I realized he was giving me the privilege of being the first to find out what his next book was about and it pleased me to no end. He was confiding in me.
“Why a suspense thriller, though?” I asked slowly, putting down my plate. “Why not…an erotic suspense?”
He paused and threw me a look that spoke volumes of what he thought of that idea.
“That’s not my genre,” was all he said though.
I studied his profile and admired his physique as he took a drink out of a bottle of water, looking attractive in his jeans and black t-shirt. Hell, just watching him do that was seriously starting to increase my thirst level.
“Imagine if you did it though,” I said. “Your first erotic suspense novel. Readers would go wild.”
He lowered the bottle and laughed. “Yeah and my peers would give me the side-eye and seriously start to question my credibility.”
I gaped at his tone. “Oh my God. J. R. Knight is a snob. Don’t look down on content dealing with erotica. I mean, I love erotica in my books.”
Jude put the bottle back in the fridge and straightened. “You must not love mine, then.”
“Are you kidding me? I worship your writing. I mean, your books helped me get through-” I stopped and sat back suddenly, kicking myself for what I had been about to reveal just now. Talking about books with him was exciting me too much.
Jude regarded me pointedly but when I didn’t elaborate, he didn’t probe and instead asked, “Why do you want me to change what I write then? I’m not looking down at the genre. I get that there are some masterpieces out there and also a huge audience but my readers expect something out of me and many of them wouldn’t go near erotic novels with a ten-foot pole even if they are steeped with suspense. I don’t want to risk that. They’re patiently waiting for my next release and writing for a different audience this time is a bad move.”
I nodded at his explanation, feeling kind of disappointed that he expressed his creativity based off of other people’s expectations. I was slowly starting to understand how important his reputation as a credible author really meant to him. He wouldn’t risk anything to jeopardize that.
“I get it,” I mumbled. “I just thought…if anyone could make such a switch work, it would be you. The prompt sounds so intriguing and readers like me would love a little bit of erotica thrown in the mix. But it’s okay. I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is you produce.”
I gave him an encouraging smile while he watched me quietly.
“Thank you for the sandwich.”
He nodded and then went back upstairs to shut himself inside his office.
I spent most of the afternoon reading eBooks on medicine and heart surgeries, watching documentaries, brushing up on knowledge and trying to figure out how to gather the information Jude needed in the best way possible. He liked to read hard copies instead of electronic ones because he already stared at a computer screen for hours and the physical books were a nice change.
I needed to visit the library and get some more books. Shit just got complicated but I also felt like laughing a little. I was a freaking eighteen year old and got promoted to research assistant. It was ridiculous. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull off this next part of my fraud but I knew I was going to do a hell of a good job on that as well. Jude needed me. He trusted me. I wasn’t going to let him down.
He emerged from his writing cave just a little before five p.m, his hair all messed up and eyes tired. The energy was still there though. When he glanced over at me, he appeared slightly embarrassed for some reason.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind being ignored,” I told him with a smile and held up a book which I had taken from his downstairs shelf. “Just doing some research.”
“Hmm.” He walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket. Then he looked at me in that strange way again. I waited for him to say something but he just turned away and began to munch on the apple.
“Did I do something?” I mumbled, not really talking to him as I went back to the book. It was actually pretty interesting.
“What was that, Riley?”
I gave him a sideways glance but his back was turned to me as he ate. “Nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”
He finished eating the apple, threw the core in the trash and then walked over to me casually.
“I have dinner at my parents’ place tonight.”
I pushed my glasses up my nose and said, “Hey, you remembered.”
He put his head to the side, regarding me in amusement. “I’d never forget them. Are you doing anything? You could join us. There will be other writer friends of mine there. Maybe you could give them some of the advice you gave me earlier.”
I was gaping at him, unable to believe my ears. He wanted me to accompany him to his parents place for dinner? Whoa. Talk about a promotion.
“That’s okay. I appreciate the offer but I need to catch up on some reading.”
His brow puckered slightly. “That’s your excuse?” he questioned. “At least come up with a better one.”
I sighed. “It’ll be too weird?” I suggested slowly. “I don’t know anyone except you and Jennifer. And they’ll probably think it’s rude of you to invite me over at the last minute.”
Jude shook his head at me and put his hands inside his pockets. “Riley, now that I know you have no plans apart from burying your nose in a book, I’m going to insist that you join us. I look at you and I see a loner and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I really think you’d enjoy hanging out with us tonight. Also, my agent needs to meet you and she’s going to be there so…”
I thought about that for a minute. About the chance to spend the evening in this man’s company. I would probably kick myself later if I didn’t take him up on his offer.
“Will Jennifer be okay with it?” I asked tentatively, watching for his reaction.
Jude frowned. “Why would Jennifer’s reaction matter? It’s not a date. It’s a dinner with my family and friends.”
I blushed at his response and he widened his eyes a little and said, “I meant not a date as in between me and Jen, not you and I. Sorry.”
