“Fine,” she said. “I’ll do it.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, smiling at her. “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”
She almost said no, but then changed her mind. What was the point in prolonging the argument?
“Yes. I’ve got to get Jake in bed first, so I’ll be ready at eight.”
“Good. Did you decide where you want to go?”
“Not yet. What’s the most expensive restaurant in town?”
He laughed, and the sound made her feel a little better. She wasn’t going to be angry with Charlie just because Jamie was being a jerk. She wasn’t going to let him screw up the life she had made for herself here.
MORNING AT THE office went by as usual, but when the clock struck noon Jamie put in his first phone call to Grace about the campaign.
“We’ll need mailers,” he told her after a quick hello.
“Mailers? What for?”
“To distribute to all the local restaurants and bars. We need something really creative to get people interested. How soon can you have a draft to me?”
“I can have something to you this week,” she said hesitantly.
“This week? Why not today?”
“Because the design team can’t have it done by today.”
“Fine. Send it over this week, then.”
“Fine.”
"What are you doing tonight?"
She was immediately suspicious. "Why?"
"Let me take you to dinner."
"I don't think so," she said. "Let's get back to talking about work."
"This is about work," he said. "A working dinner."
"I can't. I have other plans."
"With Charlie?" Grace could tell that he was annoyed. "So cancel them."
"I'm not going to cancel them. Stop being ridiculous."
"That's no way to talk to your client."
"I’m sorry,” she said, praying for patience. “Jamie, please stop talking about my personal life."
“This isn’t about your personal life,” he told her. “This is about your canceling a date to attend a professional working dinner with me.”
“I can’t.”
"Hmm. I think I may need to sit down and have a talk with your boss about your priorities."
Grace couldn’t believe how arrogant he was being.
"I've got to go,” she said. “If I'm going to get anywhere with your account today and still get out of here by five o’clock, I've got to get to work."
It was something she never would have said to one of her other clients, but she didn’t mind saying it to Jamie. She knew they could never be truly professional with one another, not when they had so much history.
He was quiet, and she wondered if she had crossed a line.
"Jamie?"
"You’re right, of course. Goodbye."
That was weird, she thought, putting down the phone. Why did she have the feeling he was up to something?
Grace tried to keep her thoughts busy with work, so she began putting together plans for Four Brothers Brewery. She knew the best way to keep Jamie out of her hair was to do such a good job that he had nothing to complain about.
She put together a social media plan and started working on drafting letters to be sent to local bars and restaurants. She thought of promotional ideas and drafted a press release announcing the brewery’s expansion. She even wrote an outline for a behind-the-scenes video on the brewery process, doing as best as she could with the information she found on their website. When she finished sending what she had worked on to Jamie, the phone rang. It was 4:50 p.m.
"Grace? It's Jamie."
As if she didn’t have his voice forever burned into her mind.
"Hi. What's going on?"
"I have a project for you."
"Okay."
"I set up a meeting with the owner of Southside Grill,” he said. “He's considering partnering with us and selling our beer in his restaurants."
"Wow, that's great. You did that today?"
“Don't sound so surprised. I came down here to work."
"Okay, what do you need from me?"
"I need you to put together a presentation for me to give tomorrow. I'll send you some of our financials and information, although I think you have most of it. I need to sell him on this product."
"What time is the meeting?"
"9 a.m."
She almost laughed.
"This needs to get done, Grace."
"You couldn't have called earlier? I'm about to go home."
"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "I can come over and help. We can work on it together."
"No. I'll do it."
"Are you sure?” His voice grew low and seductive. “I can bring Chinese food."
They used to order Chinese in college when they were studying for exams. Clearly, he also remembered that.
Grace gritted her teeth, warding off the memories. "I'm positive. I'll get it done and email it you tonight."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
He hung up, and she groaned in frustration.
"Everything okay?"
She turned to see Charlie standing behind her wearing his coat and holding his briefcase.
"I have to stay late tonight," she told him. "We're going to have to reschedule dinner."
"That's alright. Is it something for Castleton?"
"Yes."
"For some reason, I'm not surprised."
Grace forced a smile. "Maybe we can do dinner tomorrow?"
"Will Caroline be able to watch Jake?"
"I'm sure she won't mind. Will is out of the country on business so she's got some free time."
"Okay. Tomorrow, then." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m proud of you. You’re really being mature about this whole thing and putting the company first.”
She felt a flicker of resentment toward Charlie when he said that, but she didn’t say anything to him about it. She couldn’t fault him for being so focused on his business. It was his priority. She usually admired that about him. It meant he was responsible.
Charlie left and was slowly followed by everyone else in the office, until Grace was the only one left working. She took a break from writing promotional material for Jamie’s presentation to call Caroline and tell her about the change of plans.
"That ass," Caroline said once Grace’s recap was through. "Tell Jamie to do the work himself."
