by Marie Carnay
Holt and Gage might win their company back and she completed her assignment. That was what mattered.
Whatever happened next, she knew she could face it head on and not from the sidelines. She picked up her bag when Vanessa spoke up.
“Is all of that really true?”
Jess turned to her. “Of course.”
“Then you’re a better researcher than your reputation gave you credit for. You would have made a stellar reporter. Good camera presence, honest face. People would listen to you.”
Jess blinked. Vanessa Hawkins complimented her? Impossible. “Thank you?” She slung her purse over her shoulder. “I’m afraid it’s too late for all of that, though.”
“You’ve changed my mind. Maybe you’ll change someone else’s too.”
“We’ll see.”
Jess walked out of the studio and out of News Network Today. She couldn’t think about Gage or Holt or what the future held. Would they want her without MacIntosh Hotels? Could she take them back after what they said?
She had no idea. But one thing she knew: rent didn’t pay itself. She might not be able to see what happened next, but she could focus on the present. A cheaper apartment, a new job. The start of the rest of her life.
If Holt and Gage chose the business, she needed her ducks in a row. With a place to live and a job to go to every day, she would carry on. Enough time and distance and a wall might form around her heart.
Chapter 23
GAGE
He rewound the clip for the fifth time. Jessica Woodson was a better woman than he deserved. All this time, Gage had been cursing to his Vice President and demanding better numbers with nothing to back them up.
Jess gave them the ammunition on a silver platter. He stared at her, so poised and confident, as she spoke on national television. She tried to tell them about Gordon, but they wouldn’t listen.
Instead, they spread lies about a woman he was head over heels for. When the words I’m in love with them rolled off her tongue, Gage froze in shock. Jess loved him? No woman had ever said she loved him.
Not any of his casual girlfriends or flings. Not even Bianca. Never once in all the time they were together had she said it. But Jess spoke the words like nothing truer had ever been spoken right before she said it was over.
Damn it. Gage slammed his fist into his open palm. Bianca didn’t give a damn about him and he’d let that woman ruin his relationship with his father. Now he had a woman who loved him and he let those past wounds cloud his judgment and determine his actions.
Guilt turned him into a man he never wanted to become.
The video ended and Gage couldn’t take his eyes off her on the screen. Lush lips he'd kissed a million times. Eyes so kind and perceptive. Jess loved him and he threw it away.
“I am such an asshole.”
“More pompous ass, if you’re being precise.” Holt’s voice carried from the doorway.
His brother wasn’t the silent type. Watching from the shadows wasn’t his style. “How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to watch Jess’s interview twice.” Holt walked into the room. “She went out on a limb for us.”
Gage hung his head. “Your point?”
“Jess did something she hated. She sat there under all those morning show lights, her interview broadcast to the whole country.”
“It’s more than we ever did for her.”
Holt sat down next to him. “Why are you acting like this? She said she loves us. We’ll have a happy ending.”
Gage snorted. “Are you already drunk at ten in the morning? Didn’t you hear her? She said it’s over.” Gage stood up and stalked across the room, each footstep slapping the wood floor.
Wouldn’t his father be proud. He had a chance to make a wonderful woman happy and he trashed it for what? A memory. A promise to a dying man. Was that what his life turned into? A mission to assuage the guilt of the past?
“We’ve lost the takeover bid, we’ve lost Jess. Everything has gone to hell.”
“You’re giving up too soon, Gage.”
He paused, halfway through his second round of pacing. His brother had lost his mind. “I went to those tabloids and I told them all those lies about her, Holt. I claimed she meant nothing and all this time she…” He turned around to face the television, the still of her face still lighting up the screen. “She loved us.”
“We can win her back, Gage. This isn’t the end.”
“Maybe it should be.”
“What is going on with you? Where’s the man who never gives up? Where’s the older brother who wouldn’t stand up when he’d pinned me to the ground no matter how many times I cried uncle?”
Gage glanced up at the photo on the wall. His father wore a proud, joyful smile as he wrapped his arm around his new bride. Their mother. Gage walked up, grabbed the photo by the frame, and plucked it off the wall.
He focused on the beautiful woman he barely remembered. Black hair like Holt’s, eyes like Gage. A kindness in her face he never got to know.
Holt peered over his shoulder. “Do you remember Mom?”
Gage swallowed. “Not really. I have this feeling of her. A big warm blanket wrapping me up on a cold day. Or the smell of biscuits in the morning. But if we didn’t have these pictures, I wouldn’t even remember her face.”
“I wish I had that.”
Gage had never thought what her death meant to their father. “Do you think he put so much time into the business because he couldn’t get past the loss?”
“It gave him something to focus on, that’s for sure.” Holt walked to the window and stared down at the city. “I asked him about her a few times.”
“You did?” Gage looked up. The furrow between Holt’s brows spoke of emotion long buried.
“He wouldn’t talk about her. Said the past was better left in the past. That it was never as important as the future.”
Gage glanced down at his father’s beaming face. You were right, Dad. Nothing Gage did would change the past. His father sold MacIntosh Hotels. Getting it back wouldn’t change that fact.
