Hanging on (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2) Read online

  But he had French Fries. I needed one.

  No, Jessica! Don’t do it—

  Gerard turned from William in surprise, watching the French Fry disappear in my mouth.

  I burst out giggling. “I’m so sorry! But if you come down to these parts, you have to beware of my French Fry addiction! I can’t help myself. Everyone else knows not to sit close when they have fries! Sorry!”

  “It’s true,” Dave said in all seriousness, “Don’t fire her. She does it to everyone. I hate it.”

  I started laughing harder. Candace and JP joined in. William was trying to suppress.

  With a haphazard smile, Gerard stared at me before his eyes dropped to his plate. He pushed his plate forward to allow me to help myself.

  “Oh no! I couldn’t. Really.” I put up my hands to ward them off. “I’m gaining weight just looking at them!”

  Gerard started laughing. “Well, at least my wife will be happy to hear she isn’t the only one that can’t say no. What is it you do?”

  Keeping my eyes away from his plate, I answered, “I work in Finance. For Mr. Nash. Junior Accountant. I’m relatively new.”

  “Oh yes, of course. He’s mentioned you. He can’t keep you busy enough, I believe?”

  “Um…” I could feel my face going red but didn’t know how to hide my embarrassment.

  “No need to be embarrassed for a job well done.” Gerard smiled. He looked at Candace. “And you?”

  With the focus shifting I gave a quick glance at William. He was looking back with eyes full of pride. He let his gaze linger for another beat before he shifted to Candace.

  The amount of trouble he would get in for doing this to me would be legendary! I was already plotting sexual torture!

  After Gerard asked a few questions about everyone’s departments and various moral, he chatted to William about some report, leaving the rest of us to get back to our inappropriate conversations. Whatever they might turn out to be.

  Candace turned to me with wide eyes. “Uh… So, um, have you known him long?”

  “Who?” I asked, trying to give her shut up eyes.

  “The, um, mystery m—person?”

  “Jessica, where did you say you got that new robe? I wanted to get one for my wife,” JP said, thankfully derailing Candace.

  JP and I expertly steered the conversation after that. We kept it clean enough for the executives sitting near us, with a few bursts of jokes and humor, mostly at Dave’s expense, that caught Gerard’s ear and had him pausing to listen and often trying to suppress a chuckle. William, the whole time, had his attentions divided between me and his work associate. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his glances, or his smirks, or just feel his attention. I had a feeling he wanted to know how I got along in work life, since it was a big part of my day. Unlike most boyfriends—or whatever he was called at this early stage in the game—he had the luxury of satisfying his curiosity, much to my embarrassment.

  As JP, Candace and I were walking back to my cube, JP said, “So how long has that been going on?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “You and your dream man. The boss. He the reason for the sunny disposition?”

  “Oh my God!” Candace squealed. “No! Really, Jessica? Did you patch it up? Ty said Willie was moping around, but I hadn’t heard anything!”

  “Would you guys shut up?”

  “Yay!” Candace said, grabbing my hands and dancing around.

  “I would keep that under wraps, if I were you,” JP warned.

  “I was trying to!” I shot back. “I don’t know what he was thinking finding me at lunch!”

  “That was obvious—he couldn’t stop looking at you. He lurrrves you!” JP laughed and dodged my punch. “But keep it under wraps. For your own sake.”

  “I know. Seriously, I know.”

  “What y’all talkin’ about? Her new do? You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!” Juniper snipped as she passed us by.

  “What, does she follow you around and talk shit now?” Candace was mystified.

  “Candace, don’t you know any other words besides bad ones?” JP asked as he walked away rolling his eyes.

  “Well anyway,” Candace said, looking back at me with a big smile. “I want to hear everything! Everything! Ty was always saying y’all would make a good couple. He said Willie always liked you. I’m so glad he finally got out of his own way and acted on it! Yay! You’ll be just as happy as me and Ty! You will! I know it!”

