Finding Love: Incident at the Candy Apple (At the Candy Apple Series Book 2) by Elodie Parkes Page B

down.
    Jake stood naked before her. He thought it was important to acknowledge her offer. “I’ll remember that.”
    “I have to go. Good luck, Jake.” She left the room.
    Jake dragged on his clothes. He stuffed his tie in his jacket pocket and the paper with information about Ellie brushed against his hand. He flicked the catch on the door as he left indicating the room had been used and needed cleaning.
    The club was still packed. People swayed and bumped against each other as the dance music thumped. The bar had customers three people deep. Jake blinked in the brighter light of the bar area. Fatigue suddenly overwhelmed him.
    He checked the time. They’d been in the room just over half an hour. Jake thought about not having kissed Paula until she asked. The kiss he’d given her wasn’t passionate. The sex hadn’t been passionate, but nice. It was what it was. Two people giving each other something, pleasure, and information. He felt some kind of fondness toward Paula, but it wasn’t love. He didn’t know what it was. It was probably because he’d been with her intimately and she deserved tenderness. He left the Candy Apple and walked around to the parking lot.
    Jake drove home. It was way too late to try calling either of the phone numbers for Ellie, but Jake promised himself he’d call as soon as it was a reasonable hour the next morning.
     

Chapter Ten
     
     
    After tossing and turning most of the night, Jake threw on jeans and a T-shirt around six a.m. to make some coffee. He leaned on the kitchen counter and stared at the phone numbers on the piece of paper that Paula had given him. I hope I can reach her on one of these. I hope she’ll talk to me. Fuck … I’m not acting like Tyler am I? Jake frowned thinking about the idea. The coffee was ready and he pushed the thought away as he poured a mug.
    He stood at the French doors in his kitchen that led to a patio and drank his coffee watching as rain fell in huge drops from a gray sky. Jake took a shower and dressed. He made more coffee. He wandered out onto the patio and checked some plants he recently re-potted. He couldn’t shake the nervous energy that resulted from constantly looking at the time. He dropped down onto the living room floor and did twenty push-ups. He grabbed a hoodie and walked around the block.
    At ten a.m., he tried calling the first number on the piece of paper. It was a company answering machine and Jake figured that was where Ellie used to work. Naturally, he couldn’t find out if she still worked there on a Sunday. With his heart hammering, he called the second number. The call went to voicemail. Jake hesitated for a second and then left a message.
    “Hi Ellie, it’s Jake. I’m checking to see if you’re safe. I wish you’d call me. I’ve worried about you since I last saw you. Please call back.” He ended with his number, although he hoped her phone would record it anyway.
    Frustrated, Jake threw his phone down on the couch and went to make his fourth coffee of the morning. He made instant after busying himself throwing out the stewed percolated coffee, the used filter and grounds, and finally rinsing out the coffee pot. Jake took a drink of the coffee and put it down. Get a grip. She might never call. What are you going to do, keep pestering her and acting like a damn lovesick teenager?
    His phone rang. Jake practically flew to the couch to pick it up. “Jake Reeves.”
    “Hi Jake, it’s Ellie, you called me.” She paused.
    Jake hurried to fill the silence. “I did. Are you okay? How are you? Where are you?”
    “I’m okay. I’m actually back in town. I was away for a few weeks. The police contacted me. Tyler’s dead. He had a letter to me on his person. It seemed to the police from the letter that Tyler was my fiancé. They broke the news to me. I came back to town. I’ve been so busy sorting out an apartment and work. Thank you for calling me. I … I wanted to contact you. I thought about calling around