Page 64 of Tempted To Be Mine

I did. And he was right. It was the smart thing to do. It was the thing that would let us both keep our lives intact without any of the messy complications that came with trying to turn a working relationship into something more.

“Yes,” I said. “I’d like that.”

Relief washed over his features. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s just go back to normal.”

He nodded slowly. “We’ll keep things the way they always were. No weirdness.”

“No weirdness,” I agreed with a forced smile.

“And Lucy?” He paused, leaning in just a little more. “I want you to know, I enjoyed our time together. In the cabin. More than I probably should have. But I know we can’t do that again. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

My heart squeezed. He had enjoyed it.

“I understand,” I said. “I enjoyed it too. But you’re right. It was a one-time thing. Circumstances and adrenaline and all that.”

“Exactly.” He seemed relieved that I understood.

“So we’re good?”

“We’re good.”

He smiled the easy smile that I’d seen a thousand times. It should have made me feel better. Instead, it just reminded me of all the reasons I was crushing on him in the first place.

Because that was what had happened, wasn’t it? Somewhere between the snowball fights and the cabin and waking up in his arms, I’d developed actual feelings for Jeremy Blackwell. Not just physical attraction, which would have been manageable. Real feelings.

I was such an idiot.

“I should probably circulate,” Jeremy said, glancing around the room. “Sebastian will want to talk strategy, and I think Bernadette wanted to discuss the travel arrangements for tomorrow.”

“Of course. Go. Mingle.”

He stood, then paused, looking down at me. “Thanks, Lucy. For understanding. For being willing to move past this.”

“That’s what friends do.”

“Yeah.” He looked at me for several seconds. I waited for him to say something more. “That’s what friends do.”

I watched him walk away, stopping to shake hands with crew members and accept congratulations on his new role. He was good at this. The networking. It was effortless for him to make everyone feel like they had his full attention.

I turned back to my plate, but I’d lost my appetite. The rational part of my brain knew this was the right decision. Jeremy wasn’t the settling-down type. Even if he had feelings for me, which I wasn’t convinced he did, those feelings would fade. They always did with him. He’d move on to someone new and exciting, and I’d be left picking up the pieces of both my heart and my career.

That was what I had to keep front and center in my head. This was my job. Jeremy wasn’t just some guy I’d hooked up with. He was my only client. My entire livelihood depended on maintaining a professional relationship with him. If things went south romantically, I wouldn’t just be heartbroken. I’d be unemployed.

I couldn’t afford that. Literally and figuratively.

I would manage his career, and he would live his life, and eventually these feelings would fade into nothing more than a fond memory of that one crazy week in Alaska.

I finished my wine and poured myself another glass.

Across the room, Jeremy laughed with one of the photographers. He looked happy. Relaxed. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that we’d cleared the air. I should feel the same way. I’d gotten what I wanted, hadn’t I? The awkwardness was over. We could move forward without any lingering tension.

I stayed at the party for another hour, making small talk with crew members and congratulating Sebastian on the successful shoot. I smiled and laughed and acted like everything was perfectly fine because that was what I did. I was good at pretending.

And then I made my way back to my cabin with the party in full swing. I climbed into my warm bed and closed my eyes.

Life would go on. It always did.