Page 25 of Long Story Short

Today hadn’t started out well with the tricky reader session and I still had no idea if we could do enough at this conference to help change opinions on Jake but I had enjoyed spending time with him in the city more than I thought I would. When we were alone, it felt like less and less like we were just colleagues. And that both scared and thrilled me.

‘I’m glad you like it,’ Jake murmured, close to my shoulder. ‘Being an author has some perks,’ he added with a wry smile.

I glanced at him. ‘I’ll say. You’re one hell of a tour guide, Jake.’

‘You’ve enjoyed the day?’

‘I’ve loved it.’

Jake smiled. ‘I’m glad, Freya. You deserve it after what’s happened at the conference. I am sorry that I fucked things up for us.’

The word ‘us’ hovered in the air. I kind of liked it. Jake seemed so sincere; I really wanted to have the faith in him that he wanted me to have.

‘How about a drink?’

‘Sounds good,’ I replied, and Jake disappeared to the bar. I watched him go, marvelling that someone who had seemed so intimidating to me just a couple of days ago had become someone I was enjoying hanging out with.

I looked out at the view again. It was incredible. I would never have thought I would see all this with Jake Richards but now I couldn’t imagine having seen it with anyone else.

‘What’s your name, beautiful?’

I jumped as a man appeared on the other side of me, close to my elbow. I glanced at him. He looked about my age and wore jeans and a tight t-shirt, flashing muscles at me. He held a bottle of beer and gave me a long look up and down.

‘That’s not your boyfriend, is it? He looks too old for you.’

That surprised me. Obviously, I was well aware Jake was ten years older than me and that had always made me nervous of him but today, the age gap hadn’t seemed an issue. As I grew more comfortable with Jake, we felt closer to equals. This guy though was reminding me that we weren’t.

I looked behind us to where Jake was getting us drinks. This place screamed money and being out of my league. And Jake in his immaculate outfit, looking like a movie star, screamed the same. I felt my chest sag and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because being up here with him hadn’t felt like a continuation of our city tour but a little bit like a… date.

18

‘No, he’s not my boyfriend,’ I admitted to the New York stranger when I realised I hadn’t responded to his original question.

‘Come and have a drink with me then.’

‘Thank you but no,’ I said, politely but firmly. If romance in the UK had been difficult for me, I couldn’t see how starting something with someone who lived thousands of miles away would be a good idea.

I glanced back and saw Jake coming over with two drinks but hesitating when he saw the man with me.

‘Your loss,’ the man tutted, stalking away, annoyed.

‘I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?’ Jake asked when he reached me. He held out a glass of wine to me.

‘Definitely not. Thank you.’ I took a long sip.

‘Every time I leave you, the wolves descend,’ Jake said quietly. He took a sip of his wine and our eyes met over the rims of our glasses.

‘Another bad chat-up line,’ I said with a laugh, remembering Davis Mulberry’s failed flirting attempt with me.

‘What kind of line would work on you, I wonder?’

My eyes widened a little bit that he would wonder about that. ‘Maybe that’s the point. I don’t want a line at all. I want someone genuine. Who likes me for me. Who wants a relationship, not a disappointingly quick fumble in bed followed by ghosting.’ I was a bit embarrassed by my outburst but then I remembered he had heard me be even more frank to Liv so I might as well be honest with him.

‘You deserve someone genuine,’ Jake replied firmly. ‘I like how you see the world. Full of optimism and excitement. Like today. Seeing New York through your eyes felt like I was seeing it for the first time. You’ve made me smile a lot since we set off on this trip.’

I shook my head. ‘Yeah, laughing at me…’

‘No, Freya, never at… always with,’ Jake said softly. ‘You know I let myself get a little bit cynical and bitter, I kept myself aloof, afraid to open up and let people in but you make me want to change. To get back to the man I was.’

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