Could my heart survive Jason Thorn?

“So, what do you think?”

“About?”

“Marrying me…”

Did he really not see how I felt about him? Not even a little?

“I’m not sure if I’m capable of thinking right now, Jason,” I admitted.

“You’ll be saving me, Olive.”

But what would happen to me in the process? That was the real question. My heart was willing to go along with what he was proposing; after all, there was no way I could attend his wedding knowing it could’ve been me up there standing right next to him—even if it was a lie. But my mind wasn’t thinking any of that; it was giving out all kinds of warning signs.

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course,” he said, letting my hands go.

I was cold. Very cold.

Not knowing what to do with myself, I hugged my elbows and looked down at my feet.

His finger tilted my chin up and he ducked low to capture my eyes, so I gave them to him. He was smiling then, his eyes kind. “It’s okay if you don’t want to say yes, little one. It’s not something I thought I would do this year either.”

Was he getting closer to me? Involuntarily—yeah, no, it was very much voluntarily—I took a step forward to close the distance between us. His eyes were my beacon.

What did he see in my eyes?

His gaze dropped to my neck. He lifted his hand and his fingertips touched the arch of my neck. I stopped breathing and swallowed. His gaze jumped up to mine as if the motion startled him. Then his fingertips trailed up and around my neck and tangled in my hair, his gentle, unexpected touch causing my body to tremble.

My eyes fell closed and I breathed in his scent.

He was standing so close to me.

To my heart.

His thumb caressed my cheekbones and I tilted my head into his touch.

“Olive,” he whispered.

That voice…

I shivered, got wet… My body did all kinds of things that always happen in romance novels.

He was going to freaking kiss me!

If it happens, don’t freak out, Olive.

You’re a calm waterfall, a purring fucking cat.

At first, he rested his forehead against mine and we just stood like that for a moment, breathing each other in.

Gently. Slowly.

His nose touched mine.

Then, nothing. Absolutely NOTHING! His phone started ringing and his hands stiffened against my suddenly heated skin. For a moment there, it had felt like he was right there with me and there was no one else in the world other than us—but then, nothing.

His damn phone was a cock blocker after all.

His eyes still focused on me, he took a few steps back, answered his phone, and only then broke the eye contact. Had his eyes darkened? Was I starting to see things?

I lifted my fingers to touch my lips. How could I feel like his lips had caressed mine even though he hadn’t even touched me?

I walked back inside to where I had left my clutch and picked it up.

When Jason came inside, I was ready to leave before I did something stupid.

I was going crazy.

Chapter Seventeen Olive

The moment I was in my apartment, I walked straight into Lucy’s room. My hands were already covering my eyes when I said, “For the love of all the cute puppies out in the whole world, if there are any penises dangling, tuck them away.”

I heard Lucy’s laugh. “I’m alone, you dork.”

Dropping my hands down, I closed her door and leaned back against it. Lucy straightened up in her bed and put down her laptop. “What happened? You never answered my texts.”

I took a deep breath and then slowly let it go.

“Jason asked me if I would like to marry him.”

Lucy stared at me unblinkingly.

Lifting my hand, I looked at it and then up to Lucy again. “My hands are shaking.”

“Excuse me?”

“My hands are shaking,” I repeated.

“Not that. Could you repeat what you said before that? I don’t think I got that.”

“He asked me if I would marry him.”

“Okay. Am I dreaming or are you really in my room, telling me that Jason Thorn proposed to you?”

I covered my face with my hands and groaned.

“Could you come here for a second?” Lucy asked calmly.

After a few steps, I was sitting right beside her. Reaching out, she pinched my leg.

“I already tried that on my way over. Not a dream.”

“Holy shit!” she breathed out, covering her mouth with her hands. “Holy shit, woman! Did you put a spell on him or something? Damn but you’re fast.”

“Lucy, I need you to listen to me very closely, can you do that for me?”

“Sure, I believe I’m capable of hearing what you are about to say. By the way, I’m very impressed and equally shocked right now, if you couldn’t tell.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you’ll be that impressed after you hear the whole story.”

Hugging her pillow to her stomach, she motioned for me to go on.

“Apparently the alley—”

“No, wait!” She pressed her finger against my lips and jumped down from her bed. “I’m gonna get the tequila I hid in the kitchen. We need shots to celebrate.”

“We are not celebrating anything, Lucy!” I hissed behind her back, but she was already gone.

When she came back she was holding two shot glasses and a half full tequila bottle. She handed me the shot glasses and poured the tequila.

“We’re not celebrating,” I said again.

“Fine. Bottoms up anyway. I need alcohol in my system to listen to this. Humor me.”

We took the shots and she took her seat, the tequila bottle clutched tightly in her hands.

I started again, “Apparently the alley video did more damage than we had thought.”

“How come?”

“No questions,” I warned.

She opened her mouth, but I closed my hand over it before she could ask anything else. “I need to tell it all at once, okay? I’m having a hard time staying calm right now as it is. I’m letting you go, but no questions.”

She nodded, so I pulled my hand back.

“Ok, here goes nothing. Like I said, apparently the video messed things up big time for him. Because of that, his publicist and agent want him to marry someone.” Her eyes grew huge, but instead of speaking, she took a mouthful from the bottle, grimacing when it burned down her throat. “You know, become a family man or whatever the hell they are thinking. So they have been showing him headshots. Freaking headshots, can you believe that?”

Keeping silent, she nodded enthusiastically.

“Well, I can’t. Anyway. Long story short, he didn’t like any of the potential brides they were showing him. Enter me. When our photos went public and everyone seemed to think we were blissfully in love, his publicist suggested that I would be the perfect bride-to-be because of our past together. He said no one would think it was a publicity stunt to clear the negative press around him. He must agree with their brilliant idea because he asked me if I would like to marry him and become his roommate.”

“Can I talk now?”

“Yes, please.”

“Good. Okay, just a second.” She took another swig from the bottle and offered it to me. I took two big sips.

“So, you said yes, right?” she asked as I was wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Tell me you didn’t say no. Because if you did, I might have to punch you in the eye and I doubt that would look good on the cover of those tabloids.”

“I freaked out and left.”

“Clearly you’ve lost your mind.”

Pushing me away, she got up from the bed and placed the back of her hand on my forehead.

“You don’t seem to have a fever.”

 I slapped her hand away.

“What am I gonna do, Lucy?”

She leaned down so we were eye to eye and emphatically said, “You’re going to marry Jason freaking Thorn of course.”

I fell back on her bed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea Luce.”

“Why the hell not?”

“It’s not going to be a real marriage. What if he br—”

“No.” She shoved her finger in my face. “You’re not gonna start with all the what if this happens, what if that happens crap.”