The Mighty Storm (8 page)

I feel a smart of disappointment. I actually thought he was going to offer to drive me back for a moment there. But then I guess Jake going out in a car is an awful lot of hassle to go to, just to drop off little old me. He
’
d probably need his full security team with him.

Not that that I
’
ve seen many of them around. Just Dave.

“
It
’
s okay, thank you, I
’
ll walk, it
’
s not far.”

“
You
’
re sure?”

“
I
’
m sure.”

He reaches for the handle to open the door for me, and stops. “Do you have plans tonight … because I was wondering if you would have dinner with me?”

My heart stops. Literally, stops.

Then goes kaboom in my chest.

I
’
m supposed to be going out for dinner with Will tonight. Will, my lovely boyfriend. Who I can
’
t cancel on again.

Can I?

If I say no to Jake, I might not get the chance to see him again.

Yes. No. No. Yes.

I
’
m speaking before I even realise I
’
m doing it.

“
No I don
’
t have plans, I
’
m free. Completely free.”

He smiles, widely. “Great. Cool. So we can catch up properly without the threat of an interview hanging over us.” He gives me a small smile, a cheeky glint in his eyes.

Holy shit. Dinner with Jake.

My heart is doing somersaults in my chest.

It
’
s not a date. It
’
s not a date. It
’
s not a date.

“
Yes.” My voice goes a little squeaky. I clear my throat. “Sounds like plan.”

He smiles again, it reaches all the way to his beautiful eyes. “Eight o
’
clock okay?”

Now would be fine with me. Yesterday, whenever, I
’
m easy.

“
Eight o
’
clock is great.”

“
Write down your address and I
’
ll come pick you up.”

I pull my note pad back out from my bag, quickly scribble down my address, tear the page out and hand it to him.

My fingers touch his in the exchange and my skin hums. I feel my face start to heat up again.

Jake glances at the paper in his hand, then folds it up and puts it in his back pocket.

He opens the door for me and stands aside to let me through.

We walk to the front door in silence, Stuart and Dave are nowhere to be seen.

When we reach the door, we stop for a moment facing one another.

I have no idea why, but I just feel sad again saying goodbye to him. Like I
’
m never going to see him again. Which is stupid because I
’
m going to see him tonight.

I
’
m seeing Jake tonight. A thrill shoots through me.

He reaches his hand up to my face and tucks my hair behind my ear. I almost swoon, my legs trembling, tummy butterflying.

Then he leans down and kisses my cheek.

The feel of his lips on my skin, his hot breath momentarily halts every moving particle of me, paralysing me to the spot, nearly sending me into convulsions.

As he moves back, he smiles warmly at me. “So I
’
ll see you tonight then.” He opens the door for me.

“
Yes, tonight. At eight.” Oh God, I sound like a complete idiot.

I stumble through the door, legs failing on me. I grip hold of my bag like as it
’
s my life support.

“
Bye, Jake,” I say, lingering.

“
Bye, Trudy Bennett.”

I force myself to turn and walk down the hall.

When I reach the end of the hall, I turn, looking back but the door is already closed.

I reach the lift and the doors instantly ping open.

I wobble into the lift, press for ground and fall back against the mirrored wall.

I
’
m going out for dinner tonight with Jake.

Holy shit.

It
’
s going to be okay.

No it
’
s so totally not.

How the hell am I going to explain to Will that I
’
m cancelling on him for the second night in a row, this time to go out for dinner with Jake Wethers, who I forget to mention I knew very well when I was younger and have just interviewed today, which he also didn
’
t know as I neglected to tell him that too.

Okay, deep, calming breaths Tru. It
’
s not a big deal. Will is cool, he
’
s understanding. And really there is no issue to have. It
’
s just two old friends having dinner. One of them just happens to be the world
’
s biggest rock star.

Oh crap.

The concierge opens the door freeing me from The Dorchester and I step onto the busy street. The warm air on my face does little to help me, right now I need a blast of the cool.

Looking at my watch, I see it’s 11:15. Digging my phone out of my bag, I decide to call Will at work and see if he
’
s free to have lunch with me so I can tell him about tonight.

“
Will Chambers.”

Oh, I love his work voice. All deep and professional. So cute.

“
Hey, it
’
s me.”

“
Hey baby.” He sounds happy to hear from me. He won
’
t be happy when I tell him I
’
m cancelling tonight.

“
I was calling to see if you fancied meeting me for lunch?”

“
Sure. What time?”

“
Whenever you
’
re free. I
’
m already out of the office; I just finished up on an interview.”
With Jake Wethers whose album you were listening to the other day.

“
How does half-an hour sound? I
’
ll meet you at Callo
’
s?”

“
Brilliant. See you soon.”

I head straight to Callo
’
s, which is a little upmarket café. I take a window seat and order a latte.

