In the Market for Love - By Nina Blake Page 0,11

available yet Rachel hadn’t been available for years. She was asked out from time to time and occasionally she accepted but even then it was as though she wasn’t there. It had been years since she’d had a man in her life.

Jake’s voice shook her from her thoughts. “Rachel?”

She didn’t like to talk about the past but it wasn’t a secret. And Jake had asked.

“I’m not married but I used to be,” she said. “My husband Nick passed away four years ago.”

“Rachel, I…I had no idea.”

“He died unexpectedly. Not that I think it would have been any easier if I’d known it was coming. It was a car crash. He was hit by a drunk driver. Head on. There was no hope for either of them, Nick or the other fellow. And it was quick. When I got the phone call from the hospital, they wouldn’t tell me what had happened straight away. They don’t tell people things like that over the phone but I think I knew before I got there.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Jake put his hand on hers. She felt its warmth radiate across her skin.

Except for business like handshakes, he hadn’t physically touched her since their first meeting and she was taken aback at the effect. His hand was strong and masculine and with that one simple touch he made her feel small and delicate.

“That must have been terrible,” he said. “To have been happily married and lost that. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”

Rachel stiffened. She hadn’t said she’d been happily married but people always made that assumption. It’s true she thought she’d been happily married but after her husband died, she’d made a discovery which made her doubt all of that.

Her marriage hadn’t been so perfect after all. But she never spoke about it. Not to anybody.

“That was a long time ago,” she said. “And I have so many good things in my life. I have a good job, friends, you know, the usual.”

She didn’t know what to make of the man. At nearly all of their meetings Jake had been charming and he certainly seemed to be propelling the Skin Plus campaign at great speed but at yesterday’s meeting he’d been demanding, undermining and hindering her at every turn.

Was he arrogant or charming? Which was the real Jake?

He had a way of turning her insides into a surging molten pyre over which she had no control. She could feel all thought and reason disappearing when she snapped herself out of it.

All she had to do was keep this encounter brief and, most importantly, stick to business. That was largely why she’d refused to offer Jake a seat but that hadn’t prevented the conversation turning well away from the campaign.

“You don’t have someone special at the moment?” Jake asked, his hand still on hers. The question sent a tingle up her spine.

“No, I don’t.”

His deep set eyes had always seemed dark and impenetrable but they seemed softer now as though they were beckoning her.

Before, she’d only seen the business side of Jake but she was starting to see a complex man, an intricate personality made up of many facets.

“Would you like to go out for a drink with me after work?” he asked.

Her lips curled to a shy smile. She was a mature woman with no need for a serious relationship in her life yet now she felt like a school girl being asked out on her first date. Talk about ridiculous.

He tilted his head. “Is something funny? Because this is a serious invitation, not a joke.”

“Actually, I’m leaving work early today.”

Her sister had an appointment and Rachel had promised she’d leave work early to collect her two nieces from school and baby sit them.

“That’s okay,” Jake said. “I can pick you up from your place later. It won’t be a problem.”

Not wishing to explain she’d be at her sister’s house in Balmain, Rachel diverted him. “No, I’d rather you didn’t pick me up. I have a couple of things to do this afternoon.”

“Then I’ll meet you there. The Ebony Bar. At 6.30pm. It’s not far from here. You know where it is, don’t you?”

“I know the place.”

Although it wasn’t far from Rachel’s work, she’d never been there as she rarely went out in the evening, particularly to bars.

“Great. I’ll see you at 6.30. And if you’re up to it we can grab some dinner afterwards.”

At that moment, the receptionist stuck her head around the door to let Rachel know there