“Actually, yes, I’m looking for a dress to make me look sensational.”
Aren’t we all? “For a special occasion?” Suspecting what the answer would be, I gave my best sales-girl patronizing smile.
“Yes, the firm I’m working for is holding a dinner for some of our clients.”
I knew I should just take her over to the formal wear but couldn’t stop myself from saying, “You know, I think we have a friend in common.”
“Really?”
“Mmm, one of your clients. Jake Maxwell.”
Scarlett grabbed my hand again, and her eyes widened with awe. “You know the gorgeous Jake? Every woman in the office has been ogling him.” She stopped and dropped my hand, before adding, “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have checked—are you two involved?”
For a moment, I’d had the upper-hand through my knowledge of Jake. But it was an illusion. Scarlett had the upper-hand. Always had, always would have. My self-confidence drained away and puddled at my feet.
“No, we’re not involved. I’m a friend of his sister’s, actually. He just mentioned your name when he said he was going to your dinner.”
“Can I ask you something?” Scarlett asked. “Stop me if it’s out of line.”
Oh, I will. With pleasure. “Sure.”
“Is Jake seeing anyone?”
I had a sudden urge to defensively fold my arms over my chest, but managed to resist it and met Scarlett’s expectant look. “As far as I’m aware, he’s single.”
A grin crept across her face. “So there’s a chance for me?”
That plague of killer tomatoes was sure taking its time. “I think there’s every chance for you with Jake.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Then show me your sexiest come-to-bed dress!”
I made a mental note not to tempt fate again and led her over to the dresses.
After serving her and chatting, I had to grudgingly admit I knew why Jake liked Scarlett. Letting go of my prejudice for a moment—as justified as that prejudice was—I remembered her carefree attitude and sense of fun. That would appeal to Jake. And, of course, she was blond and gorgeous. There was that.
Maybe I could try dying my hair blond again? Pay a professional to do it anyway.
But even if I were blond, I’d still never be able to compete with someone like Scarlett—which brought me back to my earlier declaration about things not being able to get worse. This time, I resisted saying it aloud in case fate took up the challenge again.
…
I’d been watching the day Jake won his first professional competition. Eden had driven Kelly and me the two and a half hours to Newcastle and booked the three of us into a hotel for the night before the competition. Jake and Adam had driven up three days earlier in Jake’s van for the heats and were staying in the room next to ours.
We’d all had an early night and got up at first light before Eden took us out for breakfast.
Jake was acting like his normal cheery self, but under my closer-than-average scrutiny, I could see that his face was a shade lighter than usual, and he didn’t eat much of his breakfast.
In my hero-worshiping state, I hadn’t considered that Jake Maxwell had vulnerabilities, but that day I knew he was nervous.
Toying with my breakfast, I wondered what I could do—a gawky girl he barely acknowledged. I watched him mess around with Adam and tease Kelly and prayed for inspiration. Then it came to me.
I leaned a little closer to the table and caught his gaze. “Jake, you know you have nothing to prove today, everyone already thinks you’re a star. You should have fun.”
At first, he seemed surprised, but then he looked down at his hands laced in his lap. “Thanks,” he mumbled. “Adam, we’d better go and check the surf conditions. We’ll catch up with you guys later.”
And they left.
I was still in shock at my own daring and was looking at my plate.
“Annalise,” Eden said, “that was lovely. And the perfect thing to say to Jake. How did you know he was nervous?”
I shrugged and sipped my drink, and Eden let the conversation drop.
He won, of course. Adam didn’t place but seemed happy just to have competed.
When we were back at the two cars, packing last things away before the drive home, Jake managed to find me on my own.
He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Thanks for what you said. It helped.”
“It was nothing.” I was surprised I managed to get the words out.
“It wasn’t nothing. When I was out there, I was tensing up, and I remembered you said to have fun. So I did. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.” He turned and walked away, leaving me to watch his departing bare back.
“You’re welcome,” I said to no one.
…
Soon after Scarlett left with a black low-cut dress, Jake called.
“Hi Annalise. I know this is short notice, but how about doing the wine thing tonight?”
It was the last thing I wanted, especially knowing he’d take the information and aim it at a certain black dress I’d just sold.
“I don’t think I’m up to—”
“Please?” I could just tell he was giving me his sexy smile on the other end of the line, and that vision combined with the tone of his voice had the effect it always did. Really, this man had missed his calling as a con artist.
“Oh, all right. But I’m working a shift for Barbara in her shop and I have to close up tonight so I won’t be home until seven or so.”
“That’s fine. I’ll bring dinner and meet you at your place at seven.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to. See you at seven.”
Sighing, I looked around the shop, remembering when I’d first brought him here. We’d had fun. Sure, I’d been completely distracted by him trying on clothes, but I always had fun around Jake. He was a good friend to have.
And now I needed to let go of my obsession with him and be his friend.
He wanted to date Scarlett, and Scarlett wanted to date him. As Jake’s friend, I was happy to help him.
A relationship might not be fated for us, but I’d have his friendship. That was something I’d always treasure.
