In the Market for Love

chapter five



Jake fixed his dark eyes on Rachel. “This is the right time to change things if you’re not happy with them. Although I think the work Marcus has done so far is excellent.”

The sound of his voice made her jump. There were many things she’d like to change and none of them were relevant to the campaign. She shifted in her chair and pushed her hair behind her ears, biding a few more moments. They were at a meeting. She had to concentrate.

“The roughs look promising but I’d like to take them away so we can think about it a bit longer,” she said.

“Certainly,” he said. “But your gut reaction is more important. With a campaign like this one, it’s better to follow your instincts and not over analyse things too much.”

“Hmmm.” Rachel nodded but her voice came out as a throaty croak. He was talking about the campaign, wasn’t he?

“I’ll get you some water.”

He poured a tall glass of cold water and stood to pass it to her across the boardroom table. Their fingers overlapped as he did so, the sudden touch sending a nervous charge through her.

He’d taken off his jacket and wore a pale blue patterned shirt, the top button undone exposing the small V of tanned skin at the top of his chest. The sleeves were rolled up, the burnished gold of his watch striking against the bronzed skin of his arms.

All she had to do was keep her mind on the job. And away from his physical attributes. It sounded so simple.

With Jake Austin sitting across from her at the boardroom table, she didn’t even notice the sweeping harbour views or the contemporary elegance of the room. She was having trouble concentrating on the concept roughs for the campaign.

Her mind was on only one thing. Jake.

Clearly, his mind wasn’t a molten mass of conflicting, surging thought and emotion as hers was. He was focussed, business-like and professional.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Absolutely.” Rachel nodded keenly, gesticulating rather too enthusiastically.

His face was like a sculpture. With a strong bone structure and high cheek bones, he was extremely handsome and there was also something that made him look a little dangerous. It was his dark eyes, deep set with thick eyebrows. They gave away no inkling of emotion, no hint of what might be going on beneath them.

His mouth was so different from the hard, well-defined features of the rest of his face. His mouth was soft and lush. That’s how it had felt when his lips brushed against hers the other night. Barely there, she wasn’t sure it was even a kiss, just an accident.

This uncertainty had been an infliction on Rachel for two days, one she thought would be solved by seeing Jake. She would look at him and know. Yet seeing him had only raised more questions.

Running out on him after one drink was such a childish thing to do. Of course he had to chase after her to make sure she was alright after his associate had spilt his drink on her. And handing back her jacket was the polite thing to do. He could hardly do that at their next meeting, letting their colleagues know they’d been out together.

Clearly, sustaining the interest of someone like herself was not the kind of challenge Jake Austin was after. If there was any chance he might have been interested in her, she had put him off.

“The final concepts will look much more professional than these roughs,” he said. “Take them away and think about them. We can discuss it at the next meeting.”

“I think Marcus has done a great job,” Samantha said, a glimmer in her eyes.

Samantha went to pour herself a glass of water from the refreshments tray in the centre of the table but as she lifted the jug, it was empty.

“I’ll get you a glass of water,” Marcus said. “We might even have some mineral water out in the kitchen.”

He held Samantha’s gaze as he motioned towards the boardroom door. “I’m not sure exactly what we’ve got. Why don’t you come with me and take a look.”

“Stretching my legs for a bit would do me good,” she said.

“Okay, we’ll wind up the meeting after you get back,” Jake said.

Marcus smiled, a puppy dog expression washing across his face, as he rose to pull back Samantha’s chair and usher her to the door.

The boardroom door closed behind them. Rachel’s eyes remained fixed on the papers spilling out of her folder. One simple movement could betray her. Then Jake would see through her polite exterior to the surging torrent of desire he had created in her.

She was alone with him.

* * *

Marcus opened the bar fridge in the agency’s kitchenette. “If you’re after a cold drink, we’ve got Coke, cold water and Perrier.”

“A Perrier would be lovely thanks,” Samantha said.

“Help yourself.” Marcus pointed inside the fridge. “It’s at the back.”

Just as he’d thought, Samantha Webb’s backside looked beautifully inviting as she reached into the fridge. The rest of her looked pretty good too. Her top had ridden up exposing the bare skin of her hips above the waistband of her pants. He knew he shouldn’t be so blatant but he simply couldn’t help himself.

Closing the fridge door, she turned to face him. She looked good from all angles.

She pressed her pale hair behind those pretty little ears. “May I have a glass please.”

Marcus opened a couple of cupboards before reaching across for a tea towel to dry a glass from the dish drainer.

“How very domesticated,” she said.

