Jessie Slaymaker's Non-Existent Love Life (The Jessie Slaymaker Series) (28 page)

Tom came to pick her from the airport. Safe, secure, dependable Tom. With Tom, she knew exactly where she stood. Tom would never throw her a curveball like the ones she’d been dodging in Hong Kong. For Jessie, Tom was like an old faithful dressing gown that just goes on and on forever, providing warmth and comfort. Upon seeing him, she realised how much she’d missed him, which gave her another reason to feel guilty, as she knew she hadn’t done the best job in the world of staying in touch with him whilst she was away.

Chapter 67

Tom was excited to see Jessie again. And nervous. Not that he was going to say anything to her about his blossoming feelings for her. It was way too soon for that. But he
was
excited to see his friend again. Although she’d only been gone for a week, the time difference and Jessie’s workload had made it hard to have their usual amount of contact, and he’d found that he’d missed her something chronic. Not that he felt neglected or anything by Jessie. They’d exchanged the occasional update via text and she’d sent him a couple of picture messages of places she’d visited, but it just wasn’t the same as knowing he could call her anytime or drive over to see her if he wanted to. He knew he could have called her, but for some reason he hadn’t wanted to disturb her, and he’d convinced himself that if he did call, then she was bound to be too busy to talk to him.

‘Hello gorgeous,’ he said as she fell into his arms, looking a little tired, but with some healthy colour in her cheeks.

‘I’ve missed you, Tom,’ she said, her voice muffled from inside the depths of his bear hug.

‘Ditto,’ Tom replied, releasing her and giving her an appraising look up and down.

‘So how was your trip?’ Tom asked, observing her more closely. She was different somehow. More polished, perhaps. Her makeup was slightly more dramatic, and her hair more tamed than usual, despite the twelve-hour flight she’d just come off.

‘Good,’ Jessie replied, although he could tell there was more to her trip than merely it being ‘good’.

‘Come on,’ Tom said, guiding her in the direction of his car. ‘Let’s get you home, unpacked, and showered, and then you can tell me all about it over a takeaway. Chinese okay by you?’ he suggested, smiling broadly.

‘Such a comedian!’ Jessie said, rolling her eyes at him. ‘Hold on, why do I need a shower? Do I smell bad or something?’ she asked, looking self-conscious.

‘Of course you do, darling,’ Tom purred at her. ‘You absolutely reek of plane smell,’ he joked. In actual fact he thought she smelt lovely, but he’d already decided it was too soon to be saying these kind of things to her. Jessie made a face at his joke and pouted, picking up her bag and heading off in a mock huff. God, she was cute, Tom found himself thinking.

Chapter 68

After showering off the plane scuzz and feeling more human, Jessie toddled off to her kitchen wrapped up in her highly unglamourous—yet extremely cosy—old dressing gown. Sans makeup, and hair au natural. Tom looked up from rearranging her refrigerator and stared at her.

‘I know, I know. I’m not exactly dressed for company, but you don’t count,’ she joked. ‘What are you up to, anyway? Apart from warming up my fridge,’ she said, shuffling closer.

‘Whoops! Sorry,’ he said as he twigged that he’d been staring. ‘I picked you up a few supplies as I guessed you wouldn’t want to be dashing out to the supermarket as soon as you got back.’

‘Thanks, Tom. You didn’t have to do that, but it is very thoughtful of you. Everything alright with you?’ Jessie asked, watching him carefully now. Not once in all the time she’d known him had he ever filled the fridge with groceries. She knew for a fact that all that was in his kitchen cold cupboard was cheddar cheese and booze. As she peered over his shoulder she could see her fridge was practically bursting at the seams with all her favourite foods and goodies.

‘I’m good, thanks,’ he said, closing the fridge door and turning to face her. There was that word again. Good.

‘Good,’ Jessie replied, unused to having him standing so close to her in the confines of her kitchen. To break the tension and give her something to do, she went to the cupboard for a glass and filled it with water.

‘When do you go back to work?’ Tom asked her stiffly. Why did she feel like he was struggling to make polite conversation with her? Something was definitely up, and she had an inkling she knew what it was.

‘Tomorrow,’ she answered. ‘Listen, Tom, we need to have a chat. I know you’ll be disappointed in me, but there’s something I want you to know.’

