In the Market for Love - By Nina Blake Page 0,19
take a couple of steps back to lean on the boardroom table. He was still looking at her. He hadn’t shifted his gaze.
“Are we ready to get back to the meeting now?” he called out to Marcus and Samantha.
Rachel was sure he was still looking at the view.
And she liked him looking at her.
Chapter six
It was only a lunch date. So why was Rachel’s head spinning at the mere mention of it?
The recollection of their turbulent kiss only a couple of days earlier came tumbling back to her. She’d revelled in the dangerous height to which Jake had taken her but now she’d had time to consider it more carefully she couldn’t possibly allow a repeat of that situation.
She’d been hurt before and wasn’t going to let it happen again. She had to think quickly.
“I can’t make it,” she said into the telephone.
“I had a feeling you might try to back out of it,” Jake said.
“Aren’t you even going to ask me why I can’t make it?”
“Why would I be interested in your excuses?”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Because I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment. I’ve got other projects apart from the campaign.”
“So have I.”
Was she a new project of his? It was time to cut him down. All she had to do was stick to her original decision and decline lunch.
“I’m sorry, Jake, I simply can’t make it.”
He chuckled into the telephone. She pictured the broad smile across his face, his white teeth sparkling, his eyes crinkling up at the corners.
“What on earth is so funny?” she asked.
“Rachel Williams, are you afraid of having lunch with me?”
“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Are you afraid I’ll kiss you again?”
Her mouth fell open with surprise and anger but she held back. It wouldn’t have been so infuriating if he were wrong but, damn him, he was right and that took it beyond rudeness into the realm of insolence.
“What if I promise not to kiss you?” he asked.
“You have no idea how well that would suit me. I’ll be there at 12.30 on the dot. What’s the place called again?”
No way would he get the better of her. She scribbled down the address, slammed down the phone and stared at it in shock. A picture of Jake emerged in her mind. Confident. Suave. Probably still smiling at the other end of the phone.
“I can’t believe this,” Rachel mumbled, just as Samantha entered the office they shared.
Samantha reached over her desk for some papers. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’ve got a lunch meeting with Jake today.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I’ve got a lot on at the moment. I’m flat out here.” She shook her head and looked away, annoyed at herself and her own lack of resolve.
“So how come this meeting is ‘lunch’ anyway?” Samantha arched an eyebrow. “And how come Marcus and I aren’t invited?”
“I didn’t choose the place or time or anything.”
“But I guess you’re going. How bad can it be? You get a free lunch. And Jake is quite a hunk.” Samantha stopped by the door. “I’ve seen you looking at him.”
“I don’t think that…” Rachel fumbled with her words. “Looking is one thing. Lunching is another.”
“When was the last time you went out for lunch and it wasn’t with the girls? Don’t be such a prude. Have some fun for a change.”
Samantha left the office.
How bad could it be? What kind of question was that? She couldn’t lunge into a relationship with a man as dangerous as Jake. Not after her previous experience with him. If that’s what it was like to kiss him, she could only imagine what it would be like to…
No, she had to be careful to keep their relationship more business-like until she worked out a way of keeping her feelings in check. Nevertheless, the thought of lunch alone with Jake caused a sensual tugging inside her that she couldn’t override.
He’d been teasing when he said he wouldn’t kiss her. She could taunt him right back. This might turn out well after all. Now she was in the power position.
Maybe Samantha was right.
It was time to have some fun.
* * *
Rachel caught a cab to Darlinghurst, crossed the street and searched for Mancini’s. Jake said there would be a small sign at the end of a laneway. It made her wonder why he’d chosen such a dodgy looking place.
Entering though an oversized battered door, she went down a set of dark wooden stairs and turned a corner to enter a large, friendly basement