  “Go away,” I said with a giggle. I needed to get back in work mode. I also needed to taunt Juniper for a while. I brought in some leaves and planned to give her fake plant more bush. Then watch as she tried to figure out why it was so much harder to spy on me.

  Chapter Five

  My stomach swam with butterflies. William and I had been together for a little over a month and we were going on our first real date. Technical date. We had been out for drinks and dinner often, but this was formal. He was picking me up and everything!

  I felt like I had ants in my stomach!

  I didn’t have to worry about small talk and impressing him, nor did I have to worry over much about doing something stupid, like tripping over my own feet—I’d already done that—but I did need to convince him I could fit in his world. I needed to show him that even though I was a normal person, with more than average debt, I could put on airs like I owned a conglomerate.

  It should be noted that I have never been great under pressure.

  To look the part I got a new, expensive dress, and Gladis, who was basically healed, insisted on taking up her mantle as greeter. I wore Ami’s necklace, which I thought of when I bought the dress.

  The doorbell rang. I galloped downstairs like a ten-year-old boy.

  “Git back up there!” Gladis yelled, throwing a pillow at me.

  “Gladis, how do I look? Is this dress okay? How about the shoes with the dress?”

  She appraised me, letting William wait. “Jess, honey, you look a dream. Beautiful. Willie will ask to marry you when he sees how beautiful you are.”

  “Yikes. Let’s hope not. Okay.” I raced back upstairs.

  I heard her open the door, apologize for taking so long, and invite him in. I looked at my phone. It had taken a minute. Nine more to go.

  They had a glass of his favorite wine and talked about small pleasantries. I looked at my phone. Dang it.

  I looked at myself in the mirror. I tried on a different pair of shoes. I went back to the first pair. Eight minutes had gone by. Two more to go and Gladis would let me back down.

  Why am I so nervous?

  Finally it was time.

  Head held eye, nervousness tucked away into my ribs, I walked down the stairs with grace and elegance. Mostly.

  William was sitting in the armchair, glass of wine in hand, when I came in sight. His eyes flicked up, catching movement, then stared. He stood slowly, his eyes sliding down my body.

  My sexy systems started to purr. He looked damn good. Black blazer with white pin stripes over a ribbed, white-button down, toned down with dark jeans and shiny black shoes. The world stopped spinning for a beat as the house fell away. I was staring at him as he stared at me.

  A throat cleared. “Would you like some wine, Jessica?”

  I blinked slowly, the haze around us clearing. William had a slow smile and soft eyes, just as awestruck as I. It moved something deep within me. A part of me that I didn’t let out to get air. It was a part stirring often of late. Things he would say, ways he would look at me, how he held me, how he made love to me. It was always something more than lust, but now it was more than mutual respect and adoration. Basically, it was starting to be more than like.

  It thrilled me, excited me, but also terrified me. It was a part that, once broken, would be extremely hard to heal. I had courage, but I had also yet to win over his mother. It was too soon for feelings this deep. There were still too many barriers. Too much unpredictability.

  Which didn’t
matter right now. Right now, it was our first date, and I wanted it to be the best date of my life!

  “Hello, Jessica. You look beautiful tonight.” Not wanting to tear his eyes away, he reached down to his feet and came back with a large bouquet of flowers. The arrangement was exquisite. And thoughtful. They even already came in a vase—I’d told him I hated cutting flowers and rearranging them in a vase. He’d remembered!

  My joy came from my toes. I beamed as I accepted them, taking a big whiff. His eyes went starry and his lips curled. His body leaned, like he couldn’t stand the distance between us. A flick of his eyes at Gladis, though, had him sitting back down slowly.

  “So, a long time in the making, huh?” Gladis said amicably. “The date?”

  William leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees. “That’s my fault. I should’ve asked her out the first night I saw her.”

  “That would’ve been awful!” I laughed. “I still had dog food in my hair and a stinky mouth.”

