Heart Robber (Lifestyle by Design Book 2) (11 page)

They had just crossed the road at the set of lights when Clarise called out, "Faye!"

Faye stopped in her tracks. She was carrying a brown bag, obviously her lunch that she was taking back to her office.

"Hey, guys! Where are you going?"

"We're just following this guy here to some Italian restaurant." Clarise indicated Ray standing next to her. "He said it'll only take ten minutes to walk. It's been …" she checked her watch, "…eleven."

"We're almost there," Ray grinned, his eyes fixed on Faye. "Hi, Faye. Haven't seen you for a while. How come you don't visit the girls in the office anymore?"

"Well, I'm a good fifteen minutes away from your office now so we just meet halfway. We moved five months ago."

"Bigger premises?"

"Yeah, and more modern. Anyway, I gotta run. We have a staff meeting in half an hour. I'll see you girls for dinner on Friday. And it was good seeing you again, Ray."

They waved goodbye and Ray led them to the nearby building.

Jessa caught Ray following Faye with his eyes but decided not to make anything of it.

~~~~~~~

"How did you enjoy the lunch, Jessa?" James Bradley asked.

Jessa looked up at the soft-spoken, attractive man in designer eyeglasses.

They were in a private room of an Italian restaurant, where they met with James and Philip Bradley, siblings and co-partners of Bradley Accounting Services, and six other senior staff members of the firm. They were up and mingling with one another now that lunch had finished.

"It was great, thank you. This is a wonderful place."

"Yes, we always hire them for special occasions. Would you like some more wine?"

"No, thanks," she said with a little giggle. "I think I've had one too many already. There's still work to do after this. My to-do list is a few pages long."

"Surely Ray wouldn't mind if you take the afternoon off. You've been instrumental in the popularity of the magazine, Jessa. I'm really impressed with you. You're brilliant," James gushed.

"Thank you," she mumbled, hating the fact that she must have blushed scarlet. She looked away from the intense, admiring gaze of the man standing in front of her.

"I'm really looking forward to you editing our next round of advertorials. I'm actually —"

James was interrupted when his brother, Philip, joined them.

"Jessa, you look beautiful when you blush," Philip said with an enigmatic smile on his face.

She blushed even deeper, if that was possible. She was embarrassed by the attention and hoped someone would come and rescue her.

"What have you been telling her, James, hmm?" There was a teasing look in Philip's eyes directed at his younger brother.

It was James who turned red this time. "Nothing," he muttered as he gave his brother a warning glance.

"Have you told Jessa you wanted to personally oversee our new advertorial campaign?"

"Not yet," James replied. "I was just about to tell her when you joined us."

"Oh, right. Well, I better leave you to it, then." Philip sauntered away with a big grin on his face.

James cleared his throat nervously. "Um, as Philip said, Jessa, I will be overseeing the new campaign so you will be dealing with me as well as Martha."

"I see," she uttered although she was confused. Her job was to edit six educational articles written by one of Bradley's senior accountants. When she was done, she was to send them back to Martha, their business development manager, for her final approval and then the articles were published in the magazine. That was how it worked the last time.

"I'm just wondering, James. Has something changed? Apart from editing the articles your office provides me, there's not much else for me to get involved with," she asked.

"Oh, well, I was thinking - I mean, Philip and I were thinking - that we should share with you the campaign statistics we capture after running each article. It would, of course, help us with preparing subsequent articles, but you'll also know where and how our marketing is being targeted. It could help you when you do your editing. We'll all be on the same page."

"That makes perfect sense." She smiled at him and his cheeks turned pink again.

Jessa noticed Ray looking in their direction. When she glanced at him, he gave her a big, knowing grin. She mentally rolled her eyes. Ray had teased her before that James Bradley was interested in her but she didn't believe him. There might be some validity to his assumption, after all. Not that it mattered. She already had a boyfriend - for a few months, at least.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

It's been a week and there's still nothing from him!

