Take Me - A Bad Boy Steals a Bride Romance

by Layla Valentine

  Jackson smiled widely. “They didn’t.”

  “What?”

  “I gave them to a shelter. They said they’d have enough dessert for the next three months.”

  Jada was speechless.

  Edmund nodded gently. “Yes, well…” He hesitated a moment. “Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  Chapter Nine

  The following morning, Jada had another important client meeting scheduled, and of course Matheson decided to sit in on it. He still didn’t trust her after the snafu the other day.

  To Jada’s enormous relief, the meeting went by without any trouble, and the client actually liked the projections her team had drawn up. They had worked so hard on them, and she’d hate it if they had done all that work for nothing.

  Back at her desk, Jada opened the customer file of a client who still had some time on their account. Things were going fine so far, and she didn’t have another meeting with them until well after her and Jackson’s “ceremony.” The comments inside left by the customer were the same old, same old. “This is very important to the company,” “we’re experts in the field,” and “no curse words.” She’d never been a huge fan of her job, and lately it seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

  With a bit of free time to kill, Jada took out a pad of sketch paper she kept hidden in her desk. Beneath it was her good pencil and eraser, and neither had seen any action in a while. She moved her keyboard out of the way and set the blank pad face up. The white stared back at her longingly. Fill me, it cried, desperate to have the lines and curves of some beautiful image breaking up the monotony of all that white.

  Jada sharpened the pencil and held it at the ready over the page. Inspiration was hard to come by lately. Well, more like since she’d graduated. A big fat nothing filled her mind, but then she saw them: deep, penetrating eyes that looked deep into your soul. She began to sketch them out, leaving the face that held them blank.

  Her pencil danced across the page, and Jada soon found herself enthralled by the power of her artwork. The eyes were a bit of a challenge, the image in her brain demanding to be absolutely perfect. Several times, she had to erase a section and try it again. Each swoop of her pencil scratched graphite onto the white paper, and the eyes slowly came into being.

  His eyes.

  As soon as Jada realized what she was drawing, she froze. There they were in front of her, those eyes that commanded and stood as hard as cold ice. That was what the sketch was missing. The blue of that icy glare couldn’t be replicated with only a pencil. Her hand back in the drawer again, Jada groped around for the small set of colored pencils she’d hidden.

  Retrieving them, she got to work, shading the eyes to their pristine blue. She needed each of the colors to truly recreated the oceanic stare. The deep cerulean for the edges and darker flecks surrounding the pupil; light sky blue for the flashes as light hit them. In those areas, white would help to create the reflection and shimmer.

  Jada’s hand worked away, and the eyes slowly took on the life and personality of their owner. She hadn’t been this excited to draw in, well, ever. Something about that stare, that face, filled her with an inspiration she didn’t want to examine too closely. His blues just filled her up. The sketch became more alive with the addition of a nose bridge and eyebrows, and soon she was fleshing out the structure of his face.

  The straight lines of his nose and jaw met with the curves of his cheeks and lips. The light stubble on his chin even made an appearance. She shaded as if a light were just to the right, the shadows gently falling on his left side and making her fingers dirty from blending.

  And then suddenly it was finished. His face stared back at her, and a small, barely noticeable smirk kissed his lips. Jada recreated a face she’d only seen a few times in exacting detail, and even in rough pencil his beauty showed through.

  The sound of her phone ringing brought her out of concentration.

  She reached for the handset, her eyes still fixed on his face. “Hello.”

  “Hey, chica. You’re supposed to brief us on next week, remember?”

  It was Chelsea, and she was right. The weekly briefing was scheduled for 3 p.m. Was it really time already? How long had she spent on the sketch? Jada had completely lost track of time, which was unlike her. If someone had come in and seen her so engrossed in not-work, she’d have been in trouble, again.

  “Sorry. Just running a bit behind. I’ll be right there.”

