The Perfect Guy: A Romance Novel Page 6

  I probably acted a lot like a child as we walked around the park and studied all of the animals. I got excited at seeing the flamingos, I aahed at seeing the polar bears play in the cold water of their pools, and I bravely walked all the way up to the fence to study the alligators since they were still at a safe distance.

  At first, James and I simply enjoyed strolling around in the park and looking at all the animals, but as time wound on, I became aware of the fact that we weren’t acting out our date, so when we made our way toward the aquarium, I brought it up.

  “Aren’t people supposed to get to know each other on a date?”

  “That’s usually what dates are for, yes,” James replied with an amused smile.

  “Well, then tell me more about you. I don’t know a whole lot apart from the fact that you’re a musician and grew up in Chicago. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know how old you are.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  I thought about it for a minute and then smiled. “Well, since this is supposed to be a first date, tell me about your likes and dislikes. Do you have a job at home? Any siblings? Things like that.”

  “Ah, the typical questions of a first date,” he said and rubbed his neck while he thought about his answers. “You already know about my interest for music, but that’s more of a hobby.” He looked slightly torn, as if he had absolutely no idea what to say. “It’s hard to explain my likes and dislikes. I never really think about them until they’re presented to me. The only thing that comes to mind right now is that I hate beans.”

  I started to laugh at the unexpected answer and it didn’t take long for James to join in.

  Our conversation continued like that. James told me that he was currently unemployed back home in Chicago, that he had left his old job to focus on his music. He didn’t say anything about any siblings, but he told me about his parents.

  “I am a younger, male version of my mother. She looks exactly like me with less stubble.”

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed as much as I did when I talked with James. He was, sometimes, just as crazy as I was, and I enjoyed it immensely. Although, it did make me miss my Sissy, even though we’d talked every night since I arrived.

  “What about you? I feel like I’ve done all the talking for the last hour and a half,” James said when we sat down to grab some junk food to eat.

  “I don’t mind. I like hearing you talk. You get so animated when you explain something,” I said and started to pull out my wallet.

  “Oh no, forget it! I’m paying today.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I can pay for my own hot dog, James. It won’t ruin me.”

  “It’s not about that. I want to pay. Please?”

  He stared at me with those green eyes and I sighed deeply before putting down my wallet again. I made a gesture for him to go on and buy the hot dogs, but didn’t say anything. If he absolutely insisted on paying, I wasn’t going to be difficult.

  When he returned with our food, I smiled and shook my head at his silliness. He raised his eyebrows, challenging me to comment, so I refrained from it.

  “Now, it’s your turn.”

  I took a big bite of my hot dog since I was pretty hungry at this point. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. I chewed slowly while I thought about what I would say.

  When I finally swallowed, my eyes met James’s and he was looking at me with a stunned expression.

  “What?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve just never met a girl that eats like you before.” He was smiling, so I knew that he didn’t really care about how I ate, but his comment made me stiffen. It had been one of the things George said I embarrassed him with, and even though I felt nothing but relief to be rid of that ass, it still hurt me to realize that maybe he had been right. Maybe I did eat like an animal.

  The thought made me blush.

  “Why are you blushing?” James asked, but I shrugged away his question. I didn’t want to answer that.

  “I worked as a receptionist at a stockbroker’s office in Seattle before I came here,” I said in an attempt to change the subject. Luckily, it distracted James, and my blushing was soon forgotten.

  “I get the feeling that it wasn’t your dream job.”

  I scoffed. “You got that right. It was just a stop along the way. I still don’t know what I want to do, but I want it to be something meaningful. Like what my dad does.”

  “What does your dad do?”

  “He’s the Chief of Seattle PD,” I said proudly. I was truly proud of my dad. He had gotten where he was with hard work, and I admired him so much.

  James’s eyes widened. “Whoa, I just got even more scared of you.”

  I frowned in confusion. “Why?”

  “Because this means that your dad would probably put a bullet in me if I did something wrong toward you, and he would be able to make the evidence of my murder disappear.”

  I smiled. “How lucky for you that this isn’t a real relationship then.” I tried to ignore the longing inside me that screamed that it wanted nothing more than for this to be real.

  James finished his hot dog, threw the wrapping in the nearest trashcan, and continued his query. “How about siblings?”

  “An only child, but my best friend is like my sister. In fact, we’re probably closer than sisters. We share everything with each other. She’s my rock.”

  “It must be great to have someone like that.” I thought I detected a hint of longing in his voice.

  “You don’t?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want to make him sad by causing him to think about it, but it sounded so lonely to not have someone you could trust like I had Becca. I probably wouldn’t have been able to live without her.

  James shook his head. “No. I used to, when I was younger. But he moved away four years ago when his wife said that she didn’t want to raise their children in Chicago, and we just lost touch.”