  “I like ‘em trashy,” William smirked.

  “Willie,” Gladis warned.

  William straightened up, trying to uphold her expectations, but wanting to be alone with me. Wanting to let down his guard and say anything that came to his mind. He didn’t want to have to try so hard.

  “Sorry, ma’am.”

  “Oh alright, get going, you two. It’s obvious you want some time alone,” Gladis acceded, leaning back.

  We were like two kids told it was the last day of school. I could barely feel my feet as he escorted me out of the door.

  We walked hand-in-hand through the subdued evening, enjoying the last rays of the sun and the smell of fresh cut grass.

  “I didn’t expect her to be so formal,” William said in a quiet voice as he pulled me off the path toward a weeping willow. There was a cute bench surrounded by blooming flowers, emitting a beautiful scent nowhere near as delicious as that coming from him.

  “Sit for a moment?” he asked, pulling me closer. His lips got within inches of mine and stopped. “You’re going to let me kiss you?”

  “Weird question. Yes, but I am not going to wait for you to kiss me.”

  A smile soaked up his face as his lips connected with mine. Sparks of electricity jumped from him to me, frying my logic, making me cling onto his large frame, nearly trying to climb up.

  “Okay, okay. I need to stop. We have a reservation,” William said, backing off, his mouth still nearly touching mine.

  I took my tongue back.

  “I wanted to give you something.” He reached into his pocket.

  “Why wouldn’t I let you kiss me?”

  “Oh, that’s just what I usually hear. It ruins lipstick.”

  “I’d be more worried about your own face if I was you. You now look like a clown. Good thing I chose a nude color.”

  William kissed me again, his delicious bulge pushing up against my stomach.

  “Quickie?” I asked with a husky voice.

  “The death of me,” he said softly, chuckling.

  He took out a square, black velvet box and brought it to the side of us, there not being enough room between our bodies.

  “I got this for you. I’d be honored if you’d wear it.”

  The velvet was so soft. I opened the case slowly, seeing the sparkle before I even saw what was in it.

  “William, no!” I breathed. “Too much.”

  It was a diamond and ruby tennis bracelet.

  He leaned his face into my neck and ran his lips up my skin. “Nothing is too much for you.”

  Well, he had that wrong.

  “It matches the necklace Ami gave me.” My hands were shaking as I allowed him to fasten the bracelet around my wrist.

  “Exactly.”

  “How’d you know I’d be wearing it?”

  “Because you said you were dressing up. And you have shockingly few nice pieces. For now.”

  “I’m going to ignore that last comment, and just say, thank you!” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, tasting sweet red wine and him.

  “We should go,” he said quietly, giving a last meeting of lips before he led me out of the tree into the darkening night. Lights were twinkling on as we made our way along the path.

  The night was quickly becoming perfect.

  Until I saw our transportation.

  “Is that…shut up!” I stopped dead, looking down at myself.

  “What’s the matter?” William asked, following my gaze. “What’s wrong?”

  “William, I can’t get in a freaking Aston Martin looking like I do! Everyone’s going to know I’m a fraud!”

  He started laughing, loudly, pulling me toward the car. “Oh stop it. You outshine the car in jeans.”

  Shaking my head, I tried to put on the breaks the whole way. I’d never been inside a car that nice. Never even looked inside a car that nice! How the hell was I going to pull off that I belonged when I had to aspire to this? Audi, okay, yeah, I can make that happen. A freaking Aston Martin?

  I tried not to feel the sudden hopelessness as he opened the door and handed me in.

  William got in the other side, still smiling. “If it makes you feel better, this is my dad’s car. He has a thing for collecting cars. I told him I was going on a date. With you.”

  My heart stopped. “What did he say?”

  “In so many words that I am a grown man and can make my own decisions. He told me that he hoped I wouldn’t spread this news to the office. I told him you said the same thing. Repeatedly. He seemed to approve after that. I told you—he likes you.”

