Page 82 of Hot and Bothered

I uncrossed my arms, feeling a little guilty.

“I’m sorry, Jacob,” I said gently. “But I can’t marry you.”

“Why not?” he asked, baffled. “I’m a good guy. I treat you right.”

“But I don’t love you.”

He still looked confused.

“So?” he asked.

Now it was my turn to look bewildered.

“I’m not going to marry someone I don’t love,” I told him. “I like you as a person. We got along well. Our relationship was perfectly fine. But you do realize the only reason our parents wanted us to start dating was because of their business merger, right?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, a little chagrined now. “But just because that’s the initial reason doesn’t mean we weren’t good together.”

“We’ve never even had sex,” I said bluntly.

He flushed faintly.

“I thought you wanted to wait until we got married,” he mumbled.

I’d wanted to wait until I felt ready. That had never happened with Jacob.

“Tell me something,” I said. “Do you love me?”

“I—” he looked stymied, then a little shame-faced. “I could have grown to love you, I think.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Jacob, but I’m not going to marry someone just because it’s good for business. It’s not fair to either of us.”

He went silent, letting out a breath through his nose. His pained expression slowly eased.

“Our parents are going to be pissed,” he said eventually.

“I honestly don’t care,” I countered.

He stared at me, then gave me a small smile.

“That fresh air really was good for you,” he said.

I returned the smile, uncrossing my arms and loosening my fists, no longer feeling like I was ready to jump into the middle of a fight.

“Thank you for understanding,” I told him. “I really am sorry if I hurt you.”

“Like I said, it was mostly my pride.” He quirked a crooked smile. “I suppose I should go back to the dinner party from hell.”

“You can pretend to be all brokenhearted and get lots of sympathy,” I pointed out.

He chuckled. “I could probably milk this for months, you’re right.”

My phone rang again. Christie’s name was on the screen. I answered with haste.

“Alice, you need to come quick,” Christie said, her voice thick with tears. “Mom’s in the hospital.”

“Is she okay?” I asked urgently.

“It was one of her manic episodes,” Christie replied. “I really think you should be here. Evan needs you right now.”