Master of Her Innocence (Bought by the Brazilian)

by Chantelle Shaw

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  Sleepless in Manhattan

  by Sarah Morgan

  PAIGE STOOD FOR a moment, thinking how unpredictable life was.

  Who would have thought that herself, Eva and Frankie losing their jobs would have turned out so well?

  Urban Genie existed only because life had laid a twist in her path.

  Change had been forced on her, but it had proved to be a good thing.

  Instead of fighting it, she should embrace it.

  What had Jake said?

  Sometimes you have to let life happen.

  Maybe she should try to do that a bit more.

  And maybe one day she’d look back and realize that not being with Jake was the best thing that could have happened—because if she’d been with Jake she wouldn’t have met—

  Who?

  Would she ever meet someone who made her feel the way Jake did?

  She stood leaning on the railing, gazing at the city she loved.

  The lights of Manhattan sparkled like a thousand stars against a midnight sky and now, finally, as the last of the guests made their way to the elevators, she allowed herself a moment to enjoy it.

  “Time to relax and celebrate, I think.”

  Jake’s voice came from behind her and she turned to find him holding two glasses of champagne. He handed her one. “To Urban Genie.”

  “I don’t drink while I’m working.” And while Jake was present this was definitely still work.

  She knew better than to lower her guard a second time.

  “The guests have gone. You’re no longer working. Your job is done.”

  “I’m not off duty until the clear-up has finished.” And then tomorrow would be the follow-up, the postmortem. Discussions on what they might have done differently. They’d unpick every part of the event and put it back together again. By the time they’d finished they’d have found every weak spot and strengthened it.

  “I don’t think one glass of champagne is going to impair your ability to supervise that. Congratulations.” He tapped his glass against hers. “Spectacular. Any new business leads?”

  “Plenty. First up is a baby shower next week. Not much time to prepare, but it’s a good event.”

  He winced. “A baby shower is good?”

  “Yes. Partly because the woman throwing it for her pregnant colleague is CEO of a fashion importer. But all business is good.”

  “Chase Adams is impressed. By tomorrow word will have got around that Urban Genie is the best event concierge company in Manhattan. Prepare to be busy.”

  “I’m prepared.”

  His praise warmed her. Her heart lifted.

  He stood next to her and the brush of his sleeve against her bare arm made her shiver.

  His gaze collided briefly with hers and she thought she saw a blaze of heat, but then he looked away and she did, too, her face burning.

  She was doing it again. Imagining things.

  And it had to stop.

  It had to stop right now.

  No more embarrassing herself. No more embarrassing him.

  She turned her head to look at him but he was staring straight ahead, his handsome face blank of expression.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For asking us to do this. For giving us free rein and no budget. For trusting us. For inviting influential people and decision-makers. For making Urban Genie happen.” She realized how much she owed him. “I hate accepting help—”

  “I know, but that isn’t what happened here. You did it yourself, Paige.”

  “But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. I’m grateful. If you hadn’t suggested it, pushed me that night on the terrace, I wouldn’t have done it.” She breathed in. Now was as good a time as any to say everything that needed to be said. And if she said it aloud maybe it would help both of them. “There’s something else—” She saw him tense and felt a flash of guilt that he felt the need to be defensive around her. Definitely time to clear the air. “I owe you an apology.”

  “For what?”

  “For misreading the situation the other night. For making things awkward between us. I was...” She hesitated, trying to find the right words. “I guess you could say I was doing an Eva. I was looking for things that weren’t there. I was close to panic and you were trying to distract me. I understand that now. I don’t want you feeling that you have to avoid me, or be careful around me. I’d never want that. I—”

  “Don’t. Don’t apologize.”

  He gripped the railing and she noticed his knuckles were white.

  “I wanted to clear it up, that’s all. It was a kiss. Didn’t mean anything. Two people trapped in an elevator, one of whom was feeling vulnerable.” Shut up right now, Paige. “I know I’m not your type. I know you don’t have those feelings. I’m like your little sister. I get that. So—”

  “Oh, for— Seriously?” He interrupted her with a low growl and finally turned to face her. “After what happened the other night you really think I see you as a little sister? You think I could kiss you that way if I felt like that about you?”

  She stared at him, her heart drumming a rhythm against her chest. “I thought— You said— I thought you saw me that way.”

  “Yeah, well, I tried.” He gave a humorless laugh and drained his champagne in one mouthful. “God knows, I tried. I’ve done everything short of asking Matt for a baby photo of you and sticking that to my wall. Nothing works. And do you know why? Because I do have feelings, you’re not little and you’re not my damn sister.”

  Shock struck her like a bolt of lightning.

  They were the only two people left on the terrace. Just them and the Manhattan night. The buildings rose around them—dark shapes enveloping them in intimate shadows and the shimmer of light.

  The storm clouds were gathering, creating ominous shadows in the dark sky.

  The sudden lick of wind held the promise of rain.

  Paige was oblivious. The sky might have come crashing down and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  Her mouth was so dry she could hardly form the words. “But if you feel that way, if you do have feelings, why do you keep saying—” She stumbled over the words, confused. “Why haven’t you ever done anything about it?”

  “Why do you think?”

