Chapter 44

Hal

Hal had to work hard to keep from laughing because he knew it would embarrass her. He had seen her looking at his exposed lower stomach as he stretched, and he knew that she was flustered.

He was glad because he was every bit as flustered as she was. In fact, he didn’t know how he was going to keep the flow of their evening going smooth with just how agitated he was becoming.

Even so, he was an actor by trade. He knew he could fake it, at least for a little while.

“So how did the applying go today?” Hal asked smoothly, easily moving his arm so that it rested behind Jesse along the back of the couch. He nearly chuckled as he saw the way her body stiffened with his motion.

“It was fine,” she answered, and he heard a subtle catch in her voice. “Boring.”

“I figured,” Hal chuckled, and Jesse responded with a laugh of her own.

“Oh, well …” she sighed, and Hal saw her relax a little. “That’s just a part of it, I guess.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be,” Hal said with a shrug, and Jesse looked up at him, frowning.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“You could pick up a job working for me,” he said, giving her a smile. Much to his amusement, Jesse rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure that would be very professional,” she said sarcastically, and Hal laughed.

“I think we could make it work,” Hal said, lowering his voice a little suggestively. He saw Jesse’s eyes widen, and he saw her throat bob as she swallowed.

“Thanks,” she said softly. “But no thanks.”

Hal chuckled. He had expected nothing less.

“Seriously, though,” Hal went on. “My secretary, Liza, has more than a few connections on the journalism side. I could put you in touch with her, and maybe she could set you up with a few interviews. I mean, I can’t make you any solid promises, but it would at least be something to work with.”

Jesse blinked over at him.

“Actually …” she murmured, her brow creased in a small frown as she appeared to think about the situation. “That doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

Hal’s ears perked up.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really,” Jesse confirmed with a nod, looking back toward him. “I mean, that’s not you just handing me a job, it’s just getting me set up with a connection. I mean, that’s just networking. And I would have a couple of interviews and just see where they go.”

“That’s great!” Hal said, more than a little surprised that she hadn’t shut down that idea as well. “I can talk to Liza about it first thing tomorrow, maybe take you both out to lunch or something.”

“Whatever you want,” Jesse said, smiling.

Hal beamed at her. He knew that Liza would be able to set her up with way better places than The Edge. Liza had been a journalist herself in her younger days, and she could set Jesse up with actual newspapers instead of some half-baked tabloid magazine. He knew that Jesse would definitely have a good shot of making something of herself, and having seen her in action in a professional capacity, he knew that she would excel in any interviews that Liza set up for her. She would have her pick of an excellent job.

She certainly deserved it.

“Thank you,” Jesse said softly, and Hal pulled himself out of his thoughts.

“Me?” he asked, laughing a little. “For what? Liza will be the one setting everything up. You should thank her whenever you get the chance.”

“Yeah, of course.” Jesse nodded, her voice soft. “But … I mean … there’s no way we would have ever crossed paths if it wasn’t for you … and a lot of people wouldn’t understand how important it is to me to have a job …”

Jesse trailed off, and Hal waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts a little.

“So I guess I mean,” Jesse picked up, looking up at him. “Thank you for understanding.”

“You’re welcome,” Hal said softly, smiling down at her gently. He cupped her face in the palm of his hand, and he felt her shiver a little under his touch.

Hal felt his smile fade from his face as he was overwhelmed with a feeling of tenderness for the woman beside him. He had never met a woman that was so determined to honestly make a way for herself without accepting handouts from others, without taking the easy way out.

Moreover, he had never met a woman that was so grateful for the things he did for her. That was, when she let him do them.

Not to mention the softness of her skin beneath his hand. He had barely touched her, and it already felt like her skin was searing his hand where they touched. He could feel a fire roaring to life in his belly. He knew that if he didn’t actively work to keep himself in line, he would lose it just like he had the other day at her apartment.

The way she was looking at him, though, he wondered whether or not that was exactly what she wanted.
Hal removed his hand from her face and placed it in his lap, clearing his throat.

“So …” he trailed off. “What did you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Jesse shrugged, and Hal noted that her voice sounded tight.

“Well,” Hal made to move the conversation along. “We could take a walk, watch a movie …”

Jesse hesitated for a moment, seeming to be thinking it over.

“A movie sounds good,” she finally said, a small smile lighting up her face.

“Great,” Hal nodded, getting up and moving over to his collection of DVDs. “What movie would you like to watch?”

“Hm …” Jesse seemed to ponder for a moment. “I don’t know … surprise me.”

Hal shrugged, and he reached blindly into the rows of DVDs to withdraw a box. He didn’t even bother looking at the title before he put it into the player and returned to take his seat by Jesse. Once he was seated, he pressed play on the menu.

As the opening credits began to roll, he glanced over at Jesse, noting that her eyes were locked on the screen already, her posture stiff. He, too, was feeling a little bit of nerves.

He already knew that neither of them was going to be paying too much attention to whatever movie was playing.