  Jada hung up and picked up the portrait. With lingering fingers, she slid the image into her hidden cache. She laid it as flat as she could and placed the supplies back on top of it. Even as she stood to leave, the thought of the picture in her desk made her heart pound.

  Chapter Ten

  They didn’t have anything scheduled, but Edmund shot over an email the following afternoon proposing a quiet dinner at some fancy restaurant. It was going to eat a day out of her weekend, which prompted Jada to suggest something else. Instead of playing the email game, Jada just called his office.

  Evelyn answered. “Mr. Hays’ office. How can I help you?”

  “Hello, Evelyn. It’s Jada. Would you inform Mr. Hays that I have a status report that will affect this weekend’s sorting plans? I can discuss it with him now.”

  The grumble from Edmund’s assistant was almost unheard, but Jada, who was sitting in a quiet office, was able to make it out. Someday, she thought, the two of us will have to have this out.

  “Just a second.”

  Evelyn put Jada on hold and then returned a few minutes later. “I’ll patch you over.”

  More grumbles, and then Jada was connected to the CEO.

  “What’s this about a status report?” He sounded confused.

  “I was just making it sound official. About this weekend—I have a different plan in mind.”

  “Oh, and what’s that?”

  “Look, you’re costing me a day out of my weekend, and I refuse, refuse, to put on fancy clothes on a Saturday. We can meet up, but I say we go to the trolley stop near my house and ride it downtown. We can walk around and chat, and I won’t need to worry about meeting some restaurant’s dress code. Sound good?”

  “Sure. I’ll see you then.”

  They hung up, and Jada checked off another victory on her mental scoreboard.

  Saturday came and, as discussed, Jada met Edmund at the trolley stop. He was still wearing a button-down, but at least the guy had put on jeans. Jada, on the other hand, was wearing her favorite baseball tee. The thing was so old and worn that patches of it were see-through, but that was where sports bras came in handy. The black sleeves went three-quarters of the way down her arms, and the white center was far less pristine than it had been in its original state. She had paired the shirt with some torn-up jeans that had holes in the knees and a few other places, plus a missing pocket. Her sneakers were the only thing that looked clean-ish, and that was only because she’d taken care to wipe them off before she’d left.

  “Hey,” Jada said, walking up to Edmund. “You still look like you could go to a business meeting. Don’t do casual very much, do you?”

  Edmund examined himself. “I guess not. I don’t have the occasion most days.”

  “What do you mean? You don’t work on weekends, do you?”

  Edmund turned and faced the trolley stop with her as they waited for it to come their way.

  “Sometimes, though it’s not regular. I just don’t go out much. I’m usually at work or at home, thinking about work.”

  “The absolute horror. You should give yourself weekends, dude! Humans were not meant to work that much.” Jada’s hands gave emphasis to her disgust.

  “Well, when a deal needs to be finalized, you do whatever it takes.”

  “And that is so clearly why I’ll never be a CEO. I could never sacrifice my days off just for some deal. Weekends are my time, and it’s sacred. I need time to refresh my brain and my spirit. I’ll burn out otherwise.”

  “I guess I
can see that. I don’t have much of a social life to speak of, so there isn’t much to give up if a client needs me after hours.”

  “Well that, fine sir, has got to change. And our first stop to enjoying some weekend time has arrived.”

  The trolley pulled up, and Jada hopped on like a princess in tennis shoes. Edmund followed at a slower rate and took the seat next to her.

  “I haven’t ridden this in years. We used to go as kids when the children’s home let us have city days, but it’s been a while.”

  “I know it’s not fast and it doesn’t stop everywhere in the city, but that’s kind of the point. I want to slow down on the weekend—relax and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.”

  Jada leaned back and put her arms over her head as the bumpy ride guided them through the extreme hills of San Francisco, right to the heart of the downtown area.

