Love Like You've Never Been Hurt, page 6
“Oh!” was all she could manage.
Pete laughed. “I’m so glad you’ve decided to take some time up here, Em. You need it.” She stared at him. “But you didn’t tell me,” he added.
She gave him a grudging smile. “I didn’t know myself until Ben and I saw Gramps this morning.” She looked at Jack. “So, you’re going to build him a house? Where?”
“Oh, you have to see it. It’s a gorgeous parcel on the north shore. It’s on a headland with only one other house up there....”
Ben and Missy both collapsed laughing. “Aunt Martha’s!” they chorused.
Pete grabbed her hand. “Dance with me Em.” He dragged her inside where the music had slowed and couples young and old swayed together
She looked up at him. “What the heck have you done?”
“Mouse, I’m sorry. What can I say? My best friend and partner is absolutely crazy about you and I happen to think he would be wonderful for you. Even so, knowing your weird hang-ups about men and relationships, I did not meddle...”
“Did not meddle?” she interrupted, “You just...”
He buttoned her lips together between his finger and thumb.
“Let me finish?” he laughed as her eyes bulged furiously at him. “Can I let go?” She nodded. “I did not meddle. In fact this afternoon I thought I was sending him away from you. That he’d be up here and not, in his own words, chasing you all over LA.”
“He said that?”
“I told you, he’s crazy about you. So you see, this really is not my fault and I can’t stand for my Mouse to be mad at me. Sometimes fate intervenes you know, Em. Even when we think we know better.”
Emma stared up at him. She couldn’t stay cross with him for long, and had never been able to.
“Still friends?” he asked.
“Always, Idiot.” She replied in a ritual they’d shared for over twenty years.
“Good,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry I had to drop it on you like that, but you have to admit it was too good not to.”
She slapped his arm and smiled. “I have to admit I’d have done the same to you given the chance, and I hope you realize I shall get you back whenever I can. So you’re really going to build on my headland?”
“Hell, yeah! We’re going to be neighbors, kiddo!”
“So, that man is going to be out there all summer?”
“That man is a very good man and you might want to give him a chance.”
For a moment she felt as afraid as she had all those years ago when their friendship first began. New kid in class, newly orphaned, hurting, alone and trusting no one. Pete held her a little closer.
“It’s OK, Em. You know I’ve always got your back. Not all men are like the asshole you married. You’re not going to go through that again.”
“But, Pete, that’s the point! I married an asshole and I thought he was wonderful. I adored him and he broke my heart. I am a terrible judge of character and I can’t be trusted. And no, I won’t go through that again, EVER!”
He tipped her chin and tried to make her smile by whirling her around the dance floor. She managed a weak smile.
“Mouse, you may be a terrible judge of character, but I’m not. I told you Rob was an asshole and I’m telling you Jack is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. But that’s all; I’m not telling you what to do with it. What matters most is that you enjoy your time up here. Rest, relax, get your sparkle back, OK? And if it’s really going to bother you, I’ll forget the house, not send him up here.”
“Oh, no Pete. I can stay out of his way. I want you to have your house, to spend more time here yourself. I’m sorry. I’m being silly.”
“It’s not silly, Em. I understand, just trust me, hey?”
Jack and Ben watched Pete dance with Emma. Missy had gone to check on Scott.
“Welcome to Summer Lake, then.” Ben slapped him on the back and smiled.
“Thanks, I’m not sure what to make of this though.”
“I’m not surprised, Pete just landed one on both of you!”
“Well, I can’t say it was an unpleasant surprise for me, but I’m not sure what Emma made of it.” The hurt and confusion in her eyes had touched him. “What’s the deal with her being so anti-men?”
Ben looked at him. “She’s not so much anti-men, as anti-relationships. She’s been hurt.”
“No shit!”
