Sleepless in Manhattan (21 page)

“Inquisitive,” Eva said firmly. “I rushed into the living room and peered out of the window through a crack in the blinds. I saw him kiss you. Great kiss by the way. Loved the way he hauled your mouth to his. Masterful and romantic at the same time. Very,
very
hot.”

“You saw that?”

“It was my lucky night. If I can’t watch romantic movies or have sex in my own life, I have to live through you vicariously. It’s your duty to allow me to peek. What are friends for? It was your lucky night, too, from the look of it. Jake is obviously as good at kissing as he is at other things.”

Paige slid down in her chair. “Is it weird?”

“You and Jake? You tell us, but from where I was standing it looked hot, not weird.”

“I meant, weird because he’s part of our group. Friends and sex don’t mix, do they?”

“They can.” Eva shrugged. “There are loads of instances where friends become lovers.
When Harry Met Sally
is one of my favorite movies.”

“Life isn’t a movie, Eva. But that isn’t why it’s weird.” Frankie reached for Matt’s empty mug. “It’s weird because the two of you have been swiping at each other for most of your lives. And after that kiss in the elevator you thought he wasn’t interested.”

Paige put her spoon down. “Turned out he was interested, but he was protecting me.”

“From what?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Eva popped a berry into her mouth. “He was protecting her from himself. He doesn’t want to hurt Paige. That’s
so
romantic.”

Paige wondered why Eva had been so quick to spot something she hadn’t. “It’s not romantic. It’s super irritating. I thought he was the one person who
didn’t
protect me, and it turns out he’s been protecting me all along. I would rather have known.”

“No you wouldn’t. Because then you would have been angry. You’re stubborn about people helping you. Not that I don’t understand,” Eva said quickly, “but it’s true.”

“I’m not stubborn.” Paige looked at Frankie. “Am I stubborn?”

Frankie put the yogurt back into the fridge. “Yeah, you are. You’d fall on your face rather than take help. Makes you difficult to help sometimes.”

“I don’t want help!”

“Everyone needs help, Paige! That’s what life is all about. Reaching out and supporting the people around you. You can’t do it on your own. There is a difference between being overprotected and being helped. If we hadn’t forced you to go to Jake, last night wouldn’t have happened.”

“Maybe it would have been better if it hadn’t.”

“I was talking about the event,” Frankie said slowly, and Paige felt her face heat.

“Oh. Well, we still don’t know if that has worked. The phone hasn’t rung yet.”

“It will. And networking is part of business.”

“Great. I’ll network as part of business.”

“And what about the rest of it? What happens now?” Frankie pushed the fridge door shut. “How does this play out?”

Paige glanced at her. “Are we still talking about Urban Genie?”

“No. We’re talking about your sex life.” Eva leaned forward. “This wasn’t a one-night thing. You heard him—he wants to see you again.”

“I know.” Thinking about it sent excitement rushing through her. She tried to contain it. “That part I don’t understand. He didn’t suggest seeing each other again when we were together.”

“Well, he’s obviously had a change of heart.” Frankie picked up a cloth and wiped the table. “Everyone can see the chemistry between you. The only reason Matt didn’t shock himself on the electrical impulses traveling around this room was because the last thing he expects is for the two of you to get together. But, Paige, he is going to find out, and when he does he’ll be hurt that you didn’t tell him. And you’ll feel terrible that you hurt him. I don’t want either of you to feel terrible.”

“What would I say? There’s nothing to tell. I can’t tell him what’s going on because I don’t know what’s going on!”

Eva glanced between the two of them. “Paige has a point. If she says it’s just sex then Matt would beat Jake to a pulp, except that Jake can handle himself, which means it will get very messy. I don’t like fighting, and I agree—the situation is complicated.”

“This is why I prefer dealing with flowers and plants. They’re not complicated.” Frankie thumped the cloth back onto the counter. “If the two of you have finished spinning fairy tales, we should go to the office. Whether Jake is there or not, we have work to do. We run our own business now, remember?”

“In a minute.” Eva stayed glued to her chair, her eyes on Paige. “We need details.”

Frankie rolled her eyes. “I don’t want details.”

