“No – seriously, Jackson. This is New York City. You don’t pay your rent, you get kicked out onto the street.”
“I know that,” he says following me to the couch. The lines in his forehead denote his irritation.
“You don’t seem to understand how serious this is.”
“I do. Dammit!” He slams his fist into the coffee table, making me jump slightly. He instantly looks apologetic when he sees the expression on my face. “I’m sorry for yelling,” he says softly as he takes my hand in his. “Losing my job is a problem. A big problem. I know that. But I’ll figure it out.”
“I have an extra bedroom. My roommate just moved out.” I am fully aware that I just invited a man that I barely know to move in with me and that the sexual nature of our relationship could complicate us being roommates but I got him into this mess. He came to New York to find financing for his business. I distracted him from that goal and now, he’s jobless in the Big Apple.
He smiles at me. “It’s very sweet of you to offer, Hailey. But for now, I’m good.”
I don’t know whether to believe him. I don’t want his foolish male ego to have him wind up homeless.
“Okay. But let me know if you need help. Please.”
He runs his finger down the side of my face in that way that ignites me. “Let’s not talk about this,” he says as he begins to unbutton my jacket and unknot my scarf.
“Jackson…” I begin to protest.
He places his lips on the sensitive spot right behind my ear. “Cowgirl…we’re not talking about this…now, get naked.”
Chapter 8
“Do you like this one?” Amber asks waving a light blue paint swatch in my face. “Or this one?” She waves another swatch in a color almost identical to the first.
“Uh…uh…” I don’t quite know what to say. To me, both paint samples look the same.
“Hailey, you’re really not being helpful today,” she says with a pout as she leans back in the wooden rocking chair sitting in the corner of the room. She intends to turn this spare bedroom into her baby’s nursery. It’s already gorgeous just the way it is, with it’s polished hardwood floors, high ceilings and large windows letting in tons of sunlight. But she’s in nesting mode and wants to make the room extra special for her precious little one on the way.
I look up at her with a blank expression from my perch on a plush cushion on the floor. “They’re so similar, Amber. I really don’t know.”
She eyes me suspiciously. “Something’s on your mind. Spill it.”
Shit!
I knew that this moment would come. Amber has always been the most intuitive of my friends, but now that she’s pregnant, it’s like her perceptiveness has been amped up a hundred notches. Kimberly is the only person I’ve told about Jackson and me, not just because she’s my best friend, but mainly because she lives on the other side of the country. I didn’t want to tell anybody else about us because I don’t want to say anything until I’m sure that what we have is actually going somewhere.
But now, Amber’s here with her arms folded tightly across her chest waiting for me to open up and I know that she won’t back down until I give her the torrid confession she’s looking for.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I say with a heavy sigh.
“Start at the juicy part,” she prods with a sly grin.
I take a deep breath to gather my thoughts. “I’m seeing someone!” I announce dramatically.
“Ooooohhhh! I knew it! I knew it! I told Ruthie the other day. I said, ‘Hailey’s got a man!’ and I was right!” She claps her hands together. Her face is beaming.
I grimace at the smirk on her face. “Don’t get all excited. It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always?” she says rolling her eyes as she rests the paint swatches onto the gray and white changing table next to her.
“No – I mean, it’s complicated. I caused him to lose his job.”
She furrows her eyebrows. “Huh? How’d you do that?”
I’ve started confessing. I might as well bare my soul. “Okay – I’ll start from the beginning,” I say.
Amber leans forward, as much as her protruding stomach will allow. Excitement is written all over her face.
“So, remember when I was mugged?”
She gasps. “Oh my god – you’re dating your mugger, aren’t you?”
“No! No, Amber! Just shut up and listen!”
She leans back with a frown but doesn’t say anything.
“As I was saying, I met Jackson the day that I was mugged. He chased down my mugger and got my purse back.” I can see fireworks going off in Amber’s eyes already. “It turns out that he’s an ex-marine from Austin and he had just moved to New York and landed a part-time job as a security guard at the building where I work. It was just a side gig while he tries to find financing for the company he’s building back home. We started off as just friends and one thing lead to another until the next thing I know, we start having sex.”
A mischievous smile twists Amber’s lips. “You two got caught having sex at the office, didn’t you? That’s why he got fired!”
“Not so simple. He was at my apartment nearly a week ago. He was in the shower. I had just gotten out. There was a knock at the door. I go to answer it and Matt is standing there, drunk.”
Amber’s eyebrows shoot up. “Matt? As in Matteo Moretti?”
I nod, unable to say the words out loud.
“Why the hell was Matt there?”
My tongue swipes nervously across my lips. “Matt and I…”
She gasps clutching at her chest. “You screwed Matt? Hailey! Eww!”
I feel offended now. “What do you mean ‘eww’? He’s cute.”
