Page 4 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
Reluctantly, Jess looked up. The shock of seeing Adam earlier in Frank’s office had clearly scrambled her brain.Say something, Jess. Just keep it polite and professional. You can do that.God, it was like one of those anxiety dreams where no matter how hard she tried to speak, nothing came out. He looked exactly the same. The well-tailored suit, that thick, dark hair that had a habit of falling slightly across his … wait, had those little creases in his foreheadalwaysbeen there? Or was he just frowning at her? Yep, he was frowning. Briefly, she met deep-blue eyes before glancing away.
Why had he bothered to come over? Why couldn’t he be normal and just pretend he hadn’t seen them instead of making things awkward and complicated? She didn’t need Adam and his frowny face.
Except now he was smiling at Kate. “How are the wedding plans going?”
Kate beamed back. “Um, really well. Less than eight weeks now.”
“You must be excited,” Adam said.
“We both are, yeah.”
Kate smile widened slightly before she shot Jess a sympathetic look and got to her feet.
“I’d,er, better get back to the office,” she said.
Traitor! Jess stood up so quickly she nearly lost her balance.
“Can we talk, Jess?” There was a trace of uncertainty in Adam’s voice.
Jess looked at her friend. She couldn’t make a scene. And she couldn’t drag Kate into this – it wasn’t fair.
“You’d better go ahead,” she said to Kate. She hoped Adam couldn’t hear the wobble in her voice. “I’ll catch you later.”
Kate gave a small smile and left.
Adam gestured to the table. “Let’s sit down?”
Jess slid back into her seat, bracing herself as he opened his jacket and took the chair Kate had just vacated. Her stomach squeezed at the familiar scent of the subtle, woodsy aftershave he always wore.Shit, why had she agreed to this? Her brain was going to be scrambled for the rest of the day.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was coming back,” he said. “And I wouldn’t have just walked into Frank’s office earlier if I’d known you were there.”
She tried to wet her lips. “You don’t owe me any explanation, Adam.”
He’d simply disappeared a few weeks after their split. Jess had assumed he’d gone back to their European headquarters in Switzerland and, before she was tempted to get in touch, she’d blocked him on her phone and unfollowed him on Instagram – the single bit of social media he used. She waited for him to mention what she’d done, but he said nothing. He probably hadn’t even noticed.
You don’t owe me anything.“You’ve as much right to be here in the Dublin office as I have.”
“Maybe, but we haven’t seen each other since –”
“Don’t.” She swallowed painfully. “You’re making way too big a deal of this.” She couldn’t risk him mentioning the miscarriage or the fact that today had been her due date. If he’d even remembered ... “I have to get back to work.”
“Jess, wait!” He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face.
She risked a closer look. There were tiny crows’ feet at the corners of his eyes. Were they new?
“I’m sorry for the way things ended. I probably should have …” He seemed to be searching for the right words. “I thought you needed space. And then other things got in the way. But you weren’t to know that.”
Other things got in the way? That was what people said, wasn’t it? It was the classic get-out-of-jail-free card. Christ, he must have felt so trapped – and been so relieved when she’d ended things.
She’d tried hard to tell herself the miscarriage was somehow meant to be, that she’d heal, that now she and Adam had time to get to know one another properly. But she hadn’t been able to do it. Instead, she’d taken two weeks’ sick leave, packed up her things and gone home to her parents. After those two weeks, he’d stopped calling. At first, Jess had been too numb to care. Later, she’d managed to convince herself it was for the best. By the time she’d returned to work, he’d left, and she’d heard nothing from him since.
“What happened was for the best, Adam.” Jess dug her nails into her palms, watching a range of emotions cross his face. She stood again, her legs trembling with the effort of pretending. “I really need to get back.”
“Frank told me you’re heading down to Linford while it’s being hired out for the movie.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t go on my account, Jess. I won’t be in Dublin for long.”
