As Becky frantically dried herself, she glanced at her watch. Her appointment with Charlotte! She’d totally forgotten about the meeting about her sister’s job. She was so caught up in Jarrid that nothing existed for her except him.
How could she have put her own attraction to Jarrid ahead of getting her sister that L.A. job?
Becky yanked on her clothes feeling upset with herself. As she hurried out of the house, she glanced down the driveway looking for Jarrid’s van, but it was gone. She should’ve felt relieved, but instead, she missed seeing him.
Her head started to ache as she quickly got into her car. She prayed that Charlotte would tell her Pam’s job would be available sooner than she thought. She had to get her sister moved to Los Angeles right away. Because she couldn’t be in Jarrid’s presence without thinking about her own need for him!
Jarrid made a pit stop at his West Los Angeles apartment for a quick bite to eat before responding to the phone call he had received at Mrs. Fuller’s house from Pete. Pete told him that he had heard from a friend that Lyle Industries in Santa Monica wanted remote video monitors installed in each of their ten executive offices for video-conferencing purposes.
Jarrid wanted to go over to Lyle Industries in person and convince Mr. Lyle that he was the man to design their video system.
He grabbed a cold piece of leftover chicken from the refrigerator. He tried to concentrate on what he would say to Mr. Lyle, but his mind was whirling with conflicts about Becky.
In the Jacuzzi, Becky was so open to him. Her eyes held a warm caring that momentarily melted away the long-ago memories of her refusing to marry him. She looked at him like he was a new man to her, like she was getting to know him all over again.
Yet she’d acted so cool to him afterward. She wouldn’t even go to his store like they’d planned.
Jarrid hurled the bare chicken bone into the trash can. Move on with your life, he silently told himself.
In a few days he would be meeting Marie’s friend. She could be the woman who would accept him completely. The woman who would want to share her heart and soul with him.
Yet why did the idea of dating a woman other than Becky feel so wrong to him? If Becky wasn’t going to get seriously involved with him again, why didn’t he feel enthusiastic about Saturday night at Kenny’s?
Jarrid grabbed his van keys so he wouldn’t delay getting to Lyle Industries to discuss his video conferencing ideas.
Just as he opened the door to leave, he found a delivery man dressed in brown shorts and brown shirt standing there ready to ring his doorbell. He was holding a special delivery letter and a clipboard for his signature.
Jarrid quickly signed the receipt form and hurried to his van with the letter in his hand.
At a red light, he glanced at the envelope to see who it was from. There was no return address. He drove into the subterranean parking structure of the office building in Santa Monica, turning into the first empty parking spot he saw.
Jarrid couldn’t stop himself from taking a few short moments to open the envelope. He immediately spotted the typewritten name at the bottom of the letter. It was from Becky.
His heart hammered against his ribs. He wondered if she was going to tell him that she didn’t want to see him anymore. He focused on the typed words.
Dear Jarrid:
I guess I’ve gotten a bit shy over the years. It’s so hard for me to say how I feel about you when I’m with you. Will you forgive me for hurting you on my prom night? I think about you a lot. I see your face in my mind when I’m working. I see your sexy eyes. And when I’m lying in bed at night—
“Hey, buddy, you’re parked in a reserved spot!” Jarrid heard the parking attendant call out.
“Sorry!” he quickly yelled back, his stomach churning over Becky’s revealing letter.
Jarrid quickly shoved Becky’s red-hot letter back into the envelope, slipped it in his pocket and drove to the spot the attendant pointed to. She was bold in her letter, like the Becky he knew. Yet, in person, she presented a softer, shier side that appealed to him even more.
When Jarrid entered the gray-carpeted, lamplit reception area, he was told to wait a few minutes. Becky’s inviting words filled his head. Having a couple of minutes, he took out her letter and quickly read the rest.
Becky couldn’t relax sitting in the plush floral chair in Charlotte Swanson’s advertising office in Beverly Hills. Somehow, she had to get her sister to L.A. sooner than Charlotte had in mind for that job. She couldn’t go on another second pretending to be her twin when she wanted so badly to be with Jarrid herself.
She had stopped by her apartment before going to Charlotte’s office to see if Pam’s diary had been delivered, but there was no mail waiting for her. Her message machine was blinking with a call, but she was a couple of minutes late for her appointment with Charlotte and didn’t take the time to listen to it.
She saw Charlotte glance up from her three-way conference call on her videophone and motion that she would be with her in a moment.
Becky politely nodded, feeling the tension growing inside of her. She picked up the framed family photograph on her friend’s desktop of Charlotte, her husband and three children.
She admired the closeness between Charlotte and her husband. For a split second she imagined her and Jarrid in the photo as husband and wife with his protective arm around her waist, gazing at her with those brown eyes of his filled with more love than she could ever dream of.
“Becky, about your sister,” Charlotte began, flicking off the videophone screen.
“Yes, of course, my sister.”
Becky quickly set the photograph back on the desk. Every time her thoughts drifted to Jarrid, she forgot about Pam. Her fantasies about him were growing steadily out of control.
“I hope you don’t mind, Becky,” Charlotte said, “but I called your sister in New York early this morning. I offered her a very desirable salary and benefits package.”
“Oh, Charlotte, thank you so much,” she said. “How soon can Pam come to Los Angeles?”
“Actually, there might be a slight delay.”
“A delay?” Becky repeated uneasily.
“The account exec who is leaving the position your sister will fill told me that she is still negotiating a contract with her new employer,” Charlotte explained. “She asked to remain at her job for a while longer until the signed document is in her hand.”
Becky anxiously straightened in the chair. “How long will that take?”
“We’re looking at possibly another four to five weeks, because her new employer is out of town.”
Four to five more weeks with Jarrid!
Becky’s forehead started to pound. She could barely hear Charlotte say that she had already informed Pam of the delay, and her sister seemed fine about it.
Charlotte’s videophone buzzed, and she glanced at the caller I.D. number. “Unfortunately, Becky, I’m going to be on this call for a while. I’ll let you and Pam know the second my employee gives me her final date.”
Becky stood up, fidgeting with her purse, her mind in major discord. “Charlotte, thanks a trillion for your help.” She warmly shook her hand.
As Becky drove back to the hair salon, she barely noticed driving past the glitzy department stores and the prestigious international bank buildings on Wilshire Boulevard.
Her brain was in total chaos thinking about Pam’s move to Los Angeles being pushed farther away. Instead of being upset about