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“Yeah, right.” His laugh was lacking in humor. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Tell me that you’re fine when you’re not.” He closed his hands over her shoulders and eased her away from him so that he could look at her. “Why didn’t you call?”
“I was busy looking for another job. I wanted to have good news, not bad.”
He’d always been there for her. One of her earliest memories was of Matt picking her up when she’d fallen on her face in the sand. He’d brushed off the sand, scooped her up and carried her to the sea to make her laugh.
The only reason her parents had agreed to let her go to college in New York was because they’d trusted Matt to watch over her. At first he’d taken that responsibility a little too seriously and they’d had a few fights.
Gradually they’d learned to compromise, but he still had a tendency to ride to her rescue.
Some men were born protectors and Matt was one of those.
His fingers were firm on her shoulder. “I’m here to cushion the bad news. That’s what big brothers are for. Do you want me to go and punch your boss?”
“No, but if I met Chase Adams I’d punch him myself.” She was horrified by how close she was to tears.
“What does Chase Adams have to do with this?” Jake shrugged off his jacket and sprawled on the nearest chair. He reminded her of a lion or a tiger, always able to make himself comfortable regardless of his surroundings.
“He’s the reason Matilda was fired and why we’ve all been laid off. With no warning.” Paige pulled away from Matt and gave them the briefest of details. “Who does that? Who fires a kind, good person for one mistake?”
“Are you sure of your facts?” Jake picked up a plate. “Because that doesn’t sound like Chase.” His eyes were gray and they made her think of mountain mists and wood smoke.
“You know him?”
“We both know him.” Matt sat down and Claws immediately leaped onto his lap. “I did some work on one of his properties and I agree with Jake. That doesn’t sound like him.”
Jake examined a bowl of chopped raw vegetables and pulled a face. “Don’t you guys have anything unhealthy to eat? Greasy burger? Fries?”
“I could rustle you up an arsenic dip,” Eva said sweetly, and Paige scowled at Jake.
“We’ve lost our jobs and you’re thinking of your stomach?”
“I’m a man.” Jake ignored the raw vegetables and added some olives and garlic bread to his plate. “There are two body parts that dominate my mind for most of the day, my stomach and my—”
“You’re not funny.”
“And you’re uptight. You need to loosen up.”
His words stung. “Well, forgive me for caring that I lost my job.” She rubbed her hands over her arms. “I trusted that company with my future and they betrayed that trust. I worked hard, I exceeded all my targets and yet they do this. I thought I had some control over my future and it turns out I had none.”
After Cynthia had delivered the news, she’d gone in search of Frankie and Eva and found them in the same position as her.
In their brownstone, Frankie rented the garden apartment, Paige and Eva shared the first floor, and Matt had the top two floors. It was the perfect arrangement, except she knew from the stiff set of Frankie’s shoulders she was worried about how long she’d be able to afford the rent, even at the friendly rate Matt charged. They were all well aware that it was her brother’s generosity that allowed them to live in this part of Brooklyn. Other people her age were living in the equivalent of a shoe box. But living somewhere else would have meant more parental anxiety so she’d accepted his generosity and vowed to pay him back.
At this rate, that moment was going to be a long way off.
She flopped down on a cushion opposite Jake.
Claws purred and stretched out on Matt’s lap.
“The chosen one,” Frankie murmured. “That cat has serious issues.”
“That’s what makes her interesting.” Matt’s fingers brushed lightly over the cat’s fur. “I know you’re all feeling bruised right now, but you’ll find other jobs.” His shirt was rolled back to his elbows and Paige noticed the scratches on his skin.
“Did Claws do that?”
“A bad-tempered holly bush. It wasn’t supposed to be my job but one of my staff was sick.”
And Matt would have done the work himself rather than let a client down. That was the sort of person he was and the reason his company was growing fast. He was in demand for his creative vision, but he’d never lost the ability to do the work.
“There’s nothing out there, Matt.”
Claws was purring, eyes closed, lost in the gentle slide and stroke of Matt’s fingers.
“You can’t expect to find a job in a few hours. You have to give it time.”