‘What is it, Jessie?’ Tom asked slowly as he took a seat at the breakfast bar, not once taking his eyes off her.

‘I slept with Charlie in Hong Kong,’ Jessie blurted out. Tom knew her too well. He must have been able to tell the second he saw her that she’d been up to no good. That must have been why he’d been acting all weird around her since he’d picked her up. He was probably hurt that she hadn’t confided in him already.

‘Right,’ was all he said as he sat up straighter on his stool. ‘Do I want to know any more?’ he added, after an awkward silence.

‘Well, it’s one of the biggest, if not
the
biggest, regrets of my life,’ Jessie began. ‘Especially seeing as how he tried to frame me for theft and is in cahoots with some billionaire tycoon’s daughter to entrap Jack.’

‘Right,’ Tom repeated. ‘Jack was in Hong Kong?’ he asked with a slightly quizzical look flashing across his handsome features.

‘Yes. But it’s all a big mess, really,’ Jessie said, moving to the opposite side of the breakfast bar to face Tom. ‘End result: Charlie is well and truly off my radar, and Jack has been boyfriended up by the tycoon’s daughter, so he’s off my radar before he even got on it. Apart from that, it was a good trip. You don’t hate me, do you?’ Jessie asked him coyly, looking up at him through her lashes.

‘What for?’

‘For sleeping with Charlie.’

‘You know I’ve never rated that little prick, but it sounds like you’ve finally seen him in his true light. And no, I’m not disappointed in you. I guessed it was bound to happen at some point. So how was work? I trust Charlie wasn’t successful in getting you into trouble?’

‘Oh no, quite the opposite. In fact it was
me
who turned
him
in,’ Jessie said, feeling proud that she’d done the right thing and been honest with Mr Chan about Charlie’s whereabouts that day in the office. ‘And in fact, the Hong Kong office seemed to rather like me. So much so that they offered me a job,’ Jessie finished, grinning from ear to ear.

Tom didn’t say anything for a long time. He just continued staring at her, the same way he had been so far all day. The only difference was that now he was staring at her with a look of utter incredulity on his face.
This
was the kind of reaction she’d expected when she’d said she shagged Charlie. Not when she’d told him the single most exciting piece of news in the history of her existence. Jessie’s smile faded and she concentrated on her water.

‘Have you accepted it yet?’ Tom managed to formulate at length.

‘Of course I haven’t yet,’ Jessie snapped. ‘With all the stuff that happened out there, I haven’t had a chance to think properly about it,’ she finished more gently.

Tom’s expression softened slightly to one of relief. He was still staring at her, but his face had lost the incredulity.

‘Make sure you think about this carefully, Jessie. Don’t do anything rash,’ he said seriously.

‘Of course,’ Jessie replied. ‘I’m going to order a pizza and watch some TV,’ she added with an audible edge in her voice as she walked off to her living room. ‘You want anything?’ she called halfheartedly over her shoulder, hoping that he would decline and just bugger off.

Tom stayed for the food, but didn’t stay too long after. He either had something better to do or he sensed her bad mood. Jessie was pissed off. Not in a million years had she expected that deadpan response to her positive news. Isn’t this what he’d wanted her to do? Go out and live her life and have her own adventure? Maybe her adventure wasn’t meant to be a week-long affair, but maybe it had only just begun, and it continued out in Hong Kong. She’d expected more from Tom. She’d expected Tom to be excited and proud of her, rather than shocked in a bad way and lecturing her to think carefully about things. She was still Jessie, after all. There was no way she was just going to hop on a plane and disappear for the next few years without careful consideration and thoroughly discussing the matter with her family and closest friends.

There hadn’t been an ounce of positivity in Tom’s expression or words. It wasn’t so much what he’d said that was the problem. It was what he
hadn’t
said or done that had stung her. Nothing that told her ‘well done’. Nothing which suggested that she’d worked hard and that these kind of things were the rewards she deserved. She was so annoyed with Tom that she was tempted to call Mr Chan and accept his offer right there and then just to spite him. The only thing that stopped her was the thought that she owed it to her parents to discuss it with them first. To be honest, Jessie couldn’t understand Tom. Why hadn’t he been the least bit pleased for her?

