Sleepless in Manhattan Read online

  It had been comfort. Nothing more.

  “I’m not asking Jake. There are plenty more calls I can make. Something will turn up.”

  Unfortunately the “something” was Jake himself.

  The door to the restaurant opened and Paige automatically glanced toward it, as if something in her was programmed to sense his presence the moment he walked into a room. Tonight he was wearing a button-down shirt with jeans, but he turned as many heads as he did when he was wearing a suit.

  And he turned hers. She had time to register the lift of her heart and the lightness of her mood before his gaze met hers.

  She could tell from the faint narrowing of his eyes that he hadn’t been expecting to see her there, and for a moment she was eighteen again, offering him everything and seeing the shock on his face.

  In her dreams she’d imagined him being overcome by lust. Instead, he’d been kind and the kindness had simply added to the humiliation of his rejection.

  Kindness had to be the cruelest response of all to wild teenage love. It was a soft, gentle emotion. A direct contrast to her extreme, out-of-control feelings.

  His gaze held hers, his focus on her alone, and she felt her heart beat a little faster. She felt as if she were floating. Flying higher and higher. This was the first time she’d seen him since that night on the terrace when they’d spoken alone. He’d touched her hand. He’d—

  Jake opened the door a little wider and a woman walked past him into the restaurant.

  Her blond hair fell to her waist and she was so slender she looked as if a gust of wind would blow her over.

  The floating, flying feeling died. Paige’s mood plummeted, like a paraglider losing a thermal.

  She felt an uncomfortable twist of pain. The same thing happened every time she saw Jake with a woman.

  “I was enjoying my pasta but suddenly I feel horribly fat.” Eva pushed her plate away. “What happened to Trudi? I liked Trudi. At least she had a body.”

  “Trudi was a few months ago.” Trudi. Tracey. Tina. They all merged, but what it meant was that Jake Romano was taken.

  By every woman in Manhattan, or so it seemed.

  Paige hated it. She hated noticing. Most of all she hated that she still cared.

  She needed to get a life.

  She needed to get a man.

  Maria was back at their table, this time serving them house salads. “That woman with Jake looks as if she needs a good meal.” Clucking her disapproval, she put the plates in front of them. “He brings a different girl in here every month. He needs to change his ways or he’ll never meet the right woman.”

  Paige picked up her fork.

  She was pretty sure she knew why Jake didn’t want a real relationship and it had nothing to do with meeting the right woman.

  It had to do with his mother. His birth mother.

  He’d talked about it once, when he’d spent all night sitting by her hospital bed. Something about the sterile darkness had made him open up.

  It was a conversation she’d never forgotten.

  She put her fork down, appetite gone, watching as he strolled across the restaurant toward them. He lifted a hand in greeting to his uncle, who was heading for the kitchen, and paused to kiss Maria. He said something in Italian that Paige didn’t catch but she saw Maria’s expression soften.

  Frankie gave her a sympathetic look. “Hard to be irritated with a guy who is so fiercely protective of his mother. Here—” She topped up Paige’s glass. “Drink some more wine.”

  Paige took a sip. Frankie was right. With other people Jake was impatient and direct to the point of brutal. With his mother he was infinitely patient.

  His date was hovering, and he turned and beckoned her over.

  “It’s our lucky night. They’re joining us.” Frankie topped up her own glass. “Oh well, look on the bright side.”

  “There’s a bright side?”

  “Yes. That girl hasn’t eaten for a decade. There is no chance she will steal our food.”

  Jake paused by the table, the woman’s hand in his. “Company meeting? How’s it going?”

  Paige kept her eyes on her plate.

  Was he holding the woman’s hand because he wanted to send her a message?

  Frankie picked up her glass. “Well, since you ask—”

  “It’s going well,” Paige interrupted quickly. She didn’t want Jake knowing the truth. She didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. She’d had enough of being the object of pity. “We’re struggling to cope with the volume of business.”