God, all this attention from him was starting to overwhelm me. And just the impossible idea of being on a date with him and having to look forward to his kisses and touch all night…
I stood up abruptly and Jude backed away a little.
“Thank you. Umm…I’d like to join you.”
He smiled at me then and nodded. “I’ll pick you up around seven. You can leave now. We’ll resume work from tomorrow. What’s your address again? God, I keep forgetting to look for it in your resume.”
I hesitated for a few seconds before giving him the address I had put on my CV. That place which I had chosen as my fake home was right next to the motel and I believed it was vacant at the moment. I hoped to God that would still be the situation till this evening at least.
As I said goodbye to him and left, I felt the first traces of guilt creeping inside my heart. I hated lying to him. The more he showed me his trust and treated me with kindness, the more I hated myself for being such a fraud. But Jude could never know my truth. Nobody could anymore.
Chapter 10
Wynter
His home was large and stately, set amidst acres of pine trees with a circular driveway, high security gates and a fountain to top it all off. Basically, the works. I felt nervous as I followed Jude and Jennifer inside, barely smiling as the introductions were made and starting to feel more than a little intimidated. Jude’s favourite question, ‘Why did I agree to this?’, kept wanting to burst out of my mouth.
Everyone at the dinner was over thirty, except for Jennifer who was around twenty-seven, I think. And they all had such distinguished jobs or careers whereas there was eighteen year old me, a criminal amongst royals. Jude’s parents were nice and all but they did raise their eyebrows subtly when Jude introduced me and I caught Jennifer giving them a long-suffering look. Either they we
re used to him making impulsive decisions or he was prone to bringing the occasional oddball to his dinner engagements.
The expensive bottle of wine I had carefully selected was ignored in favor of the more expensive stuff served at their table. Jude and I were seated next to each other, thank god for that because I felt like I needed some moral support. Jennifer sat on the other side of him and one of Jude’s writer friends was seated next to her. Opposite me, there was Ella and Phillipa, Jude’s agent who was the only one whose smile seemed genuine to me. And then another man who was a writer and Jude’s mother sat next to them with Mr. Knight senior right at the head of the table.
A party of nine. I was already bored and if it wasn’t for Jude’s electric presence next to me and Phillipa’s open-hearted and witty style of holding a conversation, I’d be dying to get out of there.
Jude nudged me with his elbow in a subtle gesture halfway through dinner which made me glance at him in surprise. Did he just touch me? Did he not understand what him touching me had the power to do? I guess not when he smiled at me a little and flicked an eyebrow at me, maybe to ask me if I was all right or just to let me know he remembered I was there. It made me blush and lower my eyes to my plate. I felt insanely attracted to him and the close proximity wasn’t helping. I could brush his thigh with mine if I shifted just a few inches. That was how close we were.
When I lifted my eyes a minute later, I caught Ella studying me with a narrow-eyed stare. I stared back at her, unperturbed. Jude wasn’t aware of Ella’s feelings but like called to like and I knew from day one that this woman was the real threat here. She wanted him. She may be a good friend and have a boyfriend of her own but I could tell she would not hesitate to move in on him if he and Jennifer ever broke up. She looked at him the same way I did. Like she wanted him to belong to her.
And Jude, my absent-minded idol, had no clue. Because Ella was smart and she knew that cultivating a friendship with him was in her best interests. Girlfriends could be temporary but friends got to stay in your life forever.
“Riley, is it?” The snake in her seemed to slowly rear its head as her green eyes glittered, promising me a good amount of unpleasantness. “Where are you from, originally?”
I couldn’t control the automatic bobbing of my throat at her question and she noted the movement. A lawyer, wasn’t she? Maybe she could detect the imposter in me already.
“Kansas,” I answered without thinking, naming a place which was as far away from my home state as possible.
Jude gave me a surprised look at that and so did Phillipa and some of the others.
“Really? Jude asked. “You’re from Kansas?”
I realized that I had made a mistake and Ella seized on that one blunder like the predator she was.
“You can’t be from Kansas, darling,” she drawled at me as everyone stared. “You don’t have the accent.”
I blinked and started to think fast, swallowing again, my fingers tightening around my fork. “Yeah, well. I was born there but then I had to move to Washington when I was just a toddler. My parents…umm…they got transferred there.”
Ella narrowed her eyes at me again. “Oh. That sounds interesting. What do your parents do exactly?”
I wished they would stop staring at me and scratched my neck a little, wondering what to tell her. “They…um…they teach at a high school in the suburbs. We…aren’t close anymore.”
I glanced at Jude as I said that and found him regarding me gravely, taking in the information. Did he believe me or was he also suspicious like his best friend?
“I’m sorry to hear that, Riley,” Ella spoke up again, taking my attention away from Jude. “But they’re your parents. I hope you work things out with them. I mean, they obviously cared enough to send their daughter off to Harvard. That must mean something.”
I blinked at her, feeling a little lost then. How did she know I had faked a Harvard degree on my resume?
