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He looked up, alarmed. “What is it?”
“Can I bring my dog? He usually comes to work with me and he hates to be alone.”
Jay laughed, the alarm vanishing. “Of course. I love dogs. I’ve always wanted one, but I’m too busy.”
With the business chat out of the way, they fell into their usual easy rapport, drinking hot chocolate in the kitchen and laughing about some of the funnier things that had happened at Archer’s wedding in Scotland. Then suddenly she remembered his asking her to dance, and how comfortable they’d been together, how well they’d moved together. She hadn’t seen that coming, any more than she’d seen that library coming.
In fact, she was beginning to realize there were aspects to Jay Malone that she’d never glimpsed before.
* * *
Jay offered to drive Erin home, but it turned out she had parked her car nearby. By the time they’d finished their hot chocolate, he felt so comfortable in her company that he’d been tempted to ask her to stay and hang out. He’d had a vision of them watchingan old movie in his home theatre and it felt darned good. But then he remembered his earlier conversation with his oldest and one of his most valuable clients, Archer Davenport, who’d warned him to stay away from his sister.
Then there was the small matter of his own conflicted feelings. He didn’t want to give Erin the wrong idea. He’d wanted them to watch a movie like old buddies, but what if she got the wrong impression? Or worse, what if, in the intimate setting, he got the wrong idea and let these new thoughts about Erin take the reins?
No, it was much better to say good-bye and tell her he’d see her tomorrow. Besides, he had an absolutely packed day of meetings to reschedule.
He wasn’t sure why he’d told Erin he was completely free tomorrow. They both knew it was a lie. It was just that he’d been able to read her and could see how much she wanted to get back in her editor’s good graces. He’d worked with enough journalists and enough media to know that stories were always time sensitive. He imagined even a weekly community newspaper like theSea Shelltried to stay topical. Besides, it might be fun. It would be interesting to see Erin at work, to hear the kind of questions she’d ask him—especially with so little time to prepare. Maybe there was also a little pride at play. He wanted to show off his new house and, more than that, he wanted to fit in with his new community. It was important to him to be accepted in Carmel—it was already feeling like home in a way nowhere else ever had, even LA.
He quickly composed an email to his personal assistant, Gina, to reschedule all tomorrow’s meetings. In less than a minute his phone flashed and he smiled. She was an excellent assistant.
Are you sick? Do you need me to call an ambulance?
He laughed out loud. Okay, he was a workaholic, but surely he wasn’t that bad. He wondered what to tell her. He couldn’t exactly say he was dumping meetings with studio heads to be interviewed for a community paper.
No, I have to do a favor for a friend.
It’s not April Fool’s Day or something, is it?
It’s real. Huge thanks, you’re the best.
Gina and her team would make everything work—that’s why he hired the best and paid them well. Then, because he figured he’d earned the right, he went back to his library, settled in his favorite chair, put on his reading glasses, and picked up his book.
Chapter Six
Erin had tossed and turned all night, her mind racing. She’d sent Pat Sinclair a quick email telling her that she’d secured the interview for the very next day. Pat, in her usual way, didn’t heap praise on Erin’s head for doing such great work. Instead, she sent a list of questions she’d already prepared, which only confirmed Erin’s suspicions that she’d never had a choice about this assignment. Erin had read them while she brushed her teeth. They weren’t exactly the most hard-hitting newspaper in the world, but sometimes Pat’s background at theChicago Tribuneshowed and the questions were designed to get a subject to reveal more about himself than he’d like. Still, Jay was an old hand at publicity. He’d answer exactlywhathe wanted to in exactly thewayhe wanted to. And frankly, she’d probably let him.
If she’d wanted to be the kind of journalist who went for the jugular, uncovering corruption and lies and skeletons in the closet, she wouldn’t have taken a job at theSea Shellnewspaper in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
What worried her more was dealing with Jay on a professional level. Whenever they spent time together, it was as part of a big, noisy group that almost always included all of her annoying brothers. She’d never been anything but the little sister to Jay. Now, not only had he pretty much rescued her from hypothermia while she shivered in her bikini, but she also had to show up the next day as if all that hadn’t happened, and interview him.
When she was assigned these profile pieces, she usually crafted them carefully to show a side of the person that would make them an interesting part of the community. Their readers were more interested in understanding the real essence of the human being than how many Academy Awards they had, or what Clint Eastwood had said to them twenty years ago. Not that she wouldn’t include those things, but she always searched for something a bit deeper and more relatable. Trying to pry more sensitive information like this from the overconfident Jay Malone was truly going to put her to the test.
Maybe that wasn’t the only reason her mind had been racing. There was something else from the evening that had clung to her memory and hadn’t let go. For a miniscule moment on the beach, she could swear that Jay had looked at her as a man looks at a woman for the first time. She’d tried telling herself that she’d imagined the whole thing, but each time she returned to the scene, there was heat there, something undeniable floating between them, teasing and forbidden. It was true she was starting to see a whole new side of Jay, what with his huge home library and his caring way of making her hot chocolate when she was cold.
She’d thought she knew him well after all these years, but now she had the sense she was just getting started.
By the time she arrived at Jay’s house at eleven the next morning, she was pretty tired from her sleepless night. Luckily, her dog had energy enough for them both and rushed in ahead of her, tail wagging. The great thing about Buzzy was that he was absolutely convinced that every single person he met was his new best friend. If they didn’t feel the same way, he would back away looking so hurt that he’d been known to turn genuine dog haters into people who asked to pet him. It was his canine superpower. But straight away she saw he wouldn’t need to use his superpower on Jay.
After squatting to accept Buzzy’s enthusiastic overtures of friendship, Jay glanced up at Erin, laughter in his eyes. He was dressed as though he’d come off the beach, in a navy polo shirt and chinos. Both designer, obviously. Still, he looked both relaxed and put together. Now she knew exactly why she’d asked if Buzzy could come along this morning. Yes, she normally brought him to work, but he was also talented at breaking the ice, and if there was any awkwardness when the two of them were alone, she could always fuss over Buzzy. From the enthusiastic pets he was giving, clearly Jay would do the same.
“I can’t believe I’ve never been in town long enough to meet your dog.” Jay shook his head in disbelief. “What’s his name again?”
“It’s Buzzy. Buzzy, this is Jay.”
He glanced at the dog and then back at Erin. “You call your dog Buzzy?”
“His name’s Boswell. Buzzy for short.”