The line her mother developed? Really?
They'd developed it together, thank you. It was a business venture with two women at the helm. And probably the one thing her mother didn't have anal-retentive control over where their relationship was concerned. Mostly because their contract made Jackie's approval an integral part of anything that took place with VitaGourmet.
“Yeah, thanks.”
It was all she could manage.
The man made her skin crawl. He had the sort of crocodile smile that made him look oddly constipated for such a distinguished looking, older man. It suggested he had a very hard time smiling genuinely, or that he didn't actually feel anything to know what sort of emotion to base a smile off of.
Basically, he had the look of a predator in a shiny suit, and if his business reputation was anything to go on, he'd done his fair share of shady shit to get where he was today.
“Well, we've been talking about expanding it. I'd be a silent partner, of course.”
Jackie's gaze made a beeline to her mother, who she shot a vitriolic, silent communication to – which her mother promptly shrunk away from. How dare she discuss business with anyone without her at the table? It was a clear breach of contract. She didn't care if she was her daughter. Where VitaGourmet was concerned, Jackie was the flipping CEO.
Fortunately for both of them, the good angel had decided to pay a visit, and she fought past gritted teeth to save her rant for a later conversation with mommy dearest.
“Send your proposal over, and I'll have a look at it,” she answered nonchalantly. “How's the eggplant?”
She could feel the old man's flare of tension at her rudeness but couldn't be bothered to care. He probably wasn't accustomed to being treated with indifference. She couldn't bring herself to pander to him, though. If he truly wanted to go into business with them, he'd need to know she wouldn't accept anything less than respect.
Shifting uncomfortably, she strained to keep from looking up and meeting Liam's eyes, hot as his gaze felt on her skin. Could things be anymore fucked up than this? And what if she had decided to listen to the good angel and give him a shot? They'd have been forced to part, any way. Thanks to this odd, skin-crawling “engagement” her mother had wandered into while no one was looking.
She'd known her mom was going through a mid-life crisis, but she'd never imagined it would end in a union with a man who would undoubtedly drop her when she wasn't shiny to him, anymore.
Gary Cross didn't look the sort of man to commit to any one thing for long. Hell, his business acquisitions alone made it clear he was a man of action who regularly needed “something new” to train his attentions on.
“The eggplant and everything else on the menu is top notch,” came his response.
He was butt hurt, and his tone made that clear. Should she feel ashamed that she drew a slight bit of satisfaction from that? After all, their little union was already creating complications in her life that she'd set her mind to avoiding. One in particular with a name that gave her a physical reaction.
Stealing a glance, her eyes locked with his.
Fuck.
“Honey, you're being rude. Introduce yourself. Liam's going to be your brother, after all.”
A pit fell in her stomach.
Damn it, Mom.
“We've met.”
Oh dear God, no. Please, no.
Was he going to out them? He seemed the type, especially if he was feeling jilted.
“Oh. Well, what a small world.”
Her mother smiled nervously and quickly turned her attention to the chardonnay she'd ordered.
“It certainly is,” Liam responded gruffly.
Sniffing, Jackie broke gaze with him, unable to handle the intensity in his eyes for longer than a half-second. It was like looking into the sun. And she knew full well the passion he contained in that model perfect body of his. It was part of the reason she'd held to the decision to run away; she had no intention of being burned.
“Yeah, I'll have the eggplant.”
The click of her soon to be step-creep's fingertips struck the air, and the server who'd made a fixture of herself came off of her stand by the wall to make her way over to them. Jackie rambled out her order, and Liam followed her lead with his own. Following that, an uncomfortable silence descended the table.
“So, um, we're very excited. We've decided to fast track the wedding to next month. The official announcement to the media will take place next week. We'd love it if you all could be there to celebrate with us,” her mother eeked out meekly. She'd addressed Liam's half-brother, too, but he quickly averted his eyes to something else.
The reason for the tension at the table might not be clear, but it was palpable enough to put everyone on their guard. Maybe she thought moving onto the business at hand would lighten things up, but it only served to dash Jackie's spirits further. Their wedding announcement would eclipse all of the hard work they'd done for VitaGourmet, and make it his thing. He had the bigger name, and dear old mom would become another one of his properties. Jackie wasn't at all keen on being perceived as one of his belongings, by proxy.
To celebrate publicly.
What a joke.
There was nothing to celebrate. The circus they were engaging in was going to fuck up everything they'd worked for, and it was already creating more of a situation than necessary with her stepbrother-in-the-making. She'd known her mom's invitation was going to lead to a breakfast that made a visit to the dentist seem more pleasant, but she hadn't expected it would turn her world upside down.
Yet, here they were.
Liam
Oh, no she wasn't. Jackie might think excusing herself from the sham of an engagement breakfast they'd just been subjected to would get her off easy, but she wasn't leaving that building before he had a chance to let her know his stance on things.
He could care less what his father was planning; he'd already fallen for the girl, and he wasn't going down without a fight. It was one thing when he didn't think he'd have access to her, but she was right here. In his reach. He'd be damned if he didn't get a face-to-face confrontation before they parted ways.
“Sir!”
Totally ignoring the bathroom attendant, Liam pushed through the doors into the lobby of the ladies' “powder room,” catching Jackie's arm before she managed to slip away from him.
“Let go me go, Liam.”
“That what you really want?”
His heart was pounding in his chest, and his gut knotted when she turned around and set those big, dark eyes on him. She looked frustrated, like she'd had every intention of avoiding this conversation. And it hurt more than he expected. He barely knew the girl. They'd shared intimacy that had probably caused an earthquake somewhere, but whatever was fueling him right now had a base in far more than that.
Averting her eyes, she pulled her arm from his grip.
“Don't make this difficult.”
“Don't know another way to make it.”
Setting her mouth, her nostrils took a slight flare.
“Maybe try making it easy.”
He loosed a dry laugh.
“There's nothing easy about this.”
“Exactly! A lot of things have changed in the past few hours...”