  They were mostly quiet on the way there, only chatting a little about how old Jada’s shirt was. She informed Edmund that it had originally been her father’s, and she’d inherited it when she’d stolen it from him. He laughed at that, and Jada said it was one of the few perks of not being so girly: free clothing could come from anywhere.

  When the trolley pulled to its stop, Jada and Edmund hopped off and decided to see where their feet took them.

  “Do you always make decisions like that?” Edmund seemed both charmed and confused by her system for making a 50-50 choice.

  “With eenie meenie miney mo? Yes, most of the time. It’s the only true way to be unbiased about a decision, and I don’t trust coins. Plus, I never have any.”

  Edmund laughed with a genuineness that Jada was growing truly fond of. He seemed like a split personality when he was out with her like this: Edmund the soft and kind, and Jackson the cold and impersonal. Big E was definitely better in her opinion.

  They walked from the stop toward a record store Jada had been to only a few thousand times. The smell inside filled her nostrils with nostalgia and dust. She loved this place, right down to the bigger-than-it-should-be section devoted to early ‘90s industrial. As she walked over, the clerk at the counter said hey.

  “Hey, Jim. Just showing my friend here your awesome selection.”

  He smiled at her and returned to reading his latest book; this one looked like Kafka. Edmund followed her to the back and scanned the shelves. He seemed overwhelmed, and his eyes struggled to find a place to land. He eventually chose to settle them back on Jada, and she giggled.

  “Have you been in a record store before?” Jada began flipping through section 0-B.

  “No.” He shrugged. “You continue to take me to places with which I’m not familiar.” Edmund looked over her shoulder and stared down at the records as she flipped through them. He was standing very close.

  “With which I’m not familiar? Talk like a human, robot-man.” Jada pulled out a live recording of A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms. She had been searching for it for a long-ass time and wasn’t passing up the opportunity to snag herself some swag.

  “Sorry. So you like…” He read the title. “A Perfect Circle?”

  “I do, but I don’t think you’d appreciate them in a wedding scenario.” Jada pinched the record under her arm and resumed her flipping.

  “Do you want me to hold that for you?” Edmund held his hand out for the record.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Within a few minutes, Jada had picked out a handful of records and Edmund’s arms were full with a varied selection of music. He started looking closer at what she chose.

  “‘Walking on Sunshine’? This doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of your choices. And it’s a single.” Edmund cocked a crooked grin at her.

  “What can I say? I’ve always liked it. There’s just something about how happy the song is that makes me happy too. Plus, you can dance like an idiot to it.” Jada laughed at herself, and Edmund chimed in with his own chuckle.

  “I know it’s really poppy and totally ridiculous, but sometimes that’s what you want.”

  “I’m not judging, really. I like it, too. Though I don’t really have the chance to listen to music most days. I’m on the phone all the time.” Edmund slumped a little.

  “Closing billion-dollar deal after billion-dollar deal?” Jada nudged him lightly in the ribs.

  “Ugh, yes, usually.” He rubbed at the spot like it had actually hurt, and the playful shove he returned sent Jada into the nearest rack with a gentle bump. The rack wobbled a little, and Jim looked up from his book, less than amused.

  “And with that, I think it’s time to go. You can pick the next store.”

  Jada and Edmund headed over to the counter, and Jim rang up her records. She paid him with the cash she’d been saving, silencing Edmund as he attempted to offer to pay. She was a big girl, she told him, and she was perfectly capable of paying for her own records—but he was more than welcome to treat her to another cocoa or tea.

  The sun shone down as Jada and Edmund exited the record store. Jada was in a thoroughly good mood thanks to her purchases, not to mention the joy at seeing Edmund out in the real world. When they were clear of the doorway, Jada stopped and let the sunlight hit her face. She paused a moment to enjoy the vitamin D maker, and it warmed her to the core.

  “What are you doing?” Edmund said, turning to look at her.

  “Absorbing some rays. You can never pass up a moment to have your face warmed by the sun. There’s really nothing like it.”

