Waiting for You(19)
If she wanted a chance at a real relationship, she had to put her feelings for Jake behind her. The two of them obviously weren’t meant to be, and the sooner she accepted that, the better.
“So, don’t you agree?” Evan asked again.
“Agree with what?”
“That men and women jump into bed too fast these days. I mean, whatever happened to courtship?”
She finished her last bite of dessert. “Actually, I think men and women should jump into bed whenever they’re ready to. If you’re attracted to someone, what’s wrong with acting on it?”
He stared at her, open-mouthed. “I…well, when you put it that way…there’s something to be said for that point of view. I mean…if the chemistry is there and two people respect each other—”
As she listened to Evan reverse direction so fast he must have gotten whiplash, she wondered if she should go on a second date with him. She didn’t feel any of the chemistry he was talking about, but that was part of her problem. Her expectations for chemistry were set way too high.
Like Beth had said, she’d never find the right guy if she didn’t look for him. She needed to put herself out there. Be more open, less picky.
So she agreed to go on a second date with Evan, this one for dinner on Friday night. They made their plans and said goodbye, and then she went to keep her appointment with a prospective client.
She’d gotten an email query from someone named Mark Hayner about setting up a web page for his start-up custom motorcycle business. The fact that he built motorcycles reminded her of Jake, and for one brief second she’d considered turning the guy down.
But if she did that, she’d be letting Jake affect her work—and he’d already affected too many parts of her life. So she exchanged a few emails with Mark, just to get a sense of what he was looking for, and then they arranged to meet in person since he was local.
She was early for the appointment, which was at a coffee shop in town, so she let the waitress seat her at a booth and ordered a cup of tea. She opened the portfolio she’d brought and laid out a few samples of design concepts she thought might work. She also opened her laptop to display the mockup she’d prepared for the meeting.
When she sensed someone standing beside her, she glanced up.
It was Jake.
Chapter Five
This was a side of Erin he hadn’t seen yet—the successful businesswoman who’d started her own web design company. She was looking professional in gray slacks and a white silk blouse, her laptop on the table in front of her and sample web pages spread out beside it.
She also looked gorgeous. Her pale blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, and with that rosy blush staining her cheeks, she was easily the most beautiful woman in Iowa—if not the entire country.
“Hi,” he said, sliding into the booth across from her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m meeting Erin Shaw of Erin Shaw Designs, to discuss the possibility of hiring her to create a website for my new business.”
She stared at him. “You…you’re Mark Hayner?” Her cheeks flushed again, this time with anger. “I can’t believe you set me up like this. You made up a fake name to—”
He shook his head. “Not guilty. Mark is a real guy, and he’s my partner. He owns the machine shop and the garage where I’ll be doing the work. We’ll each put up half the capital—if we actually go ahead with the idea.”
He leaned forward. “And if we do, we’ll need a website. I showed Mark some of the sites you designed and he agreed with me that you’re the one for the job.”
She looked at him for a minute, and then closed her laptop. “No. No way. I’m not working with you, Jake.”
“Why not?”
She stared at him. “You really need me to spell it out for you? Fine. I don’t want to work with you because I don’t want to be reminded of the last time we met.”
She started to gather up the glossy web pages, and he put a hand over hers to stop her. She froze, and he let her go immediately.
“Okay, look. You wouldn’t return my calls. I knew if I used my own name you wouldn’t meet me, so I used Mark’s. We really do want you to design a website for us, but I also wanted a chance to talk to you. To tell you how sorry I am about what happened that night.” He hesitated. “I had no business making a move on you. I’m not up for anything romantic right now, and I shouldn’t have crossed that line. All I can say in my defense is that you’re pretty damn hard to resist.”
If she liked hearing that, she didn’t show it. She wasn’t showing much of anything at the moment. She was sitting back with her arms folded, a slight frown on her face as she listened to him.