“No, not at all. I’ve got a cleaning lady at home. But I can stretch to doing the dishes occasionally.”

“Well, thanks.”

There was something about her which attracted him in a way other women didn’t. Normally, he took what he wanted. He’d go out with a girl, have a good time and then go on to the next woman.

Yet he hadn’t even asked her out for a drink. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. It was almost as if he was scared of what might happen.

“So how long have you worked in marketing?” he asked, eager to make the requisite small talk.

“Only a few years,” she said. “I haven’t been out of university that long. I’m only twenty-four.”

“Really? I thought you must have been working longer than that. You handle yourself very well in the boardroom. And Rachel certainly respects your opinion.”

He was pleased when he saw her smile. The conversation then drifted off into some pleasant chatter about how they both enjoyed the beach and were looking forward to summer. Glancing at her watch, she suggested they return to the boardroom.

“Yep, back to the grindstone.” He tried to think of some way to prolong their time together. “Hang on, I might grab a drink for myself.”

“You can have a sip of mine, if you like.”

He could definitely do that. He drank from her glass, all the time wondering if one sip would be enough or whether he’d want more. This was the kind of suggestion he would normally have longed for from a woman. Then he’d pounce, go for the kill. But there was something different about Samantha.

He handed the glass back and held her gaze, his hand lingering on hers. It was so strange for him to want a woman and not just take her.

Ushering her ahead of him, he tried desperately to think of ways to prolong their interlude. Usually he was adept at small talk and compliments. He didn’t know what was happening to him.

“Have you been watching that new detective show on TV?” He cringed inside, embarrassed that that was the best he could come up with.

He had to take his time. They didn’t need to hurry back.

* * *

Jake was quietly confident. “It looks like we’ve got a few minutes alone together until they get back.”

It cut him to the core that Rachel had put up such a barrier between them. She must’ve had plenty of experience pushing men away. A woman like her. Men must swarm around her.

Perhaps he should have been more forceful when he’d followed her out to her car. When their lips accidentally brushed against each other, it was all he could do to control himself. Heaven knows he wanted to take her into his arms, crush his lips against hers, never let her go.

He couldn’t work her out. That night she’d been so determined not to let things go any further. Her body language had told him that. Yet at the same time she seemed fragile as though she’d been hurt and was protecting herself. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

Her lush dark lashes were lowered as she gazed at the documents on the desk, her toned arms stretched out as she fingered the corner of one page. She had no idea how enticing she looked and that only made her more alluring.

Surely she must feel the same way he did. It wasn’t possible for her to create such craving within him without feeling an inkling of it herself.

Yet he wanted her to feel more than a rivulet of desire. He wanted her to surge with hunger for him the way he did. Part of her would never be enough. He wanted the complete woman.

He’d let her go once. That wouldn’t happen again.

“We can wait,” Rachel said. “They won’t be long.”

She wanted him to wait. That was the last thing he was going to do.

“They might be longer than you think,” he said.

Though Marcus wasn’t shy with women, he seemed to be taking his time with Samantha. No doubt he’d use the opportunity to get to know her a little better.

But for the life of him, Jake couldn’t imagine why any man would choose Samantha over someone like Rachel. Samantha was attractive and seemed lovely, but she wasn’t the woman that Rachel was.

Then he’d never met anyone like Rachel before.

He felt it in the smile which crossed his face when she made her playful retorts. In his heart when she told him of the hardships she’d been through. In his stomach which became a tempest in her presence.

“We’ve still got a little bit of time to ourselves,” he said.

And he wasn’t going to waste it.

* * *

A shiver of anticipation washed over Rachel.

Time for what? Time for him to not phone her. Time for him to not kiss her. Jake clearly had no idea of the emotions simmering inside her, no idea of the turmoil he was causing her. Then again perhaps he did.

And now she was alone with him. When Samantha and Marcus had been here, there’d been a campaign to manage, a job to be done, decisions to make. Without them, Rachel found herself in a no man’s land where her thoughts were skewed and she no longer knew what she wanted.

She pushed her chair back and meandered over to the window, gazing at the luxurious expanse of city and harbour before her. She’d felt warm earlier and had removed her jacket but now she felt strangely exposed in sleeveless top and slim fitting skirt. She crossed her arms.

“Enjoying the view?” Jake asked.

“It’s truly stunning,” she said. “We don’t have a view like this at my office.”

To her, it was a symbol of how different their two worlds were. Jake’s world included million dollar views from the luxury location of his advertising agency. Meanwhile she worked for a small scientific research organisation with ageing office furniture and cheap rent in an old building on the other side of the city.

