Chapter Fifteen
Erin dropped Boswell at home, then walked over to meet Mila and Tessa at Anna’s Cafe. Tessa glowed in her quiet way as she told the sisters that a very prestigious art journal was doing a piece on her work this month. She was so modest that Erin felt she was almost embarrassed to share such exciting news, and probably would have kept it to herself if Archer hadn’t already outed her on the family WhatsApp group. When Mila chastised her for downplaying the whole thing, Tessa simply shook her head as though she couldn’t believe her good fortune.
“A year ago, I was a paid caregiver keeping my art a secret. I never thought I had any talent, never mind that people would pay to put my paintings on their walls or that a top art journal would want to feature me. So sometimes I feel like I’m dreaming and if I pinch myself, I’ll wake up.”
Mila had always had incredible confidence and Erin could see she was struggling to understand Tessa’s point of view. But Erin got it. “Imposter syndrome.”
Tessa nodded eagerly. “Yes,” she said, “and then on top of it, I wake up every morning beside a gorgeous, loving movie star. Honestly, how can I not be dreaming?”
They all chuckled at that. While Mila also visibly cringed at the notion that her brother was gorgeous, half the population thought as much. Harder for Erin to get her head around was why you’d choose to live with Archer—she’d spent eighteen years sharing a bathroom with the guy. But apparently it was different if you were married.
Erin couldn’t help sharing her own experience. “I’m having kind of a fantasy experience myself right now. I woke up this morning in Jay Malone’s bed.” She waited for the two women’s exclamations of shock and surprise to subside, along with, in Mila’s case, a certain smug I told you so expression, and laughed. “He wasn’t there. I was sharing the bed with his new rescue dog, Nelson.”
She nonchalantly took a sip of her coffee and let the other two digest this news. Mila got there first.
“Wait. I don’t get it. You’re telling me that Jay Malone lets you sleep in his bed when he’s not there? And he got a dog ?”
“Those two things are actually related. I was house-sitting for him and looking after the dog he rescued a couple of days ago. And it’s no hardship. Mila, you really did find him the perfect house.”
Mila was never unwilling to take a compliment. Her lips curved in a very satisfied smile. “I know. Honey, if you had a few more millions in the bank, I would have loved for you to get that house, but since you couldn’t afford it, and Jay could, at least it’s sort of in the family.”
Erin cringed. To the rest of the Davenports, Jay was family. But after the last week, to her he was anything but. She couldn’t hold the truth in any longer. She needed to tell the women in her life how she was really feeling. Who else could help her deal with such conflicting emotions?
Mila was looking at her with what she could only call a penetrating stare, so Erin put her cup down on the saucer with a slight clink and said, “I am so screwed.”
Tessa immediately looked sympathetic. “I’m sure you’re not. What’s going on?”
“I think I have feelings for Jay Malone.” She didn’t say it like I like him and I hope he likes me , it was more a cry of despair. How was it possible that the man who could not be a worse match for her was making her feel like a horny teenager?
Mila laughed, and her earlier smug look intensified—almost as if she’d been certain all along that this crazy pairing would work. “Don’t look so tragic,” she said. “I told you before I could see you two together. He’s super hot, and he’s in your dream house. Go for it. Have a whole bunch of hot sex and worry about the details later.”
That was what Mila would do, but she wasn’t Mila. She was Erin, the quiet one who lived in her head more than her body.
She glanced up to find Tessa looking at her with understanding. Much more what she’d been looking for here. “What made you change your mind?” Tessa asked softly.
“Jay surprised me,” Erin admitted. It was simple and it was true. “But that doesn’t mean he’s the right man for me.” She shot a penetrating look of her own in Mila’s direction. “And I’m only interested in Mr. Right.”
Tessa made a murmur of agreement. “I remember having those feelings about Archer. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he was right for me so much as he was a million miles away from me in every way but physical proximity. I tried to so hard to ignore my own feelings, never realizing that Arch was having feelings too. Is there any chance Jay feels the same way you do?”
She thought back to that moment on the beach when they’d hugged a little too long, and then again when a kiss had hovered just beyond reach and they’d both pulled away.
