Page 73 of A Lonely Road
Nora
Asafternoonbledintoevening, I finally told Jake I did actually need to get some work done. He reluctantly agreed, admitting that he needed to update The Mermaid’s accounts and prepare some supply orders, no matter what else he’d rather be doing with me, so we ended up sitting at opposite ends of the leather sofa with our laptops perched on our knees.
By now, I knew him—knew us both—well enough to make him stay out of arm’s reach. With an amused snort, Jake agreed. Right about now, I was sure he was sorely regretting not being able to reach over and touch me without being obvious about it.
I regretted it, myself.
Though I was usually capable of ignoring him as my fingers moved quickly over the keyboard, Jake spent at least as much ofour work time surreptitiously watching me as he spent doing any of his own work. After nearly two hours, I paused long enough to rub the back of my neck and caught him staring at me—again.
I tried to look stern, I couldn’t quite hide a smile as I raised a brow in question.
“What kinds of things do you translate?” he asked, lacing his fingers behind his head. We’d spoken a few times about my job previously, but with everything else going on, he hadn’t asked for very many details.
I leaned back and tucked my legs underneath me as I flexed my fingers back and forth to loosen them up. “A lot of different stuff, but my favorite thing to translate is probably novels.”
His eyes widened. “Like, entire books? That sounds like a hell of a lot of work.”
“Yes,” I replied, my lips curving at his surprise. “It’s a ton of work, but they’re definitely the most fun of the projects I take on. With a book, it’s not just about converting one language to another, it’s about capturing the same feel, the voice and intention of the writer, creating the right atmosphere. It’s way more of a challenge, but it’s also by far the most satisfying for me.”
Jake watched me intently, and I flushed. Even if he was interrupting my actual work by talking about it, I was too caught up in sharing the information to mind.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I like seeing you this way.”
I bit my lip. “What way?”
“Excited. Enchanting. Eyes all lit up, like you could talk about this all day. It’s beautiful, Nora.” He grinned and I had to fight the urge not to shift toward him on the couch. “What kind of books do you translate?”
“A huge mix of things. I intentionally try to keep it varied, just to make sure it doesn’t get stale. I’ve done mysteries, romance, a couple horror, which aren’t my favorite thing to read but can be fun to work on. Some children’s books. Novels are heavy and time-intensive, so doing smaller projects in between is like a palate cleanser. Picture books are good for that, but I also do articles, documents, sometimes even instruction manuals.” Something in Jake’s expression made me falter and ask, “Now why are you looking at me likethat?”
He shook his head, smiling. “You’re amazing, that’s all.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled, ducking my head.
He set aside his laptop and held out a hand. “Ready for a break yet?”
I sighed. “I have just a few pages left on this, and knowing how your ‘breaks’ tend to unfold, I should probably get this done before I let you distract me, tempting as it is.”
The smirk on his face told me I’d guessed exactly what kind of break he had in mind. “Okay, you caught me,” he drawled, “so how about a compromise? I’ll run this stuff over to The Mermaid, place a few quick supply orders, and bring back some dinner for us while you finish up?”
“I would never say no to stuffed mushrooms and strawberry shortcake. Think you can make that happen, hotshot?”
Jake winked and leaned over to kiss me, letting his mouth linger on mine until I finally pushed him firmly away. “I happen to have an in with the owners, so that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll lock the door and turn on the alarm. Text if you need me for anything. Or if you get lonely and want some hot selfies to keep you company.”
“I will.” I laughed, batting away the hand he tried to sneak up my leg. “Go on, Lincoln, get out of here. It’s broad daylight, and Dad said he’s back at the apartment now. I’ll be perfectly fine on my own.”
I lifted my face for one last kiss before Jake grabbed his ledgers and laptop and left me alone in the quiet house. For a moment, I simply listened to the sound of silence, then I turned my focus back to the computer screen. If I could finish this project before he got home, we would have the entire evening free.
That prospect would definitely make my current sacrifice worthwhile, though I gave serious consideration to requesting one of Jake’s so-called “hot selfies.”
The words on the screen swirled around me in a linguistic cloud as I worked. Sometimes the workwasheavy and time-consuming, but even so, I loved it. And, if I did say so myself, I was good at my job. With the motivation of dinner, dessert, anddessertdangling before me,Imanaged to fly through the remaining pages. Once it was done, I sat back with a satisfied sigh.
“And with time to spare,” I said aloud, cracking my aching knuckles.
The project would need another read-through, but the hard part was finished and I was well ahead of my deadline, so I closed the laptop and set it on the coffee table. Briefly, I debated taking a hot shower before Jake returned, but I hadn’t paid enough attention to the time when he left and knew that if he got home while I was showering, dinner would end up cold before we got to it.
Texting him to ask was out of the question—if he thought there was a chance of coming home to find me naked and dripping, he would definitely take advantage of it.