Jessa frowned at her ceiling as she lay in bed, feeling lost and alone. It was Friday night and she hadn't spoken to Rob all week. He hadn't called at all. They did exchange texts last Sunday when he got back to Melbourne but they were brief and it was just to say they'd see each other again in two weeks.

She missed him. Badly.

The nights were the worst, especially when she was in bed. At least during the times she wasn't in her bed, she was able to make herself busy enough to do other things than think about him.

Granted, she hadn't called him either. She was tempted to dial his number many times but something in her wanted to hold out and see when - if - he would call.

She consoled herself with the thought that Rob might not be used to having a girlfriend and therefore didn't know that she would be wanting him to call her. She wouldn't even be surprised if he wasn't used to initiating calls to women. Women probably were the ones who called him! Besides, she wasn't exactly a
real
girlfriend. It was just a convenient word to use for the arrangement they had.

She grabbed her other pillow - Rob's pillow - and buried her head underneath it. Her heart ached at the thought of not meaning anything more to Rob than just being another sexual partner he'd be finished with in a few months, if that. Didn't he say they could still call it off if it wasn't working even before the four months were up?

Tears escaped her closed eyelids. Should she get off the bus now? She was scared it might crash much earlier than she anticipated and she might end up with more serious injuries than just some scrapes and bruises.

Her ringing phone made her jump. She snatched it from her bedside table and her heart skipped a beat before racing madly. She hastily wiped her tears away and composed herself before answering.

"Hi, Rob."

"Hi, Jess," he answered in a cheery voice. "How are you going?"

"Okay," she lied. "And you?"

"Apart from missing you, I'm fine."

Her lips slowly curved up and the dark clouds started to dissipate. "Really?"

"Okay, I'm lying. I'm less than fine. I want you so badly I have half a mind to fly there tomorrow to spend all weekend in bed with you."

She felt her body respond to Rob's words as desire slowly but surely spread in her veins. It had been a long, frustrating week for her, too.

"And would you?" she asked huskily.

Rob sighed. "I wish I could, baby, but I have to work this weekend." His tone was low and regretful. "I had an unexpected new business land on my lap on Monday and the client wanted me to deal with some things personally. It's been a very busy week and I'm a bit behind with the work I have to get done before I start my long interstate drive next Friday."

Relief washed over her.
He was just very busy. And he missed me!

"How's your week been?" he asked.

"It's been hectic for me, too. Hopefully, it will ease up in a month. My boss, Ray, is interviewing a few people for the new writer position."

"That's good."

She heard Rob yawn. "Poor baby. You must be so tired. Why don't you have an early night?"

"Uh-huh. First, I want to know what to do with my hard-on," Rob said matter-of-factly.

"I beg your pardon?" She couldn't believe her ears.

Rob chuckled. "You heard me."

"I'm not sure I heard you correctly. Could you repeat what you said?"

"I said I want to know what to do with my hard-on."

"Why are you asking me?" she asked incredulously. "Don't you use your hand or something?"

"Yeah, but it just takes the edge off it. It doesn't satisfy me. I miss you, Jess."

She melted. "I miss you, too."

Rob groaned. "I knew calling you would make it worse," he said with a lace of humour. "Anyway, one more week to go before I see you again. Make sure you have nothing else on for next weekend but me."

"Okay," she said with a giggle. "I'll be completely naked, with only you on me - and in me."

"Fuck. Jess, don't torture me," Rob responded, sounding choked.

"Sorry. Anyway, what time do you arrive next Saturday?" she asked, changing the subject. The conversation was becoming too hot for her to handle. She was in danger of pleading for some phone sex - which she'd never done in her life - but she was still too shy for it.

"As you know, I'm stopping at Canberra on Friday night. If I leave there just after breakfast, I should get to my apartment in the city around midday. Say, would you like to meet me at the apartment?"

"Sure. What time do you want me there?"

"All the time," he said lasciviously.

She laughed. "You know what I mean."

"How about twelve-thirty and we can have lunch together?"

"Sounds good." She was grinning from ear to ear. Rob was talking like a boyfriend. Her boyfriend.

