In the Market for Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

had looked more business-like then with that tight little Lois Lane skirt. Today she seemed more feminine, wearing a dress in mottled shades of crimson and grey beneath the jacket. The dress’ scooped neckline betrayed a hint of creamy white cleavage and the skirt floated down across her shapely hips.
    He’d come her for a reason. To get Rachel. To have her for himself. And even the dull boardroom setting didn’t diminish his desire.
    “You must be very busy,” he said.
    “I’m sure you are too,” she replied.
    Did she want to get rid of him so quickly? Or was she afraid of something? Afraid of getting hurt? He’d always sensed there was something unusual in Rachel’s history, something hurtful lurking, perhaps a harsh break up, and he had to clear that up.
    “Rachel, I didn’t come her e to talk about work,” he said. “I wanted to talk about you . You said you weren’t married. You’re single?”
    He waited for her answer. Surely she couldn’t have found someone in the last few weeks since they met. Although it would be a miracle if a woman like her were unattached.
    Wh y had he waited so long?
    *          *          *
    Single. That word seemed so simple that to Rachel it didn’t even begin to describe her situation or feelings. To be single implied being available yet Rachel hadn’t been available for years. She was asked out from time to time and occasionally she accepted but even then it was as though she wasn’t there. It had been years since she’d had a man in her life.
    Jake’s voice shook her from her thoughts. “Rachel?”
    She didn’t like to talk about the past but it wasn’t a secret. And Jake had asked.
    “I ’m not married but I used to be,” she said. “My husband Nick passed away four years ago.”
    “Rachel, I…I had no idea. ”
    “He died unexpectedly. Not that I think it would have been any easier if I’d known it was coming. It was a car crash. He was hit by a drunk driver. Head on. There w as no hope for either of them, Nick or the other fellow. And it was quick. When I got the phone call from the hospital, they wouldn’t tell me what had happened straight away. They don’t tell people things like that over the phone but I think I knew before I got there.”
    “ I’m so sorry.”
    Jake put his hand on hers. She felt its warmth radiate across h er skin.
    Except f or business like handshakes, he hadn’t physically touched her since their first meeting and she was taken aback at the effect. His hand was strong and masculine and with that one simple touch he made her feel small and delicate.
    “That must have been terrible, ” he said. “To have been happily married and lost that. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”
    Rachel stiffened. She hadn’t said she’d been happily married but people always made that assumption. It’s true she thought she’d been happily married but after her husband died, she’d made a discovery which made her doubt all of that.
    Her marriage hadn’t been so perfect after all. But she never spoke about it. Not to anybody.
    “That was a long time ago,” she said. “And I have so many good things in my life. I have a good job, friends, you know, the usual.”
    She didn’t know what to make of the man. At nearly all of their meetings Jake had been charming and he certainly seemed to be propelling the Skin Plus campaign at great speed but at yesterday’s meeting he’d been demanding, undermining and hindering her at every turn.
    Was he arrogant or charming? Which was the real Jake?
    He had a way of turning her insides into a surging molten pyre over which she had no control. She could feel all thought and reason disappearing when she snapped herself out of it.
    All she had to do was keep this encounter brief and, most importantly, stick to business. That was largely why she’d refused to offer Jake a seat but that hadn’t prevented the conversation turning well away from the campaign.
    “Y