“He’s not cute – he’s hot as fuck! But that’s irrelevant. Matt is a man whore. I’m not even exaggerating. He tried to get into my pants on my very first day at Cartwright Moretti Stevenson and when I turned him down, he turned into a major sourpuss. I can’t believe you slept with him!”
This is all news to me. I didn’t know that Matt had hit on Amber. She had started out as an intern at Cartwright Moretti Stevenson last summer but she left the job after it was discovered that she was having an affair with one of the firm’s clients. It all worked out in the end because now she and Spencer are married and expecting their first baby. But I never suspected that Matt had made a pass at her.
I feel really stupid right now. I thought that Matt actually found me special. But maybe he’s just a man whore who will fuck anything that walks through the doors of his family’s law firm.
Amber shakes her head as if to bring herself back to the moment. “Okay – so continue your story. What happened when Matt showed up at your place?”
I swallow my emotions and carry on with my story. “He wanted to sleep with me. He pulled off my bath towel and I was naked underneath. Jackson walked in and pretty much beat the shit out of Matt.”
“Way to go, Jackson!” Amber cheers pumping her fist in the air. “I like this guy already,” she jokes.
“Not funny, Amber. That’s how he lost his job. Matt had him fired. And now, he’s unemployed and has bills to pay like everyone else…I’m worried about him.”
“Hails – he’s a big boy. He’ll find another job.”
“But Matt had him blacklisted.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. “That’s just silly. Matteo Moretti has no power in this city. He’s just a little boy working at his father’s law firm…Look, Spencer’s got a few friends who own office buildings in Manhattan. If you want me to put in a word for Jackson, I’d be more than happy to.”
I sigh. “I’ve already offered him my help. He declined.”
“Ugh – male ego.”
“Marine ego,” I correct her.
She laughs again racing her hand over her baby bump. “Well, if ever he changes his mind, I’d be glad to help.”
I rise to my knees and give her a hug. I kept my love life a secret for so long
and now that I’ve talked to her about it, I feel so much better. I should have done it sooner. “Thanks, Amber,” I mutter against her belly.
“Of course, sweetie. That’s what friends are for.”
Chapter 9
When I hear the heavy tapping at my front door, I pull off my apron and rush to answer it.
I invited Jackson for dinner tonight. Not just because I want to spend more time with him but also because a part of me is wondering how long before his money runs out. Food is expensive in this city and I know it’s presumptuous of me to assume that he has no savings, but I can’t help myself.
I swing the door open and he stands there, the epitome of male perfection with his broad shoulders, green eyes and sexy grin.
“Hi,” I rise onto my tiptoes and give him a peck on the lips. He wraps his arms around me and turns it into a real kiss. Deep and passionate.
My head is spinning by the time he pulls away. “I brought wine,” he says whipping out a tall dark bottle from behind my back.
“Oh, great. Thanks,” I say making way for him to enter.
He heads straight into the kitchen as he slips out of his coat. “What’s that delicious smell?” he asks as I close the door before getting back to the stove.
“It’s my homemade vegan pesto. It tastes as delicious as it smells,” I assure him as I pull the lid off of the pot and give the pasta one last stir.
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me, his lips traveling down my neck and running across my exposed back.
“Jackson,” I say playfully. “Let’s leave the fooling around for dessert. I’m starving. It’s dinnertime.”
He gives me a small pout before he helps me carry the dinner plates to the table. He opens the bottle of wine as I light a few candles. We sit opposite each other and our feet touch under the table. Gosh – he looks even more handsome in the candlelight.
I have to say something to cut the sexual tension in the room because the way he’s looking at me makes me want to skip straight to the inevitable make-out session that will happen after we eat.
“So, what was your day like?” I ask right before I take a sip of wine.
“Good – I set up two appointments with potential investors tomorrow. We need the money as soon as possible because we’ve gotta be first to market with our app. If some other app comes out with a similar idea, we lose our window of opportunity. So, I’m hoping that these meetings go well.”
“You’ll do great,” I say offering him a smile and squeezing his hand.
He sticks his hand into his pocket and pulls two business cards out of his wallet. He glances at the first one. “InvestGro Investments – ever heard of them?”
I scan my brain quickly. “I don’t think so.”
He flips to the second card. “Walter Rivers Investors?”
I shake my head. “No. Sorry.”
He looks a little nervous. “I’m really hoping one of them decides to invest in us. We need this.” His shoulders tense up. I can tell that his old war injury is acting up.
“You’ll do great, Jackson. Trust me,” I say reassuringly.
He looks over at me and his eyes tell me that so much is riding on this opportunity.
I push my plate aside and round the table. “Y’know what? I’ll help you relax,” I say. I run my hands along his shoulders, kneading the tight muscles firmly.
