The sight was oddly humbling-as if he were witnessing an event he’d carry with him the rest of his life.
His short reflection allowed her to reach the building before him. One step quickly became a short sprint. She wasn’t going in there alone if he could help it.
Lil charged through the front door of the news station and went directly to the receptionist’s desk. “I want to see the station manager.”
“Do you have an appointment?” The blond receptionist who appeared to have dressed for a dance club rather than her day job dismissed Lil with little more than a glance.
Lil wasn’t sure if she should address her next request to the woman directly or to the abundance of cleavage threatening to burst out of her tiny top. “I-” Lil started to say, but the woman stood and flashed a huge smile at someone behind Lil.
“Mr. Walton, I’ll tell Mr. Cooper that you’re here,” the receptionist said in a suddenly sultry voice.
Oh, please. Could she be more obvious? It wasn’t amazing that she’d recognized him, anyone with a tv would have. Lil kicked herself for not thinking of that. But, seriously, did this bimbo have to throw herself at him? I am not going to be happy if I have to stand here and watch these two hook up just so I can meet the manager. “You should have stayed in the car,” Lil hissed at Jake.
“You’d prefer to have to wait?” Jake asked.
At least he didn’t appear to have any interest in the woman who was practically drooling over him. Did he meet with that kind of fawning from women wherever he went? No wonder he looked bored all the time.
I’m not here to analyze Jake’s dating habits.
And he’d made a valid point. What did doing this the hard way really prove? She was being ridiculous. Still, she had come this far, she might was well follow her plan through. “Please, just let me do this my way.”
“I won’t say a word.”
He wouldn’t have to. His mere presence had already changed the rules of engagement.
The manager rushed out of his office, looking a bit ruffled. He walked right past Lil and offered his hand to Jake. “Mr. Walton, what brings you to NBN today?”
Jake ignored his outstretched hand. “I believe your business is with Miss Dartley.”
The man wasn’t smart enough to hide his sneer. “If you wanted to be compensated for your interview, Miss Dartley, you should have negotiated a price before giving it.”
Jake took an aggressive step toward him, but Lil wasn’t going to be dismissed that easily. She handed Jake both Colby and the diaper bag. She took the folded gag order out of her purse and handed it to the manager. “I didn’t give an interview. The phone conversation you have was taped without my knowledge and under the guise of something else. If you or any other news station airs it, I will sue you and them to within a penny of bankruptcy.”
The manager almost said something, but changed his mind. He looked back and forth between Lil and Jake, putting more meaning on their relationship than the paper in his hand.
When he spoke again, his intention was to appease her. “I had no idea, Ms. Dartley. Of course the interview will be pulled.”
It was disappointingly easy.
Which shouldn’t be a problem, but it was.
Today had proven nothing.
Lil turned and took Colby back from Jake. Storming out, but leaving Jake standing there with the diaper bag hanging from one of his perfectly manicured hands.
It must have provided the station manager with a sight that amused him, because the man appeared to have something he wanted to say.
Jake leaned in. “Say it. Give me one reason to remember your name when I walk out of here, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wishing you hadn’t.”
The smile wiped clean off the older man’s face, a fact that gave Jake a moment of satisfaction as he turned on his heel to do what he’d never done in his entire life-chase after a woman.
Chapter Five
By the time Jake got back to the car, Lil had already started the vehicle and Colby was safely strapped in the back.“I did it. He’s not going to air it.”
“You did it.”
She smiled. “I really did it. I’m sure it helped that you were here, but I think it would have worked regardless.”
“I bet you’re right.”
“You must be glad it’s over. Now you can go back to New York and tell Dominic there is nothing to worry about.” Lil let out a tremulous breath. “I know it’s silly, but I was actually nervous in there. My legs still feel a little shaky. Adrenaline, I guess.”
Jake put a hand on his seatbelt and asked, “Why don’t I drive?”
Lil hesitated for a moment then unbuckled hers. “Only because I’m still a little wound up.”
“Of course.”
They quickly traded places. As they pulled onto a main road, Jake asked, “I have to make a quick stop somewhere, do you mind?”
Although Lil wanted nothing more than to get home and relax, she said, “That’s fine.” He had, after all, driven all the way up here just to help her. She’d be home soon enough. Hopefully the press would be gone. If she could settle Colby down for a nap, she might even get some studying done today after all.
Lil stared blindly at the skyscrapers they drove by. Even if she didn’t want to, there was something that needed to be said. “I don’t think I thanked you for coming up here, Jake. I’m not really good at accepting help.”
“Really, I wouldn’t have guessed,” he said smoothly, with only the slightest trace of humor in his voice.
Lil smiled. “Don’t start with me. I’m trying to be nice.”
“Is it an arduous effort?”
“With some people,” Lil joked.
He seemed to want to say more, but didn’t. Instead he pulled in front of a high end residential building and handed the keys to her economy car to a valet, appearing unperturbed by the expression on the young man’s face when he took them. She guessed that he didn’t park many cars that smelled of baby powder and sour milk. Lil unclipped the portable section of the car seat and swung the diaper bag over one shoulder. Hopefully wherever they were headed had a spot where she could change and feed Colby or her daughter’s pleasant personality would soon undergo a drastic change.
The security man at the front desk waved them by. Lil followed Jake through the pristine lobby and to an elevator that looked nice enough to live in. She wondered what kind of people lived in a place like that.
People like Jake, she guessed.
They took the elevator all the way to the top to the penthouse, not a surprise. What did give Lil a moment of pause was the way the penthouse was decorated. Large, comfortable furniture. Warm, feminine colors. It couldn’t be Jake’s place, could it? “Do you live here?”
“No, it belongs to a friend.”
Of course it did.
He probably had a lot of friends.
A moment of jealousy was quickly followed by a mental self-shake-none of that was any of her business and she’d be a whole lot happier if she remembered that. She placed Colby’s carrier on the floor and unhooked her. “Colby’s wet. Do you mind if I change her on the bed? I have a blanket.”
A moment later she returned from the bedroom and said, “You didn’t tell me that your friend had a baby, too. The bedroom has a crib and a changing table.”
Jake didn’t respond to that. Instead he said, “Why don’t you check out the view? It’s quite impressive. You can see the Charles from the balcony.”
Lil opened one of the French style doors and gasped with pleasure. The penthouse was just high enough to give a clear view of not only the river, but a good portion of Boston. “It’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. That will make this easier.”
The hair on the back of her neck went up.
“Make what easier?”
Jake turned, his hands casually pocketed. “You can’t go back to your place.”