by J. S. Cooper
“No.” I checked the time on my phone. “For once, you’re exactly on time.”
“Thank God for that. I tried my very hardest to make sure I wasn’t late.”
Jack looked surprised. “You’re usually always late to everything.”
“Yeah, but that’s not professional. I wanted to show you I’m serious.” Lucas sat down, and I noticed he had a pile of folders in his hand. “I created a business plan. It’s not that good, but it’s the best I could do.” He handed it to Lucas and then he handed a folder to me. “Sorry, I haven’t been in touch much recently, Isabella, I’ve been working on this really hard.”
“No worries. Good for you.”
I was impressed. I’d never seen Lucas so focused. I mean, I knew we talked about the coffee shop, and we talked about how exciting and amazing it would be. But I hadn’t been really sure that he genuinely wanted this and would work hard for it. As I opened the folder, I realized that I hadn’t given him enough credit. He’d put a lot of work into this. I looked over to study Jack as he read the paperwork and could tell he was also impressed. He looked up and nodded at his cousin.
“You really should come and work for the company, Lucas. You have a fine eye for business.”
“You think so?” Lucas seemed happily surprised. “I mean, I did a lot of research, and I wanted to make sure that I got all the information as best as I could, but I wasn’t sure I did a great job.”
“You did an amazing job, better than some of the executives at the company.” Jack nodded. “I’m impressed.”
“Wow. I never thought I’d hear that from you.” Lucas beamed with pride. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, I wanted to discuss some options with you guys,” Jack said.
“Options?” I asked curiously.
“I found a couple of different buildings.” Jack looked excited. “And I figured seeing as you two will be in the space, we need to find the location and the building that will work best for you.”
“So, this is going ahead?” Lucas’s jaw dropped. He was super excited and I could feel the blood rushing through my veins as well. This was really going ahead.
“Yeah, that’s why I wanted both of you here,” Jack said. “I know that this is important to both of you guys. And I know that it’s going to be a coffee shop as well as an art gallery, so we need to find a space that works for both, correct?”
I looked over at Lucas, who nodded. “Yeah.”
“So how do you guys envision the space? Two distinct separate entities or sort of cohesively working together?”
“Well,” Lucas said, “I see it as more cohesive. Like, I see you walking in, and directly to the left there being an art wall full of beautiful pieces of art. Centrally located will be Isabella’s pieces, but also other local artists and students from the class.”
“Oh, that’s an amazing idea.” I nodded. “The students would really love that.”
“Right?” Lucas was excited. “And then we’d have some tables right there, where people can drink and eat. And then to the right, we’d have more tables. And past those tables, we’d have one large wooden desk where people could do their art classes.”
“That sounds doable, so we’re definitely looking for a very specific type of space.” Jack looked thoughtful.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“When are you guys available to go and look at some places?” Jack asked.
“I’m available all week. What about you, Isabella?”
“Yeah, I’m available pretty much all week. I just have to check my schedule.” Just then, my phone started beeping. I hesitated.
“You can answer that,” Jack said with a grin.
“Oh, I didn’t want to be rude.” It was a business meeting after all.
“It’s okay. We’re not in a boardroom or anything. You can answer your phone.”
I pulled my phone out of my handbag and saw that it was a bunch of text messages from Max. I chewed on my lower lip as I read them; he was asking me to dinner. I was about to respond when I looked up and I realized that Jack staring at me. There was a weird expression in his eyes.
“Are you going to answer that?” he said. His face had darkened, his mood changing completely.
“Umm, just really quick.” I texted back, “Not sure about tonight, but maybe this weekend.” I quickly put my phone back into my bag, Jack still staring at me.
“So, if everyone’s done with their personal calls, maybe we can continue with the business talk.”
I wanted to point out how unfair that was since he was the one who had told me to answer the phone in the first place, but I kept my mouth shut. He’d been pretty nice this entire time, and I didn’t want to antagonize him.
“So actually, I had an idea,” I said, thinking quickly.
“Oh?” Jack said. “What’s the idea?”
“Well, I have some of my supplies because I just came from a class, and I figured, what about I give you both a really quick lesson. Show you one of the classes I would teach in the coffee shop.”
“I don’t know …” Lucas glanced at Jack.
“Hmm, sounds interesting. I’d be down,” he said.
“I really actually have to go,” Lucas said. “I have other plans, but maybe another time.”
“Okay, sure. We can do it another time.”
“No,” Jack said. “I’d like to do it today. If Lucas doesn’t mind, you can give me the class by myself.”
I looked over at Lucas, begging him with my eyes to say no. I didn’t want to be stuck with Jack alone.
“Okay, sounds good to me.” Lucas grinned. “I have a pretty important call to take right now. Can I come back to this conversation in half an hour? Or are we done for now?”
“It’s fine, Lucas, you can go,” Jack assured him. “Thanks for this. I’ll look over the paperwork.” He held the folder up. “And then I’ll start sending you guys some real estate listings.”