“Sometimes it feels like he’s interested in me too, but I’m so far from his usual type that maybe I’m seeing things that aren’t there just because I’m longing for them.”
Mila said, “Maybe you need to let him know in no uncertain terms that you’re available for plenty of hot sex and no strings.”
Before Erin could even reply, Tessa shook her head. “Erin’s already tangled up in emotional strings, aren’t you?”
It was such a nice way to put it. Erin nodded. “I can’t believe it. He’s brash and annoying and pushy, but then you see him with his rescue dog and it’s the most adorable thing ever. I think that’s when I fell for him—when he took this scrappy dog that no one else wanted and saved him. And did you know that Jay Malone reads?”
“Oh,” Mila said, understanding dawning. “A guy who reads is your biggest weakness in the world.” She seemed to think about it for a minute and then said, “At least he’s hot. Not like that drippy young photographer who looks at you with his tongue hanging out.”
Shocked, Erin said, “Clark? We’re just friends.”
“Everybody in town knows that Clark wants to be a lot more than your friend. It’s kind of funny to watch him follow you around, a bit like Buzzy does.”
She didn’t want to laugh at poor Clark, but even she could see it was sort of true. She was never sure what to do about him. They were friends and, okay, she knew that his feelings were warmer toward her than hers were to him, but on the other hand, he never tried anything and she didn’t want to lose him from her life.
“But enough about Clark,” Mila declared. “So you have feelings for Jay—both in and out of the bedroom.” She put up her hands. “I say jump his bones and go for it.”
Erin shook her head at her sister. Why was she not surprised that this was still her advice? She turned to Tessa, silently appealing to her to suggest something other than getting naked.
Although naked did sound good. More than good. Amazingly, skin-tingling good.
“You could try talking to him,” Tessa suggested. “Tell him how you feel?”
Neither of those things seemed like an option. Erin felt more confused than ever. Jay was part of her life—her brother’s agent and practically family. If she let him know that she was developing feelings for him and he didn’t return them or didn’t want to act on them—which was extremely likely—how embarrassing would that be? Family brunches would always be awkward.
No, she liked the way he’d reset things, calling her short stuff , and she’d immediately retaliated by calling him big shot . Just like when they’d first gotten to know each other and he’d teased her and she teased him right back. No doubt she was creating a fantasy in her head because he’d surprised her so much with his story about his past and his affection for the dog. Not to mention his well-stocked library.
Decision made. Their dinner tomorrow would be a friendly thank-you and she would bury whatever feelings were trying to bubble to the surface.
“By the way,” Mila said, “I forgot to compliment you on your piece about Jay. I thought you did a really good job. You made him sound much more relatable than most profiles I’ve read.”
Mila was never one to pull punches, so she was pleased that her sister thought she’d done a good job. If she only knew how much of that interview Erin had kept to herself. But she would continue to keep Jay’s disadvantaged background secret until he decided it was time to share it. As she left the café, she decided it was good she was going to the auction tomorrow with Clark. It would take her mind off Jay and her eroding sense of self-preservation.
That man was messing with her head, heart, and body in a big way.
* * *
Erin had to finish another story about the local animal shelter running out of funding and just as she was wrapping up the final details, Clark appeared at her desk. He waited until she’d finished typing and then said, “Still on for the auction tomorrow?”
She might not have romantic feelings for Clark, but he was a good friend and the auction would be a good distraction—and talking point—for dinner with Jay later that day. She nodded and noticed that he seemed more excited about this one than usual. “What is it that you’re after?”
He grinned, and she had a feeling she’d be bored for the next half hour as he waxed lyrical about the details of some obscure camera she’d never heard of and wouldn’t recognize if she saw it. Sometimes she wished her work buddy was passionately interested in art or jewelry or antiques, but photography was his deal. The nice thing about tomorrow’s auction was that it also included the former as well as the latter.
She promised to meet Clark in the morning and then wrapped up her story and sent it to Pat for an edit. For just a moment, she allowed herself to imagine Jay at his office, sitting in his very expensive chair at his very expensive desk, making decisions about big-budget Hollywood productions, Nelson curled up happily at his feet.