Too much, too fast.

Jess washed her hands, reapplied her lipstick, and gave herself a hard but encouraging stare in the mirror. This party had to have cost thousands of dollars. She was wearing a dress someone else had paid for. Who was she pretending to be? Just get through it and get home.

But when she stepped out into the hall, River was there waiting, one ankle crossed over the other, leaning casually against the opposite wall. His posture was so unconsciously confident, so sensual that Jess felt her legs clench together hard in response.

He straightened. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just—” She pointed over her shoulder. “Needed a second.”

A relieved smile played at his lips. “I did, too.”

She blew out a slow breath. “This isn’t my world at all.” The effect of his proximity simmered just beneath her skin and she felt the words slip out: “I hope I’m not messing it up for you.”

A flash of emotion moved over his face, and he burst forward a step. “You’re—No. You’re amazing.” He looked back down the hall. “And I’m sorry Brandon isn’t here. This is his scene. Not mine.”

“I get it,” Jess said quietly. “They want to see their investment in action.”

She could immediately tell he didn’t love this phrasing… but also couldn’t disagree.

“It must be especially surreal to you,” she said, “to already know these people and have them see you tonight not as the lead scientist, but as one of the big findings.”

“Yeah. Maybe three people in that room knew anything about my personal life. Now all these strangers feel comfortable making comments about our sex life and asking me when I’m going to propose.”

Jess barked out a nervous laugh. “Right.”

“It occurred to me,” he began, and then turned his face up to the ceiling. “When Esther Lin asked us about, you know, matching with someone else…”

Jess waited for him to finish, her heart beating like a racer’s at the starting line.

“Were you married to Juno’s dad?” he finally asked.

She exhaled. “No.” There was a long pause where it felt like he wanted more, but they were standing in a hallway at a party, and she just honestly didn’t know how much more there was to say about her and Alec. In hindsight, their footing had never been solid. The pregnancy hadn’t ended things; it had just sped the demise along. “He’s not in the picture,” she finished, eventually. “He never really has been. We broke up before Juno was born.”

She could see his curiosity visibly sated. They turned and started walking leisurely back down the hall toward the party.

“You mentioned you’ve always lived near your grandparents. Did your parents pass, or—?”

“My mom struggled with addiction—still does—and relinquished custody of me when I was six. I never knew my father.”

“Oh.” He stopped walking and turned to her, eyes wide. “Wow.”

The pain in his expression seemed genuine. Jess nodded slowly, unsure where to look. “Yeah.”