Time Changes Everything (11 page)

Dinner? She liked the sound of that. It meant it was more than a one-time thing. Okay. She could do one more dinner. “Dinner sounds great
-- along with the other thing. By the way, my robe is coming off.”

His smile widened in approval. “My plan is working.”

Before he could walk away, Chloe came to the room behind them, with two cups of juice. “Don’t leave on my account. Jeff’s waiting in the bedroom.”

“You naughty girl.”

“Look who’s talking, lady in red.” Chloe skipped off to her room. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing ya, Jake, and I hope it’s in that towel again.”

Jake raised an eyebrow. “Come on, the shower’s waiting and then we’ll make plans for dinner.”

Amanda smiled as he carried her to the bedroom.  The last twenty-four hours looked better than she had ever imagined.

***
*

Amanda dressed quietly in the wee morning hours so Jake wouldn’t wake. Dinner had been romantic last night, and now she didn’t know how to handle her conflicting thoughts. Jake’s ever present smile and the casual banter between steamy kisses made her unsure.

They ended the night at Jake’s.  If she was confused about her own emotions, there was no way to know what he felt.  It was better to leave, get her thoughts together, and get back to work.

She pulled her cell phone from her purse. There were five missed calls from her mother. What does she want now? Amanda unmuted the phone and listened to the messages while she slipped on her heels. Five messages telling me to come home for Christmas. Great.

The sheets rustled as Jake stirred. “Where are you off to? It’s six in the morning.” He sat up.

If she didn’t stop staring at his naked body, she’d end up in bed again. “I have some work to do.”

“At six in the morning?” Jake reached over to grab her hand and pulled her to sit on the bed next to him. “Get back in here.” He pulled her close and kissed her.

Her heart ached under her chest. Even if she wanted to stay in that sweet bed, she couldn’t.  She sat back up and placed her cell phone in her purse. “I’m behind at work.”

“When will I see you again?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Tonight?”

“I have a dinner meeting.” Now that December was here, time was not a friend. Macy’s got busy with the holiday shopping and she planned Denalo’s show in between.

She had no idea how involved she and Jake were becoming. It’d only been two nights, yet he seemed to want more.

“Let me check my schedule.” She pulled out her smartphone as she stood from the bed. “How about lunch tomorrow?”

“So, you can fit me in, huh?” He sounded bitter as he slid on some boxers and walked over to Amanda.

“What’s happening here?” She said it so suddenly, she was surprised it’d managed to make it past her brain and out her mouth.

“Well, it’s early morning and I’m trying to see you again.”

“I mean what’s really happening... between us?” Amanda caressed his chest. She couldn’t resist touching him.

“You’re being Miss Overanalyze, again.” Jake held her hand still and searched her face. It was a quiet second.

Amanda shrugged.

Jake raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. All I know is we’ve had an amazing time together. And…” he paused for a moment, as if he searched for the right words. “I want more.”

“More?” She needed him to say it. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate at work if she didn’t know now, and work was priority.

Jake took a deep breath. “Mandy, I’m new at this. I mean, I’ve never even had a woman in my apartment before. With you, I feel different. I want you here and I want to be with you. I could barely even concentrate during my meeting yesterday.”

She held up her finger. “My problem, exactly: concentration. And I need it for my show.”

“Let’s just take it one day at a time and see where it leads.” He rubbed her arms.

“That sounds good to me. By the way, I’m going to Paris in a couple of days. When I get back, I have a lot of planning to do for the show and then I’m heading home for Christmas. So I’m not sure when we can get together again.” Her inner turmoil grew. Would she be able to do it all?

“Now that I want to spend quality time with a woman, she up and leaves for Paris. Nice.” Jake placed his hands on his hips.

She shrugged. “Sorry, Jake, I’ve had this planned since Denalo hired me.”

“Will you see Dominic?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Are you crazy?” Amanda pulled her purse up higher on her shoulder. “Look, Jake. I’m having a nice time, but work is my priority right now.”

He clenched his jaw and threw his hands up. “Shit, Mandy. Do you know how hard this is for me?” He marched into the bathroom and turned around. “Fit me in when you can.” He slammed the door.

She jotted a message on a sticky note and stuck it on his wallet: Tomorrow. Lunch. 12:30. Valentinos. It was the best she could do for now. She’d have to think about the rest when she got back from Paris.

SHE WAS HAVING A
‘nice’ time? Jake ran a hand down his face. This was a lot more than nice for him. Maybe he was going crazy, but he felt something he never felt before. He thought she did, too.

He turned around and let the water fall on his back. Calm down, Jake. Take it one day at a time. Love takes time, right? It’s only been two days, for Christ’s sake. But he’d known Amanda his entire life. Now that they’d been involved, Jake knew she was the closest friend he had in New York, too.

And since when did he think of the ‘L’ word? Never. When he was around Mandy, the emptiness that usually sat in his heart wasn’t there. During the day, most of his thoughts drifted to her, which never happened. He had to work for a living, and if a woman got in the way, he’d end it immediately. However, with Mandy, the strayed thoughts weren’t a distraction, but more of a welcome to his life. It made him feel whole, which scared the hell out of him.

Shit. If she wanted her space, then so be it. He would give her the space, though he didn’t need it.

He needed her.

The realization cut through him like cold water. Jake reached for the wall and he swore to the empty room. 

He needed her.

He shook his head and stood up straight. It had finally happened. The shell that he’d built around himself broke into tiny pieces. A weight lifted off his shoulders that he never knew existed. Mandy was the one. The one to make him appreciate the world that he lived in and everything in it... as long as she was next to him along the way.

