“Yes, well, talks are officially over.” Jacob moved toward the door, where he made the mistake of brushing past Em. He stopped.
She tipped her head up and stared at him with regret and embarrassment, and lingering arousal. Lifting a finger, he stroked it over her jaw-God, he loved her skin. “’Bye, Em.”
“Jacob-”
Nope. Never look back. A mantra he was particularly fond of. With a shake of his head, he walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him.
“Tell me everything,” he heard Liza say.
“You’d better sit down,” Em replied, which threw Jacob off his stride just a little.
She’d gotten to him. No doubt, she’d gotten to him.
7
To: Sous-Chef Jacob Hill
From: Concierge
Maddie from Patrick’s just delivered a pot of coffee here for you, on request of the guest in room 1212. Odd, since as you know, we have our own excellent blend right here at Hush. Call when you come in. We’ll deliver it to you.
JACOB STOOD IN THE LOBBY, in front of the concierge desk, holding the memo that had been taped to his locker.
“I’d have brought the coffee to you,” Deidre said. One of four Hush concierges, Deidre was his personal favorite. Not only could she get any answer anyone ever needed, but with her bright pink hair, multiple piercings and pixie face, she looked damn good while doing it.
The two of them had dated once.
Correction. They’d slept together once.
At the time, Deidre had felt the same way as Jacob, more than one night constituted something far too close to a relationship, and they’d happily gone their separate ways.
Since then, Deidre had gone on to other things-meaning other men. But now she was looking at him again, with that once-familiar heat. “Busy tonight?” she asked, handing over Maddie’s large thermos.
“I thought you were dating some purple-haired guy.” There was another note taped to the thermos.
Deidre lifted a shoulder. “I’ve moved on.”
He cut her a glance. “He got too serious, huh?”
“Damn men.” She sighed. “They always do.”
“Maybe you’re just irresistible.”
She grinned. “Don’t you know it. So tonight…? There’s a new band playing at Erotique. Want to meet me there for a few drinks?”
He was about to reply but he’d just scanned the note-from Em-and it sidetracked him.
Jacob,
I know, I know. Coffee as a forgiveness bribe-tacky. But please believe me, I never meant to keep my reason for being in NY a secret. It’s just that you’re quite different from anyone I’ve ever met, and, well, potent. Please let me make it up to you. However you’d like. There, I bet that got your attention. Come see me anytime, anywhere. I’ll be at Hush all day. Enjoy Maddie’s incomparable coffee, Jacob. Best, Em.
“Yoo-hoo, earth to Chef.” Deidre waved a hand in his face. “Come in, Chef.”
“Yeah.” Jacob crumpled up the note. Deidre lifted her small black trash can so he could toss the note in. But he held on to the paper, which, if he wasn’t mistaken, actually smelled like Em.
When he looked back at Deidre, her smile slowly faded. “Wow.”
“What?”
“That look on your face.” She stared at him in disbelief. “Who’s the gift sender?”
“It’s just coffee.”
“Yeah, but that’s not just a smile on your face.”
He did his best to swipe off the grin.
She slowly shook her head. “The remnants are still there.”
He snatched up the thermos, shot her a long look and began to walk away.
“You can run,” she called after him. “But you can’t hide, not from me. I have a responsibility to the rest of the staff to spread the correct gossip about you. Talk to me!
He lifted a hand and kept going.
“Damn it,” he heard her mutter, and any other time he might have laughed, but he didn’t feel like laughing.
He felt like…Hell, he had no idea what he felt like. Unused to the feeling, he walked through the lobby, past Erotique, thinking a drink would be a great thing-if it hadn’t been so early.
He entered Amuse Bouche. Pru met him just outside the kitchen door, also unusually quiet and subdued as she balanced her briefcase and a box loaded with four bottles of different wines. “You’re early, too,” she said.
He took the box from her. “What’s wrong with being early?”
“It’s a rare phenomenon, that’s all. In fact, you’re usually late enough that someone has to page you out of some woman’s bed to get your ass in here.”
“Well, good day to you, too.”
Eyes unhappy, she shrugged.
“What, don’t have the phone number of that woman you want me to call?” he teased when she failed to continue with her usual pestering. “No blind dates for me?”
When she only sent him a halfhearted smile, he stopped. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
He looked at her closed, miserable face. “It’s something.”
She shrugged, and walked ahead of him into the kitchen, setting her briefcase down on the black granite counter and taking the box from him.
“Pru.”
Another shrug. Woman-speak for
He again took the box and set it next to her briefcase. “Where did you and Caya end up last night?”
“Erotique. We met up with some of her friends from before.”
“Then we went down to Exhibit A,” she said.
Jacob arched a brow, signaling his surprise that Pru would want to take Caya there, the place in Hush that was undoubtedly the most uninhibited, wild and adventurous. Possibly in all of Manhattan. “Did you tell her how you feel?”
“About what, that I don’t like her wild friends? That I don’t like how much she goes out? That I especially don’t like the way she tries to lose her problems in casual sex?”
“No,” Jacob said. “That you want her for yourself.”
“Of course I didn’t tell her that. It’s going to ruin the friendship.”
“No, it’s not.”
“This can’t be happening to me,” Pru said softly, pacing the room. “Love sucks, remember?”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about love.”
“Oh, my God.” Pru stopped and covered her face. “Oh, my God. I love her.”
Shaken now, Jacob stared at her. “Okay, let’s not get carried away.”
“No, it’s true. I love her.” Stricken, Pru dropped her hands, then whirled on her heel.
“Where are you going?”
“To think. To obsess. To have my nails done before I chew them all to the quick.”
“Pru-”
