Page 53 of Long Story Short

‘Exactly. Jake is just like him.’

I feigned a girly giggle. ‘Oh, you’re sweet to look out for me, Davis. Maybe we could have coffee sometime when we’re back in London, I’d love some career advice from such an experienced person in the industry.’ I wondered if I might have overdone it but his chest practically visibly puffed out.

‘I would love to give you advice; why don’t I get your number and we can—’ Davis broke off, looking over my shoulder. ‘Oh, hey, Jake, we were just talking about you.’

I spun around to see Jake behind me, wearing a tense expression.

‘So I gather,’ Jake asked, looking at Davis and avoiding meeting my eyes. I wondered how much of our conversation he had overheard. I really hoped he hadn’t heard the bit about his dad or me not trusting him.

‘Nice try with Freya here,’ Davis said, stepping forwards so quickly, I couldn’t back away from him. He slung an arm over my shoulders. I saw Jake tense as much as my body instantly did. He still wouldn’t look at me, though. ‘But mate, she needs a real man.’

‘You wouldn’t know what a real man is like,’ Jake said through gritted teeth.

I felt I needed to diffuse the situation and fast. Hayley was only feet away. Everyone at the conference was on Jake’s side again. If he started a fight with Davis, it would all be over. I threw on a smile. ‘It’s sweet, you both wanting to look out for me; I am a big girl, though.’ I stepped out from Davis’s arm. ‘Why don’t we go back to the party? I need a refill.’ I waved my now-empty glass. I hadn’t even noticed I’d drained another one. I was now feeling decidedly light-headed. ‘Davis, can you get me one then maybe we can dance?’ I asked him, fluttering my eyelashes in his direction. I was disgusted with myself but I knew I needed to get rid of Davis before Jake exploded.

Davis smiled at me. ‘Sure thing, gorgeous.’

‘I’ll follow you in a minute,’ I said, handing him my empty glass.

‘Don’t be long.’ Davis brushed past Jake. ‘Looks like you’ve lost your touch,’ was his parting shot as he went back into the party.

I exhaled. ‘Thank God I got rid of him.’ I looked at Jake, who finally met my gaze. ‘You almost ruined the whole thing.’

‘Ruined what, Freya? You coming on to that twat?’ Jake demanded, the anger in his tone taking me back.

‘Huh?’ I started at him, confused. ‘He saw us kiss in the lift earlier; I was acting like I didn’t want it…’

‘And why would you?’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, the sharpness in his tone taking me back.

‘Why would you want me to kiss you when I’m just like my father?’

‘Oh.’ My stomach dropped that he had heard me. ‘I only said that because Davis?—’

‘Because you don’t trust me.’

‘I didn’t want him to go out there and tell Hayley about us!’ I said, moving closer and trying to reach for Jake.

He stepped back, though. ‘You said we have to pretend nothing is going on,’ he reminded me. I dropped my arms to my side. ‘Maybe it was never pretend, though. Yeah, you might have wanted to make sure Davis doesn’t run his mouth to Hayley about us but you haven’t given me any indication you want anything to happen after we leave here. In fact, you just want to make sure no one finds out about us. And I thought that was to protect your career, which I 100 per cent want to do too, but maybe you don’t think I can do relationships because of my father. Maybe you just wanted a holiday fling.’ Jake shrugged as though he couldn’t care less either way.

His words felt unfair. ‘What do you want? You haven’t said anything about us after this trip either,’ I pointed out.

‘I just walked in to find you flirting with Davis!’ Jake snapped. ‘Talking about meeting up with him in London, asking him for his advice… Were you just using me, too, to help your career? Using this trip and me to get into Hayley’s good books? Maybe you thought I’d be honest with everyone like you wanted if you slept with me!’

I stared at him, stunned at what he had just said. ‘You think I could do that? I’m that kind of person?’

‘You just seem desperate to make sure no one finds out about us.’

‘I have things to lose; you don’t,’ I snapped back then, annoyed that he didn’t understand why I had to do that. Hayley wouldn’t drop him as a client but she could sack me.

‘Don’t worry, you won’t lose anything.’ Jake turned to go, then looked back at me, his expression and voice cold. ‘Whatever this was, we should just leave it here in New York; you’re right. We’re too different.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, trying to follow him, hurt that he thought I wasn’t good enough for him after all. Talking about our differences… Of course I was aware of them but in his arms, I thought they didn’t matter. Now Jake was shoving them in my face.

‘This wouldn’t work in the real world, let’s face it,’ Jake said. ‘We had fun, sure, but we should go back to just being professional.’

I stopped trying to follow him. I narrowed my eyes. I was furious. And more than a little bit tipsy. ‘That’s fine with me,’ I replied coldly. ‘You’re right. We would never work in the real world. Let’s keep things strictly business between us from now on.’

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