Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
J ade could feel her face start to ache as she continued to smile into the camera on her laptop. Her mum was chatting away still, her dad rolling his eyes. Lauren had also joined the Zoom call, from the breakout room at the hospital. No doubt she’d have to leave soon to deal with another lifesaving emergency.
‘Heavens, what am I doing, rabbiting on when really we want to hear about you, Jade.’ Her mother’s expression turned soft, her smile kind. ‘How is the shop? And Nantucket? Is it everything you’d hoped it would be?’
A lump rose in her throat. ‘The island is beautiful. Well, what I’ve seen of it so far. I’ve been working a lot since I came out here but I’m free this afternoon so I’m thinking of doing something touristy, maybe checking out the whaling museum. Apparently, whales are big round here.’
‘They’re rather large wherever you are,’ her dad interrupted drolly, unhelpfully reminding her of the night Liam had made the same comment.
A different Liam to the one she knew now.
‘You need to get yourself on one of those tourist tours where they take you to see them,’ Lauren said.
I could take you out, if you like. Gah, why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?
‘Yes, I will,’ Jade said.
‘Never mind the aquatic mammals, what about the human talent?’ Lauren waggled her eyebrows. ‘Any further developments after that first night?’
Jade gave her sister a hard glare through the screen. Surely she realised she didn’t want to discuss her rash hook-up with her parents listening in?
‘Developments, what developments?’ Her mum’s eyes widened. ‘Is there something you’ve not been telling us, Jade?’
‘Nothing important.’ She tried to swallow her frustration, and failed. ‘Why is it that when we discuss Lauren it’s all about her job, but when it’s my turn, it’s about men?’
Her mum’s face fell and Jade felt a dart of guilt, which sharpened when her dad replied quietly. ‘Your mum did ask about the shop.’
Crap, she had. And Jade had deliberately not answered. ‘Yes, I know, sorry.’
‘Hey, I didn’t realise the subject of men was off the agenda,’ Lauren protested. ‘You were the one who brought it up last time we messaged. I was only showing an interest.’
Double crap. Everything she was feeling, every fear, every insecurity, had all come to a head. And instead of dealing with them, she was taking her issues out on her family. ‘You’re right, you’re all right. I’m the one who’s a frigging disaster. I fooled around with a guy on my first night, and he turned out to be my new boss, because my old boss sold the shop to him. Now this new boss is getting rid of it and I told him I was going to prove he was better off keeping it.’ The words tumbled out messily, all control gone. ‘He said I was wasting my time and I know he’s right because as well as the shop, he owns a flipping hotel chain so he’s hardly going to listen to me, but I’ll not be able to know one way or another anyway, because I’ve been trying for the last hour and I can’t work out how to use the flaming spreadsheets so I don’t know what profit the shop made last week compared to before I started.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘And if all that wasn’t enough, even though he slept with me knowing he was about to shaft me over the shop, I’m starting to not hate him.’
Her mum looked confused. ‘Isn’t that a good thing?’
‘No, it’s a frigging disaster, because what if I start to like him? Then I’ll want to sleep with him again and I haven’t come all this way to get my heart broken. I managed that pretty well at home.’
Her dad cleared his throat. ‘Maybe we should go back to discussing the shop.’
‘We’ll discuss that in a minute,’ her mum cut in. ‘First I want to know why my gorgeous daughter believes she’ll get her heart broken.’
Jade groaned. ‘Come on, Mum. I’ve had ordinary guys think I’m not good enough for them. You really think I could sleep with a not-quite billionaire and not get trampled on?’
‘Technically,’ Lauren piped up. ‘You’ve already slept with him.’
‘Yep, and I got trampled on, so I rest my case.’ Jade let out a long breath. ‘Can we change the subject? I don’t want to talk about men, and actually, I don’t want to talk about the shop either. Tell me what’s going on in Twickenham. Did you manage to sell all those raffle tickets, Lauren?’
Her sister picked up the baton and ran with it, because her saintly sister wasn’t just a doctor who saved lives, she was also a volunteer for the local homeless charity. A charity Jade had also helped with, but Lauren was the one with the ideas for fundraising. Jade was the one who got drenched waiting in the rain to work on the stall, only to find the venue had been switched to the hall and nobody had bothered to tell her.
Still, when the time came to say goodbye, she didn’t want to end the call. Her family wasn’t perfect, but she missed them fiercely. Missed talking without thinking, missed being with people who knew her, even if that included knowing her failings. Who understood her. Who loved her no matter how much she cocked up.
‘Jade.’ Her dad’s voice cut through her misery. ‘Those spreadsheets you talked about. You can’t be expected to understand them if you’ve never used one. Ask the people who worked there before. Or ask the new owner. Part of the role of a boss is to help his employees.’ He smiled. ‘If he doesn’t, it will be a reason to keep hating him.’