"I can't," she said. "This is what he is paying us for."
"Charlie should have never taken the account in the first place. This whole thing is screwed up."
Grace sighed. "Let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s making me depressed. How is Jake?"
"He's good. He’s watching cartoons."
“Better cartoons than Law and Order reruns,” Grace said with a laugh.
“Hey, give me a break, it happened one time.”
"I’m just messing with you, Cara. Thank you so much for watching him."
"My pleasure."
Caroline finished teaching around the time Jake got out of preschool, so she picked him up on her way home everyday and took care of him until Grace got home. It was yet another thing Grace owed her big sister for.
"Can you put him on?"
There was some shuffling and then a little voice came on the line. "Mommy?"
She pulled the picture of Jake out of her drawer and put it back in its place. "Hi baby. How was school today?"
"Good. I made a picture of you and Aunt Caroline."
"You did? I can't wait to see it."
"I colored it blue. Miss Logan said it was the best one in the class."
"I bet it is, honey.”
"Are you coming home?"
“I have to work late," she told him. "I'll come in and give you a kiss goodnight when I get back."
"Okay. I'll stay up and wait for you."
She winced, feeling like the world's worst mother. "Don't do that, silly. Big boys need to sleep."
"Au
nt Caroline is making chicken fingers."
"Your favorite! Go ahead and eat. I love you," she said.
"I love you, too."
He hung up the phone, and she went back to work.
THE NEXT DAY at work flew by in rush. Grace worked hard to keep all her clients happy, and that meant putting off some of Jamie’s emails.
He called around noon.
“Did you get my message about the mailers?”
“Yes, Jamie. I got your message.”
“Why didn’t you get back to me?”
“I was about to. I was busy with another project.”
Didn’t he realize that he wasn’t her only client? She couldn’t tell if he had no idea how an agency worked or if he was just trying to mess with her.
“We are good to go on them,” she said. “I’ll have a draft to you tomorrow.”
“Okay, good. What are you doing tonight?”
Was he going to ask her to dinner again, or was he going to drop another project on her that would require her to stay late? She hesitated before answering. “I’m going to dinner with Charlie since we had to reschedule last night.”
“Interesting.”
“I don’t see why.”
“Where are you going to dinner?”
“Why?” She was immediately suspicious, even though his tone was light.
“I’ve been reaching out to a lot of the local restaurants around here, trying to get the owners to sell the beer,” Jamie said. “If Charlie is taking you to dinner somewhere, the place must be good. I should add it to the list to check out sometime.”
It was a decent explanation, but she wasn’t entirely convinced it was the truth. Still, there wasn’t any harm in telling Jamie. What was he going to do, show up and ruin their date?
She wouldn’t exactly put it past him.
“It’s called Riverside Café,” she told him. “Really cute place, American cuisine. Charlie knows the owner, Joe, so he may be able to hook you up. I can talk to him about it tonight.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Grace.”
“No problem.”
“I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Okay, talk to you soon.”
She didn’t hear from Jamie the rest of the day, and she was able to get a good deal of work done. The local paper picked up a press release she had written, and they were going to do a story on one of the wineries she represented. Her client was ecstatic when she heard the news, so Grace was feeling pretty good about herself by the time 5 o’clock rolled around.
She drove home to change into something date-worthy, although her options were kind of limited by what was in her closet. She had plenty of work clothes—pants and a-line skirts in every neutral color, button-down blouses and pointy high heels—and tee shirts and jeans for the weekend. In college she was never one to wear sweatpants to class, and the only time she wore a tee shirt was when she was going to bed. Becoming a mother had changed her personal style dramatically. When she didn’t have to go to work, all she cared about was comfort.
That had become a problem recently, now that she was dating someone. She had no flirty dresses, dark skinny jeans or strappy wedge sandals, the kind most women her age wore to nice restaurants. Borrowing from Caroline’s closet could be difficult with the major height difference between them.
For the millionth time she reminded herself that she needed to go shopping. It never worked out because there were so many things that took precedence over buying date outfits, like rent, food and the clothes Jake seemed to be growing out of by the day.
Maybe she could talk to Charlie about giving her a raise.
Or maybe not. She would never have the guts, especially now that they were dating.
Grace finally settled on a gray skirt from her closet and borrowed a ruffled, pink spaghetti strap blouse from Caroline’s. She paired it with a black cardigan and black heels.
“Not bad,” Caroline said when she came out of her room. “You look like a sexy librarian.”
“Thanks, that’s what I was going for,” Grace said.
“Mommy, you look beautiful,” Jake said with a smile that made him look just like Jamie.
“Thanks, baby.”
“Have a great time and be home before curfew,” Caroline said, winking at her.
“Be home before curfew,” Jake repeated. “Okay, mommy?”
“Yes.” She kissed him on the cheek. “And you be good, okay?”
“I’m always good. Aren’t I always good, Aunt Caroline?”
