Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love 1)

“You’re right—it isn’t an accident. I work really hard at it.”

Wondering why she’d agreed to romance night, Paige reached for a glass. “Tonight we’re drinking to friendship. The best thing of all.”

It was her friends who would get her through, as they had every other rough patch in her life.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and saw her brother’s expression change.

He lowered his glass carefully. “Jake—” his tone was level “—we weren’t expecting you.”

“Saturday night is movie night.” Jake strolled out onto the terrace. His dark hair gleamed and his eyes looked tired. “Am I still welcome?”

Paige felt a rush of panic.

She wasn’t ready to do this yet. She needed more time to prepare.

She could feel them all looking at her, waiting to take their cue from her and realized that this was how it was going to be from now on.

It was up to her to make sure it wasn’t awkward.

“Of course you’re welcome.” She produced a smile so wide her face almost cracked. “It’s good to see you. We weren’t sure you’d be able to make it, but we’re glad you did. Sit down. There’s pizza—”

Claws stalked onto the terrace. Without sparing a glance for any of them, she picked the largest, most comfortable cushion and stretched out.

Jake ignored the pizza. “Before we start movie night, I need to talk to you, Paige. I tried calling, but you weren’t picking up.”

“Work has been incredibly busy.”

“That’s good to know, but it doesn’t change the fact I need to talk to you.”

“I think we’ve said everything that needs to be said, Jake. That’s all behind us now. History. Forgotten.” Paige waved a hand. “Sit down. We’ve lined up a trio of romantic movies, so I don’t expect you’ll be staying long.”

She was banking on it.

“You may have said everything you wanted to say, but I haven’t. And it isn’t history, Paige. It’s not forgotten. I’ve thought of nothing else since the moment you left last night, and I’m sure you’re the same.”

“I’m not the same. We need to get started or it will be dawn before we’ve finished all three movies. If you still want to talk at the end, we’ll talk. Matt? Press Play.” There was desperation in her voice, and she felt a rush of relief when Matt did as she asked.

She estimated that Jake would last five minutes. Ten at the most. Would he see something of himself in When Harry Met Sally? Maybe. And if that didn’t send him running, then While You Were Sleeping definitely would.

Either way, by the end of movie night he’d be gone. She was sure of it. And next time they saw each other, she’d be more together.

She sat down on the nearest cushion and fixed her eyes on the screen.

They watched Crazy Stupid Love, and Paige didn’t hear a single word.

All she could think about was Jake sitting close to her, waiting.

Waiting for what?

To give her more reasons why he couldn’t ever love her?

She didn’t want to hear any more reasons.

She wanted the movies to last forever, even if they were making her feel miserably depressed.

Matt opened the tequila. “That’s what girls want? Seriously?” He eyed the screen. “I strip to the waist when I’m working if it’s a hot day and there’s no one around. No one pays any attention. Maybe I need to reenact Dirty Dancing.”

“If you stripped to the waist I can guarantee that someone, somewhere, would have been paying attention. And this is Ryan Gosling.” Eva gestured to the screen. “He could strip to the waist and reenact anything. Or nothing. We’d all still be drooling and think this was the best movie ever.”