Page 59 of Jake

She bit her lip. So much had happened, did she really want more spotlight on herself? Screw it, she thought. If it helped the other women, why not?

“Sure, what does she need?”

“Really?” He hugged her in his excitement, nearly knocking her over.

“No manhandling the girlfriend.” Jake walked up but was all laughs. “I take it she said yes?”

“I’ll set it all up and just tell you when you need to be there. It will be super quick and easy.” Evan ran off to get his phone and then into Jake’s office.

“We have the weirdest friends,” Jake teased her.

“We really do,” she agreed and was glad they were their friends.

She looked up at Jake who was grinning at the nonsense going on. She loved him. She knew it already, and Catherine was right. Now she needed to decide what she was going to do about it.

Chapter Nineteen

The week had dragged on. Once again, she hadn’t been able to see Jake since Sunday, when she’d left his apartment.

They had talked every day, all day, but it didn’t make up for not being able to see him. She craved him to be near, even though the space had given her time to think.

She wanted to be with Jake; there was no doubting it. Since her realization that she was in love with him Sunday, she found it hard to think of much else.

A future with Jake was something that she now craved more than anything else: waking up with him every day, planning their evenings, and very few nights without him.

Today they were both taking off work a little early to meet with Kayla who ran The Blind Date. Evan had been in touch every day this week to set up some new detail about the meeting and then just to make sure they were clear on everything.

Their testimonial was going to be recorded and used for promotions for the company. She wasn’t thrilled but would get through it. It was a good experience overall even if they hadn’t played it all the way through since they met each other outside of the app by accident.

Cade didn’t have to wait for his father to show up, since he technically couldn’t, so he’d had no problem with her leaving early. He had even volunteered to drop her off at the restaurant to meet Jake, Evan, and Kayla.

“You ready?” Cade asked, stepping out of his office.

“I am. You’re sure you don’t need anything else?” she asked.

“I need you not to quit when you move in with Jake and get married because I’d be lost.” He was joking, but it stopped her in her tracks. “I was teasing.”

“I know. It’s just, you don’t really think that I would do that, do you?”

“Leave?” he confirmed.

“You will one day. It is what it is, just train your replacement very well.” He held the door open for her.

Did people think that she was going to quit her job and just do nothing at Jake’s apartment? Well, new fear unlocked. She pushed it down, reminding herself that it didn’t matter what people thought and she wasn’t going to quit anyway.

“You could always trade places with Max,” Cade said, unhelpfully, as they waited in the elevator.

Lauren decided not to reply, just rolled her eyes and kept looking ahead.

“It’s a joke. Why are you so stressed now?”

“I worry that people will think I’m like my mom. I don’t want to be like her.”

Cade looked her up and down but didn’t speak. The elevator opened and they stepped out into the busy lobby. Lunchtime was chaotic every day, but especially so on Fridays as it seemed that everyone in the city decided to order in.

He led her to the waiting car and helped her in before climbing in after her. Once the car was moving, he turned and looked at her.

“You love him, he loves you, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that. Jake will take care of you whether you need or want him to, and that’s just the way it is. You would do the same for him no matter how much money he has. Stop thinking that any of us are different because we have more than others. We aren’t.”

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