‘Thanks, Dad.’
‘Oh, and we never want to hear you’re not good enough ever again,’ he said quietly. ‘This guy, any guy, would be bloody lucky to have you.’
Emotion gripped her throat and she could barely scratch out her goodbye.
When she’d closed the call, she pulled up the Reasons to Hate Liam Haven list she’d compiled a few days ago. After yesterday, bastard who disowns his unborn child had been removed. Thankfully she still had lied to me , and arrogant rich guy only interested in money . Revenge and money, she corrected with a flourish. Neither were attractive.
Feeling better, she opened up the spreadsheet again. Her dad was right, she needed to get help, though she wasn’t going to go with his crazy idea of asking Liam. She had Daisy and Flo, but she wasn’t sure how easy it would be to go through it virtually. There was Adam, who seemed super helpful at the moment, but she was worried he’d see it as encouragement. Mary, Emma and Philip were also options but there was one other member of their group who she felt far more comfortable approaching.
Picking up her phone, she messaged.
Am in a pickle. Are you any good with spreadsheets?
A messaged bounced back five minutes later.
Can’t abide them. But I know a man who is a whizz at them. He’s on his way X
Bless, thank you, Jeremy… and thank Leroy!
It isn’t Leroy…
Jade reread the message. Weird. Who else could Jeremy have persuaded to drop everything and come to help her at a moment’s notice? On a Sunday.
* * *
Liam knew if he stopped to wonder why he’d just abruptly curtailed his meeting with the journalist, he’d turn right round and head back to his office. But from the moment Jeremy had called to tell him Jade needed help with the bookstore spreadsheets, he seemed to have lost his mind. Again. It was becoming a dangerous habit where the cute blonde book lover was concerned. His reply to Jeremy should have been tell her to forget it, the shop is closing in a few days . Instead he’d told Jeremy he’d handle it.
Jeremy had chuckled, like he knew something Liam didn’t, which hadn’t helped the queasy feeling that he was losing his grip. Nor did the fact he felt no hum of satisfaction as he registered that Ocean Haven was the only boat moored at the wharf.
How does it feel to finally get your own back ?
Damn it. Maybe seventeen years was too fucking long to harbour a grudge.
With a grunt he pushed at the shop door before realising it was locked. Of course, it closed on a Sunday. So why was Jade working?
Suddenly the door opened and his mind stuttered of all thought, leaving him staring at her. Dressed for a day off, her blonde hair was swept into a messy ponytail secured with a pink ribbon, and her face was free of make-up. She looked fresh, yet intoxicatingly sexy, the sight of her tits straining against the material of her vest top making him lose the use of his tongue.
‘If you’ve come to stock up on your erotica, I’m afraid the shop’s closed.’
He unglued his tongue from the roof of his mouth. ‘Sorry?’
She slid her hand onto her hip, drawing attention to a bottom half which, with shapely legs, toes painted in neon pink and a pair of denim shorts that must barely cover the plump globes of her gorgeous ass, was no less mind blowing. ‘I assume you’re here for a book after your interest in Claire’s talk yesterday.’
‘I… no.’ He scrambled to clear his brain. ‘Didn’t Jeremy tell you I was on my way?’
Her eyes popped. ‘ You’re the one he sent?’
‘Sent?’ Like he worked for the guy? Yet, did it sound any better to admit he’d volunteered to help? ‘I was headed to the yacht,’ he lied. ‘He asked if I’d mind calling in on you. Something about spreadsheets.’
She sighed as she stood aside to let him in. ‘Jeremy sure knows how to embarrass a girl.’
‘Embarrass?’ His arm accidentally grazed her as he walked past, the fleeting feeling of cushioned warmth sending a bolt of arousal through him.
‘Would you want your boss to know you can’t do something?’
‘I don’t believe the occasion has ever arisen,’ he murmured, taking care to keep more distance between them. His very visceral attraction towards her was fucking awkward. ‘Do you want some help, or not?’
Her gaze drifted over his shoulder while she seemed to wage some sort of internal war with herself. ‘Do I want it? No. Do I need it?’ She sighed again. ‘I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.’
‘I’m flattered.’
Finally she looked at him. ‘I guess you’ll want a drink.’ With that she let out another deep exhale and headed towards the back stairs.
He made a determined effort not to watch her ass as she climbed the staircase ahead of him. ‘Is this your usual warm welcome for visitors, or am I a special case?’
‘Oh, you’re special, all right.’ When he reached the top, he found her looking at him warily. ‘Actually, maybe we should do this downstairs.’ He glanced around the small studio, taking in the kitchenette, the two-seater sofa. The… ‘No, don’t look at it.’
