Tori sucked in her breath, reaching for her martini. God. No, it couldn’t be possible. Had she fallen in love? She took a long drink. Yes, she had. How could she not have seen it coming? Her heartbeat raced. She stared in his direction, and saw him smile, nodding at whatever the other men around him said.
“Oh, I know that look.” Brandy, Jack’s secretary, stood next to her at the bar and gestured to the bartender.
Tori blinked, glancing at the beautiful woman. “Come again.”
Brandy smiled. “Mm… hmm yeah, just what I thought.” She ordered her drink and looked back at Tori. “He can be an ass sometimes.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Tori agreed.
“Right. You’ll make a decent husband out of him.”
Tori choked on her drink. Did she hear her right? She wondered whatever made Brandy think that. “It’s nothing—”
“How is it?” She raised her brow in question.
“We’re just friends.”
Brandy’s shoulders shook as she let out a soft laugh. “He’d never bring a friend to the company’s cocktail.” She took a sip from her drink.
“I’m sure he took other women to events.” Her chest tightened as Tori imagined Jack with other women. God. She was jealous.
Brandy glanced at Jack, then back at Tori. “If he ever dated, he kept it a secret because he always comes alone to this kind of affairs. Seriously, I’d wondered if he wasn’t into women until you.” She raised her cocktail. “Don’t break my boss’s heart. He’s a good man. Cheers.” She flashed Tori a smile, turned around, and walked away.
Tori looked up, finding Jack still across the room. This time his hot gaze held hers, consuming her inside out the way it always did.
* * * *
“How long has it been since you’ve been seeing her?” Ethan asked.
“Close to three months.” Jack watched her across the room, taking in the way she looked in her short dress. He marveled at how he’d strip it from her when he took her home.
Ethan gave a low whistle. “Three months? Dude, you better make up your mind soon.” He patted Jack’s back.
Jack furrowed his brow. “What do you mean, make up my mind?”
Ethan did a double take. “You’re at the three month mark. If you’re not serious, you need to break things now before she gets any ideas.”
“Trust me, she won’t get any ideas. Tori knows what we are and where we stand,” Jack said, uneasiness filled his chest. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t see her anymore, but he couldn’t resist. He wasn’t ready to let her go yet. They were past their revenge—they’d been past it since the night she pole danced for him.
“If you’re not serious, don’t be selfish. Let her go.” Ethan paused. “I don’t know her the way you do, but putting her naughty-toys joke aside, she’s the kind of woman a man wants to marry.”
His stomach clenched at the thought of Tori being in another man’s arms. “She doesn’t want to marry.”
“How do you know? Have you asked her?” Ethan grinned.
“No. Of course not.” The thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Marriage wasn’t a subject he’d breach. His conversations with her covered all types of topics—except relationships and marriage. Neither one of them had brought it up.
“You don’t know shit.”
“What makes you an expert?” Jack asked.
“Nothing.” Ethan shrugged. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn what you do. I just know it won’t be pretty when one of you decides to move on. I’ve been there. Take it from someone that knows. It sucks.”
Jack didn’t want Tori to move on. Not yet. Did that make him selfish? Three months wasn’t a long enough time to be with someone and decide whether to move on, or stay and take things to the next level. He breathed in, acknowledging that his one-night deal, which had lengthened to three months, had bitten him in the ass.
“If I were you, I’d take advantage of the next two months, when you’ll be working out of Tokyo. Think hard about what you want to do,” Ethan said. “Tori knows you’re leaving, right?”
Fuck. “No. I haven’t had a chance to tell her,” he lied. There’d been plenty of chances; he just hadn’t told her because he’d been afraid of how she’d react. Jack wasn’t even sure how he felt about being away from her for such a long time, and hoped she didn’t think he’d be breaking their liaison of sorts between them—because he wasn’t.
“You’re leaving tomorrow night and you haven’t told her? Man, you’re an asshole, ripping off the Band-Aid like that.”