“We don’t have time. Eva and Frankie were given a measly severance package.” And she knew that even if she could swallow her pride for long enough to accept financial support from her brother or her parents, that wasn’t going to help her friends. Misery descended, chilling her skin. “And Eva is right. Even if we do find another job, we won’t be together. We made such a great team. I don’t know what to do.” A solid lump blocked her throat. She hated herself for being so pathetic. She’d been through far worse than this. What the hell had happened to her backbone?
Jake’s gaze locked on hers and she had a nasty suspicion he knew exactly how close she was to breaking down.
She hated that she couldn’t hide her feelings from him as easily as she did with other people.
“I’ll tell you what you should do.” He reached for the champagne, his shirt molding to strong shoulders. He had the body of a fighter, powerful and thickly muscled. “You should celebrate. And two minutes after you’ve drunk that bottle of champagne, you should start your own company. You want control over what your boss does? Make yourself the boss.”
Three (#ulink_7e55169a-a57e-5faf-b39b-b71bfc2c85c3)
If at first you don’t succeed, change the plan.
—Paige
Make herself the boss?
“What sort of insensitive joke is that?”
Matt gestured to the glasses. “Pour the drink and shut up, Jake. Only serious suggestions are welcome.”
“That was a serious suggestion. Paige was doing all the work in that damn company anyway, why not do it for herself?”
Matt’s hand stilled and Claws nudged him. “Because starting your own business isn’t something you do on a whim. It’s a risk.”
“Life is a risk.” Jake added salad to his plate. “Paige has lost her job, so it’s not as if playing it safe has turned out so great. She’s always talked about starting her own company one day. Maybe this is the day. That way she can choose her own staff and carry on working with Eva and Frankie. Problem solved.”
Paige felt her heart kick against her ribs. It was a crazy idea. Stupid.
Or was it?
Matt winced as Claws sprang off his lap. “What you’re suggesting is a really big step. Now isn’t the time to make a decision like that.”
“It’s the perfect time.” Jake dug his fork into his food and turned to Paige. “Unless you’d rather wallow for a while, in which case go right ahead. Celebration or pity party—I’m in. Pour the bubbles and let’s get started.”
The one point in Jake’s favor, Paige mused, was that he didn’t protect her. He never had.
Of course that didn’t mean he didn’t drive her insane. “I don’t want pity.” She used to love the fact that he knew her so well. Now she wished he didn’t. It was hard to hide from someone who knew all your secrets. It felt like an invasion of privacy, as if she’d given him a key that he’d refused to return. “It’s true that I want to have my own company one day, but I need experience. I need to learn as much as I can and plan carefully. I’m not ready.”
“You mean you’re scared.” With a deft movement of his wrist, Jake opened the champagne and Claws jumped as the cork shot across the terrace.
“I’m not scared.” Paige wondered how he always knew how she was feeling. “That isn’t the reason.”
“Are you good at your job or not?”
“I’m great at my job. That’s why I thought I’d get this promotion, and—”
“Do you need a lot of guidance and support from above?”
Paige thought about the amount of time Cynthia spent hidden in her office. “No.”
“Do you need someone else to bring you the business or are you confident going out there and fronting it? Can you win business?”
“I do that all the time! I’ve brought in nine new clients in the last six months and increased revenue by—”
“We don’t need to talk numbers—we need to talk principles. We’ve established you’re great at your job and that you don’t need support, so the only reason holding you back is the fact that you’re scared of the unknown. It’s easier to play it safe and do what you’ve always done, but you worked for the bitch from hell, Paige, who took all the credit for your hard work. Why would you want to carry on like that?”
“The next person I work for might be different.”
“The only way you’ll be sure of that is if that person is you. Think about it. Cynthia was a sociopath. You don’t have to work with her again. Seems like an opportunity from where I’m sitting.” His voice was rough and sexy, as if he’d had a long night of kissing and hot sex.
Which, knowing Jake, he probably had.
The thought bothered her more than it should have done, as did the hot, restless feeling she got whenever she looked at him. Eva would have said that made her human because Jake Romano was just about the sexiest man on the planet, but she would have preferred to be immune.
There was something humiliating about being attracted to someone who’d made it clear he wasn’t attracted to you. She wanted her body to have more sense.
“You’re accusing me of being a coward.”
