Page 183 of Wait for Him

He takes a step backward, and it's only then that I realize we'd somehow ended up close enough that I could feel the heat coming off him.

Old habits.

"How long are you staying?"

His tone has changed. Shorter. Controlled.

Armored Jackson.

I know him well enough to hear the door shut.

"Um. I'm back for good, actually. I'm going to arrange everything from the hotel this week, logistics and all that, but... I'll be around."

His eyes widen before he catches himself.

"Good." He clears his throat. "That's good. Bennet missed you. It'll be good for you both."

Bennet missed you.

Ugh.

Just fuck this.

"Thanks again." I tap the keycard against the reader and the lock flashes green. "Congratulations on everything. I'm... I'm really happy for you."

Lie. Not entirely. Which might actually be worse.

I push the door open. "Goodnight, Jackson."

He looks at me for a long moment. His hands stay buried in his pockets, and I know exactly why because mine are currently strangling a keycard to keep from reaching for him too.

His jaw tightens. Then relaxes.

"Goodnight, Rosalie."

He turns and walks away.

I watch until he disappears around the corner, then step into my room and shut the door behind me. The second it closes, I lean my back against it and let out the breath I've been holding since the lobby.

"I'm sorry, Jackson," I whisper to nobody.

Then I go run a bath hot enough to cook whatever feelings are currently trying to stage a revolt, because tomorrow I have a life to rebuild.

Tonight, I'm allowing myself one bath's worth of grief over the parts of it I can't have back.

Chapter Nineteen

Rose

I had a girls' night out. An actual girls' night, which I have never once done in my life. There was always a deposition, a crisis, a brother, some very important reason I couldn't spend an entire evening getting pampered and drunk with other women.

This time there was a spa, pedicures, and dinner at Grato, where I arm-wrestled the bartender and won us free appetizers. Jade demanded a rematch on my behalf just to watch him lose twice, which I found both supportive and deeply satisfying. I laughed until my ribs ached, drank too much wine, and somewhere in the middle of all of it realized I was having the kind of night other women had been having their entire adult lives. I'd simply never let myself have one.

Well, fuck. I've been missing out.

I invited Macy and finally introduced her to Jade, which turned out to be a spectacular decision on my part because holy fucking hell. The chemistry between those two made my thighs clench, and I wasn't even involved. Jade has always been fluid in her sexuality and unapologetically so, and Macy reminded me of her from the beginning. I think that's half of why I gravitated toward her on the island. They're both gorgeous, bold, a little inappropriate, and entirely too comfortable asking questions that are none of their fucking business.

Naturally, they loved each other.