“Listen, you seem like a straight up guy to me. I’ll be happy to help out and hang out when you come up here. Hell, it’ll be good to have a new buddy around. But when it comes to Emma, I think she should be the one to talk to you about it, not me.”
“Fair enough,” said Jack, liking Ben even more.
“I will say though, that if you can make our Mouse happy, you’ll make me and Pete and a whole bunch of other people around here happy too.”
Jack smiled. “I’m going to try my damnedest to do that.” Standing up, he shook Ben’s hand. “Wish me luck!”
He tapped Pete on the shoulder. “May I cut in?” He raised an eyebrow, hoping that neither of them would refuse. Pete looked at Emma who gave a small nod. Pete stepped away. Jack placed a hand on the small of her back and offered her his other. She smiled as he led her around the floor.
“Ballroom?” she asked. “You do surprise me.”
“As I told you already, Miss Douglas, I am not the man you prejudged me to be. I am full of surprises. Good ones,” he added hastily. “Let’s just say I had to learn ballroom many years ago in order to help someone I care about very much.”
“A girlfriend?”
“My little brother actually, but that’s a story for another day.”
The music changed to a slow ballad and he dropped his hands to her waist, drawing her closer. He felt his heartbeat quicken as she placed a hand against his chest and looped the other up around his neck. He shifted a little, hoping she couldn’t feel how much she aroused him. Man, what was she doing to him? Whenever he’d danced with a woman like this before, the whole point had been to let her know how much she aroused him and move quickly on to what came next. Now here he was, slow dancing in a room full of teenagers and grandparents, hoping not to scare away this beautiful little Mouse.
“I didn’t know, you know,” he murmured next to her ear. She raised her eyes to meet his.
“I could tell, the shock on your face was almost as bad as mine.”
“Yeah, but for me it was a good shock.”
After a few moments silence he heard her say, “It was a good shock for me too.”
He held her a little closer. “Really?”
“Really.”
Wow, she’d surprised him again. But he still had to say what he’d come to say. “You know if you don’t want me around I won’t come up here.”
She jerked her head back and looked up at him, her green eyes dark and unreadable.
“You’d do that?”
“I will do that if it’s what you want.”
“You’d let Pete down?”
“Pete would understand, he’d do anything for you.”
“He would.”
“So would I.”
Her eyes darkened even more. What was that about?
“You would?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want you to stay away.”
His heart beat a little faster, wondering what would come next.
“No?”
“No.”
“What do you want, Emma?”
“I want you to be my friend. Then we don’t have to worry about any of that other stuff.”
“Your friend?”
“Yes, like Pete and Ben, Please be my friend, Jack. I’d like that.”
The song ended and she stepped back from him. “So, what do you say, buddy?” she flashed him a cheeky smile.
“OK, then friend.” They walked back to the others. How had that happened? He didn’t want to be her friend. Well he did, but only as part of a much, much bigger package! He wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to make her moan his name, to wake up next to her. All those things that lovers do and friends can’t. Damn! What the hell had just happened?
Pete was puzzled as he watched them approach the table. Emma was smiling, cute as a button, looking thoroughly pleased with herself. Jack, on the other hand, looked miserable. This, he decided was a good time to bring a close to this eventful evening.
“Guys, I need to get going.” He was surprised how eagerly Jack jumped up to join him. They said their goodbyes to the others, found Scott to wish him one last happy birthday and headed down to the resort’s main square. The taxi company that operated from there was on alert to a party night and they took the first of a long line of cabs that stood ready. After Pete gave the driver his parents’ address, he turned to Jack.
“So, what happened?”
“She asked me to be her friend, like you and Ben, so we don’t have to worry about all the other ‘stuff’!”
“Oh, man!”
“What do I do?”
“Not a lot you can do, old man. Be her friend.”
“I’ve been relegated to the friend zone before we even started!”
“Give her time, she’s scared.”
“Scared of what? What the hell is her problem?”