…
Jake
That night I waited in Annalise’s doorway with two bags of take-out containers at my feet. I was glad we’d been able to find a truce at the barbecue, but it still wasn’t as comfortable as we’d been before I’d found out about her teenage crush. Hopefully, if we pushed forward and pretended it hadn’t happened, time would smooth everything out. Satisfied, I dug my hands into my pockets. It was good to have a plan.
When Annalise arrived, she was frowning. My first instinct was to reach out and smooth the worry lines with my fingers. That would pretty much violate the no-touching rule she’d put in place, so I tried to get her to smile instead.
“You’re late,” I teased.
“I told you it’d be seven or so. It’s now ten past, which is quite within the realms of ‘or so’.” She didn’t seem amused, but I had patience on my side. I’d get her to relax soon.
“Fair enough, but I should warn you I have an assortment of Italian food rapidly cooling down,” I said, grabbing the bags and following her up the stairs.
“We’ll never eat that much.” She shook her head as she unlocked the door and led me into the kitchen.
I brushed past her to put the bags on the countertop. “I know, but I wasn’t sure what you liked. I think I’ve got all the bases covered. That is,” I said, a thought suddenly occurring to me, “unless you don’t like any Italian food?”
“I love Italian. Just let me get changed, the plates are in that cupboard.” She headed down her hallway, and I sighed as I watched her go, unable to help admiring the way she moved. It was something about the sway of her hips.
Rover came bounding out and bounced around my feet, doing her faultless impersonation of a small dog. Crouching, I patted her on the head
. “Hey, Rover, how’ve you been?” Rover rolled over and presented me with her tummy. “Yeah, sometimes I feel that way when I’m here, too.”
I gave her a quick rub before finding plates and cutlery then setting the food out on the table. When Annalise re-emerged, she’d changed into shorts and a white sleeveless shirt and put her hair up in a clip.
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring fish and chips,” she said.
Rolling my eyes, I went to find wine glasses. “I may need some help from you at the moment, but I’m not a complete philistine.”
“No, you’re not,” she conceded. When I came back with the glasses, she was chewing on her bottom lip. “Jake.”
“Annalise.” I copied her solemn tone and waited.
“I saw Scarlett today.”
I jerked back a step. That had been the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth. “You did?” I put the glasses on the table. “How?”
“She came in to Barbara’s shop this morning to buy a dress for the dinner,” she said as she slid into a seat.
I sat down as well, and for the first time I could remember as an adult, I wanted to squirm in my chair. There was something unsettling about Annalise and Scarlett meeting. “Did you guys talk about anything?”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t spill the beans—I’ve left you free to surprise her with a grand dramatic gesture. But I don’t think we need to do any more to attract her. She’s already more than interested in you. We may as well skip the wine tonight.”
I rubbed a hand over my chin. “She may be interested, but that doesn’t mean I can sustain that interest.” Though wine alone probably wouldn’t help—my track record of short-term relationships spoke for itself. “Besides, you’ve already bought the wine.”
She blew out a breath. “Of course, I’ll still help you if you want me to.”
And that was the problem right there—I wanted more than just her help. Time to change the subject. I picked up the bowl and spooned food onto our plates. “Have you made a decision about your car?”
She grimaced. “No.”
“You’re going to have to dump it.” I knew that was blunt, but, for some reason, she seemed to be having trouble grasping the fact.
“Abandon Mindy?” she said, horrified. “How could I?”
I handed her a plate. “Annalise, you know it’s not a person, don’t you?”
“Well, yes, but she’s still my Mindy.” She gave me a half-smile, but her eyes showed that, underneath, she was upset. “Mindy and I have been together a long time. She’s seen me through a lot. I’d be letting her down.”
As she picked at her salad, I tried to get my head around the situation with her car. It seemed I’d underestimated her emotional attachment to the thing—I needed to take that into account if we were going to discuss it.
I took a breath and tried again. “You’re not letting her down. It’s like changing jobs or moving house. Just because you move on to something new doesn’t mean you didn’t like the last one.”
She toyed with an olive on her plate. “That makes sense, but…maybe I should have done more to help her. I’m her owner, so she’s completely dependent on me. Maybe I’ve been neglectful.”
Was this just about the car? Sometimes when she looked at me I could see something sad deep inside her. Had someone broken her heart? Maybe that guy she took to Kelly’s wedding? I took a forkful of gnocchi and watched her as she finally ate the olive. For a moment in time, I forgot everything else and just watched Annalise’s mouth as she chewed and swallowed. It was a thing of beauty.
And I had to ask myself the question: why was I chasing Scarlett when Annalise was the one I thought about at night? The one whose mouth I was now staring at?
But I already knew the answer.
The lure of the forbidden.
I knew I couldn’t have her—heck, even Adam knew I would only break her heart, and she was far too sweet to hurt. However, being my father’s son, as soon as I’d labeled her as forbidden in my head, she’d become a hundred percent more appealing. Suddenly she was filling my dreams, and I was wondering what it would be like to kiss her.
