“Excuse me,” a deep male voice said.
Startled, she let out a scream as her eyes flew open and her heart raced. Nearly gasping from the brief moment of fear, Chloe saw Jake standing in the open doorway of her music room. She was about to get angry at him for interrupting her until she remembered that she’d left him high and dry in the dining room.
“You forgot something,” he said, holding two plates of strawberry cheesecake, a smirk tugging up one side of his mouth.
Trying not to laugh, she set her guitar aside. “Did I?”
One of his eyebrows arched. “Maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe this delicious looking cheesecake wasn’t part of our meal.” He turned to go.
Feeling guilty for the way she’d so rudely left him sitting at the dining room table—hard as she had tried, it just wasn’t in her to make someone feel bad on purpose—she called out, “Wait.”
He stopped and turned in her direction, his face a question mark.
She gestured to the chair that was across from the small couch where she sat. “Have a seat.”
With the two plates in his hands, Jake sat on the chair, then leaned forward and held one of the plates out to her.
Chloe took it and picked up the fork that was resting on top. “I’m sorry I left you like that.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why did you?”
Did she want to confess that it was because dinner hadn’t gone the way she’d anticipated? That the fact that he didn’t like her bothered her more than she cared to admit? That she was used to winning people over—or at least people pretending to be won over—and winning him over had become a challenge?
No.
Instead, she leaned back in her chair, crossed one leg over the other, and smiled as she used the side of her fork to break off a bit of cheesecake before putting it in her mouth.
What was the pop princess’s game? Jake had no clue, but despite his annoyance with her, he found her intriguing. She was wealthy beyond anything he could imagine, yet she did her own cooking and spent what seemed like nearly every waking hour working. Maybe that’s why she was so successful. That and the fact that legions of fans loved her music—music he wasn’t really familiar with. Maybe he should get familiar with it.
But why would he do that? It’s not like it was the type of music he normally listened to.
He was curious. That’s all. It wasn’t because he found her attractive and intriguing. Right?
She was still wearing the dress she’d worn at dinner, and when she crossed one leg over the other, he couldn’t help but notice how shapely her legs were. But he shouldn’t be noticing anything like that about her. He worked for her. He had to keep that in the front of his mind.
Then he realized she hadn’t answered his question about why she’d ditched him in the middle of dinner. Okay, so maybe dinner had been over, but still. What the heck?
About to ask the question again, when he saw the way she was savoring every bite of her cheesecake, he knew she wasn’t going to tell him why, so he ate his dessert as well. When he was done, he stood. “Thanks for dinner.”
She set her empty plate on an end table beside the couch. “You’re welcome.”
“I’ll let you get back to work.”
She nodded. “Good night.”
He picked up her plate and carried it, along with his, back to the kitchen where he rinsed them off and loaded them into the dishwasher. Then, because he was used to living alone and cleaning up after himself, he went ahead and rinsed off the dinner dishes that were stacked on the counter and loaded them in the dishwasher as well. He wiped down the counters, and once he was satisfied that the kitchen was presentable, he went to his apartment over the garage and sat on the couch in the living room.
Even though he had to deal with the pop princess and her unpredictability, this job was a walk in the park compared to being in the military. And the food wasn’t half bad either. Softly chuckling, Jake put his feet up on the coffee table and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until he came across an entertainment news show. Normally he wouldn’t bother with the show, but an image of the pop princess had appeared behind the newscaster’s shoulder. He turned up the volume.
“…rumored to be dating actor Ethan Marsh.”
An image of a good-looking man who Jake recognized from the movies appeared on the screen.
“Chloe Ross denies the rumor,” the anchor went on, “but an unnamed source close to the pop star claims that Chloe Ross and Ethan Marsh have been secretly dating for weeks and that this clandestine relationship is what actually led to her breakup with Connor Bryant.”
The program moved on to another story and Jake channel-surfed until he found a sports channel that was talking about the latest game. Half listening, he thought about the pop princess. From all appearances it didn’t seem as if she was dating anyone, but if she actually was, and if she wanted to keep it a secret, then of course he wouldn’t know. Not that it mattered. She could date whoever she wanted, and since he’d signed the NDA he certainly wouldn’t be telling anyone anything. Not that he would anyway. That wasn’t his nature. The question was, if she had a secret like that, would she trust him with it? He’d only been working for her for two days, so it was doubtful she trusted him much at all. At least with secret relationships.
Why did he even care? Because he found her attractive? He also found her annoying.
Shaking his head, he focused on the sports show.
Chapter Thirteen
When Chloe got up the next morning and stumbled bleary-eyed into the kitchen to get some coffee from her automatic machine, it took a moment for her to realize that there were no dirty dishes on the counter. Had she cleaned up after dinner the night before? No. She was certain she hadn’t. Then who had? No one had been in the house but her and Jake, and Beth hadn’t arrived yet so it couldn’t have been her. Had Jake cleaned up?
Rather surprised by the notion—the men she typically had around expected others to clean up after them—she knew it had to be him.
Smiling at the unexpected realization that Jake would do something like that—especially after what she had done to him—Chloe filled her oversized mug and carried it toward her music room. She’d been up late the night before working on a new song and was eager to get back to it.
“Good morning,” a deep male voice said.
Deep in thought as she walked, Chloe hadn’t noticed Jake’s approach. She shifted her gaze to him, noticing he was wearing shorts and a form-fitting t-shirt. One that emphasized his powerful biceps. And those abs… The man was fit, that was for sure.
Tearing her eyes from his body, she met his gaze and smiled. “Good morning.”
He gestured in the direction he’d been heading. “If it’s still all right, I’m going to use your gym.”
An image of those biceps bulging as he lifted weights leapt into Chloe’s mind. Slowly blinking as she frantically tried to chase the image away, she nodded. “Yes. Of course.” Then she turned and quickly strode to her music room, closing the door behind her. Once alone, she exhaled in relief.
What was wrong with her? Annoyed with herself for reacting so viscerally to the man she was determined to keep at arm’s length and not care what he thought about her, she sighed heavily. Forcing away thoughts of Jake Mitchell, Chloe picked up her guitar and settled onto her comfy couch.