Page 51 of The Last Autograph

“You think I’m not?”

She sat back down. “I honestly don’t know what to think. Why me?”

“Why not you? You’re interesting and elegant and sexy, not to mention you have an incredibly beautiful smile.”

Molly shook her head as if the idea was absurd. “I’m sure you meet lots of women with beautiful smiles—ones more suitable to waste your time on than me. Because no matter which way you look at it, my connection with Jesse and the fact that your mother disapproves of me can’t be ignored.”

“My mother has nothing to do with how I live my life.”

“Lucky you,” she scoffed. “My mum’s all over mine, but I guess that’s part of being a parent. I suspect my parents will always be a major influence on my life.”

Jake considered her words. She was right. Close families often meddled in each other’s business, but given time, he hoped that his mother would reconsider her opinion of Molly.

“After that first day you came to see me at the patisserie,” he continued, “I tried to figure out why Jesse would throw us together as he has. It seemed an intriguing twist of fate because we were often attracted to the same girls when younger, even had the same girlfriend once when we were fifteen.”

That beautiful smile.“You did not.”

“We did.” He paused. “Anyway, my point is that, despite the complexities, I’ve thought about you—us—a lot lately, and I’d like to spend more time with you.”

“But not as just friends?”

“I don’t do so well with female friends like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I find the attraction gets in the way.”

She seemed taken aback, and he understood why. Some people didn’t appreciate his bluntness. As Molly tilted her head to one side, his thoughts went to the photo of her and Jesse on his brother’s phone. How happy she looked in their selfie world, and for a moment, he wondered how she’d interpret his request.Because even though he longed to explore the attraction between them, she was right. The elephant had well and truly entered the room.

“So who’s Ava?”

He hesitated. Frowned. “My ex-girlfriend. She lives in France.”

“When did you break up?”

“Late last year.”

“And did your mother not get the memo?”

“She did, but…”

Molly sat in silence, as if weighing up the pros and cons, and Jake waited for her to offer an excuse. After all, given his initial distrust of her and his mother’s reaction, what had he expected?

And yet, going forward, their relationship would grow only from mutual respect, but for that to happen, they had to spend time together—on her terms as well as his own.

“Thoughts?”

“I’ve never been great at spontaneous decision-making,” she murmured. “It confuses me.”

Choosing to ignore her little joke, Jake studied her pensive expression, wondering if he’d misread her interest. And as she held his gaze for several seconds, he stilled. “It’s a simple yes or no.”

“Maybe, but it’s not black and white, is it?”

“No, and for that reason, if we act on this, I need to ask you to do two things for me.”

Molly frowned. Waited.

“Don’t compare us.”

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