“First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been chill a day in my life. But you’re the one who just told me I need to move on from all the shit of the past year. Maybe this is how I start.”
“And that’s why you’re doing this interview?” she asked. “To move on? To move…past everything?”
Their waitress appeared before he could answer—along with two other servers, since Jackson’s massive order was too big for any one human being to carry.
“Holy crap,” Mollie muttered once all the food was on the table. “This actually smells kind of amazing.”
Jackson put a hand over his heart. “I didn’t think it was possible, but congratulations, Mollie Carrington. You just got hotter.”
She smiled. “Does this mean you’re going to share?”
In response, he tore off a juicy rib from a rack and held it out to her. She plucked it from his fingers, noting the way his eyes locked on her mouth as she took a not-so-delicate bite of the deliciously saucy meat.
Jackson slowly licked the sauce from his thumb as he watched her chew, and Mollie felt an odd little thrill as she realized they were accomplishing the impossible: they were making barbecue sexy.
It was only after they were tearing their way through the various dishes, arguing over whether baked beans or coleslaw made the better side dish, that Mollie realized Jackson had never answered her question.
He’d never told her why he was doing the interview.
Chapter 21
Jackson’s good mood lasted all the way until three o’clock. His meetings were done for the day, he had barbecue in his belly, and he and Mollie had engaged in some very dirty sexting.
But just as he was sitting down to get some writing done, it all went to hell.
His desk phone rang, the caller ID indicating it was the reception desk.
“Jo, my darling. You’ve decided to marry me?”
He got a snort in response. “Hardly. There’s a woman here to see you.”
Jackson grinned automatically, figuring it must be Mollie. He wondered if he could talk her into sex on his desk.
Continued Jo, “It’s Madison Burke. She says she’s your wife.”
Jackson froze, suddenly all too aware what people experienced when they said their blood ran cold.
“Shit.” Jackson closed his eyes. “Tell her I’m gone for the day. Or in a meeting. Or—”
“Hello, darling.”
Jackson’s eyes flew open to see his ex-wife standing in the door.
“Sorry, Jackson,” Jo said quietly. “She sweet-talked one of the interns into taking her back, and I—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Not your fault the woman’s a manipulative bitch.
“Madison,” he said, hanging up his phone and refusing to stand. “What can I do for you?”
Her eyes scanned him. “Mmm. You always did look good in a suit.” She came into the office and closed the door behind her.
He stood and walked over to the door, deliberately opening it again.
Her lips pressed together in irritation for a half second before she resumed her placid smile. She was dressed in a red sweater set and black slacks. The basic black pumps were feminine without being overtly sexy, her makeup and jewelry demure as ever. The woman really had mastered the art of faking classiness—“faking” being the key word.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, keeping his voice pleasant but dismissive as he went back to his office chair.
“I came to see you.”
He stared at her. “Madison, you live in a different time zone. This makes twice now that you’ve flown to another state to see me, and it’s starting to feel a little Fatal Attraction.”
She sniffed. “For the record, the first time I flew in to see my baby sister. This time I flew in to get some shopping done.”
“Shopping? Are you fucking kidding me, Mad?”
“What can I say?” she said, giving him a pretty smile. “I’ve got some extra cash lying around.”
“Yeah. My cash,” he muttered.
He and Madison had signed a prenup. He wasn’t that dumb. The only way she’d get a dime in the divorce was if there’d been infidelity on his end.
So she’d made sure that there had been. Several times over.
The real shitter was that he hadn’t even cared about the money. He’d have handed it over just to be done with her. But he didn’t think it would have made a difference—she still would have paid off all those women to lie about him having an affair.
Madison had known full well that being a cheating wife wouldn’t go well with her image. So she’d changed the story in her favor.
“You’ve been avoiding me ever since our dinner,” she said quietly.
“How is that a surprise? We have nothing to say to each other.”
She gave him a sad smile. “We had plenty to say that night.”