Page 11 of Seven Minutes In Heaven
Arthur looked in his fiancée’s direction with another laugh in his mouth. “She’s asking the hard-hitting questions.”
“I only ask, because I know quite a few eligible bachelorettes who might like to have his +1 at the wedding.”
“Haven’t you invited them all already, sweetie?”
Jake pushed his chair back. “Excuse me. I’m gonna use the restroom while you two figure out my personal life.”
Arthur was still chuckling long after his son departed the salon. Drinks were served, and the maid asked if they were still having salads for lunch. Arthur waved her off and said to Claire, “Please forgive Jacob. He’s sensitive to any topic not related to work. Sometimes I swear his mother turned him against me.”
I wonder what Carmen is really like.Claire also wondered if the woman she now replaced was a recluse because of what Arthur had done to her emotionally, or because she really wanted her life to be that way. Was that what Claire had in store for her life if she went through with this wedding?I’ve got one thing on my side, though. I know about the affairs ahead of time.Then again, maybe Carmen had known as well. Who knew why she married Arthur?
“He seems like a nice man.”
“Ah, that’s right.” Arthur leaned against the table and regarded his fiancée with newfound curiosity. “I forget that to someone like you, heisa man. To me, he’ll always be a boy. That’s how it is when you’re a parent.”
“I’m sure.”
Claire rose from her seat and announced that she was also going to the bathroom. Arthur waved her off and jumped into texting some stranger, his phone tucked protectively against his chest.Your newest girlfriend, Art?Was it the same woman he screwed at the party, or some other up-and-coming actress who owed him a favor?
She shuddered. One day, these guys would get what was coming to them.
Claire didn’t really have to go to the bathroom. She hoped to bump into Jake in the hallway, preferably somewhere they could have a private conversation for a few minutes. Even if they didn’t carnally know each other, there were a few things Claire wanted to clear up before forging a familial relationship with the man who would soon be her legal stepson.
There he was, tarrying in the corner of the hallway, on his phone. Somehow, Claire doubted that Jake spoke with his father.
“Anything interesting?” Claire leaned against the wall. “Must be, if you’re using it as an excuse to avoid your father and me. Mostly me.”
“Actually…” Jake glanced up at her. The bright, Californian sunshine played with the golden brown of his hair.It really is golden, isn’t it?Hard to see those fine details in a darkened coat closet. Jake had the kind of hair that only showed its true colors in the sunlight. It helped that the golden brown of his hair perfectly complemented the bold brown of his eyes. “I really am avoiding my father over you. So don’t take it personally. Far as I’m concerned, you’re an absolute delight.”
“So that’s why you say it with such a droll tone?”
“Forgive me. You may be a delight compared to him, but I’m still living in an actual nightmare right now.”
Claire kept her arms crossed. Perhaps the barrier would alleviate some of Jake’s worries that Claire was once more overstepping her bounds. “I’ll go ahead and say that I don’t have any regrets, then. Let’s put it behind us.”
Jake slowly shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way.”
“It doesn’t?”
“No.” He put his phone away. “Because I like you too much to put up with this.”
Claire cocked her head. The man was now close enough to kiss, but he kept his lips far away from hers. “Is that so? Our past is gonna be a problem, huh?”
“I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve been telling my mother for the past several years.” Jake propped his hand against the wall, an imposing presence near Claire. Yet she wasn’t threatened. If anything, she continued to find him too attractive to push away.Even if we never do it again, well, at least I get to have those fond memories every time he drags them up.Maybe the hardest part wouldn’t be around him. The hardest part was marrying hisfatherand possibly seeing Jake with another woman sometime soon.In another life, it could’ve been me.
Why couldn’t she have been set up with Jake instead?
“You deserve much better than what that man could ever offer you.”
Claire hadn’t expected something like that. “You’re only saying that because I’ll be leeching from your inheritance.”
“I don’t care too much about that, honestly. I care that my father has already fucked over the lives of countless women, and that’s since I was born.” Jake shrugged. “My mom’s not the only one he fucked up. But… if you’ve made up your mind, I won’t deter you. I want my father to be happy, but don’t expect him to put your happiness first.”
“I know what’s going on here, Jake.” Claire snorted. “I’m not marrying your father forlove.I barely knew the man before I agreed to marry him. I want security and connections, like any other woman in Hollywood.”
“Of course. Why do you think it only took him five months to find a woman with a good background and under thirty willing to marry him? You’re all a dime a dozen.”
“Thought you weren’t out to insult me.”
