“Jake?” I said, a bit louder. All I got in response was a light snore.
I sighed. I would talk with him about the woman later. Tomorrow morning, first thing. Closing my eyes, I tried not to think about.
When I woke up in the morning, though, Jake was already gone. In his place on the side of the bed was a note.
Made you breakfast. Hope you have a fun day. Dinner party tonight, I’ll pick you up at seven. Love, Jake.
I groaned. I was going to talk it out with him, but I suppose it would have to wait. My phone rang as I headed into the kitchen. It was Steph.
“Hey!” she said excitedly. “Is it too early to call you?”
“No, it’s fine,” I said. “I’m awake.” I saw that Jake had left me a plate of pastries, along with another note.
Okay, so I didn’t really make breakfast. OJ in the fridge.
“How’s Paris? That is so exciting! What have you seen so far?”
“I—I went to the Louvre yesterday,” I told Steph.
“To see the Mona Lisa? Or is that too boring for you? I know, I know, it’s overrated.”
“I actually didn’t go in the main building,” I said. “There was a collector who showed me around a few private collections.”
“I hear it takes a week to go through all of the museum anyway,” Steph said. “Oh my gosh, do you know what happened?”
I smiled. Hearing Steph’s voice on the other end of the line was doing wonders for my mental health. And at least she was excited about something.
“What is it?”
“Lucas Black. You know, Jake’s friend?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I remember.”
“He asked me to cater a party for him! I’m doing a cake and also a bunch of cupcakes. He wants them individually done for each of the guests. It’s probably the biggest catering thing I’ve ever done. Isn’t that exciting!”
“That’s pretty awesome,” I said. “You’re doing such a good job with that bakery.”
“Lucas is over in Paris, right?” Steph said. “Have you seen him?”
Oh, right. He was helping Jake with the magazine deal today. I realized that today was the day that Jake was going to meet him at the magazine headquarters. Immediately my mood turned sour.
“Lacey? Lacey, are you there?”
“Sorry,” I said, resting my head on my hand. “It’s just that Jake was gone when I woke up this morning.”
“And?”
“And it’s supermodel day. Today is when he meets everyone at the magazine. All of the models, the magazine editors, everything. They’re planning the next big advertising push.”
“So you’re jealous.” Leave it to Steph to get straight to the point.
“Is that bad?”
“No, it’s not bad. It’s normal. But you trust him, don’t you? I mean, it’s just business.”
The image of Jake bending forward… his lips brushing the woman’s cheek…her fingers against his chest…
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m just being silly. I think. It’s strange here. I don’t know.”
“It’s Paris syndrome,” Steph said decisively.
“Say what?”
“Paris syndrome. Lots of tourists come to Paris expecting this magical burst of romantic perfection. But it’s just a big city. So they’re so disappointed that they feel sick over it.”
“Paris syndrome?”
“It’s a real thing, I’ve heard about it.”
“Maybe that’s it.” I was sure it wasn’t. Paris was fine. It was the people in Paris that had me on edge. No, it was Jake in Paris that had me on edge. Jake and all of the supermodels.
“Anyway, if you see Lucas, tell him I’ve already planned out half of his cupcakes. I’ll need to talk with him about the others when he gets back from Paris.”
“Oh, sure. That’s why you need to talk to him.”
“What?” Steph asked. “I’m serious.”
“You wouldn’t want to talk to him about anything else… like his sexy blue eyes?”
“What?!”
“You’re adorable when you have a crush on a guy, Steph.”
“I don’t! This is just business.”
“Uh-huh, right. Just business. I saw the way he was looking at you during Jake’s going away dinner.”
“He wasn’t looking at me! He had a date with him!” Steph cried.
“Right.”
“Just business,” Steph insisted.
Just business. Again, I felt sick.
“I gotta go, okay?” I said. “Talk to you later?”
“Sure, babe,” Steph said. “Love ya!”