Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Personal Assistant - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 2) (21 page)

“Were you drunk?”

“Not even close,” James ran a hand along his lips and nodded somberly. He tried to keep his mouth shut, but couldn’t keep the next words from tumbling out, “Why didn’t you tell me to stop?”

Jennifer replaced the glasses and looked away. “I am
not
having this conversation with you right now,” her voice was soft but steady and firm.

James nodded quickly. “Okay. Alright. That’s fine. I just,” he paused and sucked in air, “I’m just really sorry. I value you, Jennifer,” he looked at her but she didn’t look back. She stared out the window instead. They were near 34
^th
street. Maybe two more minutes to go before they made it to the blast fence for drop off.

“I value you as my assistant,” James continued, “as my employee and as a woman but I didn’t show you that last night and I’m so sorry for that.”

Silence fell for over a minute before Jennifer spoke. “I don’t know what to tell you, James.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything. I just need you to know that I know I was wrong.”

Jennifer didn’t give him a response until they arrived at the heliport. Even then, it was a thinly whispered, “Thank you,” and nothing more.

Chapter Eighteen

Nowhere to Hide

Jennifer was thankful for James’s maturity on the way back. He monopolized the laptop, and she had acquired the satellite phone. She conducted several second interviews while she was on the phone and ended her work with a final selection. She wanted to see her pick of potential new hire in person and used the time to make reservations at the Terrance for Wednesday evening.

If it were another day she might have chosen to have the interview within a few short hours, but her mind was still numb. She would have sworn that she could still taste James’s kisses on her mouth and her knees grew weak just thinking about it.

The inflight meal was a large, stuffed mushroom with steak, peppers, cheese and spices that really awakened her senses. They ate in silence. By the time they landed, the hangover was officially gone, leaving only the shame in its wake.

James whispered to her that she could take the rest of the day, a full 24 hours. As far as she was concerned, that meant the morning too.

Her body didn’t fully relax until she was back in her home, and even then, she sat her phone on the kitchen table, and stared at it. Andrew had emailed her a couple more times, but he hadn’t called again. She wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.

After a few second thoughts, she turned the phone off and huddled on her couch beneath a comforter and the remote. She watched movies until her windows were dark, and then she thought of Brittany in Hollywood and Nicole in New York.

She wanted to call Nicole. Catching up with Brittany was likely to be more than she could handle. Jennifer moved towards her cordless phone and lifted it from the charger. She couldn’t remember the last time she used it for anything other than ordering food when her cell phone was left in another place in the condo.

Luckily, Nicole’s number was still programmed and that number hadn’t changed. Her friend answered on the first ring.

“You remembered to call me.”

Jennifer was sure she could hear a smile in her friend’s voice. “I owe you one big time,” Jennifer responded. She cocooned with the comforter and allowed her body to relax. It didn’t though, and remained stiff.

“So, how’d it go?”

“He never came to my room and I woke up with a hangover.”

“Did you puke?”

“When I tried to brush my teeth.” Nicole sighed. Jennifer pressed her lips together and said nothing.

“What did Mr. Awesome say in the morning?”

“Please don’t call him that,” Jennifer groaned.

“Well?”

Her eyes closed wearily. “He apologized for his behavior.”

“Really? First?”

“Yes. He demanded I talk about it,” Jennifer grumbled, and then scowled, “he ordered me to take off my glasses like I was a child. Ugh, you should have been there.”

Nicole chuckled. “No thanks. I really don’t do that kind of drama. So he apologized, eh? That’s cool.”

Jennifer shrugged to herself. “I guess. He told me early Monday morning he was sorry for Friday too.”

“What happened Friday?”

“That’s when he told me he loved me, remember?”

“Oh,” Nicole whistled. “I remember now.” Silence settled over the call, getting comfortable until Nicole spoke at last. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

Jennifer frowned at length. She had been debating whether or not she would since the moment she had picked up the phone. She wanted to forget as much as the moment she had with James as she could, but she couldn’t get the taste of him out her mind or the way her body gave way beneath his strong grip.

