Page 44 of Long Story Short

When we had finished eating, Jake turned to me. ‘Dance?’ he asked.

‘Here?’ I checked. I looked around. No one else was dancing.

‘Yes,’ Jake said, holding out his hand.

Reluctantly, I let him pull me towards him. Even though we were apart from the crowd, they could all see us in the bright lights of Times Square. But when Jake wrapped his arms around me and I moved closer and looked up to meet his eyes, they did seem to fade away. The trio were playing a love song and we started to sway to it. I hooked my arms around Jake’s neck and I relaxed into his embrace. With his arms around me, I let go of any embarrassment or awkwardness and the romance of the moment took over instead.

He looked down at me with a small smile on his lips and it felt like we were in a bubble alone like we had been back in my hotel room this afternoon.

‘I like you in my arms,’ Jake said softly into my ear then.

‘I like being in your arms,’ I replied.

Jake twirled me then and dipped me down, giving me a long, lingering kiss. The bubble faded as I heard people around us clapping and cheering. I smiled into Jake’s lips as I kissed him back. When he pulled away, his eyes twinkled.

I looked up at him. ‘You gave me a New York moment after all.’

Jake lifted me back upright and we both turned to smile at the crowd who had cheered us. The song ended and we joined in clapping the musicians, one of whom turned to drop us a wink having watched us too it seemed. ‘That’s all I wanted,’ Jake said, wrapping an arm around my waist. ‘Was this better than what I had originally planned?’

I didn’t exactly know his plans but I guessed a fancy restaurant and maybe a pianist or something, us drinking champagne while we looked out at another incredible view of the city. But here on the street after eating pizza and dancing in front of people to a beautiful song, I was sure I would have chosen this over whatever he had arranged. This had been spontaneous and fun and romantic, and I had enjoyed every minute. ‘Yes,’ I said, leaning in and reaching up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. ‘The perfect New York moment. I’ll never forget it.’

Jake’s eyes lit up. ‘I won’t forget it either,’ he promised me.

I longed to ask him what would happen when we left New York but I couldn’t.

‘What do you want to do next?’ Jake asked.

I knew that if this was just a holiday thing then I would regret not going to bed with Jake at least one more time.

‘Let’s go back to our hotel,’ I suggested. We wouldn’t get much time together tomorrow with the conference ending and then having to catch an early flight. It would hurt when we said goodbye so I needed this New York moment to last as long as possible.

29

My heart beat in time with Jake’s later that night. I was curled up against his chest, his arm strong and secure around me. We had ripped each other’s clothes off when we got back to my hotel room after our date, tossing them onto the floor and collapsing on the bed together. The sex had been urgent and passionate and we were recovering in silence, breathless and slightly sweaty, small smiles on our faces.

‘Why weren’t we doing this the whole time?’ Jake murmured into my hair then.

I chuckled softly against his chest. ‘Probably because we were at loggerheads.’

Jake looked down at me and I tilted my head to meet his gaze. ‘This is much better. Were you really intimidated by me?’

‘Well, you know I was a fan of your books so I was nervous to meet you, and you were…’ I trailed off, not wanting to be too harsh when we were naked and still in a delicious post-orgasm state together.

‘A twat?’ Jake supplied, making us both laugh. He pulled me closer. ‘I’m sorry. You must have felt let down meeting me. I wish I could go back to that first meeting six months ago and do it differently. I know it’s not a decent excuse, but I wasn’t myself. I am slowly getting back to him. You have no idea how much you are helping. But when we met, I was bitter and angry and hurt, and I was taking it out on the world. I’m sorry, Freya. I want to make it up to you.’

‘Why were you like that? Because of what had happened in your personal life?’ I asked, wishing that he would trust me with the story.

‘Yes,’ he whispered. He moved then, scooting down and rolling onto his side to face me on the bed. He reached out to stroke my arm as he held my gaze in the semi-darkness of the room. I hooked a leg over his and he smiled. ‘You know when you asked me why I started writing, and why I started writing romance books when we were on the way to the Brooklyn Bridge?’

I nodded.

He reached down and took hold of my hand in his. I squeezed it reassuringly.

‘I didn’t tell you the full story. After I readEmma, I asked Mum why it was her favourite book, she said it was because the first time she read it, she had been at university. She said she was on a bench in the middle of the campus, and my father…’ Jake trailed off for a minute, his jaw clenching. He took a breath and continued. ‘He had come and sat beside her, and asked her what she thought of the book. They had ended up talking for hours. Mum said she had known he would be important to her from that day.’

‘That’s so romantic,’ I swooned. ‘Like something right out of one of your love stories.’

Jake sighed. ‘Exactly. I thought that was so sweet too. Their story inspired me. I thought I would love to have that kind of romance one day. I looked at my parents and wanted what they had. That, along with reading romances, inspired me to write my own one.’

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