“Was it insured?”
“Of course. I’ve got the certificate of purchase and everything.” He released her hand and stepped away, looking towards the sink again. “Still sucks,” he sighed.
“Well,” Jennifer heaved in a deep breath and pushed herself towards the doorway of the bathroom, “Thanks for helping me get it off my hand.”
She moved out the room and looked around. She was in the bedroom. He had a magnificent king size bed, better than hers. Four posters and an incredible view. She suddenly realized that she had no business being in the bedroom, but the bathroom was attached to it. She had followed him through the room earlier from the conference room.
Jennifer turned and met James's eyes. She chuckled to hid the growing nervousness in her stomach.
“It’s late,” was all she could manage.
James nodded. “Very.” His voice was flat. He crossed his arms but didn’t move.
Jennifer cleared her throat and took a step away. She wasn’t sure if it was towards the door or not, but she wanted to put more space between them. What she really wanted was to feel his arms around her, much like Andrew’s were around her earlier as they danced. She wondered who would feel better—but the entire thought was preposterous. She needed to leave.
“What time should I be back tomorrow?” She asked, trying to force a business-calm feel over her body. She failed.
James looked towards his wrist. “I’ll call you. I’ve got your room number.”
She nodded. “Sorry about the ring.” He smiled. “I never should have put it on. I don’t know what I was thinking,” the more she talked, the faster the words tumbled out of her mouth. James took a step towards her. She hadn’t put much distance between them, just about three steps, and now he had already taken two towards her. She swallowed back her unease.
He reached for her hand, and she found her body moving towards him.
“What are you doing?”
He pulled her into a hug. Jennifer’s body was stiff. It was just a hug. Her chin was on his shoulder and his arms were wrapped loosely around her torso. For a moment, she wanted to relax against him, to breathe him in as she had Andrew earlier when they were beneath the waterfall. Her mouth dropped at the thought—why was she even thinking about Andrew? James was the man she wanted, right?
Jennifer wrapped her arms around James’s back. He was softer than Andrew, but still manly and taller than her enough to make her feel delicate. This was a side of James she could definitely get used to. Perhaps the break up helped him to see who’s been there for him over the years.
He pulled away slightly. “I missed you, Angel.”
Jennifer didn’t know what to say to that. Hearing him say her name melted her resolve to leave. Now she wasn’t so sure. He seemed ripe and ready. This is what she had wanted for so long. They were around each other a lot—she missed him every time he did something without her. She had never know he could feel the same way about her. He released her from the hug.
“Don’t worry about the ring. I’ll get it taken care of,” he turned his back to her and headed for the phone. Her opportunity to make a move was gone, but maybe it was better like this. He had just come into town; they had been separated for about four days. She didn’t want to rush anything. Maybe he had a few drinks on the plane which made him more touchy than normal.
Although, even as Jennifer reasoned with herself, she knew that wasn’t the answer. He normally had drinks on the plane and had never hugged her like that before. Perhaps he was just finally starting to see how much she meant to him now that Katie was gone. Still, her heart ached a bit for him.
Jennifer took the moment to say her goodbyes, welcome him to Denver in a few words and then make her exit. In her room, she changed for bed and let her mind drift. She thought of Andrew within seconds. That man undeniably had an effect on her. She liked the way he held her gaze steady when she talked, even if she mostly stuttered.
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. He was just two rooms down on the left. She wondered if he would be thinking about her. Glancing at the alarm clock by the side of the bed, she sighed. It was 1:30 am. Not likely he was still awake.
She wasn’t sure at what hour sleep came to her, but after tossing and turning, trying positions on top of the sheets and then underneath, and then with the comforter pushed so far to the end of the bed that it fell entirely off, she slipped into oblivion.
Her last thoughts were of Andrew and the feel of his body against hers when he pulled her into a hug on the mountainside.
Chapter Fourteen
Not a Bad Idea
JENNIFER DIDN’T SLEEP for very long. She awoke at three, and then again at five. At six, she decided she wasn’t going to get much more sleep and dragged herself from the bed. The last three years her life had been virtually nonexistent outside of work and in the past four days, she had received more possibilities for a promising future than she could have every thought conceivable. It was a bit exhausting, actually.
She didn’t understand what Andrew was up to, or James, if in fact James was even up to anything at all. In the shower, she stood with her eyes half closed. The shower head was directly above her and rained down over her body, like a beautiful cascading waterfall with lustrous scented plants and flowers all around her. Actually, that was just the body wash she brought from home. It was scented, lavender and fresh spring. It didn’t help to keep her mind from traveling back to Andrew and the way he lingered in the elevator, lips so close to her face she would have only needed to push her chin up to connect. But why didn’t she? She had only stood there, and he had even pulled away.
“Uuugghhh,” Jennifer moaned. She remembered why she had signed off men a long time ago. His name was Dick. Literally Richard. He wasn’t extremely wealthy, but his family was and so by association, he was too.
He had a no limit credit card and an excessive flat he would have never been able to afford in his lifetime. He wanted to be a cook and worked as an apprentice through connections beneath a top Chicagoan chef. That was something she liked about him. He could cook, and he loved to do it! Dinners had never been skimpy when they had lived together.
