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It was impossible to equate that man I’d seen from afar on so many different occasions to the one right in front of me, who’d dressed as a woman after losing a bet with his sister, who’d playfully teased me, who’d kissed me in the dark like I was precious to him. Who stood before me now and watched me earnestly as he begged to help me with my problems.
Unable to stop myself, I leaned against this chest and pressed my cheek to his heartbeat, just over his fake boobs. The solid, comforting thud against my ear consoled me even as it made the entire situation hurt more.
He hugged me to him, trying to protect me from an inevitable fate he had no clue was approaching. “Tell me what’s going on inside this head of yours, Yellow.”
Oh, damn. He’d given me a nickname. I loved it.
I smiled wistfully and closed my eyes. “I wish I could.”
“But you can.” The warmth of his breath tempted my ear. I clutched a fistful of the bell sleeve of his dress. He ran the backs of his knuckles along my jaw. “Let’s start with your name. Simple and easy as that. So, what’s your name, beautiful girl?”
Except it wasn’t simple or easy at all. Half an hour ago, he hadn’t even believed the daughter of Marcella and Arthur Judge existed. What would he do if he learned he’d just made out with her? What would he think of my ties to Lana, the bane of his existence? Would he believe that my stumbling across him in the courtyard was pure coincidence? Or would he think it orchestrated, that I’d carefully planned to trick and seduce him for some nefarious reason?
I did want my company back. When he learned that, why wouldn’t he believe our chance encounter had been one big scheme to pull the rug out from under him in order to somehow regain JFI?
I couldn’t handle him thinking that way about me. I had to stop this here and now before he learned the truth.
So, no more kissing the boss.
Pulling away, I shook my head sadly. “I should go. This was nice, but we should never see each other again. I need… I need to find Brick.”
“No.” The word was soft and beseeching. And when he tightened his grip on my hand, I didn’t put much of a fight into pulling away. “No, no, no. Don’t leave me like this. Please.”
“Nash,” I cried softly, pleading in my own way for him to give it up. “I’m sorry, but I can’t—”
“It’s Ezra,” he corrected with a coaxing smile as he tugged me closer. He tweaked my nose playfully. “Why do you keep calling me Nash?”
“Because that’s your…” My words fell quiet as I blinked at him slowly. “Wait, isn’t that what you go by? What everyone calls you?” Confusion swirled through me. I’d only ever heard him referred to as Nash. I’d just assumed—
“No.” He let out an amused laugh. “No one calls me that.” Then his eyes darkened. “Except…”
I think he realized at the same moment I did where I’d so often heard him referred to as simply Nash. And now that I thought back to it, my stepmother—and sometimes Brick—were the only people I’d really ever heard talk about him.
Oh, shit.
His gaze collided with mine, mine full of guilt and rue, his shocked suspicion.
He let go of me as if I were suddenly contaminated, then he eased a leery step back.
“You know Lana.” The words were thick with accusation, and his body language was a sudden barrier, warding me away. “Of course you know her. You came here tonight with her son. You gave her other son a cookie.”
I started to shake my head, denying it, except he could see the truth all over my face.
“You’re close,” he hissed. “Dear God. Are you one of her spies?”
“What? No!” What a horrible assumption. I would never spy for Lana. But then I realized, maybe I didn’t want him knowing I even knew about her spies. It could be bad news if he had any idea I was in so deep with her family and the company.
So I quickly added, “We are not close.” Except he’d probably interpret me being her stepdaughter as mighty close. “I mean, we’re not friendly or anything.”
“Yet you’re extremely friendly with both her sons.”
“Yeah.” I snorted. “And neither Brick nor Hayden are exactly fond of her either. Heck, Brick told me just this evening that they wanted in on your half of the company when you showed up because they didn’t want to deal with her.”
“That.” He nodded, narrowing his eyes. “Or they wanted in on my half of the company so they could spy for her as well.”
I laughed. I actually had to laugh at such a ridiculous notion. “Wow. You’re paranoid.”
He didn’t join the amusement, or even smile back. His expression was hard, set in stone, and a lot like the Nash I knew him to be.