  “Yes, we’ll be expanding and taking on new staff any day now.” Ever loyal, Eva took Paige’s lie and galloped into the sunset with it. “We’re thinking about opening offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.”

  Jake’s eyes gleamed. “And you’ll be flying there by Magic Carpet Airways?”

  He knew, Paige thought miserably. He knew it was bullshit.

  The man was sharper than the business end of a kitchen knife. Nothing escaped him.

  “Maybe.” Eva grinned, unabashed. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your new friend?”

  The blonde tossed her hair back. “I’m Bambi.”

  Bambi?

  “Good to meet you er—Bambi.” Eva gestured to the table. “Are you joining us?”

  Paige felt her stomach lurch. Meeting Jake’s date in passing was one thing, but watching Jake laughing with her over dinner was something else entirely.

  Please don’t join us.

  “I can’t.” Bambi gave them an apologetic look. “I have a shoot tomorrow and just breathing in the fumes of that garlic bread will make me bloat. I really have to watch what I eat. I so envy you all not having to care about your size.”

  It took all Paige’s willpower not to glance down and check she hadn’t turned into a whale. “You’re a model?”

  “You’re right,” Eva interrupted. “We are lucky because this garlic bread is the best thing I’ve ever tasted. You’re sure you wouldn’t like to try it?” She pushed the plate under Bambi’s nose and gave an evil smile. “It’s truly delicious. Yummy scrummy. Romano’s garlic bread is the stuff of legends around here, as is the pizza.”

  “I’m a raw vegan.” Bambi backed away, as if afraid that the mere mention of the word pizza might be enough to make her gain weight. “I haven’t eaten carbs in forever, and if I took one bite of that pizza I’d eat the whole thing like I was starving. It was good meeting you guys. Jake? Are you ready?”

  “Yeah.” He was still looking at Paige. “I’m glad everything is going well, but if you need help, call me.”

  “Thanks.” Over her dead body. Her pizza-loving, sex-starved body.

  With a last look at Paige, Jake followed Bambi to the door.

  Frankie leaned out of her seat and studied the other woman’s butt curiously. “Ready for what, do you think? She can’t have energy for much. And someone needs to tell her that like isn’t a conjunction.”

  Eva leaned out, too. “I’ve seen bigger toothpicks. You’re much prettier, Paige.”

  “We’re not in competition.”

  Except that it felt as if they were.

  Why did she compare herself with every woman Jake dated? Why did she do that?

  Frankie finished her salad. “Raw vegan. Where does pizza fit in that?”

  “It doesn’t.” Eva shuddered. “I’m all for healthy eating, but not denial. It’s a medically proven fact that when you can’t have something, you crave it all the more.”

  Paige pushed her salad around the bowl. Was that why she’d never been able to cure herself of her attraction to Jake?

  Denied him, she just wanted him more.

  If she’d been allowed to binge, maybe she would have been cured a long time ago.

  “I can’t imagine Jake enjoying a night out with an organic vegan.” Miserable, she speared a salad leaf. “Jake is the twenty-first-century equivalent of Tyrannosaurus rex. He can’t get through the week without devouring at least one big fat j
uicy steak. There have been times when I’ve wondered why Maria doesn’t just serve him up a live cow with a knife and fork.”

  Frankie turned back to her food. “I will never in a million years understand men. What does he see in her?”

  “If she turned sideways he wouldn’t see anything at all.” Eva pushed the garlic bread toward her. “Cheer up. She’ll be gone by next week and he’ll have another one on his arm. Disposa-girl.”

  “I haven’t been on a date in nine months. I’m a failure,” Paige muttered. “A big fat, failure.”

  “But you have amazing taste in friends,” Eva said cheerfully. “Now shut up and eat something or we’ll force-feed you and it won’t be pretty.”

  Just at that moment Paige’s phone, which had been depressingly silent for the past two weeks, rang. All three of them stared at it, and then at each other.

