A Second Chance (22 page)

‘I remember you playing this
.
’
Her
eyes
went
to his face. He was watching the road, the corners of his mouth lifting in a swift smile at her words. He
nodded,
turning to her momentarily, dark eyes warm and reminiscent.

‘I remember it
,
too. I was trying to learn it for mum’s return from France. Wanted to impress her
,
I guess.’

Mrs. Latimer
had
travelled a lot, Jade remembered. Her work as
a
clothes designer took her all over the globe, the visit to the heart of France one of many absences throughout the years of
Liam’s and Laura’s childhood. They
had
coped well, she recalled. Still, as good as their aunt was
as a caretaker
, the constant need to explain to
their
friends and teachers why
neither
of their parents was ever present at
parent-teacher
conferences
, school plays
,
or
sports events
was a source of sadness
.

He didn’t look sad
at the moment
. Quite the opposite, the smile that he directed at her in the interior of the car
was
carefree and open.
‘So, are you going to ask me about Mel or what?’

The
invitation embarrassed
her;
he must have noticed her
curiosity
about the other woman.
So much for appearing aloof and cool
.

‘Well, Rocco told me about her, who she is I mean
.
’
T
hat
sounded inconspicuous, she hoped.

It must have, because he nodded and added wryly, ‘I
’ll
bet he did. He
can
’
t
stand her, though. Whatever he says has to be taken with a grain of salt.’

‘
He
said
that
she was a brilliant agent
,
’ she provided weakly, ready to defend her Australian friend. ‘
It
’
s just her… romantic side
…
that he doesn’t take to well
.
’

He laughed aloud, his hand abandoning the wheel and going to pat her
hand,
the warmth of his fingers seeping though her skin.

‘
Are
you sure
you’re not
working
in
PR or something? You have a true talent to euphemize things that don’t sound too great
.
M
aybe
I should ask you to accompany
me on
my interviews from now on. I have the most annoying talent
for
say
ing
exactly the things that shouldn’t be mentioned
.
’

He
had
inspired
some headlines with
the
candor of
his remarks, she remembered. Asked about his success and
the
money that came with it, he
had
irked the whole industry
by
admitting freely that he found the
entire
business overpaid and snobby. He
had
never apologized for it
,
either, standing firmly behind his opinion that the salaries and profits made
from
art were absolutely
disproportiona
te
and at odds with
how
most
people liv
ed
paycheck to paycheck each month.
W
hile the industry fumed,
his remarks
had
earned him some very loyal fans amongst people who happened to see his interview.

‘Melissa is
certainly very
beautiful
,
’ she said calmly, pushing aside the envy that
threatened
to overcome her at the
thought
of the other woman’s gorgeous hair and angelic face.

‘No doubt about it
.
’ Liam nodded, only the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth telling her he was fighting an urge to laugh again.
‘But, as for her… romantic side, as you so nicely put it, it causes me lots of problems. Like today
,
for example
.
’
His
voice
was
tinted with resentment at the memory o
f the evening
.
‘
S
he has
the cunning
ability to find me, wherever I am
;
God knows how she does it
. A
nd
once she is on my track, there is no stopping
her
. She will come and act as if we were an item
,
the more people
watching,
the better.’

‘
Then
why don’t you set
her
straight?’

He
shrug
ged
his shoulders with fatalistic resignation
,
and
she
knew
that
he had
already
weighed his options.

‘
It
isn’t that easy,
J
ade
.’ Surprisingly, he seemed eager to tell her more, making her wonder what
had
prompted this unexpected session of sharing. ‘I really like her father.’ He smiled slightly before shaking his head and adding
,
‘
No
, it’s more than that, of course. I do respect him a lot. He was extremely helpful and welcoming when I was just at the start of my career. He hired me and provided
me
with opportunities that I could only dream of. He believed in me
.
’
H
e
smiled at her, a short, brittle smile that wasn’t cheerful at all.
‘I think he was the first person who really believed in me and was intent
on helping
me with my career. Up to that point
, I
was pretty much swimming against the current.’

