Taste of Desire. Kayla Perrin

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ chest tightened. What was wrong with him? It wasn’t like him to feel this kind of attraction to a pretty face.

      He averted his gaze, hoping to break whatever temporary spell he was under.

      “Bye, Riquet. See you tomorrow. See you in the morning, Jake.”

      “Yes, see you in the morning,” Jake replied. “Oh—wait.”

      He hurried to his bedroom and retrieved the extra key. Returning to the foyer a moment later, he passed it to Salina, his fingers brushing against hers as he did.

      Damn if he didn’t feel an electrical charge.

      “I’ll let the staff downstairs know your status as my new nanny, so you won’t have any problem coming and going. And with this key you can let yourself in to the apartment when you arrive in the morning.”

      “Thanks.”

      Jake nodded, still making sure to avoid direct eye contact with Salina.

      Once she was out the door, he released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

      He would take a cold shower, and hopefully that would rid his system of whatever had him in its temporary grip.

      By the morning he would be back to normal.

      He was sure of it.

       Chapter 4

      “So how did it go?” Emma asked when Salina returned to the apartment, her eyes bright with expectation. “How did you like him?”

      “It was great,” Salina responded. “Jake seems like a lovely man who really adored his wife. The apartment is still filled with her pictures, memories of the two of them together, and of course of them with their daughter. Riquet is just precious. It broke my heart as she was telling me how her father told her that her mother is in heaven, and that she’s one of the most beautiful angels up there.” Salina sighed. “I can’t imagine that kind of heartbreaking loss. Especially after they couldn’t have been married all that long. It’s one thing to lose someone after years and years of marriage, but to be left with a small child to raise—”

      Salina stopped speaking and inhaled a deep breath. She could already see herself getting attached to Riquet, and she needed to do her best to keep a bit of an emotional distance. She would only be in the girl’s life temporarily.

      “I assume you’ll be starting in the morning,” Emma said.

      “Yes. I was worried that Riquet might take a while to get used to me, but she really took to me. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s just her friendly nature. She’s really adorable, and I’m excited about this opportunity.”

      “Good,” Emma said. “I’m glad.”

      “You said he hasn’t dated since his wife’s death?” Salina found herself asking.

      “No,” Emma replied, shaking her head. “Janine was his world. In fact, what I’ve seen him do more than anything else is throw himself into work even more than he did before.”

      “Workaholic, hmm?” Salina said. “Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?” Maybe people who worked in the legal field had to be workaholics. The devotion to the kind of work they did—which at times could be mind-numbingly boring going through all those case files, as far as Salina was concerned—had to require that a person be totally committed to their vocation.

      “I know I’m bad,” Emma began, “but Jake’s even more of a workaholic than I am. At least I take the weekends off. Zachary would have a fit if I didn’t make time for him. He already complains that I don’t spend enough time with him as it is. Jake, however, has been known to head into the office on Saturday and work all day. It’s obvious to me and everyone else at the firm that that is his way of dealing with the pain.”

      “He works on Saturdays?”

      “Oh, yeah. Quite a bit.” Emma paused. “He didn’t talk to you about his schedule?”

      “Well … not really. I guess I just figured it’d be a Monday-to-Friday gig. That said, he’s offering me a very generous salary, so I’m not going to complain.”

      “This’ll be great for you,” Emma said.

      “And speaking of my new job,” Salina began, “I’d better get to bed. I have to be there bright and early in the morning.” She went to her sister and gave her a hug. “Thanks again, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

      The early morning commute to Manhattan was awful. Not only did the world seem a colder, more miserable place, Salina couldn’t help thinking that she could be snug in bed for another hour, instead of up at an ungodly time to head to work. She was glad she’d decided to pack a small suitcase—just in case—because she had a feeling she would end up staying at Jake’s place tonight.

      When she arrived at Jake’s residence, she found that she had no problem gaining entrance to the building, as he’d told her she wouldn’t. She made her way up to the fifty-sixth floor, her stomach tickling on the insanely fast ride up the elevator.

      She felt a little awkward letting herself into the apartment—as though she should knock first—but it was early, only a little after six, and she didn’t want to wake Jake if he wasn’t already up.

      She opened the door and crept into the apartment. As she stepped into the living room, she was surprised to see Jake sitting at the nearby dining room table.

      “Oh,” she said, startled. She put down the travel bag she’d brought with her. “I didn’t think you’d be up.”

      He was wearing a T-shirt and black silk pajama bottoms, and looked like he was ready to pose for a high-end photo shoot. How was it that he looked just as good so early in the morning as he had the night before?

      “Morning,” Jake said, rising. “I wanted to make sure you had all the information you needed for the day.” He lifted a black book from the table. “This is Riquet’s schedule, with all the pertinent phone numbers you’ll need, the address for her preschool and the addresses where she needs to go for her various extracurricular activities.”

      Salina approached Jake and he handed her the book. The gold-embossed letters engraved into the leather read: “RIQUET’S CALENDAR.”

      “It should all be self-explanatory,” Jake went on as Salina opened the book and found the appropriate date in January.

      Salina continued to flip the pages forward. She could see that Riquet’s calendar had been scheduled all the way to March. Even play dates.

      “There’s a lot in there, but what you’ll notice is that the schedule is the same for every week. Today is Wednesday, so after preschool Riquet has a play date from one-thirty to two-thirty with Sarah, and then ballet lessons.”

      “The play dates are always the same every week? With the same kids?”

      “Yes,” Jake replied. “Maria believes—and I concur—that having a regular routine for Riquet is the best thing. This way, she’ll know what to expect every day and won’t feel any anxiety.”

СКАЧАТЬ