Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love 1)

Frankie gave him a quick smile. “Sounds good.”

“I can’t make it.” Jake’s tone was short and Matt frowned.

“I didn’t fix a time so how the hell do you know you can’t make it?”

“I have a lot on right now.”

Paige felt a rush of misery.

She knew exactly why Jake couldn’t make it, and it made her feel horrible and a touch exasperated.

He was the one who had kissed her, not the other way around.

He’d created this situation.

A lifetime of uncomfortable encounters stretched ahead of her.

She needed to meet someone else. She need to bring a hot guy up to this roof terrace and laugh and joke with him so that Jake could see she was happy.

She needed to stop thinking about Jake.

She needed to stop thinking about that kiss.

The conversation drifted around her, driven mostly by Frankie and Matt.

“How was your day, Matt? Weren’t you meeting a new client?”

“I produced a concept design package for a guy on the Upper East Side who has more money than taste.”

Frankie wiped the soil from her fingers. “So are you going to work with him?”

“I haven’t decided. I’m meeting him again tomorrow. We’re visiting a couple of sites together. I need to hang out with him for a while and decide if he’s going to be too much trouble.”

Paige wondered how it felt to be able to turn down business. “When do you get to the point where you feel able to say no? I can’t imagine that time ever coming.”

“It will come. One day you’ll look at your schedule and realize you’re juggling, that you can’t do it all. Then someone will ask you to do something that doesn’t feel quite right and you’ll realize that your reputation matters and that you want what you do to stand for something. You’ll choose not to take jobs that clash with that.”

Frankie stared at him. “You turn projects down?”

“Sometimes. You get a sense for when a client is never going to be satisfied. If I’m going to spend more time undoing than doing, I’m not interested.”

Paige’s phone rang and she reached for her bag, but by the time she found her phone the caller had hung up.

“No number.” She checked her missed calls. “I wonder who—”

Eva’s phone started to ring and she grabbed it. “Hello?” There was a pause. “Matilda? It’s you? We’ve been calling you and calling you! Why didn’t you—” She broke off and her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding!”

“What?” Paige sat down next to Eva, concerned. “What’s happened? Where has she been? Tell her we can give her a job. We’ll work something out.” She was torn between relief that Matilda had finally called and guilt at not having been able to stop Cynthia firing her friend.

“Wait—shh, I can’t hear—” Eva turned away slightly and Frankie rolled her eyes.

“There are days when I could strangle her. You?”

Paige wanted to know about Matilda. Is she okay? She mouthed the words, but Eva shook her head and covered her other ear so that she could listen.

“We heard Chase Adams insisted you were fired.” She paused. “He did what? Wow. What sort of guy does that?”

“A guy who is a dumbass,” Frankie muttered. “Why does she ask such obvious questions?”