They were perfect, or so she had thought. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t have worked out, but at some point, he decided a future career doing what he loved was more important than maintaining a relationship with her. He broke it off. She tried to be friends, but once it became apparent that he was most interested in short flings, the thought was too painful for her to be around him any longer. So she let him go knowing that he would never return.
What probably hurt the most was how willing she had been to give up whatever was necessary to make their relationship work. He said he didn’t want to be tied down to just Chicago, meaning he was worried her status with Melone would keep him from excelling. She would have quit the next day. He said he wanted to travel; she told him it wasn’t a problem—she could move wherever he went. Finally, the truth came out. He just didn’t want to be in a relationship. He didn’t want to focus on one. It wasn’t a priority. She wasn’t a priority.
After the shower, Jennifer stood in front of the mirror. It was still foggy from her shower; she had left the door open hoping to cut down on the humidity. It didn’t work. She began her morning routine, plugging in her straightener, curling iron, blower dryer, and laying out her brush and comb.
She had already blow-dried most of the wetness away before she reached for her curling iron. She heard Andrew’s voice in her ear. “You look good with it straight.” Jennifer paused at the thought and looked herself over in the mirror.
Straight hair made her look more the part of an executive assistant. Not in a stuck-up-office-brat kind of way, but more like a professional woman entrepreneur. She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea.
She had olive skin, a bit Brazilian from her mother’s side of the family and looked a bit too much like Katie Holmes, but with long straight brown hair instead of the natural large
curls that framed the celebrity’s face. When she curled her hair, she usually created rivets everywhere. It was a look she had grown used to, but mostly because it was a look James loved; so she learned to love it too.
Jennifer decided she would do a mixture, keeping her hair mostly straight at the top with the loose flowing curls of Katie Holmes at the bottom. Even as she worked the curling iron like a pro, she knew James wasn’t likely to notice. He rarely saw her hair or complemented her, other than the standard, You look good, Angel. Still, it was her usual compliment, and she cherished it each and every time he gave to her.
Once her hair was ready, and it looked incredible, she sifted through her dresses and sided on a white lightweight sheathed stash thigh high dress with a draping effect over the left shoulder. It was just the casual thing to wear about today. She didn’t think she’d be leaving the hotel much, but she had a duty to look the part at all times. She chose a pair of three-inch white heels and then glanced at the clock. Even while she moved slow the time only read, 7:30 am, like it was mocking her inability to sleep the night before. She grumbled.
Andrew said he would be at her room around eight. If she were being honest, she was really looking forward to it. She walked to the coffee pot and looked it over. It had been years since she had prepared hotel coffee. It was something she was a bit of a connoisseur about. She traveled with beans, a grinder, and a French press to make the perfect cup every time.
After pulling out her supplies, she used a bottle of water to heat in her portable water boiler. She didn’t even like to use the supplied coffee pots to heat her water—she was sure mold was probably clinging to the insides of the container and filters anyway.
Absently, her mind drifted through random thoughts as she readied the French press and plugged in the coffee grinder. She yawned, undeniably still tired. She thought about Andrew, his incredible height and his strong arms with those dark, smiling eyes. “You’re a beautiful woman.”
Had he really meant that or was he only trying to get her out the room and to their reservation on time? Did it even matter? He was a partner at the firm, the firm where she worked. She probably shouldn’t daydream about him, then again, that never stopped all her dreams and feelings about Melone…
She began to see a dangerous correlation between Dick, Andrew, and James. They were all men with a bright future ahead of them—not that hers couldn’t be bright. It could be, bright that is, but at the moment, it just wasn’t…yet. It was impossible for her to think that she could work on her future when the Melone Group had so much work she needed to do—and it was good work, work she was well compensated for. But did that work make her future bright? Not likely. Not dark, but not entirely bright.
She worked for Melone. James Melone, a riveting man who brought innovation and the latest technologies to companies of all types to help them expand their bottom line, grow their customers and target audience and increase their brands. A job like that didn’t stop or settle overnight. In fact, did it ever actually end?
Jennifer marveled at the idea. She had never really given her future with James much consideration. Her position was an incredible job opportunity that had fallen into her lap at a perfect time making her the luckiest woman in the world. Of course, the only downside was that she rarely had time to keep in touch with friends. But that was mostly her doing.
Her relationship with Dick caused her to fall away from the only two women that knew her well, and it had been months since she had talked with either of them. She wasn’t even sure if either of them would be in Chicago still. Nicole was a woman with an incredible voice who wanted to try for Broadway. She was doing well with several theaters in Chicago, but still, Broadway was Broadway, and it was something Nicole had been working on for years.
On the other hand, Brittany had been interested in Jennifer’s younger brother, Josh, the actor. Brittany wanted to try her hand in the performance arts so she left to Hollywood, or some subdivision thereabouts. Perhaps her friends had finally lived up to their dreams and pursued their callings in different lands. Could that have been her? Absolutely! Would it have made her any less lonely? Unfortunately, no. But it was uncertainty, and that’s just the way the unknown future worked.
