“You look like you need a hug,” she offered in explanation, though he hadn’t asked and it wasn’t exactly true.
She needed the contact, needed to touch this complex, wonderful man buried underneath the fashion-espionage mastermind.
His arms encircled her, holding her tight, and he rested his head on top of hers.
They stood there wrapped in each other and it was every bit the connection she’d yearned for. And they were both fully dressed. Who would have seen that coming?
“I have to get back to work,” Jason said gruffly. “It’s really late.”
“Yeah.”
Lots of work to do this afternoon. Lots of Allo to endure and lots of Avery to outwit. The thought exhausted her all of a sudden. All she really wanted to do was stay in the circle of Jason’s arms for the next week or two and forget about real life.
Since that wasn’t in the master plan, she stepped back and shoved him lightly. “Go. But come back. Bring dinner and I’ll tell you about my conversation with Avery.”
They weren’t divorced yet. Until then, she’d keep pushing for that connection.
Nine
There was literally no point in Jason going back to work if he intended to get anything done. Apparently, taking a two-hour lunch meant an afternoon of interruptions.
An interview had surfaced in the press sometime in the past few hours with more sweatshop allegations, this time from an unnamed source who claimed to be a current Lyn employee. It was not pretty. And he had the worst feeling Avery wasn’t behind this one, which meant he had bigger problems.
When Bettina pinged Jason via instant message asking him to come to her office, he groaned. He could not deal with another round of his mother’s teary, mournful snuffling over the continued media onslaught. Yes, they were maligning the company with her name on it, but it was his name, too, and if she wanted him to fix it, she needed to give him a break.
It was shaping up to be a late night at the office. There went his plans for takeout with Meredith, which he’d been actively anticipating.
“This is the last time, Mom,” he muttered to his laptop screen and grabbed a Red Bull from the small refrigerator by his desk for fortification.
When had he turned into such a liar? He’d be there for his mother forty-seven more times today if that’s what she needed. When Paul moved out two years ago, Jason had been his mother’s only ally. Gladly. After all she’d done for Jason, it was the least he could do for her. Plus, she was his mom.
Chugging the energy drink, he poked his head into Bettina’s office and she was smiling.
“There you are. Come in,” she invited and leaped up from behind her desk, rounding it more quickly than a sixty-year-old woman should be able to.
Before Jason could blink, she’d thrown her arms around him in a totally out-of-character motherly hug. He hugged her back, mystified by what had prompted such a turnabout.
“Avery told me,” his mother said when she stepped back to look at him with a misty smile. “Though why you didn’t, I’ll never understand.”
“Told you what?” Baffled, he searched his mother’s expression for some clue as to what had elevated her mood.
“About the wife you’ve been hiding from everyone.”
“About the...what?” Jason’s stomach tensed as his mother came in for another round of hugs.
Should he brazen it out or come clean? Well, obviously it was too late to pretend he didn’t know what Bettina was talking about.
Avery. He swore. He’d underestimated her yet again. How had she found out? God, this was so much worse than labor allegations. He should have seen this coming.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d gotten married?” his mother scolded, but the thrill in her voice belied the reprimand.
“Uh...I thought you’d be upset.” Since that clearly wasn’t the case, he scrambled for how to spin this new development, while simultaneously trying to figure out why Avery had struck at him in this particular way.
“On the contrary. It’s the best news I’ve had in a long time.” Her voice lowered. “I would never have said anything, but I didn’t like the idea of you marrying Meiling in some kind of loveless arrangement. But a whirlwind romance and quick wedding? That’s wonderful.”
“I’m glad someone thinks so,” he mumbled darkly.
He’d assumed Bettina would see the business benefits of his “arrangement” with Meiling. Fine time to find out differently.
His mother clapped her hands. “You must let me take you and your wife to dinner so I can meet her. Avery said she’s working at Hurst? Which I don’t understand, but I’m sure you can explain.”