“She was married,” said Pete, deciding Jack deserved to know at least the basic story. “She fell head over heels in love with a guy in the early years in LA. He swept her off her feet and she bought into all the romance and flowers shit. Trouble was, after they got married the guy kept the romance and flowers going on with a couple of actresses and a couple of models too. He married Em and kept sleeping with the rest of them anyway. You probably know him, he’s a director, Rob Rivera.”
“Shit! I do know him, by reputation at least. The guy’s well known for it.”
“Yeah, he’s an asshole of the first order. Em was young and naïve, she wanted her own fairytale. Now though, she doesn’t believe in fairytales anymore and she doesn’t trust her own judgment. She thinks if she likes a guy then he’ll turn out to be another jackass and break her heart, so it’s simply easier for her not to go there.”
“Oh, man.”
“The only positive I can offer is that if she’s scared you’ll hurt her it can only be because she likes you, a lot.”
“Well that’s great, but how do I show her I won’t hurt her if she will only be my friend?”
“Give her time. Be a real friend and maybe she’ll come around.”
“Looks like the only option I have.”
Chapter Six
On Wednesday evening Emma was baking again as she waited for Holly to arrive. They’d only caught up last week, but since she was leaving for Summer Lake on Friday she didn’t know when they’d get chance again, though she did plan to get Holly up there soon. She hadn’t forgotten her plan to get her together with Pete that would be lovely. Holly was happy and healthy and, unlike herself, free from emotional damage. Emma was sure that the two of them would get along well, perhaps much more than that. She smiled; they would make a lovely couple. Hmm, a lovely couple. Oh, well. That was for other people, not for her. She thought of Jack, as she had so often this week.
What would it be like to make a lovely couple with him?
“Oh, stop it, Em,” she chided herself. He was gorgeous, a successful, self-made man who was funny and smart. He traveled all over the country designing beautiful, beautiful buildings – yes she’d checked out his work online and loved what he did. Even the Phoenix Headquarters, Pete’s building as she’d always thought of it, was actually Jack’s building; he was the architect. But really, a man like that could have any woman he wanted, and as many as he wanted! She wasn’t stupid; he might want her right now, but for how long? If she were fool enough to start anything with him she’d be falling for him and dreaming about happily ever afters right around the time he was moving on to an actress in LA or a model in New York. No, it was much more sensible to stay friends with a man like that. They could hang out and have fun, and he really was fun to be with. He’d be one of the gang at the lake and there’d be none of the pain or heartbreak. It was a much better idea. So why didn’t it feel like it?
The doorbell chimed and she went to let Holly in.
“Oh, no. I smell goodies. I’ve warned you about this.” Holly took off her jacket and came through to the kitchen, “Uh-oh.” She was now serious. “What’s wrong, Em?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I smell chocolate cake, which you usually make to go with bad news and sad times. And you look like you lost a dollar and found a penny.”
“Humph! How do you know me better than I know myself?”
“Because, my dear, I am able to observe from the outside while you are so caught up in the inner turmoil you can’t see beyond it. So spit it out, who peed on your parade? I thought you’d be full of beans and eager to get up to your lake. Was Carla mean to you?”
“No, Carla was surprisingly understanding.” She’d called her agent first thing on Monday morning to cancel the Geraldine’s Way meeting and to tell her she’d decided to take the summer off. She smiled, “I don’t think she’d let Leandro escape from her bed since I saw her on Friday. She’s too loved up to be cross with me at the moment.”
“Well, good for her, but what about you? Have you seen more of the delicious Mr. Benson? I’m guessing not, judging by the chocolate cake.”
Emma hadn’t yet filled her in on the developments of the weekend.
“The delicious Mr. Benson is now officially my friend. We are having dinner together, as friends, tomorrow evening.”
Holly furrowed her brow, “What’s this ‘friends’ thing about? I’m not sure I like this.”
