Chapter 12
12
An hour passed but there was still no sign of Jake at the party. I was on my third glass of sparkling wine, and feeling slightly light-headed. I went for a bathroom break and when I returned, I couldn’t find Liv where I’d left her talking with Tessa.
As I searched the room for them, I was accosted by someone I really didn’t want to have to talk to.
Davis Mulberry blocked my path. He wore an expensive-looking suit and held a glass of sparkling wine too. ‘Looking for a new job after today, Freya?’ He chuckled at what I assumed he thought was a good joke.
My eyes narrowed. No wonder Jake was wound up by this guy. He just oozed arrogance. ‘Why are you so obsessed with Jake?’ I fired back, the wine having loosened my tongue much more than it normally would. I knew I should just walk away but it had been a very long day.
Davis scoffed. ‘I think it’s the other way round. He’s always felt embarrassed by the fact he writes romance books. As he should be. It’s not very manly, is it? I mean, would you be impressed if you were chatted up by a man who admitted he writes soppy crap like that?’
‘Soppy crap?’ I repeated, anger rising inside me at his attitude. Over his shoulder, I caught sight of Jake then, walking through the room. His eyes met mine, then he saw Davis and he stopped walking. It took me a second to look back at Davis, Jake’s gaze having the usual effect: like he was looking right into my soul or something. It almost made me forget what was happening for a moment. ‘Romance books are not soppy crap. Jake’s books are beautiful. I, however, have never read one of yours,’ I told him shortly.
Davis moved a bit closer to me and leaned down. ‘I can give you a signed copy of mine and convert you to the darker side of books and…’ his eyes dropped to the neckline of my dress. ‘The darker side of life,’ he added, his tone suddenly low so only I could hear. ‘I think you’d enjoy it. Don’t you?’
‘I don’t think Freya would enjoy anything you have to offer.’
Turning, I saw Jake suddenly appear beside me, his tone sharp, stepping so close that Davis took an instinctive step away from me.
‘Isn’t that up to Freya to decide?’ Davis pointed out, glaring at Jake.
I rolled my eyes. ‘Looks like you two don’t need me for this conversation,’ I said, turning away and setting off again to find Liv and Tessa. The last thing I needed right now was to be stuck in between Jake and Davis, and their pistols at dawn or penis-measuring competition or whatever the hell it was they were doing.
‘Freya!’ A hand reached out and touched my arm.
With a sigh, I paused and looked at Jake, who had hurried after me. ‘I don’t want to be some pawn in your rivalry with Davis. Leave me out of it.’
I looked at his hand on my arm and he quickly dropped it. It was the second time he’d deliberately touched me after helping me up off the floor at the airport, and I hated that I was counting the times.
‘You’re not; I just didn’t like how he was being with you,’ Jake said, moving closer to let someone pass by him. The room was crowded but when I returned his gaze, I wasn’t aware of anyone else but him.
‘What do you mean?’ I asked. He was looking at me like he wasn’t taking notice of anyone else either. It was intimidating but in a different way to how he had intimidated me in the past. This was more… disconcerting. Because I liked being his sole focus right now. And that was a startling thought.
‘He was coming on to you.’
‘With a crap line about showing me the darker side of life. And after slagging off romance books! Not really the best chat-up line I’ve ever heard,’ I scoffed.
‘Have you had quite a few then?’ Jake asked, one of his eyebrows raised.
‘Not many good ones,’ I admitted.
‘So, Mulberry’s charms weren’t working on you then?’
‘Why do you care?’ I asked in surprise.
Jake leaned just a little bit closer. ‘If you’re still trying to find a romantic man, he isn’t it. I’m looking out for you.’
‘Well, I didn’t ask you to,’ I said shortly. ‘I can handle myself. And why do you think I’m looking for a romantic man? Oh yeah, you heard me…’ I trailed off as my conversation on the phone flashed back to me. I felt my cheeks heat up because I knew what else he had heard then – the fact I hadn’t had sex for three years.
He shook his head. ‘I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop but you have a loud voice when you’re passionate about something, and the fact that men had been disappointing you for years was clearly a passionate topic for you. Davis Mulberry will use you. That’s what he does with women.’
‘And what do you do with women?’ I fired back, still annoyed he felt he had to step in between me and that twat of a crime author in the first place. As if I would be interested in Davis Mulberry! And I was also annoyed with myself for talking about my personal life somewhere it could be overheard. It was yet another power imbalance between me and Jake, and I hated it. I wished he would feel intimidated by me, just once.
‘I’d treat you better than you’d ever been treated before.’
My breath caught in my throat as we stared at one another. Was that a general or a specific promise from him? He used the words ‘I’ and ‘you’… I couldn’t believe he was flirting with me though so I stepped back in case I got carried away. ‘I’ll take your word for it. No need to warn me off Davis Mulberry; he’s the last man I would want. Like you said, and overheard, I’m waiting for something special.’
‘Aren’t we all?’ he replied softly. ‘I’m glad to hear you don’t need warning off Mulberry; he’s not worth your time.’
‘I wish you’d realised that before you let him rile you up at the panel today,’ I said, desperate to stop talking about romance with Jake Richards. It was too crazy. We needed to focus on work. Our relationship was strictly business only.
Jake sighed. ‘I really am sorry about that, Freya. And I have been thinking about what you said. But opening up isn’t easy, is it?’
‘No, it isn’t,’ I agreed. ‘You’re not who I thought you were after reading your books,’ I blurted out.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I suppose I thought that a man who could write so beautifully about love and romance and matters of the heart would be someone who could open their own heart. When I first met you, I thought maybe you were putting on a professional front, that there was more going on beneath this cool guy vibe…’ I waved my hand in front of him, ‘…you have going on. But I think I was wrong all along.’ I turned to go but then my loosened tongue just wouldn’t stop. ‘Oh, I met Kelly Shepperd. I think she’s the only one pleased about the panel today: that you’d finally admitted she didn’t make it all up. But she told me that maybe you let her publish that article because you didn’t want something else to come out. So, I don’t know now, Jake. Do you hate romance or not? Like who is Jake Richards really? And will I ever get to meet him?’ My words hung in the air as we looked at one another.
‘I don’t know, Freya,’ Jake said after a moment. ‘Would you want to meet him?’ he added hesitantly.
‘I know you don’t care about my opinion, but yes, I would like to meet him. Maybe I’d like him a whole lot more than the man you’ve shown me so far.’
Jake visibly flinched at my words but I couldn’t believe he really cared what I thought. Perhaps he did still care about his career though and might listen to me for that reason. I caught sight of Liv then and was relieved I could escape from this intense conversation. ‘I need to speak to my cousin; I’ll see you later,’ I told him in a rush.
I fled again, but I could feel Jake’s eyes on my back the whole way. And I couldn’t decide if I enjoyed his gaze or wanted to hide from it.
All I knew was, I was only able to finally relax again once he wasn’t looking at me any more.