Then I ring Vicky.

“
Trudy, my superstar! How did it go with the gorgeous rocker?”

“
Good. Great.” The memory of his lips on my cheek flashes through my mind and I feel myself heating up. “I got plenty for the article. I
’
ve just stopped off to have an early lunch with Will and then I
’
ll be heading back to write it up.”

“
So he remembers you then?” There
’
s a teasing tone in her voice.

“
Yes.” I can
’
t help the smile on my lips. “He … um … well he actually asked me out to dinner tonight to catch up on old times.”

She actually squeals down the phone. She doesn
’
t act like my boss at times, or owner of a magazine.

“
You
’
re going aren
’
t you? Please tell me you said yes?”

“
I said yes.”

Another squeal.

Jeez, has she been drinking or something?

I look up and see Will coming in through the door.

“
Look I
’
ll have to go, Will just arrived.”

“
My office when you get back, I want
all
the gory details.”

“
There are no gory details,” I laugh but keep my voice quieter so Will doesn
’
t hear in his approach.

“
Sure there isn
’
t. See you soon,” she sings.

I hang the call up and Will leans down and kisses me on the cheek. On the same spot as where Jake kissed me. I feel this odd territorial feeling and a flash of anger toward Will. Annoyed that he
’
s just erased Jakes kiss. Which is completely crazy, even by my standards.

Will sits down across from me and the waiter comes over. Will orders a white coffee, and me another latte.

“
What would like to eat?” he asks me.

“
I
’
ll have a ham and cheese Panini,” I say to the waiter.

“
BLT on brown for me,” Will says handing him back the menu.

Will reaches over and takes hold of my hand. I notice how soft his hands are compared to Jake
’
s rough ones.

“
I missed you last night,” he murmurs.

“
I missed you too,” I smile.

“
So how was it? You have fun with Simone?”

“
I did. We got a quite drunk though.”

“
Don
’
t you two always,” he smiles. “Great news about her promotion.”

“
It is.” I fidget nervously with my free hand. Taking a deep breath, it
’
s now or never, I say, “So, I have some news.”

His eyes flicker to mine with interest.

I
’
m not actually sure where to start first. Maybe just at the beginning.

“
Well, I never told you this, not because it
’
s a big deal or anything, just because it was never really relevant, and I don
’
t really tell anyone, but growing up, I lived next door to Jake Wethers.”

I see confusion which suddenly clicks into understanding in his eyes.

“
Jake Wethers … as in … The Mighty Storm
–
Jake Wethers.”

“
The one and only.” I give him a tight smile.

“
Wow!” he says clearly impressed. “Wow. Okay. So did you know him in passing or quite well
–”

“
He was my best friend.”

“
Oh.”

“
We lost touch when his family moved to America when we were fourteen, and well we recently just got back in touch.”

His brow furrows. “When?”

“
Well, today. This morning.”

“
Oh,” he says again. His voice is tight now.

“
That
’
s who I was just interviewing. Vicky managed to land an interview with him and she sent me knowing I knew him
–”

“
So Vicky knows you knew him?”

Crap.

Why is he so quick. He
’
s clearly hurt by it.

“
Yes … I
…
um…” I tuck my hair behind my ear. “I told her when I was drunk last Christmas, purely accidental and not a big deal.”

The waiter appears with our drinks and food, forcing Will to let go of my hand, and giving me a momentary and welcomed reprieve.

“
So you did the interview this morning
–
how was it seeing him after all this time?” he seems a little easier now.

Good.

“
Um … it was little surreal, I guess,” I shrug. “I knew him when he was younger. He
’
s a lot different now.”

“
He most certainly is.” Will
’
s tone is sharp. It surprises me.

How can he make that statement when he doesn
’
t even know Jake? I suddenly feel very protective over him.

“
So, anyway,” I say, mildly, hiding my annoyance. “Because I was interviewing him we didn
’
t really get to chat much
–
you know, catch up on old times, and well, he asked me to join him for dinner tonight.”

He puts the sandwich down that he
’
d just picked up.

“
Jake Wethers has asked my girlfriend out for dinner.” He suddenly sounds all territorial. Not like Will at all.

“
It
’
s not a date, silly. It
’
s just two old friends catching up.”

“
Yes, and one half of those old friends happens to be my very beautiful girlfriend, and the other, the man-whore of the rock world.”

“
Will!” I exclaim, shocked. “That
’
s a little unfair. You don
’
t even know him.”

“
Clearly you do.”

Hang on. When did this turn into an argument?

It must be the expression on my face that prompts him to say, “Look, I
’
m sorry. I
’
ve just had a crap morning at work, and I was looking forward to seeing you and I guess my green-eyed monster is raising his head a little. You can
’
t blame me for that
–
I mean look at you.” He reaches his hand over, cupping my cheek, sinking his fingers into my hair.