handle on the glass door as hard as she could but it didn’t budge so she pulled on it again with all her weight.
“There’s a little trick to this,” Jake said.
The release button clicked and the door opened with gusto. Her hands slipped from the handle and she tumbled backwards. Straight into Jake.
He had one hand on the small of her back, the other on her arm as he steadied her. His grip was firm, his hands lingering slightly longer than they needed to. What’s more, she liked it though she definitely should not have.
Then he shook her hand, enveloping it with both of his so she felt the warmth of his skin. She wondered how it was possible for a mere handshake to hold so much promise.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know that would happen.”
“Perhaps you should be more careful,” she said. “Or I might start to think you’re harassing me. First the car park, now this.”
He raked a hand through his hair, his expression serious. “Ah, the car park. Not the most pleasant of places at the best of times. I think the gentlemanly thing for me to do is to walk you ladies to your car.”
She smiled. “There’s no need for you to act the gentleman. I wouldn’t want you to go to all that trouble.”
“Excuse me Rach,” Samantha said as they stepped into the lift. “I’ll leave you to it. The lawyers told me to go back and see them again so I might be a while. I’ll catch you back at the office.”
Seconds later, the lift door opened again and Samantha said goodbye, leaving Rachel alone in the lift with Jake.
His voice was deep and dense. “I couldn’t possibly let you go down to the basement on your own.”
“As you said, they’re not the most pleasant of places. You never know what kind of seedy characters could be lurking there.”
“Just as well you’ve got me to protect you.”
She recalled the fiery woman she’d morphed into in the basement with a touch of embarrassment. “Do you really think I need protecting?”
“No, not really, but I have to shift my car any way. Someone took my parking spot.”
“How very rude of them.”
He appeared momentarily hesitant. “Do you have children you have to get home to? Is that why you’re in such a hurry?”
She glanced across at him, catching his eye. “No, I’m not married.”
His lips curled to a subtle smile and he continued talking, almost with a hint of nervousness. “I’ve got a little boy. Seven years old. It’s a lovely age. Lots of fun.”
As colleagues it was perfectly normal for him to ask about her marital status but nevertheless, even after four years as a widow, she still found these routine questions difficult.
She’d been happily married for three years until one night her life was turned upside down when her husband Nick was hit by a drunk driver. Neither man survived. Later she found her husband hadn’t been as satisfied as she thought and she never came to terms with it, never understood. Still, the past was behind her.
Rachel lifted her gaze. “Sorry, you said you’ve got a son?”
* * *
Jake looked at Rachel and saw what he’d seen so many times before. A young woman who didn’t wish to be burdened with someone else’s child. Many women were attracted to him but none were genuinely interested in his son. Often they paid fleeting interest in the boy but simply assumed he should spend most of his time with the nanny.
And Rachel. She didn’t even put up the pretence of being interested.
Her long dark lashes were lowered, her pale eyes focussed on a random spot on the inside of the lift doors as though her mind was elsewhere.
He knew the next logical question to follow was whether he was married. He wasn’t sure what his answer would be. To most people it was part of everyday conversation. Either you were married or you weren’t. But to Jake it was something different.
“So you’re married?” she asked.
He recalled her disgust at Marcus’ suggestion of appealing to married men by using attractive women. She had been very clear. When you live with someone, when you have a family, there is no excuse for unfaithfulness. Not ever.
“Separated,” he replied.
The lift doors opened and a group of businessmen got in, before exiting at the ground floor. She and Jake got out at the basement.
“This a big place,” she said. “Do you think you’ll be able to find the car?”
“I think I