“I do.” Eva was emphatic. “I want to know every single detail working backward from the moment he dragged your mouth to his and tried to eat you alive in the street outside. Come on, Paige. The least you can do is earn the scarf you’re wearing and make up for the fact I ruptured my larynx singing loudly in the bath so I didn’t have to answer the door to Matt and explain why you weren’t there.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

To make your dream a reality, first you need to wake up.

—Paige

T
HE
PHONE
DIDN
’
T
stop ringing.

Within an hour of reaching the office they had six new clients, all of whom wanted events and additional concierge services.

“Goodbye sleep,” Eva crowed. “Goodbye sanity.”

“Goodbye money worries.” Frankie was ever practical. “We’re going to need help. There are only three of us and this is a lot of business.”

Paige felt giddy. Any concern that she wouldn’t be able to focus on work melted away in the excitement of the moment. “Our business. It’s
our
business. How cool is that? We decide what we say yes to.”

“We say yes to everything,” Eva said firmly. “Your wish is not only our command, it’s our income.”

It gave Paige a massive buzz to see business finally taking off, and being busy stopped her thinking about Jake.

He’d implied that they’d be seeing each other tonight, but how was that going to work?

Was he going to call her?

Or was she expected to call him?

Why did things have to be so complicated?

“We’ll outsource. We don’t want to increase our overheads at the moment. I do not want to lay people off if things don’t work out.” She’d learned that from Jake. Watch the numbers. Staff appropriately. “Let’s sit down and see what we have.”

The phone rang again.

Paige made a grab for it. “This is insane.”

“But in a good way. Pretty soon we’ll be able to buy out Star Events and fire Cynthia,” Frankie said.

Paige answered the phone. The woman who had booked the baby shower last night also wanted regular dog walking and a gift basket for the colleague who was going on maternity leave.

“Tell me a little about her. What does she enjoy?” While she was talking, Paige created a new file, made notes and exchanged a few ideas. “We’ll come back to you with a list of suggestions. You can tick the ones you like and we’ll do the rest.”

She ended the call and forwarded the list to Eva. “This one is for you. Go shop.”

“You’re paying me to go to Bloomingdale’s? I’ve died and gone to heaven. Have I told you how much I love being in business with you guys?” Eva checked the list. “I might change the brand of scented candle. And the scent. You have to be careful with scent when you’re pregnant.”

“That’s why you’re doing this job. Do whatever it takes to make sure this woman recommends us to her friends. Next we need to talk about—” Paige paused as her phone rang at the same time as Frankie’s. “Or maybe we won’t talk.”

She took the call and Frankie did the same, walking out of the office as she discussed colors, petals and blooms with the person on the end of the phone.

“Yes, concierge services are available to our clients,” Paige explained to her caller. “Waiting list?” Her eyes met Eva’s and she smiled. “You’re in luck. We have capacity at the moment. Why don’t I come to your offices and we can talk about your needs? I’m sure Urban Genie can help.”

By the time she ended the call she had a brief for a corporate training session and the promise of a major product launch in the fall.

“Can you believe this?” Eva’s eyes were shining. “We really are in business. All we have to do is not mess it up.”

“We’re not going to mess it up—” Paige updated her spreadsheet “—but I’m starting to wish I’d had more than four hours of sleep last night.” Her phone beeped and she checked her texts.

It was Jake.

My office. Now. Debrief.

Her stomach flipped and she stood up. “We can finish this later. Jake wants a debrief, and then I have a meeting over on Fifth. I need to run.” She scooped up her bag just as Frankie walked back into the room. “Well?”

“That was a bride-to-be who was at the event last night and loved the floral designs. She wants something similar for her wedding.”

Eva blinked. “She wants scaffolding at her wedding? What’s the theme? Prison Break? How is that romantic?”

“She wants a gazebo, you baboon.” Frankie was busy making notes. “And she wants to walk on rose petals.”

“Did you just call me a baboon? Because if so, I’m reporting you to Human Resources for bullying and abuse. And someone needs to warn the bride that rose petals are slippery. Either that or call the hospital and have an orthopedic surgeon on alert.”

