CHAPTER 35
Jess stared at him for several long moments, briefly wondering if he was a hallucination. No, this was real. Adam was here. In her office. With his bloody laptop and … was that a coffee cup? And what looked suspiciously like a plate full of biscuit crumbs on her desk.
He hadn’t noticed her yet, she realised. He was too busy frowning intently at something on the screen in front of him.
Maybe she could just leave and give herself a chance to …
He glanced up. Shit, too late.
“Hi! Sorry, I didn’t mean to just …” Adam trailed off, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “I should have let you know.”
Jess tried to speak, but no words came out. In fact, she seemed to be having a problem breathing.
His frown deepened as he stood and walked around the desk. “Are you alright?”
Jess involuntarily took a step back, grateful that she’d remembered how to breathe again.
Think, Jess. Stay calm and think. Maybe he regretted the way things had gone a few weeks ago when he’d got back to Dublin.
Maybe he’d been thinking about her and wanted to apologise.
Not just for that, but for everything. She should give him a chance, hear what he had to say.
Not that she was just going to fall back into his arms, or anything.
There was no way that was going to happen.
Her eyes drifted briefly to his arms, remembering how strong they were.
Naturally muscled, lightly tanned with a dusting of dark hair. She swallowed. Focus, Jess.
“Why are you here?” Okay, that had sounded a bit abrupt, but she was still in shock.
“Jess?”
She turned to see Robert standing at the door. Shit, not now.
His eyes slid past her. “Sorry, I didn’t realise anyone else was here.”
Jess glanced back at Adam who simply raised one dark eyebrow and folded his arms.
Christ. She turned and walked past Robert into the small area behind reception, relieved when he followed her.
“Sorry about that. Something I need to deal with.”
“Don’t worry about it. Listen, I’ve just mislaid my phone. I definitely had it getting into your car, so I was wondering if I could take your key for a few minutes?”
“Oh! Sure.” She was still holding her bag, she realised. She started to scrabble for her key when she remembered something. “I didn’t lock the car! I mean, there’s no need, not with both gates to the castle grounds locked.”
“Oh, right. So you don’t mind if I just …”
“No, of course not.” She smiled brightly.
His eyes slid past her again to the office door, then he took hold of her wrist and tugged her towards him, holding her jaw in his hand as he kissed her.
Jess tried not to tense, but she wished he’d just go look for his phone.
She wasn’t in the mood to be kissed, not with Adam just a few feet away.
She hoped he couldn’t hear the kissing and was immediately annoyed with herself for worrying about what Adam thought.
She pulled gently out of the kiss. “See you later.”
“Later.”
After he left, Jess took a moment to compose herself and then stepped back inside her office.
Adam was perched on the edge of her desk, his hands deep in his pockets.
When Jess met his eyes, he stared blandly back. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Who’s the guy?” he asked quietly.
She felt a flush creep annoyingly up her neck. “That’s none of your business, Adam. So, if we can get back to why you’re here?”
He gave her a long look. “Frank asked me to come down and give you a hand.”
So she’d been wrong. He wasn’t here because he missed her. He was here because … the full realisation of what he’d said struck her.
“I don’t believe you!” she spluttered. “If Frank thought I needed help, he’d ask me first. If he had a problem with the way I was doing my job, he’d just tell me.”
“You forget I have a very different relationship with Frank, Jess.” Adam shrugged. “He asked me to be here so I’m here.”
“Oh well, however high your uncle tells you jump!” Jess glared at him but her stomach was churning. Clearly, Frank thought there was too much going wrong and he didn’t trust her to handle it.
A muscle clenched in Adam’s jaw. “Let’s not make this personal.”
He was right. She hated that he was right. “We’re not.” She managed a tight smile. “Well, don’t let me keep you …” She gestured to the door.
“You’re not. I’m working here.”
Her stomach did a weird flip. “No way are you –”
“For the moment, Jess. I talked to Anthony and he really doesn’t have anywhere else he can give me, not with the film crew using the castle.”
“Which is all the time!” Jess tried not to sound panicked. “You can’t just stay here indefinitely.”
“I’m not about to jump you.” Adam’s tone was cool now. “So, if you can manage to be professional, I’d appreciate it.”
