Page 41 of Long Story Short

‘A New York moment?’ Jake asked with a smile.

‘Yeah, you know when we can look at each other and say, “This could only happen in New York”.’

‘A New York moment. Okay, let’s do it.’ Jake pulled away from me and my body immediately felt his absence. He rolled across the bed and swung his feet over. ‘Let’s get changed then I’ll knock for you and take you somewhere.’ He looked at the bedside table clock radio. ‘Say seven?’

‘Okay. Where are you going to take me?’ I asked, watching as he climbed off the bed and started to get dressed. I admired his body shamelessly.

‘It’s a surprise.’ When he’d got dressed, he came around the side of the bed closest to me, his eyes drinking in my still naked body. ‘Although now I’m not sure I can leave…’

I smiled. ‘I don’t want you to but it’s not for long. We’ll be back here later, right?’ I would normally feel embarrassed at him being clothed looking at me naked. I would normally have been covering myself up, listing my flaws silently in my mind, but Jake was admiring me so openly, I didn’t feel the need. In fact, I even liked him looking.

‘I can’t wait,’ Jake replied. He leaned down to kiss me. ‘I don’t want to leave you.’

‘I don’t want to let you go,’ I said.

I watched him leave my hotel room then I turned over to lie on my back and smile up at the ceiling because holy hell, the last few hours had felt like a dream.

The problem was, I had no idea how long I would get to dream for.

27

As I was getting ready, there was a knock on my hotel room door and when I opened it up, Liv and Tessa were there asking if I wanted to hang out. I had pulled on my favourite short, black dress and was holding my hair as I wanted to put it up. ‘Um, well…’ I hedged as they stared at me.

‘Why do you look like you’re dressed up for a date?’ Liv demanded.

I looked down the corridor, relieved it was empty. I certainly didn’t want to become the gossip of the conference. ‘Come in you two,’ I said, stepping aside. They walked in and I shut the door, resuming my seat on the bed in front of the mirror on the wall. Liv flopped down on the other side of the bed, curling her legs up to watch me while Tessa sat down in the chair by the window. I piled my hair up on top of my head and reached for my pot of bobby pins. ‘I suppose it is kind of a date,’ I admitted, avoiding their eyes in the mirror as I carried on doing my hair.

‘God, how did you find a date in this conference? It’s 99 per cent women,’ Tessa joked.

‘You don’t mean…’ Liv said. ‘Freya, are you going out with Jake?’

‘Jake Richards?’ Tessa repeated, looking from Liv back to me. ‘I did not see that coming!’

‘I did,’ Liv said to Tessa. ‘But I hoped I was wrong when I sensed some… chemistry. The way he was looking at Davis Mulberry trying to chat Freya up at the panel earlier, we almost had to break up a fight between them.’

‘I am here guys, just FYI,’ I said, shaking my head.

‘Oh, we know,’ Liv said, turning back to me.

‘We’re just going out for dinner,’ I said, hoping that didn’t count as a lie exactly. I was merely failing to mention our earlier afternoon delight even though I kept getting delicious flashbacks of it.

‘Seriously, Freya, what will Hayley say if she finds out? I thought you were focused on your career,’ Liv continued. ‘You shouldn’t date Hayley’s client when you want her to promote you to become an agent yourself! Especially not at a conference where everyone in publishing could find out and gossip about it! And he’s so much older…’

I spun around. ‘Your boyfriend is older than you!’ I reminded Liv.

She shrugged. ‘Not ten years older. Plus, Jake is like a grown-up.’

‘And I’m not?’ I demanded. Then I sighed. ‘Actually, don’t answer that. I never feel like one, to be honest.’

‘Nor do I,’ Tessa said with sympathy. ‘I don’t think anyone will find out; they are working closely together here, right? And you both have to eat…’

‘Exactly,’ I said, nodding as I turned back to carry on with my hair. ‘It’s just dinner, Liv, don’t worry.’

‘I can’t help it. I know how much you want to be an agent one day; I don’t want this to mess that up. I hope Jake isn’t taking advantage of you. Didn’t Davis Mulberry say he likes to pretend to women he’s romantic like his books, but just uses them for sex then dumps them?’

‘Freya won’t let him do that,’ Tessa said. ‘They’re just going out tonight; it doesn’t have to lead to anything.’

I swallowed hard. ‘We can’t trust anything Davis Mulberry says,’ I mumbled.

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