  William's dad had never been the problem. “What did your mom say?”

  William hesitated. “She wasn’t so optimistic. She verified your level of employment; your income basically. She said she wanted to meet you again, but warned me that girls in your situation tried to trap guys in my situation. That was when the conversation ended.”

  “Trap you? How? What, does she think I’m a woodsman or something?” I chortled.

  “Get pregnant. Trap my income.”

  “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. She thinks I am going to try and get pregnant, then have to raise a kid as a single mother to get a little money? Sorry, William, but who thinks like that?”

  “I am hoping this is theoretical, and you are not making the comment that if you got in trouble I would leave you to raise our child on your own…”

  Shivers fluttered up my arms. This conversation had just became way too adult for a head case just out of collage that could barely get a toe hold in life, let alone anything steady. I didn’t even want to buy a car because of the commitment, for Christ sakes. This level of responsibility was so far above me right now I was half thinking of jumping from the moving car.

  “Look—yes, theoretical—but I am just amazed that she would think like that. That’s just…what woman would do that to a child just for a little money?”

  “It happens more often than you might think.”

  I plugged my ears and shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I didn't want what he was saying to be true. Ignorance sometimes meant a happy life.

  Judging by his smile and bobbing Adam’s apple, he was laughing, but sound couldn’t get past my humming.

  So far I didn’t like Denise, William's mom, all that much, I had to say. It wasn’t a great start.

  We pulled up in front of a lackadaisically bustling restaurant. There were people arriving, valet parking, walking in and out of a swank establishment with red carpet…but everyone was sort of…blasé about the whole thing. Too posh for the hubbub, maybe.

  “This place has style,” I noted as William’s door was opened by a valet dressed in black.

  “Looks nice, tastes better.” He winked and exited the car.

  I followed suit, helped by a mid-aged man dressed in white. He saw me to the curb and William’s waiting arm before he slightly bowed and turned to the next passager.

  “Road side service, huh?�
� I admired.

  “Klutz-Proofing,” William amended, a twinkle in his eyes.

  “Oh how cute, you are attempting a sense of humor.” I patted his arm. "Fail."

  He made an ungentlemanly snort before he caught himself.

  Walking in a measured pace to match those around us, we ascended four stares and waited while two more guys in white opened the wood double doors.

  “I feel important,” I whispered.

  “Good.” William patted my hand.

  “No, but like these people were paid to manufacture that feeling. There is absolutely no reason these people would think I am important on any level.”

  William’s step faltered. He looked down at me with an appraising glance. As we approached the hostess wearing an expressive looking black dress, he said in a hushed voice, “I’ve always thought exactly the same thing.”

  I let that comment go, happy that at least he thought we were on the same level, even if we weren’t.

  The hostess looked up from her podium with her perfect face and long neck. “Mr. Davies, so nice to see you.” She flashed him a scorching smile.

  “Hi, Karen. Table for two, please.” William pulled me closer until my side was firmly pressed against his.

  “Of course,” her eyes glanced at me for the briefest of moments, utter professional despite her curiosity. “It’ll be ready in just a few minutes. Care to have a drink at the bar?”

  “Thanks.” William smiled and turned me away. Two steps toward a distant hubbub of alcohol in and we heard, “Willie!”

  William went completely rigid. His whole body was taught. The hand holding me flinched, crushing me closer in a brief second before letting off again. His exhale was noisy. As he turned, however, his face was utterly composed.

  Oh no!

  Coming through the door was none other than William’s mom, Denise, dressed to impress. She was the reason for the need of manufactured importance. To her, it was necessary. Or maybe just common place.

  Next to her was almost her opposite. A woman in a plain black dress with costume jewelry and a fun-loving smile. Her hair was cut well, but going gray. She wasn't pristine and didn't seem to care. She was out for a good time, and it showed.

  Strange.