If he lost the woman he loved because he couldn’t let go of a mistake, what kind of future would that be? How hollow would his life become?
Gage put the photo back on the wall. “We'll win her back.”
“What about the business?”
“It’s not as important as Jess.”
“I’m sorry, who are you? Where did my brother go?”
Gage rolled his eyes. “Even I can admit when I’m wrong.”
“Jess really has changed you.”
“For the better, I hope.”
Holt grinned. “Definitely.” He headed for the door. “Come on. If we’re going to get her back we need to plan.”
“Any ideas?”
“A few. But you won’t like them.”
Gage smiled for the first time in forever. “Have some faith, little brother. Have some faith.”
Chapter 24
HOLT
“I’ve never been this nervous.”
“A billionaire, nervous? Don’t admit that in public, your image will never recover.”
Gage laughed. “I don’t care about my image. Not anymore.”
Holt smiled back. “Good, because after this, no one will put us on the cover of a magazine.”
“Never say never.”
Holt glanced at his brother’s profile as they waited in the conference room. Jess had changed him so drastically. Before they met Jess, his brother was determined. Focused on a single goal of making the MacIntosh name the biggest and most recognized in the country.
Buying huge companies like packs of gum in the checkout line, throwing huge parties to flash their wealth, dating models because he could. Gage did it all. Now he stood in a tiny conference room, no cameras, no pomp and circumstance.
Just a man hoping the woman he loved would forgive him.
The door to the room opened and a blonde poked her head inside. “It took you
two long enough.”
“Excuse me?”
She snuck in and shut the door. “Wendy Franklin. Jess’s best friend and overworked confidante.” She shook her head at them and her curls shimmied. “You better bring some serious grovel action today.”
Gage spoke first. “We bought the grovel factory just up the street, didn’t you know?”
Wendy’s eyes sparkled. “Good. Don’t let her say no, will you? If I have to hear one more word about how lonely and miserable she is…” Wendy jumped and glanced at her phone. “Oh! She’s here! Look contrite.”
The woman whooshed out of the door as quickly as she’d arrived. Holt smoothed his hair. “She’s something.”
Gage nodded. “Remind me never to get on her bad side.”
“Will do.”
Jess’s voice stopped Holt still. All of his prepared words and elegant speeches fled from his mind.
“What do you mean I should put on some lipstick? I’m just here to pick up my last paych—” The door swung open and the only woman Holt would ever love again stood in the doorway, mouth half-open in shock.
Wendy gave Jess a nudge and she stumbled into the room. She’d pulled her hair back in a haphazard ponytail and thrown on a pair of jeans and a ratty shirt two sizes too big. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Jess turned to Wendy. “I’m going to kill you for this.”
“And my work here is done. Gentlemen.” Wendy nodded at them and shut the door with a click.
“Hi, Jess.”
She fidgeted with her torn hem. “What are you doing here?”
Holt exhaled. Everything he wanted stood right in front of him. When they planned this meeting, Holt had written down everything he wanted to say—all the apologies, the kind words, the begging for forgiveness. But none of it was enough. Not when Jess stood there, a wary look on her face and hurt in her eyes.
“You didn’t return our calls.”
She glanced at the floor. “I dropped my phone in the sink.”
“We sent a messenger to your apartment.”
“I’ve been packing, didn’t hear the knock.”
“You returned all of our letters.”
She chewed on her lip. “My cat’s allergic to paper.”
Holt smiled despite himself. “You don’t own a cat.”
Jess shrugged. “She’s imaginary. You know I should probably go, she hasn’t had breakfast and I need a shower and—” She whirled toward the door.
“Jess, stop.” Holt touched her arm. The zing of her skin beneath his fingers gave him courage. “We’re sorry.”
After a moment, she turned back to face him. “I’m listening.”
JESS
Holt’s smile. It still stopped her heart. God, why hadn’t Wendy warned her? She could have changed out of the pity-party clothes she’d thrown on that morning, brushed her hair, taken a shower. She probably stunk like regret and leftover Chinese.
Gage took her hand and Jess turned to him. Oh, my. She’d been so focused on his brother, she hadn’t stopped to take Gage in. Same strong jaw, determined brow. But those eyes… Gone was the superiority and confidence. Instead, there was pain and heartache.
She knew how that felt. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “We should have listened when you came to us about Gordon. We never should have said those lies in the tabloids.”
Jess tried to interrupt, but Gage talked over her. “We put the past ahead of our future when we should have done the opposite.”
“Gage is right. We should have trusted you, Jess. The way you handled that reporter on television the other day.” He shook his head. “You were made to be on screen.”
She tried to tame her tangled hair. “You’re just saying that.”
“No, we mean it. We never should have doubted you or what we have.”
It was all so much, so soon. That morning, she’d gotten up, trudged into the bathroom, thought about her empty future. A life without the men who made her heart flutter and stomach twist. The only men she’d ever loved.
“What are you saying?”
