I need to think,” she said harshly.

He lifted one thin shoulder and smiled. “Or that you shouldn’t think at all.”

“I don’t even know what that means, George. How can I not think about this? Enlighten me, please.”

“What did you do when you first started courting Zac Posen?”

She gave a lazy shrug, hating the way she felt when two of the biggest events of her life should have had her doing a freaking happy dance like a carefree idiot and instead she felt rooted in quicksand.

“I’ll tell you what you did. You figured out exactly what you wanted, you devised a plan, and you went for it. You strategized. The same way you created this entire business, right? Isn’t that what you’ve always said? That you never give up? That’s what sets your magazine apart from all other magazines. You’re more creative. You live on the edge, and you take chances.”

“That sounds like a lot of thinking to me,” she said with an eye roll.

“Exactly. But thinking, strategizing, devising a plan about something other than the dilemma you’re trying so hard not to think about. If you focus on making Posen’s interview the best interview you have ever done, you’ll be too busy to think about anything else. Including Bryce’s proposal and whatever isn’t going on with you and Jackson.”