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Except the words conjured up images Jake had worked hard to forget, along with a ton of other stuff he never wanted to look at again.
“It’s not emotional blackmail—it’s the truth. I want to cover her in bubble wrap and fix everything. I always have. Right from day one.”
“That’s because your parents gave you the responsibility.” Jake stood up and joined his friend by the window. “They trusted you to keep an eye out for her. That’s a hell of a burden.”
And he’d always thought it was a tough deal for his friend.
Matt frowned. “It isn’t a burden.”
“Maybe it’s time to let Paige live her life and make her own mistakes. Instead of trying to catch her before she falls, you could wait until she does and then pick her up.”
“I don’t want her to be hurt. I don’t want her to fail at this.”
“You’re too afraid of failure. I guess that comes from having overachieving parents. Failure is part of life, Matt. Success teaches you nothing, but failure teaches you resilience. It teaches you to pick yourself up and try again.”
Matt dragged his hand through his hair. “You used to be as protective as I was. Hell, you once spent an entire night sitting by Paige’s hospital bed when I couldn’t make it. Or maybe you don’t remember.”
He remembered every moment. “I realized that protecting her doesn’t do her any favors. She doesn’t want to be protected.”
But he did protect her, didn’t he?
He protected her from himself.
He knew he was capable of hurting her. He’d done it before.
Neither of them mentioned it, but he was well aware of the pain his rejection had caused. He knew it had changed her. Gone was the openness he’d found so refreshing. With him she was always slightly guarded and he made it easy for her to be that way by ensuring their relationship always skirted on the edge of antagonistic.
Matt turned away from the window. “Maybe she doesn’t want to be protected, but I want you to help her. I’m asking you as a friend.”
And their friendship was the reason he didn’t want to do it.
“Why can’t you do it?”
“Apart from the fact she automatically ignores anything I say to her, there’s the fact I’m a landscape architect. I can design her a breathtaking roof terrace, complete with dramatic water feature and a swing seat, but I’m no expert on digital marketing and I don’t have the ear of every top executive in the city. You do. You could open doors.”
“Which she would then slam in my face.”
“You have the ear of Brad Hetherington.” Matt waved his hand toward Jake’s phone. “That guy virtually owns Wall Street. His business alone would make Urban Genie successful.”
Jake thought about the rumors floating around. “Trust me—Paige doesn’t need Brad Hetherington in her life.”
“Personally, no. But professionally? The guy has deep pockets. And so do any one of the many other companies you work with. She doesn’t even need to know you’re helping. Pick up the phone and make a few calls. Half of Manhattan owes you favors.”
“I’m always transparent in my business dealings.” But he hadn’t been transparent in his relationship with Paige, had he?
She thought he had no feelings for her.
She thought that, to him, she was nothing more than his friend’s little sister.
“I’ll do you a deal.” It was the only way to get Matt out of his office. “If she comes to me and asks for help, I’ll give it.”
Matt swore under his breath. “You know she won’t come to you for help.”
Jake gave what he hoped passed as a sympathetic shrug.
He was counting on it.
CHAPTER FIVE