“Great.” Lucas jumped up and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Lovely seeing you as always, Isabella. I will see you later, okay?”
“Okay.” I glared at his back, not believing that he’d left me.
“So, I guess it’s just the two of us now,” Jack said with a wicked smile. When he smiled like that, I could see the dimple in his right cheek. It was adorable, which was a weird word to describe Jack. With all his hunky sexiness, “adorable” wasn’t the first word that came to mind to describe him, but it worked.
“I guess so,” I agreed.
“Unless you have to go?”
“No, I don’t have to go anywhere.”
“Didn’t Max ask you out to dinner tonight?”
“Maybe,” I said, annoyed that he’d read my messages.
“And are you going?”
“I really don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“Really? Okay.”
“I don’t understand you, Jack,” I finally said.
“What’s there to understand?”
“You’re so interested in my love life, and in my business, and what I’m doing. And yet you have this wall up. That first night we met, you said I had my defenses up, but so do you. I just don’t know where you’re coming from. I don’t know what you want for me. I see you out and you ignore me, and you flirt and dance with other women—”
“I wasn’t flirting and dancing with other women. What do you mean other women? Was there a woman in the first place?”
“Me. I was there.”
“You were there with Max. Seems like you and Max are dating now or whatever.”
“We’re not dating. I met him for drinks, and he invited me to dinner.”
“Have you kissed him?”
“Excuse me?” I couldn’t believe he was asking me this question, but even more so I didn’t really want to answer him, because no, Max and I hadn’t kissed and I didn’t want to kiss him, but I didn’t want Jack to know that.
He leaned towards me. “Have you g
uys kissed?”
“What?”
“Has he kissed you like this?” He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me towards him, pressing his lips to mine. He kissed me softly, passionately, his fingers playing with my hair as his tongue played with my mouth, ravishing me as he kissed me.
Finally, he let me go, a smug smile on his face. “Has he kissed you like that? Have you felt the way you feel right now with him?” He chuckled and stood up. “I sincerely doubt it.”
“What?” I mumbled as I stared up at him, not knowing what to say.
“There’s no need to answer me, Isabella. I can already tell I’ve left you breathless. Now I’m just going to go and get some water and then you can give me that lesson, okay?”
I just nodded dumbly, feeling completely and utterly lost.
That kiss had been the best kiss of my life. And he was right, no one had ever kissed me like that before, no one had ever made me feel the way that he made me feel. And yet he still hadn’t let me in, he still hadn’t answered any of my questions. He’d completely deflected everything. He had so many walls up that I didn’t even know how high I’d have to climb to get over any of them.
As I sat there waiting for him to come back, I realized just how much I liked him. Just how much I wanted him to let his walls down. Just how much I really wanted to see who he was inside.
He was more than a pretty face. He was more than a handsome billionaire. This was a man with depth, with layers. And as an artist, I wanted to peel back every single one of them and see who he truly was inside.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“So, Isabella, how was it?” Abby greeted me as soon as I walked in the front door.
“It was fine.” I eyed her suspiciously. “Why are you waiting for me?”
“I was just curious because I know you were going to see Jack again today.”
“Yeah. I actually gave him a lesson.”
“Ooh, you gave him a lesson in the bedroom?”
“No, goofy. An art lesson.”
“Wow. You gave him an art lesson? How did that go?”
“Surprisingly, it was pretty good. He seemed to enjoy it.”
“Awesome! So, you’re friends with him now? You like him?”
“It’s so complicated. I just don’t understand him, you know. He’s like this really tall, really good looking, really rich guy, and he’s an asshole on the surface, but underneath it all, he seems like a really sensitive, caring man, and … I don’t know, I just wish he’d open up to me.”
“You sound like you really like him.”
“I mean, I guess I like him? I think he’s…” I sighed, “Girl, I just don’t even know what to think anymore. I feel like I’m kind of falling for him, which I mean, makes sense because I’ve slept with him, but it also doesn’t make sense because neither of those two meetings were great.”
“They weren’t great, but you had a connection with him, right? I mean, obviously, you guys are attracted to each other, or you wouldn’t have slept with each other.”
“Yeah, but you need more than that in a relationship, you know? Not that he’s looking for a relationship or anything. I mean, I know that he’s not.”
“What do you mean you know that he’s not? How do you know that he’s not? I mean, you met him on a dating app.”
“Yeah, but a lot of people are on dating apps and aren’t looking for relationships.”
“Have you ever asked him what he’s looking for?”
“I guess not. I mean, we pretty much ruled each other out after the first date.” I shrugged. “It wasn’t great, remember?”
“It was great enough for you to go back to his apartment.”
“Yeah, but that was a sex thing. Men can have sex and have it not mean anything. So can women, I guess …”
“But you’re not one of those women, Isabella.”