Amused, he stared back at her. And that, he realised belatedly, was a mistake. It was easier to handle the sight of the bed than those huge blue eyes. ‘Don’t look at what?’ He asked dryly.
‘Exactly.’ She grabbed the laptop from the worktop and shoved it into his hands. ‘You sit on the sofa and study the spreadsheet thingies while I make a drink. Good old Tetley tea from home, or some dubious coffee that was already here and even if it is in date I will probably ruin because I don’t drink the stuff?’
‘Water.’
‘Are you sure? Can’t beat a good mug of tea. Helps everything from hangovers to heartbreak.’ He stared back at her and she gave him a wry smile. ‘Yeah, the heartbreak part is a lie. At least it didn’t help me.’
‘The men who were bad for you.’ He didn’t like thinking of her with other men. And I thought I’d reached rock bottom with the last two guys I slept with. Liked it less when he remembered he’d treated her worse than they had.
‘Yep. So anyway.’ She waved a box of teabags. ‘Is that still a hard no for the tea?’
‘I prefer my drink not to resemble a dirty puddle.’
She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Your loss.’
He watched as she reached up into the cupboard for a glass, the stretch revealing a sliver of the soft curve of her belly. The one he’d traced with his tongue.
Dragging his gaze away, he turned his focus to the spreadsheets Flo had put together, recognising them from the ones she’d sent him when he was buying the bookstore.
Jade set a glass of water on the small coffee table in front of him. ‘Bet you’re not used to numbers that small.’
He glanced up at her. ‘I wasn’t always rich.’
Her cheeks went pink. ‘Sorry, yes, I got that from when you were talking about wanting to buy your grandma a house. I meant when you look at the finances for your fancy resort.’
She came to sit next to him and it was like a million neurons fired off in his brain. He was kidding himself if he thought this was just a casual attraction, one that would conveniently disappear the more he saw her. It felt like he was hooked, and his choices were to fight the inevitable, or save himself the angst and admit to it.
‘My fancy resort has bigger numbers, but the principle is the same. This column is where you put the sales recorded from the till.’ He pointed to the screen, but when she leant in to follow the direction of his finger, her breasts came into contact with his arm and he groaned. ‘You realise not looking at the bed isn’t going to stop me from wanting to fuck you in it.’
She inhaled sharply, scooting away from him as if he’d suddenly announced he had rampant herpes. ‘I don’t want to know that.’
‘Trust me, I’m aware. And I’m not exactly happy about the situation, either,’ he added grimly. ‘But the genie is out of the bottle, and we can’t just shove it back in, no matter how much we might want to try.’
‘Genie, what genie?’
She looked panicked and he let out a frustrated breath. ‘You know what I’m saying. I don’t have to sit here and imagine what it would be like to roll around with you on a bed. I know what it’s like. And it’s really fucking hard to ignore that.’ He stared back at her. ‘Really hard to tell myself I don’t want to experience it again.’
She shot up from the sofa and started to pace up and down the small loft space. ‘Well you need to, because you and me are not happening again. No, no, no. Definitely not happening.’
‘You’re sure about that?’
‘Absolutely.’ He took satisfaction from the fact her gaze didn’t meet his. ‘I’m working on being a different version of me than the one who walked onto your boat wondering if she was good enough. Wondering if the guy she was about to sleep with just saw her as an easy lay.’
He winced. ‘I told you, that’s not what I thought.’
‘It’s what part of you thought. You asked to fuck me, Liam. Not to take me out to dinner.’
‘Yet I took you out for cocktails.’
‘You did. Even though you don’t date.’ She frowned, bright blue eyes searching his. And seeing too much. ‘You’ve been hurt, too. So maybe we should both get better at picking the people we do decide to let close.’ She paused, looking down at the floor for a moment before meeting his eyes again. ‘Do you know what I overheard my last boyfriend saying to his mum when she asked him what he saw in me? “ Every guy goes through a dumb-blonde phase. Jade is mine. ”’
‘What an asshole.’
‘And an arsehole.’ She raised her chin. ‘I’m tired of being underestimated. Especially by people who should know me better.’
‘That’s why these three months working at the shop are so important to you.’
‘Yes. And I need you to give me longer than two weeks. I deserve longer.’
Easy to make decisions based on numbers on a spreadsheet, but when the consequence of one of those decisions was looking at him as if he held the power to her happiness in his hand? Yet if he gave in to her, he’d be putting a halt on his own goal, his own ambition. And the likes of Adam would believe they’d been successful in stopping him.
Exhaling sharply, he nodded down to the computer. ‘You’re not going to be able to see the screen from over there.’