  There was a cynical, bitter edge to Jake’s tone that didn’t fit the nature of their conversation. None of the pieces fitted. She couldn’t think. Everything about her had ceased to function.

  “Because of Matt?”

  “Partly. He’d kick my butt. And I wouldn’t blame him.” He stared down at his hands, as if they were something that didn’t belong to him. As if he was worried about what they might do.

  “Because you’re not interested in relationships—or ‘complications’ as you call them?”

  “Exactly.”

&
nbsp; “But sex doesn’t have to be a relationship. It can just be sex. You said so yourself.”

  “Not with you.”

  His tone was harsh and she took a step back, shocked. They’d often argued, baited each other, but she’d never heard that edge of steel in his voice before.

  “Why? What’s different about me?”

  “I’m not going to screw you and walk away, Paige. That’s not going to happen.”

  “Because of our friendship? Because you’re worried it would be awkward?”

  “Yeah, that, too.”

  “Too? What else?” She stared at him, bemused.

  He was silent.

  “Jake? What else?”

  He swore under his breath. “Because I care about you. I don’t want to hurt you. There’s already been enough damage to your heart. You don’t need more.”

  The first raindrops started to fall.

  Paige was still oblivious.

  Her head spun with questions. Where? What? Why? How much? “So you— Wait—” She struggled to make sense of it. “You’re saying that you’ve been protecting me? No. That can’t be true. You’re the only one who doesn’t protect me. When everyone else is wrapping me in cotton wool, you handle me as though you’re throwing the first pitch at a game.”

  He didn’t protect her. He didn’t. Not Jake.

  She waited for him to agree with her, to confirm that he didn’t protect her.

  He was silent.

  There was a throbbing in her head. She lifted her fingers to her forehead and rubbed. The storm was closing in—she could feel it. And not just in the sky above her.

  “I know you don’t protect me.” She tried to focus, tried to examine the information and shook her head. “Just the other night, when we found out we’d lost our jobs, Matt was sympathetic but you were brutal. I was ready to cry, but you made me so angry and—” She stared at him, understanding. She felt the color drain from her face. “You did it on purpose. You made me angry on purpose.”

  “You get more done when you’re angry,” he said flatly. “And you needed to get things done.”

  No denial.

  He’d goaded her. Galvanized her into action.

  “You challenge every idea I have.” She felt dizzy. “We fight. All the time. If I say something is black, you say it’s white.”

  He stood in silence, not bothering to deny it, and she shook her head in disbelief.

  “You make me angry. You do that on purpose. Because if I’m angry with you, then I’m not—” She’d been blind. She breathed hard, adjusting to this new picture of their relationship. The first boom of thunder split the air but she ignored it. “How long? How long, Jake?”

  “How long, what?” He yanked at his bow tie with impatient fingers.

  His gaze shifted from hers. He looked like a man who wanted to be anywhere but with her.

  “How long have you cared? How long have you been p-protecting me?” She stumbled over the word—and the thought.

  He ran his hand over his jaw. “Since I walked through the door of that damn hospital room and saw you sitting on the bed in your Snoopy T-shirt, with that enormous smile on your face. You were so brave. The most frightened brave person I’d ever seen. And you tried so hard not to let anyone see it. I have always protected you, Paige. Except for the other night, when I let my guard down.”

  But he’d been protecting her then, too. He’d been taking care of her when she’d been so terrified she hadn’t known what to do.

  “So you thought I was brave, but not strong? Not strong enough to cope alone without protection? I don’t understand. I thought you weren’t interested, that you didn’t want this, and now I discover—” It was a struggle to process it. “So this whole time you did care about me. You do.”

  Rain was falling steadily now, landing in droplets on his jacket and her hair.

  “Paige—”

  “The kiss the other night—”

  “Was a mistake.”

  “But it was real. It wasn’t because I was a pair of red lips in an elevator. All these days, months, years I’ve been telling myself you didn’t feel anything. All the time I’ve been confused because my instincts were so wrong and I couldn’t understand why. But now I do. They weren’t wrong. I wasn’t wrong.”

  “Maybe you weren’t.”

  “So why let me think that?”

  “Because it was easier.”

  “Easier than what? Telling me the truth? News flash—and, by the way, I thought you knew this—I don’t want to be protected. I want to live my life. You’re the one who’s always telling me to take more risks.”

  “Yeah, well, that proves you shouldn’t listen to anything I tell you. We should go inside before you catch pneumonia.”

  He eased away from the railings and she caught his arm.

  “I’ll go inside when I decide to go inside.” The rain was soaking her skin. “What happens now?”

  “Nothing. I know you don’t want to be protected but that’s tough, Paige, because that’s what I’m doing. I’m not what you’re looking for and I never have been. We don’t want the same thing. There’s a car waiting downstairs to take you and the other two home. Make sure you use it.”

  Without giving her a chance to respond, Jake strode away from her toward the bank of elevators and left her standing there, alone in the glittering cityscape, watching the entire shape of her life change. Another twist. Another turn. The unexpected.

  Don’t miss SLEEPLESS IN MANHATTAN by Sarah Morgan, available from HQN Books.

  Copyright © 2016 by Sarah Morgan

  ISBN: 9781488001024

  MASTER OF HER INNOCENCE

  Copyright © 2016 by Chantelle Shaw

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