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It was the opinion of the man sitting behind me that left me holding my breath, though. I knew how I felt about what I had just seen, but how would he?

“Lights up,” Harrison called out. All at once, the stage and house lights were illuminated. My dancers stood around, catching their breath and hydrating while waiting for us to offer our reactions.

Harrison looked my way before motioning toward the stage. “This is your baby. By all means.”

I stood, taking in the sight of them, sensing their anxiety. It only got worse the longer I took, so I let them off the hook. “Fantastic,” I called out, smiling as they released their breaths and laughed. “Really, everyone. I am so proud of the work you’ve done. I could not be more impressed or more grateful to you for bringing this to life in such an exciting way. Thank you all so much.”

I held up my hands, clapping for them, and soon Harrison and Sophie joined me.

So did Jackson, who even whistled loudly. Hearing his enthusiasm was a relief. He might have had the most to lose out of all of us, so the absence of complaints or suggestions spoke volumes.

There were now fewer than twenty-four hours to go before we opened. Not even an entire day. It was unreal how fast the time had flown. Three months of pouring our hearts and souls into this, and now we were almost there. Knowing the cast was prepared made it possible to look forward to tomorrow night.

Especially now that I didn’t have to pretend anymore. The freedom of the past couple of weeks was a gift I never imagined, but was so grateful for. There was nothing holding me back anymore—no secrets, no fear.

Jackson had sworn up and down that there was nothing for us to worry about.

“Mom left for parts unknown,” he reported a few days after the showdown in his suite. He had handed me his phone, letting me read the message she sent.

Mom: Going on a girls’ trip to the Keys. Trusting you not to do anything stupid in my absence.

She still couldn’t let go of that attitude of hers. It was probably all she had left to hold onto. Well, that and wealthy friends willing to finance a trip which, according to Jackson, she probably couldn’t afford. At least it meant she was thousands of miles away.

In the meantime, between tech rehearsals and run-throughs, there was Jackson, Liam, and the joy of introducing our son to his father. If not in person, then through endless stories, memories, and daily reports of how Liam was feeling, what he had eaten, and what he was wearing. Anything and everything I could tell Jackson over coffee, lunch, dinner, and hours spent in bed. We happened to be talking about my favorite subject, after all.

And he was like a sponge, soaking up every last bit of information. This was exactly what I had hoped for, for so long, what I had dreamed of. Not only would Jackson know about Liam, but he would want to know everything, and he would be inquisitive and excited.

The only tiny thing holding me back was how eager he was to meet Liam in person. They would meet. I had every intention of it. Except, I just wasn’t sure I was emotionally prepared for it yet. We had agreed to set a day after we opened and knew the show was running smoothly, so we could both have the bandwidth to give such a huge event the attention it deserved.

Harrison called for a thirty-minute break so the performers could change, hand in their costumes for cleaning, remove their makeup, and return to receive any last-minute notes. Mine were minimal, having to do with refining a few movements. It was mostly the sort of thing I would deliver one-on-one to work individually with whoever the notes pertained to. I honestly couldn’t believe everything was going as well as it was. Not that I didn’t have faith in us, exactly, but I couldn’t remember the last time something ran this smoothly.

Harrison and Sophie wandered off, discussing a couple of cues she had called a beat or two later than she should have. On the whole, she did an excellent job, but at this point in the rehearsal process, it was all about polishing every last inch of the production until it sparkled. That left me alone with the man I’d been sleeping with for the past few weeks.

“Okay.” I turned around to face Jackson, who had returned to his seat after standing with the rest of us. His expression was unreadable. I would have bet good money he was working hard to keep me guessing. “What do you really think?” Whatever it was, I could handle it. We had shared so much in the weeks since Diana left, and our walls came down.

“What do I really think?” He clicked his tongue, tipping his head to the side before standing. “I think I need a snack.”

“You realize you’re acting like a real pain in the ass right now, right?” I asked, following him the way he probably expected me to.

He grinned over his shoulder on his way up the aisle. “No shit. That’s sort of the point.”

I followed him through the doors into the lobby, caught between irritation and wanting to laugh. “Jackson, I swear to God. I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Oh no?” With cat-like agility, he turned on his heel, smirking as he looked me up and down with a very different yet familiar glint in those amber eyes. “That wasn’t the impression I got at all. Last I checked, you’re a big fan of games.”

I could pretend all I wanted, but my body definitely heated at his reference. “There’s a time and a place,” I murmured while my pussy practically purred.

“And where is the place? Up in the suite, maybe?” His gaze fell on my mouth, making my breath catch in my throat before I could help myself.

This was not the time and most definitely not the place, but I couldn’t help it. We were in that sparkling honeymoon phase where pretty much everything got us in the mood to go crazy on each other.

Did anyone know what was going on? Probably yes. We were all adults, and this was nowhere near the first time people had fallen into bed together over the course of a production. Even Michael seemed to have moved on after weeks of indifference from me on both sides of the Atlantic, leaving hand in hand with Naomi every night and arriving with her in the morning. I was glad for him. He was too nice a person to keep wasting his time wanting me when I wanted someone else so much more.

The same person who now made my blood hum and heart flutter, to say nothing of the party going on in my panties. “That was pretty much what I was thinking of, yes,” I confirmed, biting my lip. It always drove him crazy when I did that.

His eyes darkened, his skin flushing a little before he cleared his throat. “Maybe we should sneak up there?” he suggested.

As much as I loved the idea, I had to disagree. “We only have thirty minutes before notes.”