  In that moment, I realized that I still didn’t know how old James was. We were on our way to the reptile house by now, and we had been walking around in the park for at least two and a half hours. How the subject had not been brought up yet, I couldn’t answer,

  “Was he older than you?”

  James shook his head. “No, why do you ask?”

  I shrugged. “It sounds like he was older since he was married with children.” Becca was married, but had only been for six months now. James said that his friend had been married and had children, plural, four years ago.

  Of course, they could have been young parents.

  James didn’t say anything for a while, so I decided that it was my task to get his age out of him. I was curious, because he acted very mature, but his clothes indicated that he couldn’t be many years over twenty.

  However, when I asked, James didn’t answer right away.

  “Does my age really matter?” he eventually asked.

  I dramatically gasped and placed my hands over my mouth in a theatrical gesture, hoping to maintain the playful feel our date had had so far. “Oh no, don’t tell me you’re barely twenty. I’d rather not be a cougar.”

  “Don’t worry about that. You would definitely not be a cougar by being with me. I’m actually one of the older volunteers in the program,” he replied seriously to my mocking.

  “Are you gonna make me take a guess?”

  “I’m twenty-nine.”

  “Really?” I said before I had time to stop myself. My hand flew up to my mouth and I blushed with embarrassment. The truth was that I’d genuinely believed that James was, at the most, one year older than me. He really didn’t look like he was twenty-nine, and I’d just revealed that inner thought by blurting out my words without thinking. I waited with bated breath to see if he would take it as a compliment or an insult.

  James shocked me by gently smiling at me. “If I was able to fool you, it means I did a good job,” he said, and I frowned in confusion. I had no idea what he meant with that statement
, but he continued before I could ask. “I don’t usually dress this way.” He made a gesture towards his worn jeans and simple button down. It was slightly dressier than what he’d worn that first day, but only barely. He didn’t have the beanie on, but his hair was in a stylish mess that had only strengthened my belief in his younger age.

  “I told you that I’ve been in the program before, and as you’ve probably noticed, most of the volunteers are in their early twenties. You are the only one, apart from the professors and Mr. and Mrs. Kellen, who knows that this isn’t my first time. I dress this way to blend in with the rest of them; play the part, so to speak.”

  It was logical, what he said, but he was only making me more curious about why he seemed so embarrassed about having been a part of the program before.

  “Why do you want to hide?”

  He shrugged. “It was easier than to explain the story behind my previous involvement with the school.”

  “Which you still haven’t told me,” I said carefully. I could feel that this was one of those moments when I really should refrain from making a joke, and so I kept it on a serious note.

  “But I will, eventually. Not today, though. I want us to know each other better before I tell you about my past.” James wasn’t looking at me, and it felt like he was hiding his face from me, kind of as if he didn’t want me to see something particular in his expression.

  “The past shapes the person you are in the present, James. How will we get to know each other if we don’t know what made us into who we are today?”

  “The past shouldn’t really matter.” James frowned, and for a moment, he actually looked irritated with me. He turned his eyes at me and what I saw made something twist inside of me. His eyes weren’t the soft, but still intense, green I’d gotten used to in the short time I’d known him. They were hard and glimmering. “The fact still remains that I am who I am. Who cares about how I got here?” he continued, completely unaware that I was almost cowering away from him. I didn’t like to admit it, but I was actually a bit afraid of James in that second.

  However, James looked away from me again, took a deep breath and once again became the kind, sweet, and funny guy I was expecting. He smiled at me as if everything was all right, but I was still very uncomfortable. I remained silent as we reached the reptile house and while we strolled around inside to watch the snakes, lizards, and frogs that resided in there.

  James continued to converse and even though he very much felt my reluctance, he completely ignored it. I knew that he knew why I was uneasy, but it didn’t feel like he was giving me space to absorb what had just transpired. It felt more like he hoped it would be forgotten if he didn’t bring it up.

  James was hiding a side from me. I wouldn’t have given it much thought if it hadn’t been for the feeling in my stomach that told me that the side he was hiding was actually the real him. Every human being had a side they wanted to hide at times, but it shouldn’t be so hard to hide that side so that the mask you’re maintaining immediately slips whenever you lose control for a second.

  I believed that—for the short moment when James’s eyes had turned hard and cold—that had been the first glimpse I got of the real James.

  Not for the first time since I arrived in Ohio did the thought, “what have I gotten myself into” pass through my head.

  CHAPTER 9

  THE HIDDEN TRUTH

  The steps echoed in the empty marble hallway as he made his way toward the office at the very end of the first floor.

  He didn’t even bother to knock on the door. Instead, he let himself in and when the occupant behind the desk raised her eyebrow at him, he challenged her with a look of his own.

  Esme Kellen sighed and put the papers she’d had in her hand down on the tabletop. The glasses she had been wearing were taken off and placed over them.

  “It was about time. I was beginning to think that you wouldn’t show up,” she said with a hint of annoyance coloring her tone.

