Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Watching Jackie and Ty head out that door was one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to witness. I understand why she doesn’t want me to go with them, but to be shut out like that, especially when I know she needs me, it’s nothing short of devastating. I can’t help but think, no matter how much she told me things haven’t changed, that they have changed for good.

And if being free of me means breaking her own heart in the process, I fear that’s what she’ll choose.

Because to Jackie, choice means everything.

And I’m starting to think solitude fits her like a glove.

I sigh, heavy-hearted, and turn back, heading into the dining room.

Ted and Diane are sitting there, silently sipping their drinks. No one is eating. Diane’s face is red, Ted’s showing me nothing.

Neither of them look up at me. You can feel the shame in the room.

“Will, she’s not yours to worry about,” Ted says before finishing his martini.

I just shake my head, leaning on the back of Jackie’s empty chair. “I know that you’re a family and you have a lot of catching up to do and issues to sort out,” I say. “But you need to go easier on her.”

“We didn’t know,” Diane says. “Jesus, Will. Had we known . . . did you know?”

I give her a tight-lipped smile. “Yes. I knew.”

“You should have told us,” Ted says.

“It wasn’t my past to tell. That belonged to Jackie and it was up to her.” I want to add in that she’s been seeing a therapist every couple of weeks but that’s up to her as well.

“So we kind of look like the horse’s ass now, don’t we?” Ted says.

I sigh, letting my head hang for a moment while I gather my thoughts. “Even if it wasn’t an issue, you have to stop throwing the person she was back in her face. Maybe she acts like a child around you because you treat her like a child. And she’s not. She might be young in a lot of ways, but her soul has gone through more than most do in a lifetime.”

Diane gives me a funny look but doesn’t say anything.

Ted clucks his tongue, pressing his fingers into the table. “I’ll apologize when they get back.” He gets up. “I can see you’re ready to go, Will. I don’t blame you. Thank you for coming anyway. We’ll do lunch on Monday.”

“You know where my office is,” I tell him, watching as he grabs his drink and heads up the stairs.

I look back to Diane and give her an apologetic smile. “Thank you so much for the dinner. Family drama aside, it was wonderful as always.”

She nods, giving me a small smile. Then she gets up and leans across the table. “I know what’s going on,” she says, keeping her voice low.

Well, shit.

I keep my face neutral. “I don’t know what you mean.”

She raises her brow. “You. And my daughter. I know there’s something going on between you.”

Damn it, I hate lying to her. But here it goes. I breathe in deep. “She’s my assistant, Diane. That’s all that’s going on.”

“You’re lying to me,” she says. “And that’s okay. But I know, I know where she goes. I’ve seen her wearing your shirt. I’ve seen that necklace that I know is from Tiffany’s, that I know she would never buy for herself. I’ve seen her Dolce & Gabbana dresses and her red-soled shoes. I know you drive her home a lot more than you should.” She pauses. “And I know I’ve never seen her so happy. And the same goes for you.”

I stare at her, not sure what to say. She’s got me pegged all too well.

“Ted doesn’t know,” she goes on. “I think he suspects, but he doesn’t know. Will, listen. I love you like a younger brother. You’re a good man. And of course I love Jackie. In a way I think you’re both perfect for each other. Never thought I would find myself thinking that, but it’s true. But Ted isn’t me.”

I nod. “I wish he were.”

“But he’s not. And I can’t tell you what to do . . . hell, I don’t even know what you should do. But you have to know that this isn’t going to be easy. For any of us. Teddy is extra volatile these days, maybe it’s all the travel, maybe it’s getting older. I don’t know. So I can’t predict how he’s going to act when he finds out, but it won’t be good Will.”

“What makes you think he’ll find out?”

She cocks her head. “If I know, he’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Not if your daughter doesn’t want to see me anymore.”

She sighs and sits back down, putting her head in her hands. “See, this is exactly why shit like this should never happen. Someone is always going to get hurt.”

“Maybe your daughter is smarter than everyone thinks,” I tell her.

“Maybe,” she says. “I’m sorry Will.”

“Sorry?” I tell her, straightening up. “It’s not over until it’s over. It’s not over yet.”

“Where there’s a Will there’s a way,” she mumbles, but gives me a warm smile. “All right. Just as long as you know what you’re getting in to.”

