Jinxed (27 page)

She shot him a worried look. “Did he say something to you?”

“No. I’m just observant. Things are tight there. I have this big house to myself. Well, except for the cats, and you seem to get on well enough with them. There are two extra bedrooms. You can take one of those if you like. I want you to share my bed, but I don’t want to pressure you into something you’re not ready for.”

Her leg started to bounce.

“You said you had a flair for decorating. I could use some help around here. And,” he added lamely, “we could ride into work together.”

“I would want to pay my share,” she said, “you know, like a boarder. It would only be fair.”

He didn’t want her money, but he knew it was a matter of pride. Hold on. “I can take it out of your salary. Say you forfeit a hundred a week for room and board.” That solved both of their problems.

She shrugged. “Okay.”

His heart pounded. “Okay, what?”

She quirked a nervous smile. “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” Wasn’t the answer he wanted, but then again it wasn’t “no.” “Still want those waffles?”

She nodded.

“Thank God, because I’m starving.” He patted her backside to get her going. Otherwise he’d kiss her, they’d wind up back in bed, and he wouldn’t have the strength to peel a damned banana let alone do some record checking on Rivelli.

“I’m really pleased that we won that painting,” she said, hopping off of his lap and returning the conversation to safer ground. It’s going to look stunning on the office wall. I forget. What was the artist’s name? Noah something? I’d like to send him a thank you card.”

“I don’t remember. I think it’s listed on the program.” He reached into the inner pocket of the tux jacket he’d draped over the chair. “Here you go.” He handed her the gala program he’d tucked away last night, caressed her cheek, and then headed for the door. He wanted to give her a bit of space, some time to think over his offer. “I’m going to check out the closet in the guest room. I think Joni may have left a pair of sneakers in there, and you’re about the same size. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Hopefully, she’d have her mind made up by then and put him out of his misery.

As soon as Jake cleared the threshold, Afia sank down on the chair, her knees as wobbly as her emotions. He wanted her to move in! Her heart cried, yes, but her head screamed, no. Actually, it was her mother screaming, but she had been listening to that voice for a very long time, and old habits die hard. Especially when there was some truth to what that phantom voice chanted. She was jinxed. A target for bad luck. Men who loved her perished.

She wasn’t sure if Jake loved her, but without a doubt he cared. His eyes betrayed the passion and affection in his heart, as did his endearments and gentle touch. He was a compassionate, honest, chivalrous man, and he set her sheltered world on fire.

She knew for a fact that
she’d
fallen in love. Real love. Passionate, giddy love. Cupid had shot her with a million drugged arrows. She was loopy with
amour
. It felt wondrous and natural, and unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It was as if she’d been in love with him, and only him, forever.

I love you
.

She’d said it in her dreams, and yet this morning the words had lodged in her throat. She fretted that by confessing her feelings she’d put Jake in danger. A hundred scenarios flashed through her mind, one freak accident after another. With her luck …

“We make our own luck. It’s all in the mind. Positive thought over negative.”
Jake’s voice bellowed over her mother’s, and when the superstitious woman tried to interrupt, Rudy stepped in. “
When the odds are against you, trust your heart and seize the day
.”

Afia breathed deeply, allowing a strange sense of peace and determination to envelop her, and suddenly she was surging with the power of free will.

“With my luck,” she said, rebelling against living another moment in fear, “we’ll get married, have three healthy children, and live happily ever after.”

Affirmations are powerful
.

She chanted her heart’s desire three times and then glanced down at the program in her hand, wondering how she was going to break it to her mother that she was taking control of her own fate. That’s when she noticed the listing of beneficiaries of last night’s gala. The name of one social service, in particular, was missing. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe it was a mistake. She wasn’t willing to let it slide to avoid a nasty confrontation.

This
was unforgivable.

Seize the day
! Crushing the program in her hands, she stood and marched out of the room and down the stairs, chanting the words over and over like a mantra.
Seize the day
!
Seize the day
! By the time she reached the kitchen her face burned and her temples pulsed. “Are those for me?” she asked, pointing to a pair of navy-blue high-tops.

Jake set down a carton of milk, glanced over his shoulder, and nodded. “They’re a six-and-a-half.”

“Close enough.” She plopped down in a wicker chair and slipped her size-six feet into the shoes, double-knotting the overly long laces.

“Are you all right?”

She looked up. He was stirring a bowl of batter and studying her with a furrowed brow. She couldn’t address his concern. If she opened the dam, she’d burst. “Where’s the closest bus stop?” she asked, rolling the baggy sweatpants to above her ankles. The jitneys didn’t run to Northfield. She’d have to take a bus from here to Margate. She didn’t know which one, but she’d figure it out.

He abandoned his mixing bowl and turned to face her. “What’s going on, Afia?”

She ignored his stern tone. “I need to go somewhere, to do something, and I need to do it now.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“It’s personal.”

“Then take my car.”

She shook her head. “I can’t drive. I mean, I can. I have a license, but I’m a lousy driver. Randy hired Rudy because I’d been involved in so many fender benders. That’s how we met. Rudy and I. He was my chauffeur.” She was rambling now. Her blood boiled, and she felt dangerously close to overheating. She stood, the program clutched in her hand. “Just point me to the bus stop. Please,” she added, trying not to take her anger out on him.

“I’ll drive you.” Frowning, he flicked off the coffeemaker, put the mixing bowl in the refrigerator, and breezed passed her. “Let’s roll.”

She caught up to him in the foyer, just as he snatched his keys and opened the front door. “Okay,” she said. “But you’ll have to stay in the car.” She didn’t want him fighting this battle for her.
Seize the day
!

He didn’t say another word until they were buckled in and backing out of the drive. “Where are we going?”

She gave him the address and stared down at the crumpled program. “How can she be so cruel?”

