Free Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) by Kellie Merriman Page A

did you hear? ’ Jake asked.
    ‘ She heard nothing. It was all the incredible people I met while I was overseas ,’ Grace said as she stared Kate into a corner who agreeably said nothing more about it.
    As they conversed , Grace considered Jake. She soaked in his presence. She let her mind lie to her , telling her she had no feelings in seeing someone who was merely a colleague in New York and nothing else. Truth be told , she was besotted with him. He had been one of those men who you would sense was in the room. There was something about his presence , he was strong and vibrant. Jake had a swimmer ’ s physique , he was tall and lean with broad shoulders. Brown tousled hair and deep brown eyes completed the picture. His smile was the clincher. She remembered it from her time in New York. It was one of those smiles only for you , as if there was no-one else in the entire world. His focus was on you and you alone. Those pearly whites gleamed from ear to ear.
    ‘ What are you doing with yourself? ’
    ‘ I ’ m a journalist at The Sydney Star . Same old , same old. ’
    ‘ Of course , you were great at it. Regular stories of court cases , political scandals , police reports , right? Are you still up to the same kind of thing? ’
    ‘ Yeah , not much has changed. ’
    ‘ You can say that again ,’ Kate said.
    Jake smiled at Kate. ‘ I ’ m not surprised. ’ He turned his attention back to Grace. ‘ There ’ s nothing like covering the cheerful news to get you through the day. ’
    Grace smirked. He is beyond hot. Don ’ t forget your vow of no dating , ever. Get a grip , girl. ‘ True. Someone has to do it. So , what about you? What are you doing these days? Still policing and bringing justice to those who deserve it? ’ She thought she better be polite. She had developed such a crush on Jake in America , yet , he was engaged at the time so he was off limits.
    ‘ I have my own business now ,’ he said.
    She paused as she took a sip of her drink and looked at him over the rim of the glass. She waited for him to continue but he stopped there. Finally to break the silence she said , ‘ Doing what? ’
    ‘ I ’ m in private investigation now. Sorry , I ’ m shocked from running into you. ’
    ‘ It ’ s mind blowing. So , is PI work better than policing? ’
    ‘ Oh , similar but different. Work is work , however , there ’ s a little less pressure in this line of the day to day slog ,’ he said.
    She knew what he was saying. Lately she had begun to tire of the constant deadlines , the stress and the pressure. It was time for a holiday. As much as she enjoyed taking flight with Kate , she wanted someone special to travel with on a holiday. It wasn ’ t a conscious thought and typically she soldiered on with her job.
    ‘ Sometimes PI work is interesting and other times it ’ s downright boring. There ’ s nothing worse than sitting in a car outside someone ’ s house for hours on end trying to catch a cheating spouse. It has its good side , too. Ther e ar e a lot of other cases we work on besides trying to catch people in the act of adultery. ’
    ‘ Otherwise you ’ d be likely to go insane. So , is your wife here with you? ’ She peeked at Jake ’ s wedding ring finger. It was without a ring. It happened in a heartbeat and she hoped no-one noticed.
    ‘ No is the short answer. It didn ’ t work out. ’
    ‘ Oh , I ’ m sorry ,’ she meant it though smiled inside her heart.
    ‘ Do you think I ’ m the kind of guy that would have a drink, with someone like you, if I was married? ’
    ‘ We ’ re old friends catching up. ’
    ‘ Like I said, with someone like you? ’
    Grace polished the table in front of her with her napkin . ‘ I don ’ t know how to answer that , ’ she said , knowing he was staring at her and unable to bare it any longer.
    ‘ You ’ re off the hook , for now. ’
    They talked for about an hour as others jostled around the table. She found out he was in Sydney for