“It’s the sensible option, given the circumstances,” said Emma in a mock pompous tone with her nose in the air. She went on to fill Holly in about the weekend and how she had reached the conclusion that friendship with Jack was the sensible solution.
“Screw sensible! Sounds like the guy is crazy about you.”
“He acts like it too,” Emma smiled, remembering his hug and his breath on her cheek, “But, as you know, I can’t be trusted.”
“Em, you’ve so got to get past this, sweetie. Date the guy! See where it goes. Have some fun – and some hot sex! If it lasts, it lasts. If it doesn’t, too bad. It’s better to have loved and lost and all that.”
“But for me it’s not better, don’t you see? For me it’s better to just not go there. Now move over while I get that cake out of the oven. And why can’t you be happy for me that I have a nice new friend? Pete and Ben are two of the most important people in my life, along with you and Missy of course, so how can it be bad to add Jack into that?”
Holly shook her head. “You’re crazy. If I met a guy I liked as much as you seem to like this Jack, I would throw caution to the wind and dive right in.”
“But Holly, you don’t know what it’s like to lose the people you love most in the world. The ones you think will always be there for you.” Her eyes filled. “When Mom and Dad were killed, I told myself I would never love anyone else in my life, so I wouldn’t ever have to feel that pain again. I know that was silly kids’ stuff, but obviously it’s stayed with me at some level. Then I let myself love Rob and we know how that turned out. So, yeah, maybe I am crazy, but I cope in the ways I can.” With that she banged the chocolate cake onto the counter top. Then, ashamed of her outburst, she turned to Holly and rolled her eyes. “Yep, you’re right, definitely crazy! Sorry about that.”
“No, I’m sorry.” Holly touched her arm. “I shouldn’t have kept on at you. It’s just that I sense a chance for happiness for you. I so want you to have that because you deserve it more than anyone I know and because you’re my friend and I love you.”
“I know you do, and I love you too.” She got a twinkle back in her eye. “You know, if you really want to see me happy there is something you could do for me.”
“Do I spy a set-up coming on? What do you want me to do?”
“Come visit me at the lake. In a couple of weeks we’re having a big party for Gramps and Joe. They both turn seventy-five the same week, so Ben and I are arranging a big cookout for everyone. It’ll be so much fun. Since my life is going to be up there for a while, I want you to be a part of it. Say you will?”
“I’d love to. It’ll do me good to escape the city for a weekend.”
“Excellent! Come on then, time to eat cake.”
Chapter Seven
Jack sat at Mario’s waiting for Emma to arrive. Goddammit, he was nervous! Didn’t that just beat it all? He was waiting for a woman who had openly stated that she didn’t want to get involved with him, who had been perfectly clear that they were meeting as friends, yet he was more nervous than he’d been on his first date as a kid. He was freshly showered and shaved with a little extra of his favorite sandalwood cologne. He wore dark jeans and a black, short sleeved shirt that showed off his muscular arms. A party of women at a nearby table kept looking over at him, whispering and giggling. A leggy brunette rose from her table in the corner and sauntered towards him.
“It would be a shame for us both to dine alone,” she purred, “why don’t you join me?”
“Actually,” he gave her a gracious smile, “I’m waiting for my girlfriend.”
She put a hand on his shoulder, and smiled. “Your loss.”
Jack was used to this; it seemed that women who knew what they wanted often wanted him.
Of course, Emma chose that moment to appear. As the brunette walked away, Jack stood to greet Emma and pulled out her chair.
“Hi.”
“Hello, Mouse.” She looked at him. “Well, hey, I figure it’s what all your real friends call you, right?”
“Yes, it is. Is that a friend of yours?” she asked, looking towards the brunette who was now watching them from her table.
“No.”
“Oh?” She obviously wasn’t going to let it go at that. Jack had already decided, given what Pete had told him, that honesty in everything was the only way to go if he ever wanted to be anything more than her friend. He sighed; this wasn’t the start he’d hoped for.