“Harvard, wow,” Phillipa said and gave me a smile. “I went there too.”
I hoped she wouldn’t start asking me questions about the place because I had never set foot inside that campus in my life.
“It’s a great college,” was the only response I could think of.
Ella picked up her wine to take a sip out of it then. “It is, isn’t it?” she said to me, still keeping her eyes on me. “What year did you graduate? You seem a little too young. Early admission?”
I opened my mouth to tell her yes but Jude was the one who spoke this time.
“Ella. This isn’t your courtroom, you know.”
Everyone around the table went silent then. Even the clinking of glasses and utensils stopped. My eyes shifted to Jude’s profile and even though he had pasted a smile on his face, he sounded angry. I glanced back at his friend who was regarding him with a tiny amount of shock.
“I know that, Jude,” she replied, trying to laugh it off. “I was just making conversation.”
“You’re not making conversation, Ella. You’re making her uncomfortable,” he replied tautly.
This time, everyone was staring at him uncertainly, including me and Jennifer who didn’t look too pleased. As for Ella, she clamped up and busied herself with drinking her wine and when Jude shifted the attention away from me by starting a conversation with the man sitting next to Phillipa about one of his latest novels. I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in my chair.
I didn’t miss the cold glance Ella threw my way before starting to talk to Phillipa but I wasn’t really concerned about that. All I could think of was the way Jude had defended me. The way he’d shut her down when he realized I didn’t like being questioned this way. His best friend since God knows when.
Why did that turn me on like crazy? I mean, I wanted to kiss this guy all the time but that action of his made me want to kiss him even more in that moment. He had sounded so damn protective of me. I honestly couldn’t keep my eyes off him for the rest of that dinner even though I think Ella was the only one who actually noticed.
Chapter 11
Wynter
Friday was quite a busy day for me. While Jude was engrossed in writing his new book, I ran myself ragged trying to organize everything he would need for the interview he had that evening with Elias Stokes, the talk show host. The man was quite popular and his guests usually consisted of celebrities, politicians and authors. The audience was huge; millions of viewers with very high ratings for the show. Jude’s publishing firm, Hierchay, had decided that it would be a good idea to generate some publicity before his next book was out and since Phillipa had some commitments with another author in the city, she’d put me in charge.
Jude hated publicity but he agreed to attend these things because he claimed that he didn’t want to become some washed-up old author who had flourished in his twenties and then disappeared forever. He wanted to be right up there with the likes of Stephen King and John Grisham.
As if he could become a washed-up old author. No way was that ever going to happen. Jude was one of the best in the industry.
Phillipa had emailed me all the details of tonight’s event and told me to go over it with Jude. He’d done this sort of thing dozens of times before so there wasn’t much to go over except for some pre-written questions. At around five, Jennifer knocked on his office door and called out for him to get ready. She was eagerly planning to write an article based on the interview for her magazine and also get some additional clout since sharing details about dating a hot, successful writer was something her social media fans loved to lap up.
“You do have proper clothes for tonight, right?” she asked me when I stepped outside the office and began to make my way downstairs. Her eyes ran over me critically and I found myself wishing I could make myself smaller somehow. “Do you have a gym membership, by the way? I know this great one just down the road from where you live. The owner’s my friend. Let me talk to her for you and set something up.”
I wanted to strangle her. I did imagine it for a mom
ent as she continued to look me up and down in that condescending manner but then Jude appeared in the office doorway and said, “What’s cooking, ladies?”
He sounded so cheerful and I instinctively smiled at the sight of him in rumpled clothes, a day’s growth of stubble and untidy hair. His eyes shone with a fervor which only came when he wrote non-stop. He called it ‘the flow’.
“There is writing, Riley, which every author does and then there’s the flow,” he had told me this morning. “When words seem to flow out of your head and page after page gets effortlessly filled. That is my euphoria.”
“Are we going somewhere?” he asked in confusion when he finally noticed that Jennifer was all dolled up in a Coco Chanel dress with a full face of make-up paired with high heels, definitely looking like she stepped out of a Vanity Fair magazine.
“Jude,” she said in an admonishing tone and gaped at him in disbelief. “Your interview! Oh my God, I can’t believe this.” She shook her head and brushed past him, muttering, “Come upstairs and get dressed, please.”
He glanced over at me and winked and I realized that this time, he was actually joking and hadn’t forgotten the interview.
“I hate gym, by the way,” he told me sweetly. “And please don’t listen to her. You look beautiful.”
He said that and left and I just stood there and stared at the empty hallway, my heart filling up with emotions I could not articulate.
The interview was held at Suave Studios in Midtown Atlanta and we were there an hour early. Jude spent about twenty minutes in hair and make-up before prepping with the host backstage. The studio was packed and I didn’t know why I was so excited when he was the guest there. Maybe because I’d learned from Phillipa that the church appearance was the only public appearance he had made in weeks so this was a huge deal for the J. R. Knight fandom.
Girl Obsessed: A Dark Romance Page 7
