Page 92 of Crave

“Okay.”

He gives me a kiss on the lips. “You look beautiful, princess.”

I look down at my black pencil skirt, pink wrap around shirt and stilettos, I smile at the compliment. “You know I wear scrubs every day. I like any opportunity to dress up.”

He takes my hand, spins me around and admires my outfit. “You always look beautiful.”

I close my eyes at his words to prevent tears from falling down my cheeks. I bury my face in the crook of his neck and inhale his smell. “I love you, Jacob.”

He grabs my face with both hands, his eyes boring into mine.

“Baby, are you sure everything is—”

A loud knock interrupts his question. Josh Clark walks in without being called in. “Jake, are you ready?” His eyes find me, and he smiles as he approaches and kisses my cheek.

“Sandy! I didn’t know you were here. Just going to borrow my son for a meeting. I’ll have him back to you soon. Maybe we can all go out to lunch. I think Troy is free. I’ll wait for you outside, Jake.”

Jake ignores his dad’s comments and I hide my smile behind my hand at his attempt to get his boys together.

Jake grabs his laptop and kisses me one more time. “I love you too, Dee.” He looks at me again, and I smile wide to reassure him things are fine. I tilt my head, and he automatically leans down and kisses me.

I let out a breath as I sink into Jake’s plush, leather chair. I pick up the framed picture he has sitting on his desk. It’s from the party we went to as his aunt and uncle’s house. I’m sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped possessively around me and kissing my cheek as I smile shyly at the camera. There’s another one with Tristan and Emma on his lap, and I’m behind him, arms wrapped around his neck. We almost look like a family. Almost, but not quite.

Since the day we agreed to be in a relationship, he’s included, or tried to include me in everything. From family dinners, access to his office at any time, and even an invitation to the business trip he’s going on; I’m welcome to it all. He’s opened up his entire world to me.

Well, he didn’t invite you to the country club for dinner tonight, did he?I shake my head, clearing it of that thought. It’s a business dinner, and I’d be bored to death, and he knows it. I refuse to let Derek’s evil words take root in my mind.

He loves me. He shows me in a million different ways.

And I love him.

Having never been in love before, I thought it would be difficult to recognize the feeling, but it wasn’t. I knew immediately that I loved him. The all-consuming need that I have to be with him, to touch him, and to make sure that he’s okay. I feel incomplete when we’re not together. That was the tell. I’ve never felt incomplete in my other relationships. In fact, I craved my free time. After spending a couple of days with Derek, I was always happy to see him go, but with Jake, the more we’re together, the more I want of him.

I’m lost in thought about Jake when the door to his office opens. It’s a younger woman. One I’ve never seen before. She’s holding a folder as she walks towards his desk. Her head is down, reading something, and she doesn’t notice me until she reaches the desk.

“Oh my god!” she says dramatically, hand resting on her heart. “I didn’t know anyone was here.”

She finally looks at my face, and she eyes me suspiciously.

“Mr. Clark’s in a meeting, and I don’t think anyone should be in here.”

“Well,” I begin, ready to explain why I’m here, but she interrupts me.

“Oh!” she says, eyeing me again. She smacks her hand to her forehead as if she just remembered something. “There’s a cleaning crew coming today, of course!”

I sit back and wait for her to finish.

“It’s unprofessional of you to be sitting down in the boss’s chair when you should be cleaning, don’t you think? I’ll be sure to let him know. What’s your name?” she asks. She takes a pen from the desk ready to write my name on a note pad.

“You think I clean in a skirt and stilettos?” I put my feet on the desk and put my hands behind my head and wait for her to reply?

She looks at my clothes, and I see the exact second where she realizes her mistake. To twist the knife a little deeper, I take the picture of me and Jake and turn it around so she can see it.

I want to smile in victory when all the color drains from her face, but I don’t. This is just another version of the conversation I had with Derek yesterday. Derek’s was intentional, but this stranger’s was not.

“Maybe you should tell meyourname.”

“Uh, it’s Rebecca,” she says flustered. She runs a hand through her dirty blond hair. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I just thought—”

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