Not Quite Dating(61)

Jessie pulled her car up to the valet and jumped out.
The man standing there held his hand out for her keys.
“I’m not staying,” she told him as she blew past him.
“You can’t park here,” he called after her.
Jessie ignored him and walked into the lobby. The lobby Jack owned. Her jaw tightened and her nails dug into her skin from fisting her hands.
“Ma’am, you can’t leave your car in the turnaround.” The valet was running behind her to keep up.
At the reception desk, Jessie pushed her way around the customer standing there. “Where is Jack Morrison?”
“Excuse me,” the guest at the desk said.
“If you’ll just wait—”
“Where is he?” Jessie raised her voice. “It’s urgent.” She tried to calm down, but her entire body shook. She now knew what a dragon felt like right before it shot fire from its mouth.
“He’s in a meeting, miss. Let me have your name—”
“Where?”
The receptionist glanced over Jessie’s shoulder, giving away the general direction of where Jack was holding his meeting.
On the far side of the lobby, an archway indicated a conference room.
Jessie pivoted and started marching toward the man she knew as Jack Moore.
The lying bastard.
“You can’t go in there!”
Watch me.


Chapter Sixteen


“The market analysis indicated a strong and positive response to the name change, Jack.” Eric passed around a copy of the charts Jack had asked for so they could finalize the naming of the hotel chain.
Jack sat at one end of the conference table, and his father sat at the opposite side by the door. In between were employees ranging from marketing, accounting, Dean’s second in command from his contracting firm, and a couple of lawyers to ensure the legal department’s advice was followed.
“Then it looks like we have everything set for the…” Jack’s words trailed off as voices outside the conference door indicated someone wasn’t where they were supposed to be.
“You can’t go in there,” said a frantic woman beyond the door.
Everyone in the room turned.
Gaylord shifted in his chair.
“I’ll only be a minute.” Jack heard her voice just as the large mahogany door burst open.
Several people in the room gasped.
Jack surged to his feet. “Jessie?”
She locked eyes with him and ground to a halt. The array of emotions that played over her face in the span of two seconds felt like a punch in the gut. How did she find out?
“What’s the matter, Jack? Can’t come up with a lie quick enough to explain this?”
He started walking toward her. “Jessie, I—”
Her hand shot up in front of her, stopping him. “Don’t waste your breath. I’m not here for an explanation. I needed to see with my own eyes if what I saw on the news was true.”
The news? What the hell is she talking about?
“Obviously the media has a stronger grip on the truth than you do.”
“I can explain.”
“Let me guess, you made employee of the year and they gave you the hotel.”
“Jessie, please.”
“Oh, don’t even try that with me.”
“Jack—” He heard his father’s voice but couldn’t stop watching Jessie. Her anger was palpable.
“Don’t bother, Mr. Morrison. It is Mr. Morrison, isn’t it?” Jessie asked his father.
“It is.”
Jessie’s gaze shot from his father to him. “At least someone in the room knows his own name.” She glanced around the room as if noticing it for the first time. “You told me you were a waiter. A waiter? God, I’m so gullible.” Her hand shook as she pointed at him. “Stay the hell away from me and my son. You hear me, Jack Morrison. Stay away!”
It took him a second to realize that Jessie had turned and was running from the room.
Jack pushed away from the table and started after her.
His father stopped him at the door. “Is that her?” he asked.
Jack shook off his father’s hand. “Yes.”
Gaylord barked out a laugh. “Ha! I like her already.” Jack had explained everything to his father in the hour they’d shared lunch. Thank God he’d had that hour or this scene would be more difficult to explain. “What are you standing here for, son? Go.”
Jack ran from the room but didn’t see Jessie in the lobby.
A stunned receptionist stood by sputtering apologies. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Morrison. She just ran in here.”
“Where did she go?” he shouted.
The young woman pointed toward the front door.
By the time Jack stepped out into the sun, Jessie was in her new car, tearing out of the parking lot.
Patting his pants, Jack realized his keys were in his briefcase in the conference room and ran to retrieve them.
Bolting into the room, Jack ignored the questions and stares of his team. Once his keys were in his hand, he rushed to his truck and took off after her.
All Jack could see in front of him was the pain in Jessie’s eyes. He should have told her the truth, explained who he was and why he kept it a secret from her.
He hit the steering wheel when the light at the intersection to her apartment turned red.
Although Jessie only had a fifteen-minute head start on him, by the time he made it to her apartment, she was gone.


Her work said she wouldn’t be returning until after Christmas. Jack couldn’t let her stay away from him that long. There was no way of knowing where she went. Jack left messages on her cell phone, but she didn’t return them. The damn thing was probably sitting in her purse, purposely turned off.