“I guess I’m not.” I sighed. “Anyway, you start your job on Monday, right?”
“Yep. I’m excited! But I’m a little bit nervous.”
“What do you mean? Why are you nervous?”
“So, my new boss …”
“Yeah.”
“He’s already been sending me messages, and I feel like the rumors might be true.”
“What do you mean you feel like the rumors might be true?”
“Girl, he’s already acting like a bit of an asshole.”
“Oh no. Why? What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to get you upset.”
“Why would I be upset? He’s not my boss.”
“I know,” she laughed. “I mean, I don’t want to get myself upset again reading the emails out loud.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I know I was excited the other day, but my excitement is fading. I have a feeling he’s going to be a jackass.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Well, I mean, we don’t know for sure. And I’m praying that he won’t be, but …” she shrugged. “You know what they say.”
“No. What do they say?”
“Prayers don’t always work.”
“Who says that?” I laugh. “I’ve never heard that before in my life.”
“I don’t know. I just made it up.” She shrugged. “Do you want to grab some dinner tonight?”
“Yeah. I think that would be really good.”
“Do you want to stay in or go out?”
“I don’t mind. What were you thinking?”
“Maybe we’ll stay in?”
“Thank God you said that.”
“Why didn’t you say you wanted to stay in?”
“I mean, just in case you wanted to go out.”
“Oh, Isabella, you’re such a good friend, but if you’ve had a long day, which it seems like you had, we should just chill.”
“What about Emma and Chloe, are they going to join us?” I asked her. “I haven’t really seen them around much.”
“I think they’re actually going to something on Coney Island. I’m not really sure what it is, but it didn’t sound like they were going to be back tonight.”
“Oh, okay. So just you and me then. Yay! It’ll be fun. Girls’ night in.”
“Yay to girls’ night.” My phone started ringing then. Abby looked at me. “Who’s that?”
“Not sure,” I said, hoping it wasn’t Max. I looked down at the screen and I saw that it was Jack calling me. “Speak of the devil. It’s Jack,” I said.
“Ooh, what does he want?”
“I don’t know.”
Abby looked eager. “Well, answer him! Find out.”
“Yeah, I guess I should, huh?”
“Yeah, you should.” Abby flapped her hands impatiently at me.
I answered the call. “Hello?”
“Hey, Isabella. It’s me, Jack.”
“I know.”
“I just wanted to thank you for today. I had a good time.”
“I’m glad.”
“What are you up to right now?”
“Not much. I just left you about an hour ago.”
“Are you staying in?”
“Why?”
“I was just curious.”
“Are you trying to find out if I’m meeting Max?”
“No. Why would I be trying to do that?”
“I don’t know why you’d be trying, but—”
“I thought maybe we could hang out?”
“Sorry. I’m actually hanging out with my roommate tonight.”
“I see.”
“I mean, you can come over if you want.” I looked at Abby, hoping she’d understand. Her eyes widened, but she grinned and nodded. “I mean, it’s okay with my roommate. We were just going to grab dinner and maybe watch a movie or something. You could join us if you want. Or not.”
“I’d love to join if you’re sure your roommate wouldn’t mind.”
“No, she wouldn’t mind.”
“So … will you text me your address?”
“Okay. I’ll text
it to you right now.”
“Sounds good. Is there anything I can bring?”
“Maybe a bottle of wine.”
“Sounds good. And did you want me to pick up some pizzas and bring them as well?”
“That would be amazing. I definitely wouldn’t say no.”
“Okay. Well, just text me what you guys want, and I will bring them over.”
“Awesome. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He hung up, and I stared at Abby, not really sure what had just happened.
“Did you just invite the Jack Morrison to our house?” she gasped.
“Yeah, I think I did.”
“What’s going on, Isabella?”
“Honestly, I really don’t know. I am in as much shock as you are.”
“He likes you, girl.”
“No, he doesn’t like me. I think he just wants to—”
“He likes you,” she cut me off. “Why is he coming over to our house if he doesn’t like you? Why is he checking up on you?”
“He wanted to see if I was going out with Max.”
“Why does he care if you’re going out with Max? If he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t even care, girl. Trust me. I know men.”
“Maybe he’s just one of those guys that doesn’t like when women are with other people or—”
“He likes you. Now you’ve just got to figure out if he’s worth liking back.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there are some guys that are obnoxious because they’ve been hurt or because they don’t know how to interact with women. And then there are other guys who are just jerks. You need to figure out which one of the two he is, because …” she paused.
“Why did you stop?”
“I just wanted to make sure I had your full attention.”
“Oh my gosh, Abby, you really are a drama queen.”
“No, I’m not. I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.”
“I am paying attention. Now tell me what you were going to say.”
“I was going to say that if he’s the right sort of guy, then go for it.”
“Go for what?”
“Go for him. I have a good feeling about this guy.”
“What do you mean you have a good feeling about this guy?”
“I think he could be the one for you.”