Jennifer didn’t do too well with certainty. That’s why she didn’t like living with Dick without some formal type of agreement. Just as she feared, as soon as he grew tired of the arrangement, he left. Would it have been so easy if they had been married? That was a possibility she would never know. Then again, would she have wanted to be married to a man like Dick? She was sure she already knew the answer to that.
There was a soft rapping on her door. Jennifer moved to open it before she remembered that James said he would call. The door was already ajar before she realized it was Andrew.
“Wow,” they both breathed in unison, and then they chuckled.
Andrew reached for her hair. He let the strands slide through his fingers.
“You look incredible,” he said at last.
Jennifer smiled. “I woke up early. Couldn’t sleep.”
“Me neither.”
Silence befell them. Jennifer pressed her lips together before she remembered her manners and stepped aside, motioning for Andrew to enter.
“I forgot you were coming over early.” That wasn’t true, but Jennifer stuck with it.
Andrew stepped into her room and scanned the place. “I’m early. James wants to meet with me at eight so I thought I’d stop by and let you know I’d have to come by afterward.” Jennifer frowned and looked for the clock. “It’s 7:45,” Andrew answered.
She chuckled and met Andrew’s gaze. He could read her mind, she was almost certain.
“I was just making coffee,” she offered to ease the silence. She motioned towards the small counter housing the mini fridge. A manual grinder set next to a tall French press with the top and strainer off. The French press was filled halfway with soaking beans.
“I just need to top it off and then it’ll be ready in another three minutes,” Jennifer offered. She moved to the countertop and poured more scorching water into the press. She pushed the grounds down with the strainer and then added the top. Turning around, she leaned against the counter and met Andrew’s eyes.
“I sorry for upsetting you last night,” he cleared his throat. “At the restaurant,” he added when he saw Jennifer’s expression.
She nodded knowingly, trying her best to keep the “chill” face on. Instinct would have had her shrug it off saying, It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. But she was never any good at playing down her feelings. She remembered the beautiful goddess resting her head against Andrew’s shoulder from the wallpaper on his phone. It wasn’t really any of her business who that beauty was. If it was the most recent chick he had dated, didn’t she have a right to know about it before he went around giving people wet hugs in an incredible, secluded oasis along a mountainside that took an hour to hike to?
“Who was the woman in the picture on your phone?” That definitely didn’t come out like she was planning.
Andrew’s brows scrunched. “What?”
“In Manitou, on the trail we saw a deer. You let me see the picture on your phone,” Jennifer was tugging at her fingers, watching Andrew’s expression. He was still confused. “There was a woman in your wallpaper. Was she your ex or something?”
She knew she had no right to ask the question, and Andrew had no obligation to answer her. Still, her body tensed as realization dawned on his face. He slipped his phone from his pocket and tapped at the screen. When he saw the picture, he smiled. Really? Jennifer frowned. He turned the phone to her and held it out.
“This picture?” He asked.
Jennifer nodded. She had only seen the image for probably less than a second, but she had never forgotten the look of that incredible woman.
“Who is she?”
“My niece.”
She couldn’t help the scowl that flickered across her face.
“She looks no
thing like you.”
Andrew’s smile only grew. He brought the phone back to him and continued tapping and swiping. “My uncle married a Spaniard. His wife had a darker complexion than most.”
He turned the phone towards her, letting Jennifer take it into her hands. She saw a picture of an older white male, certainly American, with a foreign woman on his arm. Between them was a small child, probably two or three years old.
“That’s the best picture I have of her mom.”
Jennifer realized he had spoken in past tense about her. “Did they divorce?”
He shook his head. “She’s dead. Cancer. Marie was raised mostly by my mother. They had her a year after they married. I was five. She was like my sister.” He chuckled. “She is my sister.”
Jennifer’s breath left her. Staring at the old family photo, Jennifer frowned. “Where’s your uncle?”
“Dead.”
She gasped this time, nearly dropping the phone. “What on earth?”
Andrew shrugged weakly. “He lost his wife three years after they married. He never coped with her loss and became depressed,” he paused as if remembering something. “It was suicide.” He didn’t want to speak more on the subject.
She wanted to pull him into her arms and comfort him. Instead, she happened to glance down and remembered the coffee. She handed Andrew’s phone back to him and pulled two black mugs from the countertop towards her. She poured the cups gingerly and gave Andrew one before he took it. He smelled the steaming liquid.
“Black?”
Jennifer smiled and nodded. “I’m kind of a freak about it. Do you need sugar or cream? I saw a small bowl of one somewhere.”
Andrew shook his head. “I’ll try it black first.” After a sip, his eyes grew. “That’s good.”
Jennifer smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Wow,” he drank more, his cup a quarter gone by the time Jennifer took her first sip. She felt her senses beginning to wake up. Fatigue and fog seemed to retreat into her mind, screaming and yelling for cover as a unit of heavily armored caffeine tanker trucks arrived.
Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Boss - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 1) Page 12