Page 46 of Just My Luck

Kit stepped aside with the man and said something privately to him. The man nodded quickly. “Thank you, Don,” Kit said to the man, who disappeared.

“Come,” Kit said, ushering me toward the hallway that led to the office suites. “I’ve arranged for your things to be moved up to the penthouse when the police are done with your room, since the police will need the room for their investigation.”

I was numb. This was a mistake. There was no way in hell Jax was involved in this. What had happened in the past couple hours? How had he gone from his meeting to being arrested for… I felt my stomach lurch. Once the elevator doors had opened into the private suite, I rushed to the bathroom and threw up.

I had forgotten to lock the door, and Kit appeared in the open doorway as I was rinsing my mouth out.

“Is everything all right?” he said, walking up behind me. I almost jumped but stopped myself in time. “I know it must be a shock,” he continued without giving me time to respond. “Someone you trusted, someone you were”—his eyes met mine— “intimate with, doing something so horrific.”

“Jax did not do this,” I said firmly.

Kit nodded like one would to a child covered in crumbs while denying they’d eaten the cookie.

“He didn’t,” I practically yelled.

Kit took my arm and led me out of the bathroom. “Why don’t you sit down. I’ll arrange for⁠—”

“No,” I said, looking around for my purse. I’d tossed it on a table as I’d rushed in, but now it wasn’t there. “Where is my purse?” I asked, looking frantically around.

“I put it in the bedroom.” He motioned to the suite I’d stayed in the last time I’d been there.

I rushed through the doors and stilled when I noticed my purse sitting in the center of the bed next to a Hermès box. With shaky fingers, I opened the box, pulled out the bag, and stared down at the purse I’d talked to Jax about last night.

What was this doing here?

“I hope you don’t mind,” Kit said from behind me. “I was hoping you’d change your mind about moving up here earlier. It’s just a little something I thought you’d like, a thank-you for making the trip out here.” He walked over and opened the closet. “There’s more in here.” He motioned to a few more dresses and a pair of silver Jimmy Choos. The exact pair I had pictures of on my phone.

My body started to shake.

Although every fiber of my being told me to run away, I sat on the edge of the bed and faked a headache until Kit excused himself. Then I called in reinforcements. My first call was to my mom—the former Chief Deputy District Attorney.

Chapter 16

Jax

I felt as if the meeting with the rest of the board had gone well. It had been somewhat of a waste of time. Still, I was able to answer their questions and even enlighten them on a few new developments Nova and I had come up with.

Riding on that high, I decided to surprise Nova and headed across the street to the Hermès shop. When I walked in, the woman behind the counter greeted me a little stiffly. When I showed her the image of the bag Nova wanted, she warmed.

I waited as she disappeared into the back and was offered a coffee by another younger clerk. I sat and waited, second-guessing my choices in life.

My father had waited thirty years to finally get my mother the bag of her dreams. Every anniversary after, he’d gone out of his way to get her a new bag. They’d had thirty-four wonderful years of marriage, and I told myself that I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes my father had made.

If Nova wanted a Birkin, I was going to be the one to give it to her. Period. She could spend her winnings on something else. After all, she was worth it.

While I waited, I replayed last night and finally opening up to her about how I had felt most of my life.

Of course I’d remembered that kiss in the hallway her sophomore year. I was only at that party because she was there. Sofia had hinted that Nova was flirting with one of the football players, and since she was finally between boyfriends, I hadn’t wanted to miss my chance.

Then she’d kissed me. My mind had gone blank. When the kiss was over, I’d opened my mouth to confess my love, to ask her to run away with me right then and there. Only my mind swung into overdrive.

It was as if I could see what our lives would be like in fast-forward. She still had a few years left in school, and I knew how serious she was about getting her degree. I knew that she wouldn’t feel qualified for a full-time job at GSM until she had her diploma in hand.

I also knew that at that stage of her life, she wasn’t settling down. She’d changed hairstyles at least five times that year and had dated eight guys. I could easily just be one more of them.

She was far too important to me to mess that up. So I’d taken the cowardly way out. Instead of talking to her, I’d pretended to be really drunk and acted like I’d forgotten all about that soul-bending kiss.

For a whole year now she’d worked with me, and I’d waited, silently hoping she’d come around. I never expected that she’d been feeling the same way this entire time. I’d been so blind.