“I always did,” I tell her. “And I still wouldn’t change a thing.”

* * *

Despite all of our dates, hookups, and yes, (one-sided) declarations of love, Jackie and I don’t talk on the phone, and we rarely text each other.

This weekend though, I want to bombard her with texts.

I want to make sure she’s okay.

That Ty’s okay.

That we still have a shot at this.

That nothing has changed.

But of course with my iPhone not holding a charge anymore, I can’t do any of that, and I’m not about to call her parent’s house asking to speak to her.

So when Monday rolls around, the distance between us already feels insurmountable.

Every step I take toward my office feels like a funeral march. I barely smile at anyone as I pass them by, I can’t seem to say hello back. My eyes are trained on Jackie’s desk.

But Jackie isn’t there.

I glance at my watch.

I’m actually ten minutes late.

I look down at Patty.

“Have you seen Jackie?” I ask her.

She barely glances up at me. “Nope.”

“Okay. Can you tell her I want to speak with her when she gets in?”

“Yup.”

Jeez. I thank my lucky stars I never ended up with Patty as my assistant. Then again if I had Patty, I wouldn’t be in this damn mess right now, now would I?

I step inside my office, keeping the door partially open, and go through my emails. There’s nothing from Jackie, but I fire one off to her anyway, asking if she’s coming in today.

Then I do something I probably shouldn’t. I email Michelle at Warner Brothers, one of the producers on DinoWars, and ask her if she wouldn’t mind taking look at something for me. I attach Jackie’s script and explain that it’s only a partial, just a draft, and completely on spec, but if she wants to take a look and give me her thoughts, I’d appreciate it.

Of course I don’t expect anything to happen, but it helps to have some extra eyes on it, especially from a studio like WB.

But Jackie doesn’t come in, and it’s nearly noon when Ted shows up knocking on my door. “Hey soldier,” he says to me. “Remember we have lunch?”

“Right,” I tell him, getting to my feet. “Where’s Jackie?”

“Oh,” he says and for one horrible moment I fear that she’s quit on me. “She wasn’t feeling well this morning. I’m not sure she’ll be in today.”

I try to look more annoyed than disappointed, but I’m not sure if it works because Ted adds, “See, this is the problem with having family work for you. She’s mad at me because of what happened at dinner—she wouldn’t even talk to me all weekend—and so now she’s not coming in to work.”

If that’s the way Ted wants to see it, that’s fine. I have no doubt Jackie is still smarting over it, but what I really think, really fear, is that she’s not here because of me.

He pats me on the back as we leave my office. “As they say, don’t shit where you eat.”

I laugh. “I’m not sure that’s the saying, Ted. I think it’s don’t mix business and friendship. Or family.”

“Or pleasure,” he adds and I swear he gives me the stink-eye for a moment. “Don’t stick your dick where you lay your pen. Don’t fuck where you get fucked. Don’t have sex with your secretary.”

I swallow thickly. “That last one wasn’t as subtle,” I point out, attempting to sound casual.

He gives me an easy smile. Those are the worst. You can’t trust them.

This is going to be a long lunch.

But if Ted suspects anything, if Diane told him, he doesn’t show it.

That is until we’re being seated at Blue Water for lunch and he asks for a third setting.

“Who is joining us?” I ask him.

He doesn’t say anything. Gives me that smile again.

For a moment I think it could be Jackie. That he’s about to give the two of us the ultimatum. Call it all off or we’re both out of jobs. Granted, I own half the company so it’s not like Ted could get rid of me that easily, but he could definitely make my life hell for a while, enough so that the LA office would be a kinder version of it.

Then his eyes fix on someone behind me and I turn to see a beautiful woman coming my way.

I already know who this is.

Mona.

“Mona,” Ted exclaims, getting up to give her a hug. “So glad you could make it. Mona, this is Will.”

I get out of my chair to shake her hand, smiling at her because I’m a gentleman, but fuck I could murder Ted right now.

I have to admit, Mona is easy on the eyes. She’s tall, thin, with a nice rack. Shoulder-length blonde hair and Scandinavian features. If I wasn’t absolutely in love with Jackie, if I was single, if this was some other planet, I could see her being my type. She reminds me a Hitchcock blonde, not quite Grace Kelly, but Tippi Hendren.

