Purposefully Accidental

Chapter Fifty-two

Jonah is still standing where he's been, all alone now. Instead of yet another iteration of a black-and-white tuxedo, he's wearing an all-dark-royal-blue number, his suit perfectly pressed and dark hair gelled neatly. I know he's pretending not to notice me walking toward him, pointedly keeping his eyes to his left, staring at the still-empty stage. I stop next to him, but not directly looking at him.

I try not to smile. "Hi there."

He acts surprised, politely nodding at me. "Hello."

I bit my inner cheek and try to keep my composure. "Forgot about me already? We met two months ago, at the Archer Gala Dinner."

"Did we? My bad," Jonah says in a ridiculously faux-apologetic tone. He definitely won't make it as an actor. "Wait a minute. Yes. I recognize you. Mrs. Archer, is it?"

"Ah. Glad you remember me, Mr. Gibbs." I offer a hand for him to shake, and he stares at it for a while, before allowing a true smile to bloom on his face as he takes my hand.

He gently squeezes my hand as he shakes it... and doesn't let go. "How strange to see you here."

"Not really. My husband's kind of in the industry, you know. I get to tag along sometimes," I reply nonchalantly.

He bites back a laugh. "Right. That makes sense."

I hum, nodding my head slowly. "So... where's your chef hat, Chef?"

"Hmm, I left it back in the kitchen. They're letting me see all the famous people. Said I should mingle," he says with a shrug, finally but reluctantly letting go of my hand. I refrain myself from reaching back out.

"Bet you're so good at mingling," I joke.

He nods. "Totally. I'm a hundred percent a social butterfly. That's why I'm here in the corner of the room. All by myself."

"Ooh. One of those Hollywood social climbers, are you?"

"You know me well, Mrs. Archer."

"Call me Jo."

"How accidental. My name's pretty similar. I'm Jonah."

"I know." I smile a toothy grin. "Nice to meet you. Again."

He nods at me in agreement, his smile deep enough for his dimples to finally show. I want to kiss him so bad. I can't wait for this night to end.

"So, what are you doing here, in this corner? Obviously, you're not just here to say hi to me," he asks, his tone mock-curious.

"Ah, yes. I was looking for something to drink. Would you be kind enough to point me toward the bar?"

"It's actually on the opposite side of the room. Right there. I can take you there... if you want?" He tilts his head toward the area of the bar, which I obviously had no idea about. Definitely.

He offers me his arm, and I carefully hook mine through his. As we walk through the crowd, I try to keep a reasonable distance despite our linked arms, keeping my expression neutral, pretending like we're only meeting for the first time. It's tough, when all I wish to do right now is to pull him into my arm and kiss him senselessly—it's been quite a while since I last saw him in person, and I've missed his warmth terribly.

We unhook our arms once we get to the bar. I order an iced lemon tea, and Jonah asks to make it two. I try not to squeal and fangirl when Angela Bassett walks by the bar. Jonah and I continue our chatter, all polite and professional. At one point, he asks me, "So... what do you do?" and I try to keep myself from laughing when I reply with, "I'm a failed actress." I mean, that's not entirely a lie.