But it wasn’t real. I’d always wanted what I couldn’t have—a trait I’d inherited from one of the country’s biggest screw-ups. Of course, that was also why I wanted Scarlett. The difference was Scarlett didn’t have Annalise’s naivety. Scarlett wouldn’t be expecting anything more than a short-term relationship, whereas Annalise was upset about an old car that couldn’t be fixed. Annalise was not someone I could have a fling with, then walk away from with no one getting hurt. She threw her whole heart into everything she did. I liked that about her, but it was also the reason she had to remain forbidden to me. Despite the fact that her remaining forbidden was the reason I was thinking about her….
I held back a sigh. As long as I recognized this was just about me being a jerk and wanting what I couldn’t have, I’d be fine.
I thought back to the conversation with Gerry about finding my passion. Maybe if I could solve that riddle, I wouldn’t be so damned restless and chasing after the wrong things. But I had no idea what to look for, and Gerry wouldn’t tell me. Who else knew me well enough to have an idea?
I glanced across the table at Annalise eating her gnocchi. I had a feeling she saw me more clearly than most people in my life… Asking for her opinion would mean showing her even more of myself, which went against the grain. Could I?
“Annalise,” I said and cleared my throat. “Can I ask you something? In the spirit of our new friendship.”
“Sure,” she said warily.
“Remember that first time I was here, I mentioned I’d been bored at work?”
“Which you solved by setting Scarlett as a challenge,” she said pointedly.
I winced. “Yeah, that. See, the thing is, I think I’m looking for something. Something to be passionate about again. The way Gerry is about teaching.”
“There’s nothing in your life you feel that way about?”
“Not really.” Which sounded pathetic out loud. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
She shook her head and laid down her fork. “I’m not sure I could get through the day that way. Passion has always been part of who I am.”
“Like what?” I asked, fascinated.
She looked around with a far away smile. “The taste of chocolate melting on my tongue. The feel of a silky fabric between my fingers as I create a new design.” She pointed to her wall. “That shade of marigold orange.”
“But what happens when you get bored of marigold orange?”
“I’ll change it for a fresh, crisp apple green. It’s about color in general—I love it surrounding me, inspiring me. The exact shade will change, but my love for color in general is constant.”
Her eyes glowed with all the passion she was talking about, and I could almost feel it surrounding her. As if I could touch it if only I reached out.
I swallowed. “How do I find that?”
A tiny frown line appeared between her brows. “I don’t know. It’s always been so natural for me. Just there, whether I wanted it or not. Of course, it’s also part of what makes me too much of a dreamer, without enough grounding in reality, so you might not want to go this route.”
She thought she wasn’t grounded in reality? Seriously? “Annalise, you’re not—”
“Sorry,” she said, interrupting. “I didn’t mean to bring the attention to me. We were talking about you. Do you have any ideas?”
I hesitated for a long moment, debating whether to let that go or not, but she was clearly uncomfortable going there, so I dropped it. “I was hoping you’d have some pointers.”
She picked up her fork again, her expression thoughtful. “Think about those times when your heart is full. When I look at that marigold orange, my heart feels bigger than my chest. When that happens, it’s a big clue.”
I took another mouthful of gnocchi and thought about being out on the water. There was a peace that came over me ou
t there, which might have been what she was talking about. And that day Annalise had been on the water with me, lying on my board, making all the blood in my body head south…
I only just managed to restrain a groan by biting the inside of my cheek. Crap, now I was back at square one, wanting what was forbidden, precisely because she was forbidden.
Cursing myself, I ate the rest of the gnocchi and tried not to think of Annalise as anything other than my kid sister’s best friend and the person helping me impress another woman.
…
Annalise
When I’d finished, I sighed and leaned back. “This is nice, Jake. When I was working, I’d be so tired by the time I arrived home at night, I’d grab something quick before starting in my workroom. And now I sometimes work through dinner and realize I’m famished at ten o’clock.”
He leaned back, as well, looping an elbow over the back of the chair. “Feel free to call me any time you want a mercy dash to the Italian restaurant.”
Mercy dash. I supposed that was about all I could expect from him. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I think I’ll get the first wine.” I walked into the kitchen, mainly to avoid any more pity-comments.
I filled both glasses with wine then showed him the bottle. “We’ve got four types to try and this is a Semillon, the driest. We’ll go from dry to sweet. Have you tried many wines before?”
“At parties, but I never paid attention to what they were.”
I sat back in my chair. “I don’t expect you to like this one much, but give it a go.”
Lifting his glass, he touched it to mine, saying, “Here’s to my improvements.”
Improvements? God help me if he improved any more. I smiled and nodded politely, then almost sculled the glass.
“Hey, aren’t we supposed to go slow so I can try them all?”
“What? Oh, yes, I forgot.” I put my almost-empty glass down. “You haven’t tried yours.”
Jake lifted the glass to his mouth, which only served to draw my attention to his lips as they opened to receive the wine. I could imagine him receiving my mouth instead and the feel of his tongue as it slid against mine, those teeth tugging on my bottom lip…
“Eugh! That’s shocking! How did you drink so much of it?” Jake slid the glass to the other side of the table as if it could attack his taste buds from a distance.
The Summer of Jake Page 12