“It’s not your fault, I had no idea she would even come here—but then maybe I should have expected it. She is one of those women that has a mind of her own.”
“You really like this woman, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t.”
Do I? Yeah, I guess I do.
“I think you’re lying to yourself. I could see the look on your face when you talked about her. I’m not saying you’re in love just yet, but I can tell you have feelings for her. You’ve never acted this way about a woman before.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. I just screwed that all up.”
“You didn’t, I did. Are you going to go find her?”
“Should I?”
“Yes, absolutely. She has no idea what she walked into when she knocked on your door. She expected you to answer, not another woman. Trust me, it’ll keep replaying in her head until she hates you. Go. Fix. It. Now. I have a meeting, so I’ll stop by in a day or two, but I’ll call you first.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll go. But you can just go ahead with the ideas you had for the room and tell Jack I’ll call him next week to reschedule?”
Alone in his apartment, Zayn walked to the window. The town was busy and there were people everywhere. She was out there, somewhere, too. He hoped she went back to her apartment because that’s where he was going to start. Well, it wasn’t really even a start because there was nowhere else he knew to go to look for her. Her office was closed for the day, unless she was a workaholic like him.
He changed into something more comfortable and called the Chinese place he always ordered from. When he found Jenna—and he would find her, even if he had to look all night—he didn’t want to be empty-handed. Everyone ate and if she was really angry, maybe she wasn’t thinking about her own wellbeing.
The thought that her anger was directly his fault made him feel like a horrible person, and it consumed him during his drive across town. Flowers wouldn’t smooth this over—not that he was that type of guy, anyway. He sent flowers in hopes to brighten her day or make her feel special. This was not either of those situations.
Zayn parked in front of Jenna’s building with hot Chinese and drinks packaged on the front seat. Her lights were on, which probably meant she was there, but he remained frozen in place. He was afraid to face her, mainly for fear of rejection. He hoped that after he explained why there was a woman answering his door, she would forgive him, but his fear was that she wouldn’t even hear him out.
He forced himself to get out of the car and go to her. There wasn’t a lock on the front door of the building, so he walked in and climbed the stairs to her door. He knocked once with no response, so he knocked a second time. When he tried a third time, he heard movement behind the door.
“Jenna, I know you’re in there. I saw the lights from outside and I just heard you move. Please, just open the door. All I want to do is explain. I brought…”
The door opened with a rush of air, and Jenna stood in front of him. She didn’t look mad, however—but very hurt, and that definitely made him feel worse.
“What do you want, Zayn?”
Chapter Eight
The last thing she needed right now was to see him. She didn’t want to hear his voice or smell the cologne that emanated from his body. She felt starved, but no way was she agreeing to eat the food he’d brought.
“I need to explain why there was a woman in my apartment.”
“You don’t owe me any explanation. It’s your place, you can do whatever you want.”
She started to shut the door, and he placed his hand against it.
“Please?” he pleaded.
She stared coldly, as if she were looking right through him.
“Fine but make it quick. I’m busy.”
When he walked inside, there were boxes all over the living room floor. Clearly, she was packing her things. He really hoped that meant she was going to agree to move in with him. At least until she saw Ann at his door.
“Hey, I brought Chinese. I wasn’t sure if you’d had time to eat.”
“Listen Zayn, I’m not really in the mood for visitors tonight so if you could just get it over with, I need to get back to my classified ads.”
“Why are you using the classifieds? Please don’t tell me you’re looking for apartments. I promise it’s still okay for you to use my second bedroom.”
