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Sam opened her eyes, meeting Jess’ gaze. “About what?”

Jess hesitated, her thumb brushing against Sam’s collarbone. “What we’re doing. What it means.”

Sam swallowed, looking away. At the beginning, that was all she could think about. The fear that they were making an irreparable mistake. That they were ruining the one shot they had to finally be back in each other’s lives. Even if it was just as friends.

But now, talking about it was the last thing she wanted. There were too many things between them left unsaid. She didn’t even know where to begin.

But more than that, she didn’t know how it would end.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it,” Sam said softly.

Jess looked down, leaning her head into Sam’s bare chest. “I didn’t,” she whispered. “But maybe we should now.”

Sam ran a hand up her back, resting it on the base of her neck as she tried to hold on to the calm she’d felt just moments before. “Why now?”

Jess shifted slightly, her arms tightening around Sam’s waist. “Because I don’t want to hold back anymore,” she admitted. “I don’t want to stop myself from kissing you or touching your hand just because there are other people around. I don’t want to hide this just because I’m trying to make it not mean anything.”

A sharp ache flickered through Sam’s chest, her emotions twisting and coiling in ways she couldn’t untangle.

“I’m not saying I want to talk about the future or something,” Jess continued, her voice steady. “I just want to feel this—feel us—without worrying about if I’m doing too much. Or if it’s going too far.”

Sam nodded, understanding the feeling all too well. It was exactly how she’d felt when they’d first met. Every action or reaction had to be carefully measured. And it almost tore her apart.

“Yeah,” Sam whispered. “I get it.”

“I want to enjoy this time together,” Jess said, pulling her head back to look up at her. “The wedding tomorrow, our friends, andeverything that comes with it. I don’t want to spend the whole time overthinking it anymore.”

Sam searched her face, finding nothing but sincerity in Jess’ eyes. She reached up, her fingers brushing Jess’ cheek. “Okay,” she whispered.

Because even if that made everything harder—if it crossed a line they couldn’t return from—if that’s what Jess needed, she’d do it without question.

Chapter twenty-three

Sam stared down at her cell phone where it sat on the small wooden table of the hotel room, adjusting beneath the smooth material of the button down and blazer she’d chosen to wear to the wedding that evening.

The screen ticked off the seconds of the conference call.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, clearing her throat as she glanced back at her notepad. “Can you repeat that last number?”

Howard recited each crucial detail of the formal offer he’d just given.

Sam blinked, staring down at the paper before adding one more zero at the end of the buyout price he’d just officially given them for the company.

“Thank you,” she muttered, working to maintain her professional composure.

“Now,” Howard said, his voice booming through the small phone speaker, “there is one other matter we need to discuss.”

Sam glanced back at the phone screen, forcing herself to focus on anything other than the number she’d just written.

“During the due diligence process, when we were looking into the employee structure of your company, we noticed a recent trend in the employment.”

Sam swallowed, a twinge of uneasiness bubbling in her stomach.

“You seem to have an uptick in employee turnover as of late.”

She loosed a breath as he paused. “Yes,” she said, working to keep her voice even. “There’s been some—discontent—around the prospect of the company being acquired.”

“Right,” Howard said nonchalantly. “That’s the way it usually goes with these things.”