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“A commitment to fun?” Richard gave a nasty laugh. “As if traveling is more important than my business.” He lowered his voice. “Which, incidentally, is very profitable to you. Who do you think funds all these flights you take?”
Lydia’s shoulders dropped, and it pissed Jackson off. “Dad, I pay for those,” she told him. “I save the money I get from dividends. I don’t use any of it for traveling. All my trips are funded by my work. None of that comes out of my savings or the trust fund mom left me. It hasn’t in a long time.”
“Work?” Richard rolled his eyes. “Is that what you call it?”
“I do a job and get paid. Just like you and Autumn.”
“Hardly.”
Jackson stepped forward so he was between Lydia and her dad. “Wait a minute,” he said, his eyes catching Richard’s. “Lydia’s extremely good at what she does. And highly sought after, too. Did you know she has a waiting list of people who want to hire her? Or that she charges more per hour than any business consultant I know?” The muscle in his jaw twitched. “If she says she needs to be somewhere, then she needs to be somewhere. Her job is just as important as yours is.”
A dazed look washed over Richard’s face. “What’s this got to do with you?” he asked. His voice was softer now, less sure.
Jackson looked over his shoulder at Lydia. She looked as shocked as Richard at Jackson’s sudden outburst.
He brought his gaze back to Richard. “I’m her friend. But more than that, I’m her biggest damn supporter. She’s amazing, don’t you see that? She’s created a business from nothing, doing something she loves. She gets paid to travel the world, for god’s sake. Who wouldn’t be impressed by that?”
Behind his back, he felt Lydia curl her fingers around his. He flexed them to let her know he was there.
“Yes, well.” Richard shook his head. “I should go and take a seat. I’m sure the ceremony will be starting soon.”
Jackson kept hold of Lydia’s hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “Okay then,” he said, his voice low. “I guess we’ll see you later.”
Richard raised an eyebrow at Jackson’s use of we but said nothing. Giving Lydia a nod, he turned on his heel and walked along the pier to where people were beginning to sit down.
Jackson followed him with narrowed eyes and turned back to look at Lydia. “You okay?” he asked her.
She nodded, her teeth digging into her plump bottom lip. “Yeah,” she breathed. “Or I will be once I get over the shock of somebody standing up to my dad.”
Jackson’s brows furrowed. “Maybe more people should stand up to him. And I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
She tugged him toward her, inclining her head to look at him, as their bodies pressed together. “That was pretty damn hot,” she told him, tracing his lips with her forefinger. “Remind me to show you how hot when we get back to your place.”
He swallowed hard. “How long will that be, exactly?”
For the first time since he’d seen her talking to her dad, Lydia smiled. “How long can a naming ceremony last?” she said softly. “If we make our speeches really quick, then stuff some food down our necks for sustenance,
I figure we can be back at your place in a couple of hours.”
He dropped his brow against hers. “I have to pick up Eddie, though at least my dad’s catching a ride home with Frank.”
“Two and a half,” she said, smiling widely.
“Don’t you want to spend time with Autumn and Griff?” he whispered, brushing her lips with his. “And Skyler, too.”
“Three?” she asked, as though she was bargaining.
“Three.” He nodded and kissed her hard, curling his hand around her neck.
She kissed him back, her soft body pressed against his. “It’s a deal.”
19
Jackson cleared his throat and unfolded his reading glasses, sliding them onto the bridge of his nose. Taking a folded piece of paper from his pocket, he slowly opened it up, and put it on the podium in front of him. Lydia watched as he looked out at the throng of people, a shy smile on his face.
Damn, he was hot. Every time she looked at him she felt her heart thumping against her ribcage. It wasn’t just that he was good looking – though of course he was. All close cropped hair and strong nose, with a jaw she’d be dreaming about for months to come. It was what lay underneath those looks that made her breath catch in her throat every time their eyes met.
Getting to know Jackson Lewis was like finding an untouched viewpoint on the top of a mountain. She got to see something nobody else could. The gentleness and softness that lay beneath his jokey exterior. And the kindness, damn, that was hot, too.