I hear him sigh as he slowly begins to let go. I smile to myself. I love it when his body reacts to mine in even the smallest ways.
“I’m real lucky I found you, Cowgirl,” he says glancing up at me.
“Oh, yeah?” I say as I slip into his lap. “Show me how lucky you are.”
I distantly register the sound of his fork hitting the floor as our lips touch and his fingers slide into my hair.
Chapter 10
Ruthie pulls the lid off of her lunch container and the smell of tomatoes and herbs fills the staircase where we sometimes have lunch when we’re at work. These lunches have become more and more infrequent over the past few months, but it’s always nice whenever we get away and come here.
“What is that mouth-watering smell?” Nadia asks peeking into Ruthie’s container.
Ruthie’s eyes light up. “It’s pork bolognese. My husband made it,” she says proudly with her thick Brazilian accent.
“Oooohhhhh…How’s married life, Ruthie?” Nadia asks nudging my former roommate in the shoulder.
The widest smile pulls across Ruthie’s face. “It’s amazing. Every minute of it. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”
“You are the luckiest girl in the world,” Nadia says and grabs an apple slice from my container. “Michael looks like he’s a machine in bed,” she laughs to herself.
Ruthie’s cheeks turn bright red as she hits Nadia playfully in the arm. “A lady never tells.” She scoots close to me. “What’s up, Hails?” she asks bringing her attention to me. “Did you find a new roommate yet?”
I sigh heavily. “I haven’t really started looking. I’m not too excited about having a stranger move in with me.”
A sympathetic look comes into Ruthie’s eyes. “I’m really sorry that I left so suddenly. Everything just happened so quickly.” She’s referring to her spur of the moment wedding.
Nadia twists her mouth and her eyebrows shoot up. “You just left her high and dry, Ruthie.”
I can tell that Ruthie feels bad about the way things happened. “I really didn’t mean to do that.”
I sigh. “It is what it is, I guess. I have over a month to find someone. I’m not worried. I’ll start asking around.”
“Yeah – I’ll ask around, too,” Nadia says. Ruthie nods in agreement.
“Thanks, ladies.” I close my container and rise to my feet. “I’ve gotta get going. The Dubois Realties deal is closing today. I’ve gotta get all the documents down to conference room three.”
“Alright,” Nadia says before taking a big gulp of her diet soda.
Ruthie watches me leave. I can see a mixture of guilt and disappointment on her face. “We’ll catch up later, Hails.”
Chapter 11
A triumphant smile creeps across my face as I watch our client and the seller’s team shake hands. The DuBois Realties deal is one of the biggest deals that our real estate department has worked on over the past several months. It’s been an exciting file to be involved with and I’ve learned a lot. But now it’s over. Time to move on to new things.
I gather up the signed documents as the men say their goodbyes and filter out of the room leaving me alone with Matt. I feel my shoulders tense as he pulls out a chair at the end of the conference room table and sits.
He’s watching me.
I can feel his eyes burning my skin as he reclines in the pivoting chair. I won’t let him intimidate me, though. I just continue to organize the papers.
“You did a good job on this, Hailey,” he says finally.
I glance at him quickly. “Thanks.”
He runs his fingers back and forth over the smooth mahogany table. “I’d like to keep working with you…If that’s not too awkward.” He voice is soft, almost pleading.
I stand there, frozen. I don’t know what to say. I’ve found that Matt is notoriously hard to read. One minute he’s vulnerable and genuine, and the next minute he’s back to being a slimy, conniving snake.
He stands and approaches me. My glance at him is brief and tentative. “I know I’ve been a dick to you. On numerous occasions. You don’t deserve that. You’re a sweet girl. I was wrong.”
“I appreciate you saying that, Matt.” I don’t look at him as I begin to sort the documents and put them into separate folders.
He sits on the table right next to me. I can smell the scent of his cologne. I can feel his virile energy. But it doesn’t affect me. I’ve moved past him. I’m not attracted to him anymore.
He reaches out and takes my hand, interrupting my document filing. I gently ease my hand out of his. “What do you want, Matt?”<
br />
“I wish I could have something deeper with you.” He moves a loose tendril of hair out of my face. I take a step back.
“I’m involved with someone else now. You know that.” I feel tense and defensive. I would never compromise what I have with Jackson for a second chance with Matt. This is the guy I saw fucking his secretary on this very conference table. I haven’t forgotten that.
He pushes a puff of air past his lips. “I know,” he says softly. “If I’d been better to you, then that wouldn’t have happened. You wouldn’t have gotten involved with that security guard guy.”
Moments with Hailey - The Esquire Girls Series - Hailey's Story (Books 1, 2, 3 & 4) - Box Set (featuring Tender Moments , a brand-new Valentine's Day novelette) Page 9