Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love 1)

Paige glanced at her. “Are we still talking about Urban Genie?”

“No. We’re talking about your sex life.” Eva leaned forward. “This wasn’t a one-night thing. You heard him—he wants to see you again.”

“I know.” Thinking about it sent excitement rushing through her. She tried to contain it. “That part I don’t understand. He didn’t suggest seeing each other again when we were together.”

“Well, he’s obviously had a change of heart.” Frankie picked up a cloth and wiped the table. “Everyone can see the chemistry between you. The only reason Matt didn’t shock himself on the electrical impulses traveling around this room was because the last thing he expects is for the two of you to get together. But, Paige, he is going to find out, and when he does he’ll be hurt that you didn’t tell him. And you’ll feel terrible that you hurt him. I don’t want either of you to feel terrible.”

“What would I say? There’s nothing to tell. I can’t tell him what’s going on

because I don’t know what’s going on!”

Eva glanced between the two of them. “Paige has a point. If she says it’s just sex then Matt would beat Jake to a pulp, except that Jake can handle himself, which means it will get very messy. I don’t like fighting, and I agree—the situation is complicated.”

“This is why I prefer dealing with flowers and plants. They’re not complicated.” Frankie thumped the cloth back onto the counter. “If the two of you have finished spinning fairy tales, we should go to the office. Whether Jake is there or not, we have work to do. We run our own business now, remember?”

“In a minute.” Eva stayed glued to her chair, her eyes on Paige. “We need details.”

Frankie rolled her eyes. “I don’t want details.”

“I do.” Eva was emphatic. “I want to know every single detail working backward from the moment he dragged your mouth to his and tried to eat you alive in the street outside. Come on, Paige. The least you can do is earn the scarf you’re wearing and make up for the fact I ruptured my larynx singing loudly in the bath so I didn’t have to answer the door to Matt and explain why you weren’t there.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

To make your dream a reality, first you need to wake up.

—Paige

THE PHONE DIDN’T stop ringing.

Within an hour of reaching the office they had six new clients, all of whom wanted events and additional concierge services.

“Goodbye sleep,” Eva crowed. “Goodbye sanity.”

“Goodbye money worries.” Frankie was ever practical. “We’re going to need help. There are only three of us and this is a lot of business.”

Paige felt giddy. Any concern that she wouldn’t be able to focus on work melted away in the excitement of the moment. “Our business. It’s our business. How cool is that? We decide what we say yes to.”

“We say yes to everything,” Eva said firmly. “Your wish is not only our command, it’s our income.”

It gave Paige a massive buzz to see business finally taking off, and being busy stopped her thinking about Jake.

He’d implied that they’d be seeing each other tonight, but how was that going to work?

Was he going to call her?

Or was she expected to call him?

Why did things have to be so complicated?

“We’ll outsource. We don’t want to increase our overheads at the moment. I do not want to lay people off if things don’t work out.” She’d learned that from Jake. Watch the numbers. Staff appropriately. “Let’s sit down and see what we have.”

The phone rang again.

Paige made a grab for it. “This is insane.”

“But in a good way. Pretty soon we’ll be able to buy out Star Events and fire Cynthia,” Frankie said.

Paige answered the phone. The woman who had booked the baby shower last night also wanted regular dog walking and a gift basket for the colleague who was going on maternity leave.