Page 78 of Crazy About Love (All About Love)

Chapter 19

PRESENT DAY

The front seat of a limo isn’t as roomy as the back, obviously, but I manage to squish myself between the dash and the passenger seat, head covered by a jacket that smells like electrically charged strawberries. On closer inspection, I realize it’s Jackson’s e-cigarettes.

He told me to stay down and covered until Rian puts up the partition. The longer I stay cramped in the footwell, the better I feel, because that means there’s no private backseat limo stuff happening.

A couple of doors slam shut, jolting the limo and making me bang my head on the bottom of the glove compartment.

“Hey, Jackson,” Rian says after a few minutes. “Take us to the roof court.” Hmm, her voice is so much more polite when it’s not directed toward me, yet I still have the urge to lunge from my crouch and throw down with herNational Geographicstyle.

The limo jolts as Jackson puts it in gear, and I hear the partition rolling up with aziiiiipah. I chance a peek from under the smelly jacket.

“All clear,” he says. “Buckle up. I don’t need a lawsuit on top of everything else.”

I climb up into the passenger seat, knees cracking as I stretch out my legs, my dress stuck in my butt crack. I adjust as discreetly as I can, thankful Jackson has the decency to keep his eyes on the road.

“So where’s this place we’re going?”

He runs a hand over the wheel and stops at the noon position. “Abandoned building.”

My seatbelt clicks into place, and I flip my dress over my exposed thighs. “An abandoned building? Doesn’t scream romance, exactly.”

He shakes his head, his scruffy jawline clenching as he makes a turn. “Rian’s painted a mural up on the roof. It’s…personal. She’s not taking him there just to show him decrepit scenery.”

I quickly glance over my shoulder at the soundproof partition that’s the only thing separating me from Alec right now. A restaurant patio and a sketchy club weren’t his scene, and I don’t think I truly felt the concentrated surge of urgency until this moment. An abandoned building, a train station, a messy kitchen…doesn’t matter what the backdrop is, because if you’re being completely real with him, he will reward you for it.

“How do we get up there?” I ask, eyes back on Jackson.

“On the roof?” He gives me a side smile. “Well, she’ll take him up in the elevator. The fire escape is a little unreliable.”

“No stairs inside?”

“The door locks from the outside at the top. So we could climb the five stories and have a good rest at the top without having a clue as to what they’re doing on the other side.”

I huff. “Well, co-conspirator, I’m open to suggestions, since you seem to be shooting down everything I say.”

“I’m not going to condone anything counterproductive.”

“Ooh, smart guy uses big words.”

He tilts his head thoughtfully to the side. “Why can’t Theresa get the man she wants? It’s a mystery.”

I run an anxious hand through my mess of hair, blowing out a frustrated breath. He has no idea how many counterproductive things I’mnotdoing for the sake of making this evening a success, arguing with him being one of them.

“Maybe we should fake a breakdown,” I say, watching the light in front of us turn from yellow to red. Jackson stops so smoothly that it feels as if we were never moving in the first place.

He gives me one, hard shake of his head. “Not giving them that opportunity.” His eyes flick back to the partition before he slams them shut and curses. “It’s damn near killing me, thinking about what’s going on back there right now.”

An image of Rian’s purple head in Alec’s lap invades my scheming train of thought, and I slam my own eyes shut, shaking my head to get it out.

“Thanks for that,” I say to Jackson, my pained tone surprising me.

When I open my eyes I get the first taste of empathy in his gaze before he lets his eyes drift back toward the windshield.

“We’ve got one mile.”

“Okay.” I nod. We can think of something. Jackson said this date can happen as long as it doesn’t escalate. He’s not looking to pick a fight with Rian tonight by so blatantly interfering, so if we keep it quiet, make sure we get them to midnight with minimum chemistry, then we can make our moves. I don’t know about him, but I’m not waiting more than one second after midnight to tell Alec how I feel.

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