Page 22 of Jake

Chapter Eight

Lauren sat at her desk, typing out a letter for Cade. She'd been thinking about her date last week and how she was nervous about what she wanted. J had definitely been disappointed in her not agreeing to meet.

They had clearly hit it off when it came to the texting conversations, but meeting at the restaurant was awkward, only enhanced by the darkness. It was impossible to read body language, something she excelled at, when you couldn’t see. Instead, she had to rely on tone, and based on that, he had been much more comfortable than she had.

When she'd gotten back to the house, she had pressed Catherine for who it might be and gotten nowhere. Catherine could keep a secret better than anyone she knew.

The problem was, she didn't want to be seen as a gold digger. And despite the conversation with Catherine about it, she just knew they had to be wealthier than her, not to say that she was wealthy, anyway. She was living rent free in her friend’s spare room right now.

It wasn't like she didn't have a good job. It wasn't like she didn't aspire to be more. But she really wanted to get there on her own, not because she was with a wealthy man.

She continued to text J this entire time. It had been four days. He was already asking for another date this weekend. She put off Friday because of work.

Not that she really had to work. She just wasn't sure if she was ready for the next step, and he was going to want to meet. He already wanted to meet but he hadn't brought it up again. At least he was that nice about it.

The conversations when they were texting in the app were still good. It was way easier to talk to him through the app than it was to talk to him in person where it got kind of awkward. Quickly.

Saturday afternoon there was to be a pool party at Cade’s, and she was invited. Catherine talked her into going. She really didn't want to, but there was a chance whoever J was would be there.

The problem was the only J that she knew that they all knew was Jake. And surely nobody would set her up on a date with Jake. They had nothing in common and they surely would never be a good fit.

Jake was mischievous and easy going. She knew enough about herself to say she was the polar opposite of that. She wasn’t uptight, but neither was she laid back. Stressed was her normal mode, and she thrived in it. He ran a very successful business, though, so there had to be much more to him than what she saw around Cade.

Not to mention, she’d had the conversation with Elizabeth before about not wanting to be seen as a gold digger. It was something that she saw from a lot of other people that genuinely were, especially with her being the assistant to a billionaire.

They would automatically assume that she was social climbing. She had racked her brain to think of anyone else that might fit J’s personality and had come up short. Maybe it was someone that Catherine had met more recently. She’d have to do more checking.

“Do you have that letter ready?” Cade’s voice made her jump, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Oh shoot. Sorry. I'm almost done. I'll have it to you in just a minute,” she answered, trying to focus again on what she was actually supposed to be doing.

“Are you okay?” Cade asked, studying her.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I'm just a little distracted.”

He looked like he was about to say something else but changed his mind and went back into his office.

Her phone chimed. She grabbed it immediately, recognizing the sound of the app’s notifications.

J: I was just checking in to ask how your day was?

He hadn’t asked her any personal questions outside of the ones that they had asked before the date. They talked a little bit about work here and there, but mostly they just kind of chatted about life.

She ignored his message for now, quickly finishing her letter that she was typing for Cade and emailing it over to him before pulling her phone out and answering J.

L: It's going well. I am a little distracted today though.

J replied almost immediately.

J: I'm sorry to hear that. I'll leave you to it. And we can text more tonight if that’s better?

She hadn't told him about her concerns when it came to dating, of course. The last thing she wanted to do right now was make him feel bad for sending her a message, one she was happy to receive.

L: No, no, I'm fine. It's not you. I just have this party I'm supposed to go to this weekend and I'm not really feeling it.

J: Oh! Is there any way you can get out of it?

L: Probably not. I told a friend I would go, so it looks like I'm kind of stuck.

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