She knew he was still hurting from his mother’s total lack of support, her busier than busy lifestyle leaving very little time to care about her children’s dreams and hopes for the future. She was proud of Liam, of course. Especially after he had become one of the youngest leading authorities
at a
cutting
-
edge
advertis
ing
company in
San Francisco
.

‘So when he asked me
,
a year
and a half
ago, if I could help
Mel
start in the business
,
I couldn’t really refuse. I knew of course that she had a cr
u
sh on me
;
I wasn’t blind. But I was with someone else at that time, so it seemed safe taking her
on
.
A
fter all
,
everyone gets over their cr
u
shes at some point, right?’

H
e looked at her, his quizzical gaze making her tremble. Was
he challenging her to
agree and admit that she was over him? Was there a way to turn it into a joke and escape unscathed from
a
conversation that
had taken
an unexpectedly private and uncomfortable turn? In the end
,
she
need not have
worried, because he didn’t wait for her to answer. Instead he continued, his voice low and calm, as if he
w
ere
talking about someone else’s life, not
his own
.

‘
Then
, circumstances changed
.
S
uddenly I was single again and not in the best shape
,
either. I… went through a rough patch of a few months of trying to forget things. So Mel was there, always ready and available should I show any interest. And one evening, after one drink to
o
many, I
took
the bait
.
’

S
he wanted to scream at him
that
s
he
didn’t want to know, her body as still as a statue
as she listened to his words
. But of course she
didn’t,
her voice sounding alien to her own ears as she answered
,
‘
You
became lovers? An item?’

‘
Just
a one night stand, nothing more
.
’
H
e smiled sheepishly
,
and if she
ha
dn’t
know
n
better
,
she would
have thought he was
ashamed of his actions. ‘I made it perfectly clear that
I
wasn’t interested in a relationship and that it wouldn’t lead to anything more than consensual fun
.
’

‘
She
agreed?’
S
he
didn’t need to be a psychologist to imagine what Mel must have been thinking. Love and obsession had the most annoying way of mak
ing
one irrational and optimistic beyond reason. She must have hoped he would fall for her anyway, taking the risk and never once accepting the fact that she might have been wrong
, t
hat he might have been telling the truth after all.
When he had said he wasn’t looking
for anything beyond a quick sexual release
, he had been
brutally honest and to the point, which she
had
obviously misread.

But what would
Jade
do
in such
a
situation?
She
had to ask herself this question, as uncomfortable as it was to answer it honestly. If Liam offered her a few hours of passion, would she be strong enough to walk away with her head held high
,
or would she take
the offer
, hoping desperately that it would
be enough to
change his mind once t
hey were tog
e
th
er
?

‘She did, yes
.
’
H
is
face
was
inscrutable
, his eyebrows furrowed into a straight line. ‘
But
she didn’t mean it, of course. I was blind enough to believe her or just didn’t really care either way at that particular moment. Afterwards she started acting as if we were dating
,
and when I confronted her on it, she had a major meltdown and threatened to do something stupid
.
I knew she wouldn’t do it, of course. So we stayed together, as a client and an agent,
but
the rest of our relationship
was
very different, depending on who you ask
ed
for
a
definition. I
’
m sure I
’
m not looking for anything else, but Mel is convinced that
,
deep down, I’m in love with her and
just not ready to admit it
.
’

‘Maybe she
’
s right?’
S
he
had to risk asking him this question, even if she knew it would
annoy
him. ‘
Sometimes
people
can
be blind and overlook the obvious, Liam. Maybe one day you
’
ll realize you care for her more than you think right now
.
’

‘
Sweetheart
, hell will freeze over sooner than that
.
’
H
e
laughed
as he slowed
the car and
pulled it
to the curb. She peeked out the window, realizing they weren’t at Laura’s chic loft apartment. Instead
,
she saw
the
front of a rustic
-
looking Italian restaurant, the tall windows casting a warm, inviting glow on the pavement.