“The best.”
Grace saw the headlights outside and hurried down to meet Charlie. He was right on time as always. She slid into the passenger seat of his pristine BMW, and he gave her a quick peck on the lips.
“Hello, gorgeous.” His eyes lingered on her cleavage and she pulled on her shoulder straps self-consciously.
“Hello, yourself. How was your day?”
“It was okay. Busy, busy.”
They spoke about the office on the short ride to the restaurant. Charlie was having a problem with one of his account managers, who was slacking off on some important projects. Grace listened sympathetically and tried to be encouraging, not wanting to speak badly about a coworker, especially one who was her senior.
Charlie finished his rant when they pulled into the restaurant parking lot, and he came around and opened her door for her. She held his arm lightly as they walked in and were seated by the hostess without a reservation.
The place wasn’t that crowded, but that was only because it was a Tuesday night. On the weekends, reservations were required.
They were seated at a table in the corner with a great view of the whole restaurant, and the waitress poured them glasses of water and lit the candles in between them. With the low lighting, Grace thought it was pretty romantic. Charlie had taken her here once before, and it was quickly becoming her new favorite restaurant. She didn’t eat at nice places very often with a four-year-old, so their dinner dates were a treat for her.
“I was just thinking that this...” Charlie drifted off, his face falling.
“What?” Grace whipped her head around to see what Charlie was looking at, and her heart skipped a beat. She saw Jamie exiting the kitchen with a man in a chef’s jacket that she recognized as Joe, the owner.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Charlie demanded.
“I... I have no idea.” She felt her face burn, and she kicked herself for telling Jamie the name of the restaurant when her instincts had told her not to.
Jamie saw them and pointed them out to Joe, who smiled. The two made their way to the table, Jamie grinning like he had just won a prize.
“Hi, Grace.”
“Hi, Jamie. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to introduce myself to Joe. Remember? You suggested I speak with him.”
Charlie frowned at Grace, and her mouth fell open. “I didn’t mean tonight.”
“It’s so good to see you, Charlie.” Joe was all smiles, the way he always was. He was a great chef and a shrewd businessman, which is why he got along so well with Charlie, who always used the Riverside Café for his business lunches. “Your appetizers are on the house tonight. What can I get for my favorite customers?”
They fell into light conversation, and Grace took the opportunity to stare daggers at Jamie. “What are you doing?” she hissed under her breath at him.
“I would love to stay and have dinner with you!” Jamie said, his voice loud enough for Charlie and Joe to stop their conversation and look at him. “Thanks for asking, Grace. It’s so nice to be treated like such an important client.”
She saw a range of emotions flicker across Charlie’s face, but he settled on acceptance. “Of course, we would love if you joined us, Jamie. Please, pull up a chair.”
Joe headed back to the kitchen to get started on their order and the waitress came and made a place for Jamie at the table. He was seated next to Grace and on the opposite side of Charlie. She was acutely
aware of how close to her he was.
“So, Bradden,” Jamie said once he was settled, “How long have you and Grace been seeing each other?”
“A few months,” he answered, reaching out across the table to take Grace’s hand. “But we have known each other for years now.”
Grace was blushing. Why was she blushing?
This whole situation was a nightmare.
“How nice,” Jamie said. “Grace and I dated for over two years in college.”
“Yes, well, it’s not a competition,” Grace said with an awkward laugh.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Jamie?” Charlie asked.
“No. I’m still waiting on the one.” He winked at Grace, and she looked away. “Has Grace ever told you about her college days?”
“Jamie...”
Charlie ripped a piece of bread in half rather forcefully. “No, she hasn’t.”
Jamie grinned. “You would hardly recognize her. Nothing like the proper little businesswoman she is today.”
“Jamie, stop, you’re embarrassing me.” Did they have the heat up in here or something? She shrugged out of her cardigan, a nervous sweat coming over her.
“She was always incredibly beautiful, of course, just like she is now. I had to practically fight guys off when I took her out.”
“I know the feeling,” Charlie said grimly.
“She was always a lot of fun to hang out with,” Jamie continued. “A bit of a party animal and definitely a shopaholic. That’s what she used to call herself, a shopaholic. When she saw a handbag she wanted, she would get so excited and talk about it for weeks while she was saving up to buy it. It was the cutest thing.”
“Grace isn’t like that now,” Charlie said. “She is responsible with her money. She knows what’s important.”
That she did. She hadn’t purchased a pricey handbag since her son was born.
Her son.
Grace felt fear wash over her. What if Charlie mentioned something about Jake? She hadn’t told him that Jamie was her son’s father. She hadn’t even told him that Jamie didn’t know she had a child.
She had to get them out of here.
Jamie kept going.
“I wouldn’t call it irresponsible. It was what made you happy, right Grace? Like you, Bradden. I saw your BMW out there when you pulled up.”
Irresistible Lies Page 5