Chapter 69

Driving home in the dark, Tom knew he’d behaved like a dick to Jessie. He’d found it nigh on impossible to mask how he felt about Jessie’s job offer in Hong Kong. Giving her the congratulatory pat on the back which she so clearly wanted from him was the last thing on his mind. Jessie moving to Hong Kong was not part of his plan. Not at all. She hadn’t even accepted it yet, but all he could think about was how bad he would feel if Jessie wasn’t in the same country as him. The lack of communication they’d had over the past week whilst she’d been away had been acceptable for a week, but not indefinitely. There was no way he wanted to contemplate that thought. That’s why he’d come across as rather reserved and asked her to be cautious. He simply didn’t want her to go.

If she had been just a friend and this was what she wanted, then he would have been happy for her and most likely have organised the farewell party. But Jessie was more to him than just a friend. She was Jessie.
His
Jessie. His Jessie whom he had totally underestimated. Tom knew Jessie was good at her job, but he’d never expected
this
for her. He’d also never expected her to actually consider something like this. She’d been excited to tell him her news, so it must be something that she hadn’t dismissed out of hand and was seriously contemplating. Tom remembered his conversation with her about adventure, and wondered if that had something to do with her entertaining this idea of leaving all her friends and family behind and moving halfway round the world. This wasn’t what he had in mind for her at all. He’d wanted her to go to Hong Kong, eat some crazy food, and come home a more rounded and satisfied person. But all this trip seemed to have done was whet her appetite for more adventure. Adventure that clearly didn’t include him.

But what could he do? He sure as hell didn’t want her to go, but what could he really do to stop her? Was he ready to profess his undying love for her? For that was what he was slowly coming to realise. He was a gay man in love with his best friend—a woman. He’d been in denial for a long time, but the more time he spent letting this thought into his mind, the more it consumed him.

It suddenly dawned on Tom what he had to do. He had to try, anyway. Tom slammed on his brakes, turned his car around—much to the annoyance of his fellow road-users—and sped back to Jessie’s house. He didn’t know exactly what he wanted to say, but he hoped the words would come to him when he saw her.

Chapter 70

Jessie had given up trying to stay awake and had decided to call it a day and go to bed. She’d just got comfortable when she heard her doorbell chime.

‘Aghh!’ she cried out in frustration. She decided to leave it and see if whoever it was would just go away. Then her doorbell chimed again, this time accompanied by some rather insistent knocking. Figuring that whoever it was wasn’t going to go away anytime soon, Jessie ran to the door as fast as her weary body would carry her, to see what all the commotion was about.

‘We need to talk,’ Tom announced as she opened the door. He strode past her and disappeared into her living room.

‘Okay,’ Jessie replied, surprised to see him again so soon. She re-locked her door and followed him through. Although she felt incredibly tired, she still hadn’t forgotten about his complete lack of enthusiasm towards her. Whatever Tom had to say to her, he was still in bad books as far as she was concerned, and he’d have to say some pretty amazing things to redeem himself in her eyes.

‘Jessie, I love you,’ Tom blurted out, running a hand through his hair as he paced randomly about the living room. Jessie froze on the threshold as she digested this information.

‘And I love you too,’ she said carefully. ‘I’ve told you many times,’ she added as she slowly edged herself to the sofa and tentatively sat down. Something in the way Tom had professed his love for her suggested that he wasn’t merely referring to love in the same platonic sense that she was.

‘No, Jessie. I don’t think you understand. I love you as a friend of course, but I’m also
in
love with you.’ He spoke deliberately, more to himself than to her, as he continued with his pacing, which was becoming more frantic.

‘But you’re gay,’ Jessie replied in a quiet voice.

‘I know,’ he practically spluttered at her. ‘That’s the best part, isn’t it?’

Jessie was speechless. Sure, she’d told herself a million times in the past that her life would have been so much easier if Tom had been straight and interested in her. They knew all there was to know about each other and still valued and enjoyed being in each other’s company after all the years they’d known each other. She’d boasted to her girlfriends that Tom was the perfect man, and if she was totally honest with herself then she’d have to admit that when they’d first met, a part of her had hoped something would happen between them and that he would suddenly realise he was not as gay as he thought he was.