Part 14 (1/2)

He looks around the terrace as if he's inspecting it. ”Yeah, I guess.”

”You guess? This alone is as big as my apartment.”

”Why do you live in a one-room apartment?” he asks.

”Please don't tell me you're that out of touch with reality, Jackson,” I say. ”I'm a grad student. Working even part time is kicking my b.u.t.t so it's all I can afford.”

”Well,” he says. ”I have plenty of rooms in this place. You should just move into one of them. Won't even charge you rent.”

He's joking, but he doesn't realize it's a bit of a cruel joke. But whatever, I just give it back to him.

”Great, I'll start moving in tomorrow,” I say. Sure, I think. I can see myself living here. ”But I'll expect a breakfast like this every morning.”

We finish up our food-the egg-in-a-dish thing was outstanding. Jackson was right, the eggs were only slightly cooked through but I'm not sure the dish would have been that much better if they'd been running, like he intended. We make it through most of the pancakes and a little of the fruit. Basically, we're stuffed, feeling full and mellow as the sun warms the day.

He reaches out for me. ”Come over here.” I gladly do as he requests, and he pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms around me. We sit and stare at the view, not speaking, not needing to.

”Excuse me, Mr. Croft,” a woman's voice says from the terrace door, startling me. Not Jackson. He turns to the woman and says, ”Good morning, Eliza.”

She's wearing a boxy blue dress with b.u.t.tons down the front. I think it might be a housekeeper's uniform.

”I'm sorry to disturb you. I guess they tried your cell phone but it's the office. They've called the house phone. Sandra needs you urgently at the office.”

”Oh, Christ,” he mutters. ”Okay. Thank you, Eliza. Could you call Sandra back and tell her I'll be there in twenty minutes?”

”Of course,” she says before heading back down.

I didn't expect to stay here all day-I wanted to, but didn't expect to. But Jackson having to leave so suddenly-and still so early-is a b.u.mmer to say the least. I begin to get up from his lap but he pulls me back.

”I don't want to leave you,” he says.

”I don't want you to go,” I say. ”But work calls.” I wonder if work will always call, and if he'll always go running.

He kisses me softly. Our lips linger, neither of us wanting to break. He caresses my cheek.

”I better get in the shower,” he says. ”Sandra can fend those corporate wolves off for a while but I don't want to leave her hanging.”

”Of course,” I say, getting up from his lap. I begin picking the breakfast dishes but Jackson says, ”Leave all that. Eliza will get it.”

I suppose I hoped I could hang around while he got dressed. I pictured myself watching him shower through a steamy gla.s.s door, but he has Eliza arrange for a car to take me back to Allston before he heads upstairs to get dressed. I don't want to admit that it feels a bit like a dismissal but...maybe a little.

He holds my face and kisses me again before he goes. ”I'll call you. Okay?”

I nod okay. Yes, call me, I think. Please call me.

When I get home to my terrace-sized studio apartment, I certainly see my surroundings in a whole new light. As I stand in Jackson's oversized clothes, my heels and dress in one hand, I wonder if I'm out of my mind. The worlds that we come from and live in could not be more different. I never thought of my studio as such a hobble but now he's got me thinking I'm living the slum life. He doesn't seem to get that living alone in something like an eight-thousand square foot house is ludicrous, a complete waste of s.p.a.ce. Even if we did live together-and I know we never would, but I'm just thinking-that if we did we'd probably never see each other. I'd be too busy getting lost in that big house while he would be too busy with work, making more deals and putting out more fires.

I wonder what interests him besides work? Food, I learned that. But he has no one to cook for. My mind can't help but wonder if he's made breakfast for other women like he did for me. I hate the thought. I hate that it enters my mind.

As I shower and get ready for the day, I hope that Jackson doesn't disappear like he did last time. Last night was far different from the restaurant, deeper and more intense. He can't blow me off again. Despite being polar opposites, I really want to see him again.

The words had formed on my lips after our pre-breakfast tryst but I swallowed them down. What I wanted to say was, I love you. Or at the very least, I'm falling in love with you. Because against better judgment, that is what's happening to me.

So, yeah. I really hope he calls.

Jackson

”Jackson, does that work for you?”

I turn and look at the conference room full of people staring back at me. I'd been staring out at the rain falling over the harbor, thinking about Emily. Maybe when clear skies come back I could take her out on the boat for a couple of days. Being alone in the sea with Emily where no one can reach sounds perfect. Except first I have to get through these meetings. Five, back to back, all day.

”Should Deon contact Melissa and arrange the meeting? Or did you want to reach out to her directly?”

”Deon, you can contact her,” I say to Deon, as if I've been paying close attention this whole time. The looks I'm getting from around the room say they know better. ”Let Sandra know when it's set up. We'll do a lunch meeting, keep it casual. Anything else?”

When the meeting ends, the first thing I do when I get back to my office is send a text to Emily. It's been a few days since I last saw her. I had to spend the weekend working out the crisis that came up, but this time I made sure to call her after our incredible night. It was late on Friday night, but I figured she wouldn't mind.

”Did I wake up?” I asked when she answered, her voice soft and quiet. The thought of her in bed instantly made me crazy.

”No,” she'd said. ”I was just studying.”

”Liar.”

She laughed softly. ”Okay, I was sleeping. At eleven on a Friday night. How lame am I?”

”I'm at the office on Friday night,” I'd said. ”I think I'm worse.”

”You are for sure,” she'd said. She let out a big yawn, and I could just imagine her stretching her body out like a cat. I thought, If I get in my car now, I could be there in fifteen minutes. But I still had work to do.

”I don't want to keep you up,” I said. ”I just wanted to say h.e.l.lo and...last night was incredible.”

She laughed again and I wished I could watch her lips curl as she did. Next time I should really call her on video. ”Yeah, last night was probably...I don't know...”

”What?” I'd said. She was getting shy again. I loved it when she got shy. ”Tell me what you were going to say.”

”Just that I agree. Last night was incredible.”

”That's not what you were going to say.”

She sighed. ”Fine. I was going to say that last night was probably the most incredible night I've ever spent in my life. Happy?”

”Yes, actually. I am happy.” Very happy. Perhaps the happiest I'd ever been. I didn't want to tell her that, not yet anyway. I still needed to keep my wits about me but I couldn't deny that she made me feel like nothing mattered but us. When I'm with Emily, Emily is all that matters. ”I want to see you again.”

”Okay,” she'd said. ”When?”

I looked at the work on my desk-still so much to do. ”Let me get through this crisis and then I'll take a look at my schedule. I'll call you.”