Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love 1)

“I’ve been busy. I have my own business to run.” And if he’d put his head around the door to check on her he might have come away with a black eye. He wouldn’t have blamed her for punching him. Guilt scraped over his conscience like sandpaper. “What more do you want from me? I’ve invited everyone important in my contacts. The rest is up to her.”

“Hey, you’ve been good to her, Jake.” Matt’s tone was warm. “You’ve been a good friend.”

There was a cold, knotted feeling in his gut.

He’d been the worst friend.

“I should have checked on her, I suppose, but I haven’t been in the office much.” He’d found a thousand reasons not to be there. He’d flown to LA to talk to a client instead of making them fly to him. He’d driven to DC to discuss a security issue with a high-level contact there and taken his time returning.

He hadn’t seen Paige in over a week.

It annoyed him that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and it annoyed him that he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her in the elevator.

He couldn’t stop replaying that damn kiss in his mind.

Matt put his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Don’t feel bad about it. I appreciate what you’re doing for her, I really do. I owe you.”

Jake felt guilt shoot through him. This was his friend. He’d never deceived his friend before. It didn’t feel good. “You don’t owe me, but if you really want to pay me back you can let me win tonight.”

Matt grinned. “You couldn’t beat me even if I was wasted.”

“Is that a challenge?” Right now drinking everything in sight seemed like a good way to go. “Let’s try it.”

* * *

“THAT WAS THE WORST, most embarrassing date of my life. Thank goodness for the emergency phone call.”

Frankie was on her knees, tending the roof garden. “I’m not going to say I told you so.”

“Good.” Eva slipped off her shoes and dropped onto one of the cushions. “Because right now I’m feeling evil and I’d probably deadhead you alongside your roses.”

Paige lit the candles. It was the first time they’d been up on the roof garden all week. They’d been working long hours and there had been plenty of days when they’d gone straight from the office to bed and then back again.

Still, at least working hard had dulled the acute pain she’d felt after her encounter with Jake. She was too exhausted to feel anything.

She flopped on the cushions next to Eva. “Tell us about your date.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Eva shuddered. “It was bad enough experiencing it once, without reliving it.”

Frankie carefully added another layer of soil to the planter. “Are you going to tell us where he took you?” She paused as Matt emerged onto the roof with Jake behind him.

Eva and Frankie both sent anxious looks in her direction.

She’d told them about the conversation that had followed that kiss. They knew she hadn’t seen Jake since that day. He’d been avoiding her, and the thought of it sent a flush of embarrassment across her skin.

Why was he here now? And with Matt? Was he afraid he might have to fight her off?

Frankie rose to her feet, protective as a bodyguard. “I thought it was poker night?”

“Pool night, but two of the guys didn’t show. Pressures of the corporate world. We thought we’d come up here and drink our beer with a view. Unless we’re disturbing you.”

Yes, Paige thought desperately, you are. She was tired and looking forward to an evening chilling with her friends. She didn’t need Jake intruding on that. Being near him was anything but relaxing. For the second time in her life she’d humiliated herself around him. No amount of wafting plants, scented candles or chilled white wine was going to help with that.

Matt put his beer down on the bluestone patio. “Are we interrupting an off-site meeting of Urban Genie?”

“No. We were catching up on all the juicy intimate details of Eva’s love life.” Paige hoped that would be sufficient to have them running for the stairs.

Instead, Matt sat down. Given it was technically his roof terrace, Paige couldn’t argue his right to do that.