The phone rang again and Paige looked at her friends with a mixture of excitement and disbelief. “We need to find a way of consolidating these calls so that we all know what’s going on.”

“You always know what’s going on. You’re the detail woman. I’ll take this one.” Eva reached for the phone, a smile in her voice. “Urban Genie, your wish is our command—” Her smile faded as she listened. “No, not
that
sort of wish. That isn’t what we do.” She ended the call, her cheeks pink.
“Well!”

Frankie looked at her expectantly. “Are you going to tell us?”

“No, I’m not! I’m not repeating it.” Eva sniffed. “Never tell Jake. We’d get a big, fat ‘I told you so.’ He warned us ‘your wish is our command’ would get us into trouble.”

Paige loaded her laptop into her bag.

She had a feeling she was already in bigger trouble than any of them could possibly have predicted. Had she really thought sex with Jake would be simple?

Wondering what happened next, she walked toward Jake’s office and spied him through the glass.

He was prowling around as he talked, looking insanely gorgeous in snug jeans and a button-down shirt. It wasn’t hard to see why Jake Romano had his pick of women.

He turned and caught her looking.

“I’ll call you back.” Without waiting for a response he ended the call and beckoned Paige into the room. “So we have a choice—” His tone was businesslike and she forced herself to sublimate the indecent thoughts she was having and respond in the same way.

“A choice?”

“I can have sex with you right here—” he rested his hip on the corner of his desk “—or I can take you home and do it there but that will mean a delay. I’m pretty impatient by nature. When I want something, I go after it. I’m not good at delayed gratification.”

“I—I thought you wanted a debrief.” It took her brain a moment to catch up. “You’re giving me a choice about whether we have sex again?”

“No. We’re having sex again. I’m giving you a choice of venue.”

The sound she made was half gasp, half laugh. “You have a glass-fronted office.”

“I know.” There was an edge to his tone. “A design decision I’m now regretting. So it will have to be my place. Fifteen minutes?”

A zing of excitement shot through her body. “I have a meeting across town.”

“Rearrange it.”

“Jake, I can’t! This is my business, and thanks to you the phone is finally ringing off the hook.”

“I never should have let you organize that event.” He dragged his hand over the back of his neck. “Fine, take your meeting. But come to my place straight afterward. Don’t go home first.”

She couldn’t breathe. “But if I’m seeing you, then I want to change, and—”

“Whatever clothes you put on, I’m going to strip them off and whatever makeup you wear I’m going to kiss off so don’t waste time.”

Her heart was pounding. This was Jake, Jake, talking to her as if she were a woman. He wasn’t holding back and he certainly wasn’t protecting her.

“I thought—we weren’t—” She was torn between elation and confusion. “It was an amazing night, Jake, but I thought we agreed that it was just one night.”

“You said that. I didn’t.”

“I assumed it was what you wanted.”

“It isn’t what I want. I’ve driven myself crazy protecting you and keeping my distance. You don’t want that, and I don’t want that, either.”

Her heart was pounding. “So—”

“So that’s settled. I’ll see you later. As soon as you can make it. Oh, and Paige—” his voice stopped her in the doorway “—there won’t be other people.”

“Excuse me?”

“You said that we were both free to see other people, but when I’m with a woman, I’m with a woman. She is my starter, my main course and my dessert. There are no side dishes.”

The breath left her lungs in a rush. “I didn’t know you had a possessive side.”

He dug his hands into his pockets and gave a wry shrug. “I guess we don’t know everything there is to know about each other. In some things, I don’t share well. This is one of them.”

“Neither do I.” She could have told him that he didn’t need to worry about sharing her. Not only would she never dream of being in a relationship that wasn’t exclusive, but her love life was more of a calorie-controlled diet than a feast.

“I’ll take my meeting,” she said huskily, “and then I’ll see you at your place.”

* * *

T
HE
FOLLOWING
F
RIDAY
,
Jake strolled into Romano’s to talk to Maria and saw Paige at their usual table in the corner, talking to Frankie and Eva.

Jake only saw Paige. The late-evening sun sent light dancing across her dark hair and she was laughing with that wide, generous smile that always made him want to smile, too.