Gage tugged on her hand. “We’re saying we love you.” He smiled and his whole face transformed. “I love you, Jessica Woodson. And I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”
“I love you, too." Holt reached up and ran his fingers over her ear. "We’re lost without you, Jess. Say you’ll come back. Say you’ll come to New York with us.”
She swallowed. “Don’t you want to know if I love you, too?”
Holt smiled. “We already know. You told the whole world on morning TV.”
Heat flamed across her makeup-free cheeks, but memories of the tabloids popped into her mind. She yanked her hands away. “I’m surprised you didn’t want a repeat performance. The publicity would have been good for your shareholder vote.”
“None of that matters anymore.” Gage leaned closer. “Don’t you see? We could lose everything tomorrow, but it wouldn’t matter as long as we had you.”
“What about MacIntosh Hotels?”
“The past doesn’t matter as much as this moment, right here, right now.” He reached for her. “I’m done living in the past, Jess. My father is gone. He made his choices and I’m making mine. I choose you.”
Holt nodded. “Our father’s legacy is what it is. We don’t need a hotel chain to be happy. We need the woman we love.”
The tears came unbidden. All three of them had all been chained to the past. Holt and Gage to their father’s mistakes, Jess to her mother’s choices and her father’s fear. People long gone had been controlling their lives like puppeteers.
“You honestly don’t care if people accept us?”
Gage answered. “Not in the slightest.”
Holt nodded in agreement.
Before she met the MacIntosh brothers, she’d been alone and determined to stay in the background. Wrapped up in their arms, she learned what it meant to love. But it wasn’t until it all fell apart that she learned how to live.
Jess smiled and reached for both of them. “I love you both.”
If Holt smiled any wider, his face would split in two. “You’ll come back to New York?”
“On one condition.”
“Name it.”
“We stop by my place. The shower is non-negotiable.”
Both men laughed and the sound unlocked the last bit of Jess's heart. It didn’t matter what anyone thought about her, who she loved, or what it all meant. Gage and Holt were hers and she couldn’t wait to be part of their life forever.
As soon as she washed her hair.
Chapter 25
GAGE
“We should get a place here.” Gage leaned against a scrap of counter in Jess’s shoebox of an apartment. Even with most of her belongings stacked in boxes and barely any furniture, Gage could hardly move in the space.
Holt nodded. “I’ve been considering that, too. I’ll have our acquisitions department pull up some options.”
Gage smiled. They had come so far in their lives. From their grandfather working in a factory all day to their father who never stopped for a moment to rest. To the two of them with a solid fortune and business empire beneath their feet.
He glanced around at all the cardboard covered in Jess’s neat sharpie handwriting. Kitchen, bathroom, IDK. Gage shook his head. He would trade it all and squeeze himself into a one-bedroom rental just to have Jess in his bed.
Never did he think a woman would bring them together. His relationship with Holt hadn’t been the same after Bianca. But Jess did more than love them, she made them whole. Complete.
The door to her bedroom opened and Gage stilled. Jess stood in the doorway, simple white dress skimming her body, hair still dripping wet from a shower. So fucking beautiful.
He loved the way she curled her toes when she smiled, how she chewed on her lip when she didn’t know what to say, how her fingers found the doorjamb behind her.
“You’re stunning.” Holt beat him to it
. His brother walked up to Jess and she grinned at him.
“It’s the clean hair, right?”
“No. It’s you.” Gage moved to stand next to Holt. “I swear you’re more gorgeous than ever.”
“Mm-hmm. I’m sure the scenery helps.”
Gage looked around. Soon Jess's things would have a new home, with them. He ran his hands down her sides and back to cup the curve of her ass. He leaned closer. “It’s not the scenery.”
Her breath hitched and Gage smiled against her cheek. He loved turning her on. As he bent to kiss her, Holt slid up behind. No more waiting. No more fights. They were claiming her right there, right then.
With a firm grip on her shoulders, Gage spun Jess around before unzipping her dress. It whooshed to the floor. Another flick of his fingers and her bra went with it. Holt finished the job. Perfect.
Naked. Pinned between them. About to touch heaven. If Gage had his way, Jess would always be one step away.
She shimmied her ass at him and steered Holt to the bed. He didn’t argue when she tugged his shirt over his head or pushed his pants to the floor. A flare of jealousy hit Gage in the gut, but he tamped it down. Jess was more than enough woman for both of them. Even if he had to wait his turn.
HOLT
Oh, God. They were the luckiest men alive. Jess yanked his boxers down and his cock bobbed in the air. He’d been hard since the minute she opened her bedroom door. All those curves and bare skin. Sexy smile and bright eyes.
At least she still had a bed. He grinned as she leaned over. Pure fucking magic.
Jess licked her lips before running her tongue over his cock. Damn, he’d missed her. Opening wide, she took him inside her mouth, stretching her lips over his head, sliding down his shaft until he hit the back of her throat.
Fuck. Holt fought the urge to grab her head and thrust. Everything about Jess was right. The way she shivered when he touched her. How she told the truth no matter the consequences. The way she accepted him and Gage together.