But I have zero interest in this woman whatsoever, and I have no idea what Ted has told her about me. I just know whatever it is, it’s given her the completely wrong idea.

And I can’t say anything to throw her off. Make up that I’m seeing someone else? No. The lies have gone for far too long, I’m not about to add to them.

Despite Mona being there and Ted taking over most the conversation, neither of them take much of a hint. Especially when Ted invites her to come back to the office when we’ve finished paying the bill.

“Ted,” I whisper to him as we walk down the street, “what are you doing?”

“Nothing, Will. Just showing Mona where we work. The empire we built. We need to take more pride in it from time to time, don’t you think?” He gestures to my apartment building in the distance, the copper roof towering distinctively over the south end of downtown. “Look at that. That’s yours Will. You earned that. I’ve earned what I have. We have done a great job of taking Mad Men to the next level and I hope we continue to keep doing it. In the meantime, let’s be proud of what we accomplished. It could so easily be taken away.”

Now, I have no clue if Ted is just drunk from his three martinis, or if he’s hinting at something else, or if he’s just trying to impress Mona for me, who no doubt can hear what he’s saying. I just hope I can get back to the office before anything blows up. Today has been one ticking time bomb.

And it seems like I might just make it home free until I see the look on Alyssa’s face as we pass by her and Tiffany at reception.

And then I see why.

Jackie is sitting at her desk. I can see her shadow through the partition at the top.

And Ted is taking both Mona and I toward her.

Oh, fuck.

“Jackie,” her father says loudly, making Jackie slowly peer around the partition at us. “So nice of you to finally show up. This is Mona. Mona, this is Jackie. She’s my daughter.”

I can’t even move. My eyes are locked on Jackie and she’s doing her best to pretend I don’t exist. She pastes a smile on her face and gives Mona a nod.

“Nice to meet you,” Jackie says, and I catch the little tremble in her voice.

She’s thinking the worst. The absolute worst.

“Likewise,” Mona says. “I didn’t know Ted had a daughter.”

“He likes to pretend I don’t exist,” Jackie explains smoothly.

“We were just out for lunch,” Ted says, not even paying attention to Jackie’s slight. “I was trying to set these two up, as you know.”

Holy fuck, Ted. I glare at him, not even caring that Mona can see it. For her sake, she looks embarrassed about it.

“That’s nice,” Jackie says. “I hope you’ll like the office.”

“Do you want to give her a tour?” Ted asks her. “I’m sure Mona would love that.”

Jackie freezes, her smile faltering. “I think Alyssa would be better at that, I just got in and—”

“Nonsense,” Ted says. “You’ve been here long enough. Go show her around.” Ted looks at me and winks. “Hope you don’t mind that I’m borrowing your assistant for a while.”

“Actually I do mind,” I say firmly, not smiling anymore.

And Ted isn’t smiling either. “Too bad she has to answer to her father before she answers to her boss.”

By now Mona doesn’t look like she wants a tour either, but Jackie gets up and gives Mona a nervous smile, only glancing at me briefly as she passes me by.

Shit. I know that look. It’s the look that says if this is me being all in, then Jackie is all out.

When Mona and Jackie are out of earshot I turn to Ted. “I could fucking murder you.”

“Why?” he says with a wide shrug. “Who cares?”

“I told you I wasn’t interested in Mona,” I say to him, lowering my voice when I realize Patty is watching us. “Now you’re trying to set us up. It’s not going to happen.”

“Give me one good reason why. Hey, Will? Why? Tell me.”

I look to Patty, who raises her brow at me. I have a feeling she knows why.

“She’s beautiful and smart and you’re single,” he goes on, taking a step toward me. “You are single, aren’t you?”

I raise my chin. I’m bigger than him, taller than him, younger than him, stronger than him. I don’t want to have to kick his ass over his daughter but I will if I have to.

“I have work to do,” I manage to say before my temper gets the best of me. It wants to. Oh, I can feel the red-hot rage working its way through my bones, wanting to get everything out in the open once and for all.

But I quickly turn and head into my office, slamming the door behind me.

And by work to do, I mean a relationship to mend.

If it’s not too late.