Page 69 of Long Story Short

I sank into my new chair, ignoring the great view of the Thames I now had, and stared at my phone and re-read Liv’s message about Jake three more times until it had properly sunk in.

So, Jake had turned down the offer from his current publishers. The huge deal Hayley had secured him. No wonder he went in to see her for a meeting. And it explained the tension in her office after I left. I assumed he had told her he wanted to move somewhere new as they hadn’t supported him during the article debacle. And Hayley couldn’t refuse with him able to destroy her reputation. My fingers hovered over my phone. I wanted to ask him what she had said. How he felt about leaving where his books had always been published.

But I put my phone down and logged onto my work laptop. I found the industry website and the news had been announced that he’d secured a ‘huge’ three-book deal with Turn the Pages and how ‘excited’ Jake was for the next chapter of his career.When I Met Youwould be published early next year. There also was a quote from Hayley Harper who the article said had secured the deal for him. I guessed though that Jake had reached out to them first himself. I remembered him asking Liv at the conference what she thought about her publishers. He had obviously listened carefully and thought they would be a good change for him. It said Hayley thought:

This will be a great move for Jake and his books, and I know his readers will be delighted with this new novel, which in my opinion is the best he’s written so far.

So, she was still full of bullshit. But I was glad Jake had done what he wanted, not what she thought he should do. I wanted to let my clients follow their hearts based on my advice, not boss them about and do what I thought was the best thing. It was their career as much as it was mine. Hayley had unwittingly taught me a lot about the kind of agent I wanted to be.

I pushed thoughts of Jake aside and got on with my work.

It was a busy day. Davis did all he promised and the early reaction on social media was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone loved the snippet from his new book and the fact that he was being so positive about romance. Jake, as he had promised, shared the posts, saying he had a copy and was ‘looking forward to reading it’. Requests came in for proofs both to me and his publisher. His editor even emailed me and Simon towards the end of the day to say the team were ‘impressed’ with the response and they’d be in touch ASAP. Davis also sent his apology to the conference organisers who graciously accepted and added his open letter to their website. Davis thanked me and Simon when we spoke to him on the phone and sounded relieved that he was starting to repair the damage to his reputation. Like Jake, once he had been honest, people seemed open to giving him a second chance.

‘This has been a brilliant first day,’ Simon said to me. ‘Thank you for everything you’re doing for Davis. I know the two of you didn’t exactly hit it off in New York. He told me he showed you the worst aspects of his character over there. I do think he is trying to turn over a new leaf. Or going back to the old Davis anyway.’

‘Yeah, I didn’t think I’d end up working with him for sure,’ I replied ruefully. I wasn’t going to tell Simon that he also caused issues in what I hoped had been a burgeoning relationship. But not just because I wanted to be professional here, even if I’d learnt to be honest and follow my gut. I didn’t want to blurt out anything about my sex life like I had done in front of Jake! I also knew that yes, Davis had been annoying and clearly trying to push Jake’s buttons, but Jake had let him. And I had let Davis get in my head too. We’d both been unsure about trusting one another in different ways. Jake, after his dad had let him down, and me because of past dating failures. We couldn’t blame Davis for that.

‘Honestly though…’ I continued. ‘I loved Davis’s book, and I think it will be a huge hit so I’m glad I’m helping it get out into the world. I know now some of his attitude is a front, and I hope now he’s had this shock with his career, he will calm the arrogance down a bit.’

‘You’re a breath of fresh air for the team here, Freya,’ Simon said with a smile. ‘You’ll be good for all of us, I think.’

I smiled back, pleased. The atmosphere here already was so clearly different from working with Hayley. I knew I had made the right move.

We planned out what we would be doing tomorrow and then I left Simon so he could make a call and I went back to my desk. There was a large, padded envelope waiting for me on there. Intrigued, I sat down and opened it up, curious who was sending me things so early on in my new job. I had only just told people in the industry I was now working here. There was clearly a book inside it and I pulled it out, always eager to read an early copy.

It was a proof copy of a book with a Post-it stuck to the cover. Written on the small, yellow square in neat handwriting was a simple message:

I feel the same – J

I stared at the message for a while and then peeled the Post-it away to reveal that the book was a copy ofWhen I Met You. It was now no longer an early copy on my Kindle like the one I’d read on the train but a bound copy sent out by Turn the Pages, clearly eager to make the most of the publicity surrounding the news of his book deal with them. I transferred the Post-it to the cover of my Kindle. I didn’t want to lose it.

Those four words stared up at me, making my heart do a funny little skippy thing. He had listened to what I had told him outside Hayley’s office about how I had felt about him, about us, when we had been in New York.

But not only had he said he felt the same way, he had used present tense. Hefeelsthe same way. My lips curved into a smile.

I picked up the proof copy and opened it up, excited to see it taking shape into a published book. Flicking to the first page, I saw the dedication. Then I did a double take and re-read it.

‘Oh my God,’ I said out loud.

One of my new colleagues asked if I was okay and, embarrassed at talking to myself, I told him I was fine, then bent my head and looked at the page again.

For Freya. It was a meet-cute.

I closed the proof and leaned back in my desk chair, my pulse picking up. I couldn’t believe it. Not only had Jake sent me the book with a cute note; he had dedicated it to me!! I closed my eyes briefly and thought back to embarrassing myself when we’d gone to Heathrow airport. Jake had remembered it too and was telling both me, and everyone who read this book, that thathadbeen a meet-cute. It had been the moment he saw me as something more than Hayley’s assistant. He had been attracted to me. Drawn to me like I was to him. He’d noticed me and not in a bad way. I thought he had looked down on me and I had been intimidated by him.

But we clearly both had been attracted to one another from the start of our trip.

I still thought of our kiss outside my hotel room as the best of my life so far. I still missed being in his arms. And the way he looked at me. Yes, we were different. Yes, he was older and richer. Yes, we both had trust issues. We weren’t sure we believed in love or happy ever afters. But we had still taken a chance in New York and had an amazing, romantic and passionate time there together. We’d run away from the risk of a relationship. Jake wasn’t running away now, though. Like my speech to him outside Hayley’s office, he was being honest about his feelings.

If we both felt the same, what then?

I looked at the time. It was the end of the day. I grabbed my things, including the proof of Jake’s book, and threw them into my bag. I then pulled out my phone, waving to Simon as I passed by his door. He was still on his phone and gave me a thumbs-up.

Once I got outside the building, I called Hayley’s office and was relieved when Ellen on reception picked up.

‘Ellen, I know this is kind of unorthodox but can I ask a huge favour?’ I pleaded down the phone.

48

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