“I’m not fucking it up. It looks like our team has a handle on it.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve taken care of it all as best I could, but you’re the best programmer there is, Jamie. Interpreting code is in your DNA. But these reports?” He slid a stack of papers across the table to Jamie. “You used to go over these with a fine-tooth comb. If you’d looked at them you might have caught this before it blew up.”
He hadn’t reviewed the trouble reports in a week. Mark was right. He’d fucked up.
Jamie turned at the sound of Amy’s car pulling into the driveway across the road. He peered over Mark’s shoulder as the girls got out of the car. The first thing Jessica did was look over at his cottage. He watched her beautiful eyes skim over his car, to the front deck, then around back. Their eyes caught, and he felt her gaze all the way to his gut.
He smiled and waved.
Mark turned and looked at Jessica. “This is the girl?”
“Yes. Jessica.”
Mark leaned toward Jamie and lowered his voice. “She’s pretty, Jamie, but pretty women are a dime a dozen for a guy like you. What is it? Does she give the best blow jobs on the East Coast?”
Jamie gritted his teeth against his rising annoyance and reminded himself that this was how Mark had always joked. He ignored Mark’s comment altogether and went to greet Jessica as she came into the yard.
“Hey, babe.” He stepped off the deck and kissed her.
“Hi. I don’t want to interrupt.” She smiled at Mark, who lifted his chin in response.
Douche. He could be a douche. Jamie knew it and had always overlooked it, but when that jerkiness was turned toward Jessica, it struck a whole different chord in him.
Jamie shot Mark the narrow-eyed stare that Mark had seen a million times in business meetings when Mark wanted to play the tough negotiator and Jamie was sure it wouldn’t suit the situation.
Mark stood and held out a hand. “Mark Wiley, Jamie’s attorney.”
Jessica shook his hand. “Jessica. Nice to meet you.”
“Jessica…?” Mark waited for her to answer.
Jamie knew exactly what he was doing—fishing for information.
“Jessica Ayers.” She drew her brows together in question.
“Sorry. I’ll remember your name if I have the full name in my head. There are a million Jessicas out there.”
A million Jessicas? Jamie’s patience was wearing thin.
“So you’re the pretty little filly that’s been keeping Jamie from concentrating on work. I can see why,” Mark said.
“Watch it, Mark,” Jamie warned.
Mark lifted his chin in acknowledgment. “What do you do, Jessica?” He slid his hands into his pockets. Jamie knew the casual stance all too well. Mark was trying to put Jessica at ease while he slithered in to gain information, and even though this was what Mark did with most of the women Jamie dated, when it came to Jessica, it made every nerve stand on end.
“She plays for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.” Jamie put a protective arm around Jessica’s shoulder and walked toward her apartment. “I’ll be right back, Mark. Go ahead and do your thing.”
When they were on her deck, safely away from Mark, Jamie took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. “I’m sorry about Mark. He can be an ass around women, and he’s very protective of me. But I’ll set him straight. You won’t have to worry about that kind of stuff anymore.”
She circled his waist with her arms. “He didn’t bother me. Well, except for the million Jessicas comment. That kind of felt like he was trying to make me jealous.”
“Don’t worry. You’re the only woman I want in my life.” He tilted her chin up and took her in a sensuous kiss. “I missed you, and I’m sorry this is taking so long. The issue goes much deeper than I thought.”
“That’s okay. Will you be there tonight to hear me play? It’s okay if you can’t. I don’t want to stand in the way of your work.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and you’re never in the way. Work is work.” He shrugged, but he knew Jessica would see right through his shrugging it off so easily.
“Well, I’m sorry that you have a much bigger issue to deal with.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” He glanced over the quad and caught Mark watching them. “I’d better get back if we’re going to be done in time. We’re going to work straight through dinner. I’m really sorry, babe. I hate to leave you hanging.”
“That’s okay. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you that the guy with the baseball called. He gave it to his grandson and doesn’t want to sell.”
He read the sadness in her eyes. “We’ll just have to up the ante.”
“No, I tried. I told him I’d pay him three times whatever he paid, but he said it was important to his grandson, who apparently is a baseball fanatic. It’s okay. It’s not like my father asked for it or anything. It was just something I was doing to distract—” No, she wasn’t going to minimize her feelings any longer. “It was something I was doing for him. But we did the best we could, and thanks to you, it was much more than I ever could have done on my own.”
“Don’t thank me yet. This isn’t over. We’ll think of something.” He kissed her and saw Mark walking across the quad. Jesus Christ. “Vera invited Mark to come listen to you guys play tonight, but he’s leaving tomorrow morning. I’m sorry about today. I hope you know I’d rather be with you.”
She pressed her hands to his chest and went up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
“I do know, and after he leaves we can sneak some time in.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m about ready to just tell Vera I won’t be home until morning. She won’t care, and she knows we respect her.”
“Jamie,” she whispered.
“About ready, Jamie?” Mark called from the bottom of the stairs. “We’ve got hours of work ahead of us.”
“Be right there.” Christ. “Sorry, babe.”
“Wait, are you sure about Vera?”
“Of course I’m sure.” He pulled her close and shifted his eyes to Mark, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs with his back to them. “I’m sure of you, too.”
Chapter Fifteen
“NOT QUITE THE Boston Symphony Orchestra, is it?” Vera smoothed her long black skirt and patted her hair. She and Jessica had driven to the harbor together. It was almost eight o’clock and they, along with the other musicians in Vera’s quartet, were preparing for their show.
There were only a handful of people seated in the metal chairs waiting for them to begin. Jessica had been watching the parking lot, waiting for Jamie to arrive. She knew that the girls were having drinks down the street at the Bookstore Restaurant with their significant others, and they’d be there any minute.
“It’s better than the symphony in many ways,” she answered Vera.
“How so?” Vera asked.
“Well, for one thing, Jamie will be here, so that makes it a million times better.” She inhaled deeply. “And this is so comfortable, Vera. Don’t you think so? With the breeze coming off the sea and children playing behind us. It’s casual and much less stressful. Although I have to admit that my heart is going crazy. I’m not sure why I’m so nervous.”
Vera touched her arm. “It’s because you care. You’re an accomplished musician, and when you play, every note carries a piece of you with it.”
Vera truly understood, and it made her realize that she would miss the camaraderie of her musician friends if she didn’t return to the orchestra, and she did sort of miss having people around who understood the pressures of a musician’s lifestyle.
A little boy darted past the tent and Vera laughed. “I miss little ones.”
“I’m sorry about your daughter, Jamie’s mother. That must have been very difficult for your whole family.”
Vera dropped her eyes for a beat. Her eyes were warm when she met Jessica’s gaze again. “Yes, it was beyond difficult when we lost our daughter, but I had Jamie to focus on. I think there is only one thing that could be worse than losing my child.” Vera watched the children play for a moment, then brought serious eyes back toward Jessica. “If I had never had her in the first place. I would have missed out on all those wonderful years that we had together. Nothing can replace time spent with family.”
Vera paused, looking into the distance with a sorrowful gaze. “Do you hope to have a family some day?”
“Before this summer, I didn’t have time to think about what I wanted. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking lately. I do want a family one day, but I have a lot of decisions to make before that can happen.”
“Oh, I have faith in you.” Vera squeezed her arm. “You’ll figure everything out.”
They settled into their chairs.
“Try not to be too nervous tonight. We’re like family now. And as far as making your decisions goes, you’ll know the right thing to do. Sometimes the heart tells us things in whispers, and we miss them. When we’re ready, we hear them loud and clear.”