Hesitantly, Jennifer started with the idea she had thought was so clever: to place her purse between them. She finished just short of the phone call and stopped with the breathtaking words he had muttered to her.
I want you on top of me.
She didn’t have the strength to recall the events after he mentioned his suite.

Nicole whistled intently. “Girl, that sounds like some steamy stuff right there,” she let out a breath of air. “So why didn’t you just tell him to stop?”

Jennifer placed a hand over her already closed eyes and rubbed hard. “Because I wanted it,” she muttered. She could tell Nicole the truth. She was far enough away to where she wouldn’t feel complete humiliation at admitting the weakness of her heart in the moment.

“Yeah,” Nicole murmured, “can’t say I would have had the strength in your situation either. That man is damned gorgeous and he knows it. Wait a minute though,” Nicole cut through her own thoughts with renewed vigor, “How’d you get him to stop? I called you and you were already in your room.”

“Oh yeah,” Jennifer frowned. “Uh…someone called me.”

Nicole was silent. After a moment, she asked, “You don’t want to tell me who?” Jennifer shook her head. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything more. “Wow. So
he
called?”

Jennifer chuckled. She felt tears collecting behind her eyes. Partly because she was thankful Nicole could read between the lines. The other part was due to deep sadness.

“Yeah. Great timing, but I thought he was you and I answered.”

“Oh, tell me you didn’t,” Nicole breathed.

“Yes, I did,” Jennifer sucked in breath and wiped at her cheek. “And then when I realized I screwed up I hung up on him.”

“Did he call you back?”

“No.”

“Has he called you at all?”

“No. I have some emails but that’s it.”

“Oh, Jennifer. Sweet, Jenny,” Nicole cooed. “Baby, I am so sorry. I should have tried harder. I should have made you leave with me.”

“Even if you did, Nikki, what would happen when I was alone with him again? Something is just wrong with me,” Jennifer cried, “there has to be. Why can’t I sort this mess out?”

“Don’t—don’t bash yourself, Beautiful,” Nicole said quickly. “You were vulnerable,” she started.

“But I wanted it just as much. Can I really claim that he took advantage of me?”

Nicole smirked this time. “I think so. I’d do it.”

Jennifer scoffed and finally opened her eyes. She stared at the bottom of her ceiling. “Yeah, well, I don’t see that going over too well with a judge. I can see it now; I’ll get to the part where he practically begged me to tell him to stop and I actually nodded and told him yes.”

“You did what?”

Jennifer groaned.

“He told you to tell him to stop?”

With a heavy sigh, Jennifer closed her eyes again. “Well, there was more that happened too,” she grumbled. Jennifer begrudgingly told the rest of the story. She ended with a pathetic whine, “I think I’m just a terrible person. Maybe it’s better I haven’t dated these past three years.”

“Jenn, you were drunk. You’d been drinking and the man is haut—and that’s H-A-U-T. Who would tell him no?”

“A good woman. A better woman,” Jennifer whined.

“Alright, look. You’ve got to stop this self-pity and figure out what you’re going to do about Andrew. You can’t ignore him forever. So think about that. Maybe you should call him? Ask to Skype or something?”

Jennifer frowned. She didn’t like any of those ideas. They were much too direct. Then again, perhaps direct is exactly what she’d need after ignoring him all weekend and the past two days.

“Anyway, it’s late, girl, and I do have to go. Next time you call, I promise, I’ll tell you about Kyle.”

“That’s his name? He is an actor too?” Jennifer tried her best to keep Nicole on the line, but her old friend only chuckled.

“Get some sleep, girl. I’ll call in a day or so to check in on you, or you can call, text, or email anytime, okay?”

Jennifer murmured a reply and they ended the call. It was a great way to past the time, but her mind was far from settling. Each time it tried to quiet down, she thought of Andrew and that was something she just couldn’t face.

She fell asleep on her sofa and tossed and turned late into the night. Morning time wasn’t much better, but she finally found solace when the sky turned blue and brightened. A deep sleep finally came to her just before the sun broke the horizon and began to fill the room. She didn’t care though, and slept just the same.