  “I was occupied with an assignment your professors gave me. I couldn’t just leave. It would have caused suspicion,” he replied with poison lacing his smooth voice.

  The pair stared at each other angrily until Esme directed her eyes in a different direction and sighed with frustration. “I keep wondering why I chose you to do this for me.”

  “Because I’m the best,” he said arrogantly and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. He crossed his legs and smirked at the older woman.

  “You’re also my unemployed and infuriating nephew. Your father told me that you needed money.”

  “Why do you and Dad always discuss my life? It doesn’t concern you! I can take care of myself.”

  “Apparently not, since you don’t have a job.”

  “That’s not my fault. My previous employers didn’t comprehend the potential of my skills.”

  “If you keep going like this, you’ll be broke soon.”

  “I have money!”

  “For the moment, yes, but with your expensive lifestyle, what will you do when that trust fund of yours runs dry?”

  He smiled at her. “If you continue giving me these cases, I’ll be fine.”

  Esme closed her eyes and supported her head with her hand on her forehead. “I’m sorry to say this, James, but this will be your last case.”

  James shot up from his seat and glared at his aunt. “What? Why?”

  “You’re getting too old. Most of my students are in their early twenties. They won’t want a guy that’s past thirty. You already have to dress younger to hide your age. Soon, your age will show on your face.”

  James grabbed handfuls of his hair and pulled. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He opened his mouth to speak but Esme continued.

  “It’s not just me who’s putting a stop to this. Your father told me that he wants me to stop, and I respect my brother. He says that you need to grow up and become more independent.”

  James scoffed at that and then fell silent.

  Neither of them said anything for quite a while. Eventually, he fell down into his chair again. “Just forget it. Why did you want me to come here anyway? I doubt it was to give me a lesson on how to be an adult.”

  Esme waited another few seconds to evaluate if she should give her nephew the information she’d recently received. She decided that he was professional enough to take the information and use it in the most beneficial of ways.

  “Renée called. Apparently, Rebecca Walters, Jennifer’s best friend, came over last night while Charles was on the phone with Jennifer. Charles gave the phone to her and they talked for quite a while. Renée heard the entire conversation through the phone in their office. Jennifer talked a lot about you.”

  A grin started to spread on James’s face. It looked nothing like the crooked smiles he’d given Jennifer the day before on their date. “Oh, really? And what did she say?”

  Esme looked down at the papers on her desk to read from the notes she’d taken during her conversation with Renée. “She’s physically attracted to you, and she thinks you’re charming, but there’s something that concerns her. She doesn’t know what, but she doesn’t trust you.” She looked up at him. “That’s a direct quote from Jennifer to her best friend. Would you care to explain what she meant by that?”

  James shrugged. “My act might have accidentally slipped on occasion. Nothing major. She’ll forget about it before our next meeting.”

  Esme shook her head disappointedly. “I know you’re good at what you do, James, but don’t get arrogant. Not with this case. It’s not like the others. Jennifer is a lot more intuitive.”

  “And I supposed your old BFF told you that,” he retorted with sarcasm. It was no secret to him that the relationship between Jennifer and her mother was rocky. He doubted Renée knew the real young woman she had given birth to.

  “Renée might not have the best relationship with her daughter, but nobody knows a woman better than her mother.”

  “Maybe, but believe me when I te
ll you that I can handle Jennifer. From what I’ve gathered by myself and the information you just gave me, I’ve already found her Achilles’ heel. This will be a piece of cake.” James smiled widely at Esme before he got up from his seat and made his way toward the door. “See you around, Mrs. Kellen,” he said and left the office with confidence in his step.

  I closed my eyes and tried to shut off my mind in order to relax and get some sleep, but it proved to be difficult. All I could think about was James’s confusing behavior at the park yesterday.

  It had worried me, but when I talked to Becca afterwards she had told me to stop overanalyzing everything. Just because George had treated me like shit on his shoes, it didn’t mean that every guy was like that. She had told me to relax and let everything fall into place on its own.

  I had tried, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something bad that James was hiding from me. Why else was he so determined with hiding it if it wasn’t?

  The display on my phone was lit up, soundlessly alerting me to the fact that I had received a text and I checked my inbox. There was one from an unknown number and what it said made me frown.

  Get dressed and open your door. I have a surprise for you.

  I doubted the text was really meant for me, so I sent a reply stating that the sender must have the wrong number.

  I got another text almost immediately.

  I doubt that, Jenn. Just come outside.

  Since the sender didn’t give me their name, I got curious, but I did have a good suspicion of who it could be. I decided to just do what I was told, so I grabbed my clothes and tiptoed out of the bedroom so that I wouldn’t wake up Jessica and Leah while I got dressed.

  Out in the living area, I cast a glance at the clock and saw that it was already past midnight. I heard sounds outside of the door, so I knew that the person sending me the texts was outside.