AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, what kind of deep, dark secrets can you tell me about Lana?” he asks her.
“Nope,” I say.
Jess ignores me and focuses her smoky gray eyes on Jake, giving him her full attention. “Well, let’s see. Did you know that she is obsessed withold ’80s and ’90s movies? She forces me to watchPretty Womanover and over again, almost every weekend.”
I snort loudly in disbelief. “Liar. You’re the one obsessed withPretty Woman.”
“Also, she’s a romantic but won’t admit it. She reads spicy romance novels but gets the ones with a mystery to solve. That way, she can claim to be reading a mystery novel when someone asks,” she confides in a loud fake whisper.
“I do read mystery books!” I insist. But both of them continue to ignore me.
Jake’s eyes sparkle with amusement. Oh, they are enjoying themselves. “Who doesn’t enjoy the occasional smut? Tell me more. This is fascinating.” His voice is low and sexy.
“She gets loopy and extra friendly after only two glasses of wine,” she confesses.
“Oh, I’m well aware of that one,” he says with raised eyebrows.
Jess and Jake are having a great time. I’m sitting over here, just waiting for them to acknowledge me. I tap my fingers on the table. I clear my throat. Not even a glance my way. So, I kick his chair.
“Oh hey, Lana. You’re still here?” Jake announces, looking at me with a knowing smile. “You must have a really nice boss. He lets you take an extra-long lunch hour.”
“Yeah, he’s a real saint.” I smirk at him.
Jake looks at me, mirth dancing in his eyes. I love his unexpected playful side, even when the joke is on me. And Jess is eating it up. She likes him, too.
“If I had such a nice boss, I’d be asking for the rest of the day off,” Jesssuggests slyly.
“Oh, I’m not that nice!” Jake puts his hands up in denial. “In fact, we have a meeting pretty soon. I’m going to need to steal Lana from you.”
“Aaaaand, the boss is back to business,” I huff with an enigmatic quirk of my lips. “Well, my lunch hour was interrupted, so I will meet you back at the office in twenty minutes.” I look at Jake pointedly, daring him to disagree.
“Okay, okay, I can take a hint.” He stands up, grinning down at us. “It was great to meet you, Jessica. Let’s do this again.”
“You can bet on it!” Jess gives Jake the biggest Cheshire grin as she watches him walk away.
“Oh my God, girl. That guy is sex on a stick. You’ve been holding back.” She looks at me accusingly.
“He is kinda cute, right?”
“Cute? For real? I’d do him.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes and laugh at her. “Well, he’s mine, so you can’t.”
“You really like him, don’t you?”
Do I like him? It sounds like too mild of a word for what I feel. Enthralled, entranced, maybe obsessed. That’s a more accurate description.
“I do. I really like him.”
“So, you are definitely not telling him? You’re dropping it all? Uncle Greg is left to fend for himself?”
“As much as it hurts, yes, Uncle Greg is on his own. It was a hard decision. I feel like I owe him so much for taking me in all those years ago, but I just feel like something is off. Obviously, they are trying to buy his business, but I’m not so sure that the Anders Group is doing it in a malicious way. I mean, I’m in the office, and I don’t see anythingshady happening. Maybe I’m missing something. All I know is I can’t go behind Jake’s back.”
Jess nods her head in agreement. “He’s smitten with you, you know. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you.”
“I feel the same about him. But I’ve known him for all of two months. And we don’t even have a name for what is happening right now. Are we officially dating? I don’t even know. A few weeks ago, I was barely even talking to him.”
“If you continue seeing each other, won’t he eventually find out who your uncle is? It’s not like you can hide it forever.”