"Oh, and bring an overnight bag."

"Okay."

"Great." Rob paused before continuing salaciously. "Just so you know, as soon as I get off the phone, I'll be putting my hand to good use. What about you, baby?"

She spluttered in laughter again. "You're shocking."

"What? First, you called me terrible and now you're calling me shocking? Now I can't wait to prove myself to you again."

She closed her eyes as her body clenched deliciously in response. "Well, you've got a lot of proving to do." She heard her yearning.

Rob's tone turned soft and serious. "I can't wait for next week, babe. See you, then."

"See you."

*******

Rob was frowning intently at the graph on his laptop screen when his office phone buzzed. He shook his head in exasperation. He'd given Rose, his PA, instructions not to put any calls through. He was leaving for Sydney tomorrow. If he kept getting interrupted, he wouldn't finish what needed to get done.

"Yes, Rose?" He tried not to sound too annoyed.

"Your girlfriend's on the line, Rob. I know you said to take messages but I thought you might want to take this call?"

He smiled. He had turned off his mobile phone, too, to avoid distractions. But of course, he'd love to talk to Jessa. He wondered why she rang. "Yes, put her through. Thanks, Rose."

"Hi, baby," he greeted her.

"Hi, handsome," a sultry voice droned. "I'm glad it was just my imagination when I thought you didn't want to talk to me."

"Andrea?" he asked in shock.

"Yes. Did you think I was someone else?" Andrea's voice turned from sultry to sharp.

"Um …" He tried to clear his head. When Rose said it was his girlfriend, he just assumed it was Jessa. But he now remembered Rose didn't know about Jessa and she also didn't know he'd broken up with Andrea. It was an understandable mistake from his PA. He felt foolish.

"Sorry, Andrea. Yes, I did think you were someone else." He had no problems being direct. He'd learnt a long time ago it was easier and quicker to make women accept that he was ready to move on from them if he was upfront and didn't pussy-foot around.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

"Looks like you've found a replacement for me," Andrea finally responded, her tone light. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"You don't know her," he replied warily.

Andrea gave a throaty laugh. "Come on, Rob. Just because we've broken up doesn't mean we also stopped being friends. We were good friends before we started our little arrangement."

He contemplated for a few seconds before answering her. "She's from Sydney."

"Sydney? Why so far away? Or is she a
Sydney
girlfriend only? If she is, you know I'm still interested in being your Melbourne girlfriend." Andrea's voice was teasing.

He rubbed his face with his hand. He so didn't want to have this conversation with Andrea right now. "I'll be living in Sydney for four months, Andrea. So I only need a Sydney girlfriend. That's why I also have to go, as I'm really busy. There's so much I have to get done before I leave tomorrow."

"Oh, I see. Four months. Hmm. Hey, it would be great if we can catch up for dinner or something in Sydney. I'll be going there again in a couple of months to visit some new friends I made. Two of them are lifeguard hunks on Bondi beach that will give you a run for your money in the looks department," she giggled. "I'd visit sooner but dad has filled my diary with business stuff for the next two months. So I'll call you when I'm there, okay?"

"Ah, okay," he sighed.

"So, what's her name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Why are you so cagey? The names of my lifeguards are Drake Spencer and Tom Burley. They're both blonds with super fit bodies. You should see how they look on those Speedos. Oh, my God! Hot, I tell you."

He laughed and started relaxing. This was the Andrea he became good friends with. It appeared he didn't have to worry about her acting like a jilted lover. And she was right. They were good friends before they hooked up. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to catch up with her every now and again.

"You know I'm not into male lifeguards in Speedos. Do you know any female lifeguards in those skimpy bathing suits?" he joked.

"Ha! The real Rob I know is back. Thank God!" she said dramatically. "Unfortunately, my full concentration was on the men, but I'll find a female one ready to introduce to you when I see you in Sydney."

He chuckled. "Thanks, but I already have a girlfriend, remember? Just focus your time on your two hunks. I'm fine."

"So, you've got an exclusive agreement with her?" Andrea asked nonchalantly.

"Yes."