“You tell meallabout the kiss with Maverick.”
I shake my head but accept his terms anyway. The less I think about Ridge, the better. The less I think about Maverick, the better, too, but that one is proving a lot harder to stick to.
“It was…pretty good.”
Pip rolls his eyes dramatically. “Pretty good?Pretty good? You kiss one of the…say it with me…hottest eligible billionaires in the country, and it was…pretty good?”
“Okay, fine. It was extremely good. He’s a very good kisser.”
I feel the apples of my cheeks lifting, and shit, I’m smiling just recalling the single best kiss of my life.
It might have had something to do with it being so unexpected. I didn’t see it coming at all. One minute, we’re in the middle of a fight; the next, he draws me into him and brings his lips to mine.
Definitely one way to shut me up.
Or maybe it was the timing, coming so soon after making the hard decision to euthanize Wheeler. I was feeling terrible about that, lashing out at Maverick like a total jerk, and then he sprung something so beautiful and tender on me. I was vulnerable and totally powerless against it.
“Real talk, Jackson,” Pip says, tilting his glass to swirl the sangria around. “Are you ready for some truth bombs?”
“No.” I polish off the rest of my second and final vodka of the evening. “But please don’t let that stop you.”
“If you’re not ready to admit with words that you like Maverick, that’s fine.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He groans, like my denial physically pains him. “If we did a side-by-side of your face when we got here tonight and your face a few seconds ago when you drifted off into la-la land, thinking about the kiss, you’d get it. But let’s push your delulu to the side for a minute, shall we? Because we need to deal with a more pressing matter.”
“Enlighten me, please. I’m on the edge of my seat,” I mutter dryly.
“You guys work together. You can’t go on fighting with him because one, it’s not cool to treat your boss like shit, and two, at some point he might actually have enough of your behavior and fire you. And then what? You may have bluffed well and fooled him into thinking you’d quit, but we both know that center is your life. Is it really worth risking?”
“That’s it. You’re right.” I tap my knuckles against the wooden table, excitement skittering through my veins. “You’re absolutely right.”
“I am?” His head jerks back. “I mean, I know I am. But just to clarify, why don’t you explain it to me in your own words.”
“What if my whole attraction to Maverick is based on the fact that we argue?”
“Huh?”
“You know me. I get riled up. I see an injustice like rich assholes moving to Silverstone and taking over, I get pissed off. When Duporth runs his mouth about me, I get angry. Rage is sort of my MO.”
“Sort of?” Pip scoffs with a grin.
“But see, what if the thing I like about Maverick is that he pushes my buttons?”
“I’m not following.”
“I need to take the heat out of it. The more we fight, the more feelings get involved.”
“Kind of messed up, but that tracks. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying the best way for me to stop this thing with Maverick going any further is to change our underlying dynamic.” I tap the table a couple of times, thrilled with myself for having come up with such a great idea. “Screw fighting with the guy. I’m going to be nice to him.”
Pip arches a brow. “And bybenice, you mean acting the way a normal person would?”
“Exactly. Let’s see how he likes that.”
He shakes his head. “Jackson, I love you to pieces, but sometimes you really are…say it with me…batshit crazy.”