  “This is it. This could be it.” Paige sprang from her seat and took the call outside, passing Matt, who was on his way back into the restaurant with Jake, who appeared to have ditched the blonde toothpick.

  “Urban Genie. How may we help?”

  Five minutes later Paige bounced back into the restaurant, her spirits restored to a reasonable altitude. “We are on our way!”

  This was why people ran their own businesses, she thought. Because when it went right, you knew it was down to you.

  The buzz and excitement was incredible.

  Even the fact that Jake had joined them at the table couldn’t spoil her evening.

  Matt had finally put his phone down and was tucking into a bowl heaped high with pasta, as was Jake. “On your way where?”

  “Downtown Manhattan. A group of lawyers want us to arrange a bachelor party for one of their colleagues who is over on a business trip from Europe. Our first piece of business. Hopefully it will lead to more.” She understood the importance of word-of-mouth recommendation. She was fine with that. It wasn’t the same thing as asking for favors.

  Matt ground pepper over his food. “Is it a company you’ve worked with before?”

  “No, which is great! I sent follow-up emails to some of the people who wouldn’t take my calls—this lead must have come from that.” She wondered what had happened to Bambi, but asking Jake would show that she cared and she had no intention of showing him that she cared.

  “So you don’t even know if it’s legit?”

  Paige, who’d been expecting him to be pleased, felt a flicker of frustration. “You want me to do a police check on everyone I work for?”

  “No.” Matt stuck his fork into his food. “But I want you to be careful.”

  “I can look out for myself. I’m emailing venue suggestions and once we’ve agreed on that, we’ll arrange catering and all the extras. We’re in business.” She waited for him to say something encouraging, but he carried on eating in silence and she looked at him in exasperation. “We have to start somewhere. Jake? What do you think?” At least he wouldn’t protect her.

  Jake reached for his wine. “This time, I agree with your brother.”

  “You’re both ridiculously cautious. If we do a good job here, hopefully they’ll recommend us to others.” And right now she was willing to take any business she could if it meant not asking Jake for help. “Does it make you feel strong and macho to fix things for me, is that what this is? Is this about your ego?”

  Jake laughed. “Honey, my ego is bulletproof. You couldn’t take it down with a rocket launcher.”

  “If I had one right now, I might be tempted to try. And I’ve told you before not to call me honey.”

  “I’ll try and remember that, honey.”

  “Enough, both of you.” Matt was trying not to smile. “Jake is looking out for you, that’s all, as any good friend would.”

  “I don’t want him to. I don’t need him to.”

  “How about a compromise. You’re going to need extra help. Jake and I could disguise ourselves as butlers.”

  “Bow tie and bare flesh,” Jake drawled. “Shame it’s not a bachelorette party.”

  Paige’s irritation rose. “You want to hover over us like bodyguards? No, thank you!”

  Her brother put his fork down and reached for his beer. “At least promise me you won’t go alone. All three of you together at all times.”

  “It’s a job.” She wondered what she had to do to stop Matt being so overprotective. “Everything is going to go like a dream, and then I can say I told you so, and you and Jake can crawl at my feet on your hands and knees and apologize for seeing catastrophe on every street corner.”

  Jake’s gaze locked on hers. “Let’s hope that’s the way it goes.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  When you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to eat humble pie. It’s calorie-free.

  —Eva

  JAKE STARED AT the screen.

  It had been a while since he’d done this. A while since he’d looked.

  He could close the laptop. He could—

  With a soft curse, his fingers flew over the keys as he searched for the information he wanted.

  For someone with his skills, it was easily accessed.

  He read, checking for anything new, and saw that she had a new job. Promotion. Everything else was the same.

  She was still living in a Tudor revival in upstate New York. Still happily married with two kids and a dog.

  Life was good.

  With a soft curse, he closed the page.

  What the hell was he doing?

  But he knew the answer to that one. Maria had given him the “isn’t it time you settled down” look. Whenever she did that, he felt the need to remind himself of the reasons why he couldn’t.

