Page 40 of Fight from the Heart

“The boss?” Karyn questions. “Not the boss-boss?”

I don’t even know what that means.

“The mystery man she’s in love with?” Tricia blurts out, surprised and then equally embarrassed that she’s just ratted out my emotions. Anxious tears well in my eyes, and I want to crawl under the table. I hate my family at this moment.

To my surprise, Jacob holds my hand tighter, crushing my fingers before lifting them for his lips. He kisses the tips. “That’s me. The boss-boss who Lilac is in love with.”

“You have a nickname for her?” Emily squeals. Jacob and I still face each other, and I blink back the tears. I’m the one who asked him to be here, yet I’m mortified at how this is playing out.

“She’s my angel,” he whispers to me. Then he surprises me a second time and leans forward to kiss the corner of my lips. As he pulls back, Ella’s smile is so large it hardly fits her face, and Ethan chuckles before he says, “You all owe me twenty bucks.”

The table erupts in hisses and discord as I listen to my family quibble over bets they placed on my mystery man and me.

“Twenty bucks said he’d fallen for you,” Ethan explains, and my mouth falls open.

“That might not be fair. You have insider information,” Jacob tells him, and Ethan laughs.

“Gambling isn’t fair.”

“When did this happen?” Ella wonders.

“When did what happen?” I question, unable to admit anything because I don’t know what’s happening right now. I brought Jacob here thinking my family would see he doesn’t feel a certain way about me, yet he’s playing opposite what I expected. I wanted the voice of reason from them, and they’re turning against me.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Jacob admits to his sister, and I’m still not sure I believe all that I’m hearing.

As the table turns to other conversation, Jacob looks over at me, still holding my hand.

“You know what this means, right, Lilac?”

I stare at him a second.

“I came to meet your family, so you’re off to New York with me.” He smirks, having won his own bet and getting his way. “Our flight leaves next Wednesday at nine o’clock.”

“You’re proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I tease.

“I’m happy you’re giving me a chance.” His tone turns sober, but his smile expresses his pleasure. He really wants to spend this time with me.

When the night wears down, and my family disperses, Jacob walks me home, holding my hand. He lifts our cold fingers to press another kiss to my knuckles.

“You know, this hand-holding thing isn’t so bad,” he teases, his eyes shifting to me a second. I laugh.

“You survived my family.” I exhale, warm breath misting in the cold night. “Thank you for coming tonight.”

“They weren’t that bad, once Jess got over wanting to kill me for having my way with his sister.”

“My family doesn’t know you did that,” I mock. However, there can’t be much doubt that the boss-boss and I have hooked up. Jacob was attentive all night, holding my hand or keeping his palm on my thigh. He even swiped my hair along the side of my face a time or two, and it felt so intimate despite being so public.

As we near the pharmacy, Jacob turns to me. “Did I have my way with you? Did I ruin everything?” The hesitation in his tone tells me he’s truly concerned.

“You already apologized,” I remind him. “It was a misunderstanding.”

“But I want to be clear that the night wasn’t a mistake, Lilac.” His head lowers, his fingers rubbing over my knuckles.

I step closer to him, cupping his face despite my cold hand. “Jacob, you just came out of a bad relationship. We got caught up in the night. I don’t want to push you into something you aren’t ready for.” Maybe I’m not ready for Jacob because I don’t want to be his rebound girl. His second choice.

He lifts my fingers again, curling his other hand over our linked ones and kisses them.

“Were we caught up? Or was it the pull?” His eyes look at me over his mouth on my knuckles.