She only slept for four hours and awoke with her phone buzzing near her head. It was James. She answered it reluctantly.

“Hello?”

“Are you okay?” James seemed out of breath.

“Fine,” she lied and cleared her throat. Her eyes still ached. “Had trouble sleeping last night.”

James chortled. “You and me both. When are you planning on coming in?”

“After lunch.”

“Okay, thanks. I don’t have good news.”

“Can it wait?”

James paused before answering. “Until after lunch, sure. Take care of yourself and get something to eat.”

The kind and caring professional was back. Jennifer sighed and lowered her phone. She liked that side of James better. She looked at the time and winced. 10:53 am. She needed to be at the office by 12:30, and definitely no later than 1 pm.

Jennifer pulled herself up and began her morning routine. She barely felt the steaming water against her skin and decided to add a bit of volume to her hair. Her mind was surprisingly blank.

She prepared a cup of coffee using the French press and sipped on it quietly when it was finished and ready to enjoy. Her mind began to churn and by the time her cup was gone, she was slipping her shoes on and giving herself a run down on what she could expect when she arrived at the office.

James was going to catch her up and she needed to keep her appointment to hire another scheduler. She was certain James had a few conference calls that he needed to make, but she needed to prepare a light presentation for this new gig in New Jersey. She paused at that thought and wondered. If that was a contract they really took on, would it be just like it was while she was dating Dick?

Of course, the answer to that depended on what happened between her and Andrew. That lingering thought made her frown. She decided she’d call him first thing after the rundown with James. It’d be easier to handle the situation when she was in business mode. Her mind was always so clear, fresh, and bouncy, ready to spring with thought and action when she was ready to work. She needed that to face the mistake she made.

At her door was a soft knock. Fitting earrings to her ear, she moved towards the front door and expected to see the doorman, hopefully with her package of clothes from The Kimberly since they didn’t bring them back. James would never be caught carrying his laundry. Ever. Thanks to him, she had adopted the same sentiment.

Jennifer opened the door carelessly and glanced backed at her phone. The screen was bright, indicating some type of missed notification. She sighed. It was probably James, contacting her about some reminder or something before she made it to the office. She turned back to the door and froze. It wasn’t the doorman.

“Surprised to see me?” Andrew asked softly.

The earrings Jennifer held fell from her hands. She only had the right side in and didn’t bother to see where the matching pair fell. Andrew stepped casually into the condo and stooped to pick it up from the floor.

Standing, he handed Jennifer the earrings. He was incredibly calm. A little too relaxed for her liking.

“They let me in downstairs,” he commented. He watched Jennifer and waited for a reply. She only stared. “I can leave if you want.”

“No,” she said finally in a breath. She looked down at the earring in her hand and stepped back, ushering Andrew in completely.  Turning her back to him, she put the earring through and tried to think of something to say.

“You look like you don’t want me here,” Andrew spoke gently. He shut the door behind him.

“No, that’s not it,” Jennifer said again quickly. She shook her head. “I’m just surprised. I was going to call you when I got to the office.”

Andrew nodded. “You forgot.” Jennifer stared back at him blankly. “I’m not surprised though. You never responded to my emails or missed calls.” After a moment, he added, “Lunch, remember? I told you I’d come back Wednesday for lunch.”

“Ohmygosh,” the words were barely audible beneath her breath. “What time is it?”

Andrew chuckled and smiled sweetly. “After lunch. I already ate.” Jennifer nodded. “Did you hang up on me Monday night?”

Jennifer wet her lips and stared at the wood flooring. He had to know that she did. Clearing her throat, she nodded weakly. Andrew shifted his weight, but he didn’t move to her.

“I thought so, but I figured I’d at least ask. I’m going to go now. I need to speak with Melone about something.” He paused, and then added, “Bye.” Jennifer looked up then. His back was to her already.

“Is that it?” She asked, quite pitifully. Andrew stopped and turned towards her slowly. It took him a moment more before he finally met her eyes.

“Jennifer, you’ve ignored me for days. I know you and James went out of town and I know you spent the night together. You hung up on me when I called and,” he paused and looked down.