Page 58 of Love Out Loud

And as for leaving it where she could find it, that hadn’t even crossed his mind. In fact, he’d completely forgotten it existed when he’d invited her over. Somehow, he’d had it in his head it was time to declare himself and prove to her he was all in by inviting her and the dogs to spend the night at his place. All he’d managed to do was prove to her he was an inconsiderate ass. He covered his face with his hands.

“Have you talked to her?” Marcus asked.

Jake lowered his hands from his face and met his friend’s concerned eyes. “What would I say? I was wrong. There is no excuse.”

“How about telling her that?” Marcus said, reaching for his pizza.

Elaine helped herself to a slice and looked from one of them to the other as if it were an entertaining soap opera instead of his life in a blender.

“You didn’t see her. When she left, sheleft. Discussion closed.” Again, he buried his face in his hands. “It’s hopeless.”

Charise patted his knee. “Nothing is hopeless, Jake. Not even you.” She winked when he looked at her. “I saw on the progress board that she was a referral from Claire Anderson. Any hope of getting a temperature from Claire?”

“No. It was a courtesy for Jane, one of Fiona’s coworkers at Animal Attraction. Claire isn’t close friends with Fiona. She may never have even met her.”

Charise stood. “Elaine, schedule a phone call for me with Claire Anderson and get the number of her friend Jane at Fiona’s place of business.” She pointed to Marcus. “Marc, get him some real food, not pizza, and help him get this place in order.” She gave Jake a once-over. “You need to shower, shave, and get yourself together. You’re hurting yourself, and you’re hurting us.”

Jake stood. “Charise, don’t meddle in this. Fiona needs to be left alone. I’ve done enough damage already.”

Charise strode over and got right in his face, and for a second, he marveled at how tall she was. He’d gotten so used to being around petite Fiona. Of course, Charise’s high heels helped, but he still had to look up slightly to meet her eyes—

Uh-oh. He’d seen that look before. She meant business.

“Listen to me, Jacob Ward. I screwed you over when we broke up. I feel bad about it to this day. I’m going to work to make that right, and you are going to likewise work to make it right with Fiona. I tell you from personal experience that the guilt is only going to get worse. I’m not a heartless bitch, and neither are you. I’m going to prove that to you, and you are going to prove it to Fiona.”

“How?” God, he sounded pitiful, but at this point, he didn’t care.

She took his face in her hands. “Figure it out. The damage was done by an article she read. Fix it, Jacob, so you can move on and so can she.”

He recalled the look on Fiona’s face in his apartment. The absolute hurt and betrayal rolling off of her in waves. It wasn’t the article that had hurt her.Hehad hurt her. Move on? She’d moved on the second that door closed. Him, not so much.

He wasn’t sure it could be fixed. “Calling her friends is probably a mistake. Please don’t make it worse, Charise.”

“Could it really be worse?” Marcus asked. “Think about it.”

No. Probably not.

When he didn’t answer, Charise and Elaine swept to the door.

“It’ll work out, Jacob. You’re a good guy. Act like one,” Charise said. “I’ll see you in the office tomorrow. Bring your personality this time. You’ve kind of sucked lately.”

Jake and Marcus relaxed back on the sofa after the whirlwind of estrogen left and sat in silence for a while.

“You really think I can untangle this mess?” Jake asked.

“Don’t know. You can’t if you don’t try, that’s for sure. When is her speech?”

He sighed. “This Saturday.”

“And when does the article release?”

“The following Monday.” Jake shook his head. He was totally screwed.

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