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"Only crazy and stupid people," I say, sad for a few moments. He stares at me for a couple of seconds and nods.
"Come on," his eyes look sad. "Let's go back outside, get some drinks and mingle. And I will apologize profusely to anyone that was in the corridor and heard us."
"You don't have to do that," I say quickly, feeling low.
"I do," he nods. “I don’t want you to ever feel like I’ve put you in an embarrassing position, Zara. I want you to trust me. And maybe one day, you’ll...” His voice trails off.
“I’ll what?” I ask, prodding him.
“Maybe one day, you’ll even like me as a person.” He says softly and more than anything in the world I want to tell him that the day has already come. Though I’m scared I’ll overwhelm him and that’s the last thing I want to do.
28
Jackson
"So are you okay to mingle a little bit more?" I ask Zara as we walk back towards the door and back to the party.
"I'm willing to do whatever you want to do," she says and then pauses. "Within reason."
"I get it," I say. I nod slightly and then I see her eyes light up. "What is it?"
"They're here," she says, pointing to the front of the house.
I turn to look and I see Lila and Elise, Charlotte and Luke standing there. Lila and Elise both looked gobsmacked and the kids looked absolutely ecstatic at the ongoing party.
"Well, let's go and greet them," I say as I stride towards her friend and family members. "I’m so glad you made it safe and sound."
"That was so cool," Luke says, jumping up and down. He grabs a hold of my hand. "We went in a plane over the water."
"I'm glad you liked it," I say, glad that the little boy and I can now be friends. It almost feels like a lifetime away when he was splashing me with the water in the fountain at Rosser International, even though it wasn't that long ago.
"Would you like me to show you to your rooms now or?—.."
"Oh, hell no," Elise says, shaking her head. "I think we need to meet some people." She leans towards me. "I don't suppose you know Andy Cohen, do you?"
"Sorry, who?" I ask her, frowning slightly.
She rolls her eyes. "Andy Cohen from Bravo, The Real Housewives. Come on."
I stare at her for a couple of seconds and my lips twitch. I look over at Zara, who's rolling her eyes.
"Elise, Jackson is a professional, okay? He is not watching trashy reality TV shows."
"Andy Cohen is so rich though," Elise says. "I thought rich people knew rich people. And I thought if you knew Andy, then maybe he could sign me up for one of the shows."
"Forgive me if I'm mistaken," I ask her. "But are you a housewife?"
"You don't have to be a housewife to be on that show," she says, throwing her head back and laughing. She looks over at Zara as if to say what a dummy your fiance is.
"Forgive me for thinking that a TV show called The Real Housewives of something would be about housewives."
"Oh, you're forgiven," she says. "Now are there any hotties here? Rich hotties, that would make a good stepfather to my kids?" She looks at Luke and Charlotte. "Wouldn't you like a rich step daddy?"
Luke and Charlotte both look up at her and I can tell they're not sure how to react and if their mother is joking. I'm pretty confident that she's not joking, but I'm not going to say anything because the fact of the matter is there were several men here who would be more than happy to be with Elise. She was gorgeous. She was a younger version of Zara, though I didn't think she was as pretty.
Elise claps suddenly and hands Zara a box. “This is for the two of you. Open it now.” She grins and I watch as Zara takes it from her.
“Now?” She asks and Elise nods wickedly. I have a bad feeling in my stomach, but I don’t say anything. Zara rips open the box and we all stare at the flimsy lingerie that she pulls out of the lace paper.