  Edmund moved next to her and mimicked her position. The sun greeted them both, and after a second or two, Jada announced that it was time for a drink. They walked down the block a bit farther, to one of Jada’s favorite tea spots. They brewed Asian-style teas and had an adorable outdoor seating area with a secret seesaw in the rear. Edmund insisted on paying, and Jada teasingly asked if this was supposed to be a date.

  “I’m trying to be a gentleman. Stop poking fun at me.”

  As Jada turned to go outside, she held their order number aloft and yelled, “Never!”

  She heard light chuckling behind her as she found her favorite table untaken. The round metal table was crafted in filigree, and the chairs around it looked like fancy fairy thrones complete with swooping backs made out of curved metal. The table was also painted turquoise, because no one here was going to settle for black.

  Edmund joined her at the table and sat with his back facing the sun. Smart for his face, but his neck was going to regret it after a bit. Jada sat partly in the shade, but the sun warmed her feet nicely.

  When the waiter brought out their teapot and cups, Jada thanked him and took the responsibility of pouring out two small mugs of tea. They’d chosen oolong, and the sweet yet bitter smell wafted through the air around them.

  “So, I’m going to assume you’ve never tried this before,” Jada said as she set the teapot down.

  “Well, I’ve tried oolong tea before, but not here.” Edmund picked up his cup with his fingers and blew across the liquid’s surface.

  “Then you’re in for a treat. This place makes all their teas with a little something extra.”

  “Oh really, and what’s that?”

  As serious as she could, Jada said, “Crack.”

  Edmund froze mid-sip.

  “Oh my God, I was kidding.” Jada laughed to herself as Edmund choked down the hot mouthful of oolong.

  “Ugh, you suck.” He set down his mug and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

  “Yup. But really, I think they make great tea here because the folks working actually enjoy it. That can make all the difference in the world.”

  “What do you mean?” Edmund playfully scowled at Jada before she could make another joke.

  “Just that when you hate the work you’re doing, or even if you’re just doing it to get by and you don’t really care about it, it has a tendency to show in the final product. You have to love what you’re doing to really deliver the goods. Plus, when you love something, it doesn’t matter how exactly you’re doing it. J
ust being able to say that you got to do it that day makes you happy.”

  “I’ve never really thought about it that way. I always just used what people taught me and what I was good at to make money. I always assumed that was the goal for everyone, to make the most money. Now…”

  “Now, what?” Jada had finished her first cup and was pouring a second.

  “Now that I’ve met you, I realize most people just want to make enough to get by and have fun with those around them. They work to support themselves and their families, but being successful isn’t their main goal.”

  Jada paused a moment at the realization. It was strange to think that someone had really never been exposed to the life of working just because you had a family to feed. Edmund was alone and could spend all his money on himself and making more money. Jada wondered to herself if he was missing out, or if she was.

  “Well, to learning new stuff.” Jada lifted her full cup and waited for Edmund to join her in the toast. He did and smiled as they sipped together.

  When tea was over, Jada decided it was time to take Edmund to her other favorite place, a bookstore. They had to walk a bit farther this time, and the smell of the shops on the street filtered out around them. They passed an Indian restaurant making curry and a Jewish deli serving matzo ball soup. A coffee place had just started a fresh batch, and a seafood restaurant displayed the catch of the morning.

  “I really enjoyed the tea,” Edmund said from beside her.

  “You don’t come down here much, huh?”

  “I can’t. I work too much. Today is certainly a special occasion.”

  Jada cocked her head at him. “We’re just meandering.”

  “I know.” He looked over at her. “I like it.”

  As they reached the used bookstore, Jada took a deep breath. She was drunk on the smell instantly.

  “Ahh, amazing.”

  “The smell of old books?” Edmund looked skeptical.

  “Yes! It’s one of my favorites. Plus—cool scientific fact—the smell is made when the pectin in the pages breaks down. It releases a chemical odor similar to vanilla. So there.”