She’d had to take a seat after Chris had told her he was leaving her. She’d been standing at the back of the church in her wedding gown, ready to walk down the aisle toward him. He’d been holding another woman’s hand as he spoke to her. Jan had had only the wall to hold her up.
She was in the center of Leo’s office. The wall was more than a yard away. So how was she still upright?
Alex’s arms were still around her. In fact, he was holding her even tighter. As though he never wanted to let her go. But hadn’t he just broken up with her?
“I’ll march out there right now and tell them all that the plan was my idea,” he was saying. “Because it was my idea. We’ll cast you as the sympathetic girl done wrong.”
“No,” she said. But her voice was barely above a whisper. It didn’t matter. Alex went on as though he didn’t hear her.
“Leo will cast me out for such a dastardly deed.”
“I’ll do no such thing,” Leo said, but Alex ignored him as well.
“I’ll step out of the limelight for awhile,” Alex continued. “Not that it’ll keep the wolves at bay. If I run, they’ll follow me. But that means they’ll forget Jan. Your reputation will be saved. That’s what’s important here.”
“No,” Jan said again, her voice stronger this time. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You shouldn’t have to run.”
Alex cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip. “I only care that you see me for who I am.”
“I do.”
“No.” He tilted her head back so that he could peer directly down into her eyes. “I don’t think you do. This is an entirely new me. I feel like a new man with you.”
Jan’s heart was overflowing like a pie with too much yeast. Emotion spilled out of her eyes and landed on her heated cheeks. “I don’t want you to leave me.”
“I’m not leaving you.” He wiped her tears away with his thumb as he held her firmly to him. “Well, I mean I am. But I’m not.”
“You’re giving a lot of mixed messages here, Alex.”
“Let me be clear. I’m going to go on one of my trips. Maybe to a desert or to the Arctic. Wherever I can that will make any press which follows me miserable. You’ll stay here and open the restaurant as planned. We’ll talk every day. You’ll be sick of me by the time I drag myself back here with my tail between my legs to beg your forgiveness in a huge spectacle and plead with you to take me back. Deal?”
Jan didn’t want to make a new deal. She didn’t want to be left alone in any capacity. The only pact she wanted was one where she and Alex stayed side by side. And kisses. She wanted a deal with lots of kisses.
“This is touching and all, but you’re missing the obvious answer,” said Leo. “Just get married. You’ll have the money. The press will be proven wrong. Everyone gets what they want.”
Jan changed her mind. That was the deal she wanted. Exactly as Leo had laid it out.
Alex sighed, dropping his chin to his chest, and Jan’s heart sank. Everyone wouldn’t get what they wanted. Alex didn’t want to get married.
He may have wanted to date her. Maybe even for a long time. But forever as a couple wasn’t in the cards. Which meant there was no reason for Alex to take the fall.
Alex planted a kiss on her forehead. Then he turned to face his brother. As Alex and Leo continued to argue over the details, with Esme playing referee, Jan slipped out of the office.
She headed down the hall and out the front door. Taking the long walk down the drive to the gate, she saw the press. They were all lined up, talking to each other.
Her sensible shoes crunched over the gravel. She was sure they couldn’t hear her through their own chatting and laughter. But yards away, like predators sensing prey, they heard her.
In unison, their heads turned. Their eyes widened in surprise. Then they wet their lips, held up their cameras and microphones, and the frenzy began.
Jan was still yards away. She had a distance yet to march down the aisle toward the gathered crowd. Instantly, she was transported back to her wedding day, standing at the end of the aisle.
Jan knew where Alex was. She knew why he wasn’t by her side. She knew that everything he was doing was to protect her from this very scenario. And yet, here she was throwing herself into the lion’s den to protect him.
If that wasn’t love, she didn’t know what was.
She couldn’t freeze now. She had to face this and tell them all the truth. Jan turned to face the beasts who were all hungry for a scoop. She put one foot in front of the other and then another.
It was slow progress, but finally, she was standing before them. Now she just had to force the words from her mouth.