Page 41 of Hidden Heart

The blonde was beautiful. Her hair had been professionally styled, and her face confessed no flaws.

“He’s not here.” Her lips curled into a sneer, as her eyes narrowed. “He went to pick up our dinner.” She raised her chin as she gave the gem of information.

Jessica’s eyes swept the apartment, noticing the woman was barefoot. She peered into the doorway at the floor, lined up against the wall in perfect position sat a pair of black strapped sandals.

Jessica’s stomach twisted, and bile raced up her throat. She swallowed hard and tried to focus her swirling brain.

“Oh.” The woman’s voice mocked her with sympathy. “Was that mat thing yours?”

Jessica looked at the woman with an empty stare. The words and situation refused to compute.

“Yeah.” She remained motionless. Her gaze returned to the floor, fixated.

“Well,Sirwill be home any moment, and I have to prepare the table. Did you need something?” Her voice switched up an octave.

“Yes. I mean...no, it’s nothing important. Sorry to have bothered you,” Jessica managed to say, turning from the door. She didn’t look back, but she could feel the woman’s satisfied eyes burning through her jacket.

The elevator did not move fast enough.

Chapter 16

Royce tossed his phone onto the couch. When he finally got ahold of Jessica, he was going to add a rule that his calls were never to go to voicemail unless she was at work. Maybe it was little unreasonable, but he hadn’t heard from her in three days. No phone calls, texts, or emails.

Giving her the project to get her résumé in order had nudged the boundaries, but not enough to warrant her running away from him. She hadn’t reacted so harshly when he’d given her the first project. Although, that had been less personal and had more to do with getting her to relax for a day.

He’d given her space on Saturday so she could work on the project since he had one of his own: getting rid of Melody.

He’d allowed her to spend one night before putting her on the first flight back to New York. She had laid it all on very thick, but he’d managed to escape unscathed.

When he’d returned home from picking up Chinese and found Jessica’s mat replaced with Melody’s shoes, he’d lost his composure.

She’d tried everything to get him to hold her, to kiss her, and when that didn’t work, she’d tried to get him to punish her.

“Melody, the problem isn’t that I don’t want love, the problem is I don’t love you,” he’d finally stated. Being blunt had been the only way to get his message across.

She moved away from him as though he’d struck her.

“I love someone else,” he’d said in a softer tone.

She hadn’t spoken. She’d gone to the bedroom and changed into her fluffy pajamas. Her shoulders slumped and her feet dragged. She had been deflated. He’d hated seeing her in pain, but had made no move to comfort her. He had no reason to believe she wouldn’t turn the situation around again. She needed to know he had meant what he’d said—he had fallen in love with someone else.

They remained silent during breakfast, and he took her down to the cab without a word. Only when they’d arrived at the front doors of his building had she acknowledged him.

“I’m glad you found love,” she’d said somberly. “I’ll let you two be. New York is full of men.” She hadn’t tried to hug him, just walked away and got into the waiting cab. Royce had let out a long breath of relief. Crisis averted. He had worried she would make a scene in the lobby.

The ringing of Royce’s phone brought him back to the present. He hit his knee on the coffee table as he ran to grab it, sending a sharp pain through his leg.

“Hello?” His voice sounded eager to his own ears.

“Royce! Hey there.” It was his friend from the publishing house.

Royce’s shoulders sagged as he sat on the couch.

They exchanged small talk before Marcus got to the heart of the matter. “I think I received the résumé from your friend. It arrived this morning. She doesn’t mention you, but from what you told me of her, sounds like she’s the one,” Marcus said.

“Oh yeah?” Royce raised his eyebrows. He thought Jessica would at least have let him know she’d completed the project.

“She has absolutely no experience, but her writing and her passion for books shines right through this cover letter. I’ve been trying to call her for an interview. Nothing big. An entry position might be just the thing, but I can’t get through. Do you have another number for her, a work number maybe?”

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