Was he trying to bait her? Judging by how fast her pulse was galloping, it was working. This was getting them nowhere.
“You know what? You work wherever you want – just don’t get in my way.”
Were they going to have to share the desk? He’d have to find another chair. Which was definitely an Adam problem.
“Do you not keep chocolate in your desk drawer anymore?” he asked.
“You went through my desk?” She stared at him.
“I opened a drawer.” Adam shrugged. “And technically, it’s Ian Finnegan’s desk.”
God, she needed a few minutes to herself or she’d do something she’d regret. Dropping her bag on the side of the desk Adam hadn’t disturbed, she turned to leave.
“Hey, where are you going?” He sounded more curious than anything.
Jess counted to five. “To get a coffee.”
He picked up his coffee cup. “Will you get me a refill?”
“Nope!” She left, letting the door slam behind her. Very professional, Jess.
Shit, how was she going to deal with having Adam around? Linford was supposed to be her escape – a safe haven. Running into the person she was trying desperately hard to exorcise was not part of the deal.
She bumped into Anthony in the foyer.
“Oh, Jess, the very woman. I hope you don’t mind, but Adam Rourke is down from head office for a while and I’ve told him he can share your office. There’s really nowhere else I can put him at the moment.”
Jess blinked, wondering if Anthony knew that she and Adam had been together. Although maybe he was above office gossip. Probably just as well. She flashed him a quick smile.
“No problem, there’s plenty of room if we just get another office chair.”
“I believe we’ve a couple of them in the storeroom. I’ll ask housekeeping to get one to you. Do you need anything else?”
For Adam to go back to where he came from? Or maybe just drop off the planet? She suppressed a sigh. “All good.”
“I was talking to Mel Winters and she mentioned that they’re hoping to get back to their schedule this morning,” Anthony said. “They’ve a bit of catching-up to do.”
Right at this moment, she didn’t care about the studio’s schedule. But Anthony seemed to be expecting some sort of response.
“They’re still going to finish on time, aren’t they?”
He raised an eyebrow. “They’d better! They’re due to finish up on Friday, July 11th. And we’ve a fair number of bookings for the following week.”
To think that a hassle-free six weeks of filming had been her top priority when she’d agreed to come down to Linford, she thought as she headed outside to the craft truck. What had she done to deserve this? Adam had absolutely no right to come down here and ruin the rest of her stay.
She should have agreed to get him a coffee refill – she could have begged the studio medic for something to put in it. “A strong laxative. Or –”
“Hey, Jess!” Dermot stopped in front of her. “Uh, everything okay?”
“What?” She blinked up at him.
“No, I just wondered …” He gave an awkward laugh. “I thought you were talking to me, like.”
Talking? Had that not been in her head?
“No, God, sorry, I wasn’t talking to you.” She saw the confusion on his face. “I mean, I didn’t see you.” She took a breath. “How are you, Dermot?”
This was all Adam’s fault! There had to be somewhere else he could work. The orangery, for example! Instead, he’d just decided to mess with her head. And now Dermot was talking and she wasn’t even listening.
“… shot a couple of small scenes,” he was saying. “Ones that Afric and Spencer weren’t in.” He hesitated. “So, um, have you seen Emily recently?”
She brightened. “Actually, we got to hang out together yesterday. Emily was selling her jewellery at the market in Kilshanley and I took a day off.”
“Cool.” Dermot looked impressed. “She’s really talented. Has she set up her Etsy shop yet?”
“I think she has a website.”
“Good for her.” Dermot gave a small wave. “Better go, I’m due on set.”
Jess watched as he disappeared inside the castle, then wondered if she should try to work for the day in the orangery. She dismissed the thought almost immediately. She wasn’t going to let Adam drive her out of her own office.
Why had Frank sent him down when he knew what had happened?
Unless it was a sort of test? Was she being paranoid?
No, it was perfectly feasible that Frank was making sure she and Adam could still work together.
He probably figured that she’d had enough time to get over their break-up and wasn’t prepared to make any more allowances.
It made total sense. Adam wasn’t just higher up in the pecking order – he was Frank’s nephew.
And no matter how good she was at her job, she was still just another employee.
By the time she reached the craft truck, she felt lower than she’d felt in months. For once, a coffee and pastry weren’t going to make her feel any better.