He’d been in San Francisco for the past couple of days, and he’d thought of her every minute. His concentration was shot. People had to say things to him twice.

For years he’d kept his hands off her, and he had no idea how.

It was a wonder he hadn’t blown out a few mental circuits.

He wanted to haul her into his arms and make up for lost time, despite the fact that they’d spent every spare minute of the past week doing exactly that.

“Hi, Jake.” Matt stood up, and Jake realized with a start of shock that he hadn’t even noticed his friend.

Paige had filled his field of vision.

He was about to say something when Maria appeared from the kitchen.

“Jake!” Always demonstrative, she walked across to embrace him just as Paige glanced across and noticed him.

Their eyes met and held briefly, and then she turned back to her friends.

The way she smiled at him had changed, he thought, releasing his mother. Everything was colored with new shades of intimacy and knowledge.

Maria gave him a questioning look. “Are you joining your friends or are you expecting another guest? Matt told me you’re seeing someone.”

He wished now that he hadn’t confessed to Matt that he was seeing someone. He also wished that Paige wasn’t so stubborn about not telling her brother about the shift in their relationship.

But even while part of him was working out how to persuade her it was the right thing to do, another part of him was wondering how Matt would react.

He’d made Jake promise that he wouldn’t lay a finger on his sister.

That had been almost a decade ago, he reasoned. She’d been a vulnerable teenager. This was different.

“No guest. Not tonight.” And the person he was “seeing” was right there in front of him.

He strolled across and took the seat next to Paige, surprised by the lift in his mood.

Being with her always did that to him.

They all shuffled across to make more room but still space was tight.

“How was your trip to San Francisco?” The bright, cheery way Eva asked the question told him that she knew what was going on, and it didn’t surprise him. The three women were as close as sisters and shared everything from makeup to confidences, so there was little chance that this new development hadn’t been noted.

As someone who had never felt the need to hide his relationships, it didn’t bother him. The only thing that bothered him was that Matt didn’t know.

He was going to address that.

On the other hand, was there any point in telling him about something that was probably going to end soon?

Maria put a heaped plate in front of him. Spaghetti with meatballs.

It brought back memories of his childhood. For a moment he was six years old again, sick to his stomach, and scared. His life had unraveled like a ball of wool in a cat’s paw. His world had been blown apart, his future dark and uncertain.

He’d learned a lot of things that night. He’d learned that adults talked in quiet voices when they didn’t want children to hear, he’d learned that Maria, their neighbor, was the best cook and the kindest person he’d ever met, and he’d learned that love was the most unreliable emotion there was.

He glanced at his plate and then briefly at Paige.

Her open, honest smile shook the foundations of his confidence.

She’d said that she was tough enough to handle their relationship, but could she?

What if he hurt her?

“How was business?” Matt pushed a beer toward him. Normal. Friendly.

The fact that he was so friendly made Jake feel worse.

It was time to be honest with his friend.

“Business was good.” He reached for his fork. “How is Urban Genie?”

“Busy.” Frankie had abandoned her pizza and was scribbling notes on a pad next to her plate. “Right now we have more business than we can handle.”

“But we are handling it.” Paige picked at her food. “We have good contacts, and we weren’t the only ones that Cynthia got rid of. I’ve been on the phone for the best part of two days.”

Because he couldn’t wait another moment to touch her, he dropped his hand to her leg and discovered that her thigh was bare.

“Someone asked me today if we have a website,” Eva said. “I guess we need one. Something that says what we do. What do you think, Jake?”

He couldn’t think of anything except Paige and the smooth softness of her skin. He moved his fingers higher.

What was she wearing? Shorts? A skirt that barely skimmed her bottom?

His brain fused.

Matt raised his eyebrows. “No thoughts?”

“Thoughts?” He was incapable of thoughts. He was going crazy. He couldn’t form a sentence. “On what?” He glanced down.

Skirt
, he thought. It was a skirt. But there wasn’t much of it.

She had incredible legs.

“A website.” Matt gave him a curious look. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind.” Paige. Naked. Those long legs wrapped around him. Those were the things on his mind. “What’s the problem?”