Was it was possible to appreciate surroundings as elegant as this if that’s all you’d ever known? Jake didn’t have anything with which to compare this. He only knew what it was like to come to work in a chic modern interior, sit on leather upholstered chairs and look out at Sydney Harbour.

“You’re right,” he said. “It is stunning.”

She wasn’t sure he was talking at the cityscape. He was standing behind her. While she’d been mesmerised by the view, he’d followed her to the window and she hadn’t even noticed.

“And I suppose your house has a spectacular view too, does it?” she asked.

“Yes, I live in Mosman. With a view of the Sydney Heads. It’s quite a view.”

The Sydney Heads. The two distinctive land masses through which all vessels entered the harbour. It shouldn’t have surprised her that his address would be equally as impressive as his office.

“Tell me, “ she said, “Do you take it for granted when you see this every day?”

“No, I don’t,” he replied. “But the view is mostly for the clients. To impress them. Make them feel special. The ad business is so much about show. And that’s what this is. A show.”

“A show?”

She’d assumed the spectacular view and stylish offices were a reflection of Jake’s pride. A symbol of his success.

“This firm isn’t a harbour view,” he said. “The firm is made up of people who are hard working and incredibly creative. That’s what makes us so good. Not the offices. Not the location.”

She didn’t know how to respond or what to say. It was hard to think with Jake standing so close to her.

His cotton shirt rustled as he stepped closer. “You know, from where I’m standing the view looks amazing. I’m not taking it for granted.”

She felt him looking at her, his eyes burning through her. The double meaning of his words took her breath away. She turned to face him. Their bodies dangerously close, the air between them surged with a powerful charge.

She did what she had been unable to do at the board table and looked him in the eye. “I hope you were talking about the view of the harbour.”

“Not at all. I was talking about you.”

His voice was like a suede cloak wrapping itself around her and his words sent a current of desire flushing through her.

“The other night,” he continued. “I wanted to kiss you.”

Her mouth fell open. “So why didn’t you?”

“I wanted to…but it wasn’t enough.” Jake tilted his head towards hers. “I wanted more.”

“And what was that?”

“For you to want me to kiss you.”

Her body was flushed with delicate warmth. The downy hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

Was it possible he didn’t know the depth with which she craved him? How could he not sense the torrent of desire surging through her?

He cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head upward. There could be no doubt now. He brushed his lips against hers, gently at first, then nibbled on her lower lip.

Dropping his hands, he slid his arms around her waist, took her in his arms and covered her mouth with his. He rolled his tongue against hers and she returned his passion.

Her hands rested on his upper arms. She slid them over his biceps and across his strong shoulders until they curled around his neck. She wanted him closer. She wanted more. Desperate for his bare skin, she slid one hand under his collar, tugging at the bottom of his hairline, pulling him closer.

He pressed her against the glass. His desire was ferocious, his passion relentless, his body potent against hers. Through her thin sleeveless top she felt the sheer size of him against her. Molten desire flushed through her body.

She was transported to a dangerous altitude, a place she hadn’t been to before. She’d been kissed before but never like this.

The sheer window behind her, Rachel towered over the streetscape below and the buildings and harbour beyond. Only a few centimetres of clear glass separated her from a sheer drop and the hazardous height she had reached. Their weight pressed against the window and their passion in turn pressed on them.

She was petering on the edge of a treacherous precipice. One slip and she’d tumble into oblivion and no one could catch her.

Vertigo hit her like a truck crashing through the window. Suddenly dizzy, her insides were whisked around, her head spinning behind closed eyes as she felt herself spiralling.

But above all else, she felt alive. Deliciously, dangerously alive. And she wasn’t going to let that go.

She clung to Jake, leaning back against the window and the precipice behind her. He wound his arms further around her, their bodies intertwined.

Slowly he loosened his grip. He peppered her throat with tiny kisses and her neck arched upwards. She savoured the aftertaste of his kiss and the warmth of his breath near her face.

Still, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him.

“I didn’t say I wanted you to kiss me.”

“I know,” he said. “I didn’t care.”

He was such a good match for her. He would always challenge her and push her further, yet he’d always make her feel like a woman.

At the far end of the room, the door unlatched. The sound of Marcus’ deep voice and Samantha’s girlish laugh outside the door cut through the air.

Rachel spun around to face the window, straightened her skirt and smoothed her hair.

In the reflection of the glass, she saw Jake take a couple of steps back to lean on the boardroom table. He was still looking at her. He hadn’t shifted his gaze.

“Are we ready to get back to the meeting now?” he called out to Marcus and Samantha.

Rachel was sure he was still looking at the view.

And she liked him looking at her.