In the Market for Love - By Nina Blake Page 0,2

looking at it because it was in his spot. And how glad he was of that.

Only one woman had ever made him feel this way before. Only one woman had excited that spark in him, played and sparred with him as an equal. Yet that relationship had not ended well. But this was a different woman.

Then it hit him. He couldn’t let her get away. Striding towards her red Laser, he decided the very least he could do was leave a note on her car.

Jake pictured her mouth falling open in shock, her plump lips parting with surprise when she found the missive. Would she take it seriously? Did she have an inkling of the tumult she’d raised in him? Surely she wouldn’t dismiss him so soon and screw up the note and toss it aside.

Placing his briefcase on the bonnet of her car, he found a pen easily but struggled to find a piece of paper. The sight of his leather bound diary reminded him of the meeting for which he was almost certainly late. Another tedious request for pro bono work. It’d have to wait.

Ripping a blank sheet of paper from his diary, he leaned against the car only to find himself tormented all over again. He had to take a few moments to consider what on earth he should write. He worked in advertising so this should have been easy for him but it wasn’t.

The woman had spark. That was for sure. He needed to write something with an electricity to match hers. Something to grab her attention and make her want to contact him. A hint of raciness. But not too much…

* * *

Alone in the mirrored lift, Rachel took the opportunity to check her hair and make-up, not that she wore much. Expecting to see smudged mascara, dishevelled hair and clothes askew, she stared at her reflection only to find she looked calm and composed.

How was that possible when her insides had been whisked into such a flurry? Although their encounter had been brief, meeting that man in the basement had unsettled her, sent her into a spin. And none of this fit into her neat, orderly world.

“For crying out loud…” She shook her head and stared ahead as the lift filled with people at the ground floor.

What had she been thinking? Why hadn’t she simply moved her car?

There was something about that man which made her rash and impetuous, as though he’d flicked a switch and released her hidden recklessness. Her passionate side suddenly exploded and she found herself arguing over something as petty as a parking spot, one which wasn’t hers.

She had no idea what had come over her or how she’d come to act so brashly. Having grown up in a modest but loving family, her parents raised her to be polite and respectful so she was confused at what had kindled her unlikely behaviour.

She stepped out of the lift, raced to the advertising agency door, then stopped short. Smoothing down her skirt, she sucked in deep breaths of air to compose herself.

She had to shake that man off. She had a campaign to get up and running.

As she looked through the agency’s glass door, she saw the receptionist smile, then reach across her desk. The click of the door release followed. Rachel thrust open the door, entered the elegant foyer and introduced herself to the receptionist only to be asked to take a seat beside her colleague who was already waiting.

Still exhilarated by her encounter in the basement, Rachel was momentarily tempted to relay the story to her young assistant but thought better of it. She wasn’t quite sure what to say, how she would explain her own rather erratic behaviour or describe the man whose parking spot she had inadvertently taken.

She perched herself on the edge of the sofa, her back to the receptionist. “So Sam, how did you go at the lawyers?”

“It’s taken care of for now.” Samantha slid to one end of the antique finish leather sofa to make room. “Gosh, and I thought we were running late!”

Her young colleague pushed a few strands of tousled blond hair behind her ears and explained how she’d have to return to the lawyers’ offices later. Behind her, Rachel heard the swish of a door opening.

“Excuse me ladies,” a male voice interrupted. “Have you quite finished?”

The voice was like thick viscous liquid yet there was something familiar about it.

Rachel took a moment to collect herself. She’d been held up in the