THE REBEL AND THE RICH GIRL (21 page)

If you liked The Rebel and the Rich Girl
by Emma Daniels, you might also like Jayden's Faith

During their final weeks of high-school, Janelle Moore and her friends played an exceptionally nasty joke on her brother Jayden and Faith Hargraves. After spiking Faith’s drink, the teenagers leave her naked in Jayden’s bed for him to find. All Faith has are disjointed memories of finding herself in the arms of a handsome man who might have done a whole manner of sordid things to her.
Seven years later Faith still doesn’t know exactly what happened that night, so when Jayden shows up at her office asking her to find him a secretary for his company, she decides to exact her revenge.
But Jayden has different memories of that night, the night he found the woman of his dreams in his bed.
Revenge doesn't taste so sweet when Faith discovers she's completely misjudged Jayden.

Chapter One

Stephanie leant across the table and said in a low voice; "A man just walked in and sat down near the windows, and boy is he hot!"

Faith rolled her eyes at the tall, attractive redhead sitting opposite. Stephanie was as outrageous as her hair, and her flashing hazel eyes danced with mischief as she grinned back at her friend. She fanned herself with a well-manicured hand, drawing attention to her low cut, body-hugging electric blue top. Her make-up was, as always, over-stated, and her fingernails panted an iridescent shade of pink. But for some reason she always managed to carry it off without looking like a tart.

In comparison, Faith was short and petite; with long, wavy honey-blonde hair she usually wore tied back with a plain clip or scrunchie. Whereas Stephanie dressed up, Faith hid her neat little figure under loose blouses and long flowing skirts. She rarely wore make-up, and looked younger than her twenty-five years. Today she was wearing her usual work attire; a pair of navy blue pants and a plain white blouse buttoned all the way to her neck.

“I’ve tried to catch his eye twice now, but he just seems to look right through me as though I don't even exist,” Stephanie lamented with a red-lipped pout. “He’s gorgeous, Faith, impossibly broad shoulders. Eyes a girl could drown in, and he has the most amazing hair. I can’t figure out if it’s red, blonde, brown, or all of the above. And it’s tied into a sexy ponytail.”

Faith groaned out loud as she bit into her gourmet sandwich. Stephanie really had a thing for men with long hair. Should Faith ever bring such a specimen home to meet her parents she’d never hear the end of it. Besides, she preferred her men clean cut and well groomed, when she’d still been interested in dating, that was. “Next you’ll be telling me he has tattoos and an earring.”

Stephanie glanced across the cafe again. “Can’t see an earring, and if he has any tats, they’re hidden by the business suit he’s wearing.”

“A guy with long hair in a business suit!” Faith scoffed. “Definitely Mafia materiel.”

Stephanie giggled, and drained the last of her cappuccino. “He’s got great bone structure too, just like Brad Pitt.”

“I get the picture, all right. Just go over and introduce yourself, for goodness sake,” Faith said, picking up her own cup of coffee. She glanced at her watch. “You have exactly ten minutes to hit on him before we’re due back at work.”

As if Stephanie needed moral support when it came to flirting with men, Faith thought cynically. She had watched her friend in action numerous times whenever they went out together to the never ending nightspots Stephanie seemed know. "I'm not going to introduce myself to a biker in a suit in the middle of a coffee shop."

"That's not the image I was trying to portray. I know you’ve suffered, but it’s been over a year since your last break up. Going on an occasional date wouldn’t hurt.”

"Since when was this about me?" Faith asked with arched brows.

"Since I've decided to let you talk to him. I can't do this without a stiff drink or two."

And then Faith remembered how Stephanie always drank something strong before she started cruising the dance floor. She clearly wasn't as confident as she had led Faith to believe.

Faith shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not walking up to a total stranger to say 'Hello, this is my friend Stephanie. She thinks you're totally hot and wants to go out with you.'"

"No I honestly think it's your turn. I've decided you can have him."

Faith rolled her eyes again. After two disastrous relationships, and more dreadful first dates than she cared to count, Faith was over the entire dating game. She had come to realize that the more good-looking the man, the more likely he was to be too full of himself to care about others. Since most of the guys she’d dated had been above average in the looks department, she had yet to meet one who possessed something even remotely resembling a heart.

“Honestly Faith, this guy has absolutely dreamy eyes. How could he possibly be bad news?” Stephanie persisted.

“I hate to tell you this, but gorgeous eyes got me two-timing Laurie Stevens,” Faith reminded her. Big brown and needy, so needy that he’d taken all her money as well as money she didn’t have.

“I think you take things too seriously. I rarely fall in love with them. I just want to have a good time. That way it doesn’t hurt so much when we do break up.”

“See what I mean. You know it’s going to end, that they’ll let you down. Why bother in the first place?”

“Maybe you can sit at home night after night, but I can’t.” Stephanie leant closer and added in a hushed whisper. “I enjoy sex too much.”

And therein lay the crux of the matter. Faith didn’t. Laurie had been the only man she’d gone all the way with, believing him when he said he loved her and wanted to marry her. Not only had he left her for another woman, sex had at first been painful, then uncomfortable, and finally a chore to endure if she wanted to keep her man.

What a joke! Not only had she ended up back on her own, she’d had to pay off his debts when no one could find him.

Ever since then her life had become a man-free zone. She was once again in charge of her own finances; she had a loving family, friends, a place to call home, and a job she liked and was good at.

“I need to be in love before I’ll let a man go all the way again. Call me a big softie if you like, but how could a biker in a suit ever hope to fulfill my obviously too high expectations?”

“I told you, he’s not a... Oh, he’s just got his laptop out of his briefcase. Since when do bikers have briefcases or laptop computers?” Stephanie asked with raised brows.

“All right then he’s their club leader cooking the books after their last drug haul. Come on, time to go.” Faith got to her feet and reluctantly Stephanie followed suit. But her curiosity had been piqued. Faith had to see with her own eyes if the image Stephanie had portrayed was real.

As they walked up to the counter to pay for their meals, Faith glanced covertly around the room. Most of the lunch crowd had left, only a few tables still occupied.

The man in question had the best position in the café, beside the potted palm in front of the window. Stephanie had described him to a tee; he
was
handsome, unnervingly so. His features were strong and evenly proportioned, with a wide, full-lipped mouth, and dark straight brows.

As for his hair; the cute ponytail seemed to suit him, drawing out long streaks of red, blonde and brown. Surely that couldn’t be natural.

His dark suit and tie didn’t make him look like a gangster, or a bikie gang’s bookkeeper, more like a businessman with an independent flair.

Faith experienced an uncomfortable tightening in her chest when he looked up and stared straight at her with those amazing eyes. They
were
dreamy, just like Stephanie had said; a deep ocean green a girl could drown in if she looked long enough. They were fringed with long dark lashes no man had a right to.