“Being scared doesn’t make you a coward. It makes you human.” Calm, Jake put the champagne down. “Pick up a glass. It’s time for plan B, honey.”
“I don’t have a plan B. And don’t call me honey.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not your honey.” But she’d wanted to be. Once, she’d desperately wanted to be.
“I meant,” he said slowly, “why don’t you have a plan B?”
“Oh.” Embarrassment burned through her like acid on metal. Being around him made her feel like a gawky, clumsy teenager, all hormones and no finesse. “I’ve told you. I didn’t think I needed one. I was focused on promotion. Do you have a plan B?”
“Always.” Their eyes locked. “You need to relax. You’re too controlling. You plan every step of your life, but sometimes you have to let life happen. Change is always unsettling, sometimes scary, but you have to let go. Take a risk. Risk can be fun.”
His careless dismissal of her anxiety irritated her as much as his pity would have annoyed her.
“That’s easy for you to say with millions in the bank, more work than you can handle and an apartment to die for. Some of us still have rent to pay.” It was a crass, stupid thing to say and she instantly regretted it, especially since she knew her response was driven by frustration about her feelings for him as much as anything else.
“How do you think those millions got there, Paige?” He didn’t bother masking his irritation. “You think I woke up one morning and found myself wealthy? You think I logged on and discovered someone had transferred several million into my bank account? I built my company through hard work, graft and determination. And I pay my own rent. I always have.”
There was a loud noise as Frankie dropped a pot on the terrace. It shattered, sending pieces flying.
Matt nudged Claws off his lap and stood up. “Those pieces are sharp. Don’t cut yourself, Frankie.”
“I’m fine.” Frankie kept her head down and scooped up the pieces while Matt watched her steadily.
“Is this about the rent?” Matt asked. “Because you don’t have to worry about that. You can pay me when you’re back on your feet.”
A flush spread across Frankie’s cheeks, clashing with her vivid hair. “I can pay my rent.” Her voice was fierce. “I don’t ever need a man to pay my rent.”
Paige knew she was thinking of her mother and presumably so did Matt because he paused for a moment, and then spoke carefully.
“I’m not offering to pay your rent. I just wanted you to know that there is no hurry for payment. Anytime is fine. Wait until you have a job again. It’s a loan.”
“I don’t need a loan. I can pay my way.” Frankie scooped the shards of pottery into a bag, and then must have realized how ungrateful she sounded because her shoulders sagged. “Look—”
“You don’t have to explain.” Matt spoke quietly. “I understand.”
Paige saw the brief flash of misery on Frankie’s face and realized that it was precisely because her brother understood that Frankie was so mortified.
Everyone who had known Frankie growing up knew the lurid details about her mother.
Every new episode had killed Frankie and it still did, even though she was no longer living on a small island where her mother’s bedroom activities were a source of local legend.
Frankie breathed deeply. “That was rude of me and I apologize.”
“Don’t apologize. I said the wrong thing.”
Eva’s eyes filled and she sprang from the chair and hugged Matt. “You didn’t say the wrong thing. I love you, Matt. You’re the best. Why aren’t there more men like you in Manhattan? Ow.” She pulled back as Claws swiped at her leg with a threatening hiss. “The only thing wrong with you is your cat. Why didn’t you adopt a friendly, loving cat?”
“Because that cat didn’t need a home. This one did.” Matt lifted Claws away from Eva. “You need to give her time, that’s all. She’ll do okay once she learns she can trust us.”
Eva looked doubtfully at Claws. “Matt, that cat is never going to trust anyone. She’s psychotic.”
“We all have reasons for being the way we are. If we’re patient, she’ll come around.” He was stroking the cat but Paige noticed that his eyes were on Frankie.
Jake handed Eva a glass of champagne. “That cat has saved Matt a million times from predatory women poised to take advantage and bleed him dry. She’s better than a bodyguard.” He scanned the table of food. “Don’t you have chips, Ev? Something greasy that’s going to clog my arteries?”
Frankie pushed her glasses up her nose, leaving soil on her cheek. “Not all women are predatory.”
Jake’s hand stilled over the bowl. “It was a generic comment. What the hell is wrong with you? I know you’ve had a tough day, but that’s no reason to turn into Cactus Woman.”