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Jake asked as he navigated Saturday morning traffic. “Or make me guess?”

“I can’t talk about it.” She was thinking some very unkind thoughts, thoughts that shouldn’t be voiced. Except maybe to the witch who’d summoned them.

Jake glanced sideways, grunted his exasperation, and then focused back on the road.

“She thinks she’s hurting me, but she’s really hurting the children and their families.”

“Who? Dora? Frances? I’m guessing here, because you can’t talk about it.”

“Dora,” she growled. “She has the ultimate word. I mean the board votes, of course, but she wields a lot of influence.” Oh, she could hear her now.
We’ve been giving money to The Sea Serpent for years now. They can apply for a state grant, solicit private donations. Let’s focus our energy on needier organizations
. “Ooh!”

Jake passed two slowpokes and picked up speed. “Does this have to do with the daycare center?”

“Haven’t you been listening to me?” Afia squealed, her adrenaline pumping harder as they crossed the Margate Bridge. She waved the program in the air. “It’s not on the list. The Sea Serpent won’t get a dime from last night’s gala. Mrs. Kelly planned to put that money toward new educational playground equipment. Now the children will have to go without. And why? Because Dora Simmons is a petty, jealous shrew. It’s not fair!”

“No, it’s not,” Jake said calmly. “So what are you going to do about it?”

She balled her fists in her lap. “I’m not sure. The money’s already been delegated. Every social service is deserving. I can’t very well ask the SCC to pull funds from where they’ve been promised.”

“Weren’t funds promised to The Sea Serpent?”

“No. It was more like tradition. My dad co-founded that daycare center. He also served on the SCC board for several years.”

Jake shot her a meaningful glance. “Generous man.”

Her heart skipped. “Yes, he was.” And she’d put his humanitarian efforts at risk by resigning from the SCC and enabling Dora and Frances to act selfishly. What a wimp! Two minutes later she spied Dora Simmons’ beach block mansion, and her pulse accelerated. “There it is!” She barely waited for the car to roll to a complete stop before throwing open the door. She was halfway to the cobblestone porch when she realized Jake was following her. “You agreed to stay in the car.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t agree to anything.”

She didn’t have the energy to fight him
and
Dora. “All right, but please don’t interrupt.”

“I won’t say a word.”

Satisfied, she rapped on the crimson red door with the gleaming brass knocker. Dora’s husband answered, dressed in creased white shorts and a blue designer polo shirt.

“Afia.” Shock then pleasure registered on his tanned face. “What a nice surprise.” Then his wolfish gaze ate up her frumpy attire and spit it out with a flicker of disapproval.

She braced her hands on her hips. “That’s right, Bernard. I just got out of the shower and put on the first thing I could find. This is me without makeup, without brushing my hair, without visible curves. The real me.” She thrust back her shoulders and angled her chin. “How would you like to wake up to this every morning?”

Bernard sputtered.

Jake groaned.

She ignored them both and pushed her way into the foyer. “Dora!” She moved swiftly through the house. She’d been here for various meetings and parties. She knew the way to the dining room.

Dora sat swilling her morning tea, perfectly made up and dressed in preppy boating attire. Eyes wide, she clanged her china cup into the matching saucer. “Afia? What in the world?”

She smacked the program on the polished mahogany table. “The Sea Serpent isn’t on the beneficiary list.”

“Oh.” Dora sat back in her chair, crossed her arms, and smiled. “No, it’s not.”

Afia braced her hands on the table and leaned forward. “I’ll make this quick.”

She smirked. “Please do.”

“You are a fake. You pretend to care about the underprivileged and the disadvantaged. But all you really care about is the attention that comes with organizing and advancing the social events that ultimately help those in need. You’re a petty, insecure snob on a power trip. This coming year I am going to do whatever I can to make sure you are not reelected to the board.”

Dora’s eye twitched as she dismissed Afia with a wave of her bejeweled hand. “As if anyone would listen to a jinxed, fortune-hunting air head.”

Unruffled, she pushed off the table and glanced at Bernard who was standing in the archway alongside Jake. The two men couldn’t be more different. Bernard represented everything she’d had, and Jake everything she wanted. She turned her back on the wicked witch and headed toward her enchanting prince. “For the record, Dora, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes for all the diamonds in Tiffany’s.”

Dora snorted. “You can’t
afford
my shoes, dear.”

Afia flipped her off and kept walking. “I’m sorry you had to witness that,” she told Jake as they cleared the front door.

Chuckling, he clasped her hand and squeezed. “I’m not.”

His touch warmed her soul, melted her anger, and steadied her erratic pulse. She glanced up at him, swallowing hard at the admiration glittering in those beguiling eyes. “I’ve never given anyone the finger before.”

“If anyone deserved it, she did.” He winked. “Bet it felt good.”

She grinned. “It did.” They reached the car, and her satisfaction ebbed. “Not that it helped The Sea Serpent.” She fell back against the passenger door with a groan. “Why wasn’t I smarter about managing my money? If it weren’t for my mindless shopping and Glick fiasco, I could have bought that playground equipment myself.”

Jake nabbed her chin and chided her with a mild frown. “You worry too much. Stop obsessing on what you should have done and focus on what you can do.”

What could she do?

He kissed her scrunched brow and then opened the car door and helped her inside. “You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure it out.”

By the time he rounded the car and slid behind the wheel, she had the answer. “I can put my years of experience with the SCC to work,” she said with a smile. “I can organize an event to specifically benefit The Sea Serpent. Find out how much that playground equipment costs and make that figure our goal.”

Jake grinned and keyed the ignition. “Can we have our waffles now?”

He sounded so desperate. “Sure,” she said, buckling in, and suppressing a giggle. “Right after we swing by Rudy’s.”