  The door to his office opened and he looked up with a frown, irritated by the disturbance. “What?”

  Dani looked at him searchingly, but said nothing. “There’s someone to see you.”

  “I don’t have any meetings today.”

  “Her name is Paige.” Dani leaned against his door. “It’s weird, boss. She was standing outside for at least ten minutes deciding whether to come in or not. She walked away twice, then came back again. We were watching from the window laying bets as to whether she would pluck up the courage or not. Maybe you have a stalker. Want me to send her away?”

  They obviously thought she was one of his ex-girlfriends, come to give him a hard time.

  “Don’t send her away.”

  “Do you know why she’s here?”

  No, but he could guess. He didn’t know what bothered him most, the fact Paige had finally had to come to him for help or the fact that it was clearly killing her to do so.

  Jake stood up and flipped his laptop shut. He was glad now that he’d looked. Every piece of information on that screen reminded him to be cautious in his relationships. “Send her in.”

  He didn’t need to wonder why Paige had walked away twice. He knew. She hated asking for help. Especially his help.

  What he didn’t understand was what had finally driven her to his door.

  He’d assumed things were going well for Urban Genie. He and Matt had shared some beers a few nights ago and Matt hadn’t mentioned anything.

  While he waited, he paced over to the glass window and stared across the city, through concrete canyons that stretched from Canal Street to Lower Manhattan. Once an urban wasteland of industrial warehouses, it had been transformed into one of the country’s most expensive zip codes, a thriving neighborhood filled with affluent creative and financial talent. That was the reason he’d chosen to live and work here. That, and the fact that it was a heartbeat from the city’s financial district.

  “Jake?” Her voice came from the doorway. Husky. Feminine. It was like being stroked with a fur glove.

  He braced himself. All he had to do was treat her like his best friend’s little sister. Little sister. He repeated it in his head like a mantra.

  Except that he knew damn well that she wasn’t little. He’d been right there, up close and personal, when she’d grown up.<
br />
  One minute she’d been wearing cartoon T-shirts, her hospital room populated by cheery balloons and oversize stuffed toys, the next she was experimenting with makeup. Out with the kids’ stuff, in with slinky Victoria’s Secret.

  The night she’d revealed not only Victoria’s Secrets but most of her own was welded into his brain and yet somehow, despite having her naked body offered to him virtually on a plate, he’d managed to do the right thing.

  And he’d done it in a way that ensured neither of them had to go through that again.

  He turned and almost swallowed his tongue. She was wearing a tailored black suit that nipped in at her narrow waist and skimmed her hips. Her heels were high and her hair—the color of rich, dark chocolate—fell straight and gleaming over her perfect white shirt. She looked efficient and corporate. And all woman.

  He was aware of her in a way he never was with any other woman. Her faint floral scent flavored the air but it wasn’t just that. It was her. Something about her seeped through to his brain and senses.

  He wanted to touch her.

  He wanted to strip off those clothes and taste her.

  He was in trouble. He was in big trouble.

  “Paige?”

  Underneath her flawless makeup, her face was pale and she looked exhausted, as if she hadn’t slept properly for nights.

  He wanted to haul her into his arms and fix everything, an impulse that made him step back.

  He wasn’t going to screw with his best friend’s sister.

  When he had a fling, which he did far less frequently than people thought, he picked strong women with spines of steel and hearts of stone.

  An ex-girlfriend had once told him caustically that dating him was like driving off-road in very rough terrain.

  Paige looked as if she’d break at the first pothole. If there was one heart he was never going to damage, it was hers. It had already sustained more than enough damage at the hands of Mother Nature and a bunch of doctors. At least that was what he told himself.

  “How are things at Urban Genie? Busy?” He saw her cheeks turn from pale cream to strawberry blush. “How was your bachelor party? Any business leads?”

  “Not exactly.” She fiddled with the edges of her jacket. “That didn’t work out.”