He had to make her realize that fitting him in would pay off, that he could be a priority too. Shit. He had no clue how to chase after a woman – especially stubborn Mandy Larson – but he’d do whatever it took to convince her that they could be together and share a life.

He shook his head. Holy crap!

He was in love with Mandy. Now, he had to convince her to love him in return.

He’d start with Christmas. If she was going to Louisiana, so was he. He’d talk her into going together and give their parents the best present of all – them. They’d pushed them to be together way back in high school, hinting at joining their two families. They were only kids then. Now, they were grown adults and he knew what he wanted. Convincing Mandy was the next item on his list.

Smiling, he turned the shower off and got dressed. He found a note on his wallet from Mandy and laughed.  If she wanted to play a game, so be it. He’d do it for her and no one else.

****

Amanda returned to Hotel Mélange around midnight. Exhausted, she wanted to crawl into bed.  The light on the bedside phone blinked a message, so she picked it up and listened.

“Hey Mandy. Jake here.” He paused and Amanda’s heart beat quickened. She actually missed him, but she wouldn’t think about it. “Hope you’re not working too hard in Paris.  I can’t get you out of my mind, especially after our after lunch dessert at my place. Crazy, huh?” He chuckled.

Amanda laughed and continued to listen.

“Anyway, I just wanted you to think of me, so I called to leave you this message. See you when you get home. Two days, right? Bye.”

Amanda laughed again. If he thought she could stop thinking of him, he was crazy. She thought of him in everything she did. The worst part – Denalo noticed she wasn’t doing her best. At his office earlier, Denalo had clapped his hands in front of her and said, “Earth to lover woman!” She had to work extra hard into the night to show him she was one hundred percent in the game.

She yawned and found her sketchpad. Jake’s drawing appeared before her eyes. She had sketched it on one of her sleepless nights. Back then, being with him was only a dream, but now she knew what it felt like to have his hands around her...on her. Her heart fluttered as she thought of his big hands and gorgeous blue eyes.

The phone woke her from her memories. Who’d call at this hour?  “
Allo
?”

“
Ma Cherie
, I have been watching you.” Dominic thundered from the receiver. “Why did you not tell me you came to Paris?”

Amanda sat up straight. Nausea clenched her stomach. “Dominic?”

“Denalo is lucky to have you at his office for three days. I made a reservation at
La Grenouille
for lunch tomorrow. I will see you there,” he informed her.

“Are you following me?” Amanda stood up by her bed. “Dominic. No more. Enough is enough.”

“You still sound angry,
Ma Chérie
. You are correct. Enough is enough. I will wait for you.” He hung up.

Amanda slammed the phone down. Great. Now she had a stalker. She strode to her window and closed the curtain. How could she ever have dated such a man? Jake’s image came to mind. What a contrast between the two. All the time they had spent together had shown her that Jake matched her ideas of an ideal partner. The only drawback was she didn’t know how he truly felt about her. Whereas, Dominic only wanted to control her, and she would never allow that to happen again. Ever.

The phone rang again. Amanda spun on her heel, not willing to allow the jerk the satisfaction of thinking she would show up. She jerked up the receiver.  “Stop calling me. I mean it!”

“Mandy?” Jake’s voice strained. “Uh. Okay. I guess I’ll talk to you when you get back.”

“No, Jake. Sorry.” She breathed deeply. “I was just -- I didn’t mean --”

“You sure?” Jake chuckled. “You’re confusing me.”

“It’s good to hear your voice.” She smiled and reclined on the bed, wrapping the phone cord around her finger.

“Have you thought about me?” His low voice sent shivers down her spine.

She’d thought of him all right. “Yes and thank you for the message. It was sweet.”

“Sweet? Hey, I have a manly image to uphold.”

“Okay, then, it was thoughtful.”

“How you holding out? Keeping busy?”

“I just got back from working all day. The drive from the office took longer than expected since it’s raining and the roads are slick.”

“Did you drive or take a cab?” He sounded concerned.

“A taxi.” The rain slashed across the window. “Remember when we were in middle school, and there was a thunderstorm? My parents were out to dinner and who knows where my sister was.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. The lights went out and I heard a scream. I was in my bedroom reading and I looked out my window.  You were running around your bedroom with a flashlight.”

“It wasn’t quite like that. Though, you came over, wet from the running in the rain, and found me in the corner in my room. I was such a baby.”

“I remember that night. We held hands until the lights came back on thirty minutes later. The best thirty minutes of my teenage life.” He let out a sigh.

“I wish I could hold your hand now. I miss you.”

She heard him breathe. “I miss you, too.”

Just the sound of his tender voice, from thousands of miles away, made a shiver of wanting run through her.  “I thought about what you said at dinner. When I return to New York, let’s plan a Christmas trip home together.”

“Really? Does that mean we can tell our parents?”

Amanda lay against her pillow. “I told you, we can’t tell our mothers. Especially mine.”

“Why? Give me one good reason.”

“You know my mom. She’s a control freak. She’ll have a wedding planned by the end of the year.”

Plus, this relationship wouldn’t last.  It hurt her to admit it, but it was true. Jake’s past proved it.  He never stayed with a woman for long and she had no idea if what they had was a one-time fling or a few weeks indulgence. It would be over before it even begun. Telling their mothers would only disappoint them in the end.

Oh, how she wished it could last. This distance proved one thing – she was falling for him. Hard.