Reaching into the refrigerator, I took out two bottles of beer and set them on the table.

“A job well done indeed, my friend. But no, they were apology flowers.”

“What the hell did you do now, Jack?”

We took the pizza over to the table and sat down. “I was insensitive and said something I probably shouldn’t have.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. But anyway, go on. What did you say?”

“She told me this morning that she hadn’t had sex in seven years since her boyfriend was killed in a car crash. I might have said that it was ridiculous to go that long without sex.”

Garrett shook his head. “Wait a minute. You said that to her this morning?”

“Yeah.” I bit into my pizza.

“And what was she doing here this morning?”

I gulped and shrugged.

“For fuck sake, Jack! You had sex with her?!!”

“Yeah, and then I said that, and she left here all pissed off.”

He set down his pizza and placed his hand on his forehead. “Why for the love of God can’t you keep your dick in your pants? Just once, Jack. This one time was all I asked.”

“Because I wanted her and she wanted me. It was completely mutual.”

“You, my friend, have crossed the line. She’s your assistant. You’re her boss.”

“So what? I like Lorelei. I sent her flowers and told her I was sorry.”

“Did she call you?”

“No.”

“Great. I better start placing an ad first thing Monday morning.”

“Stop jumping to conclusions. She’s not going anywhere. And why didn’t you tell me she lived in Harlem. My God, the area she’s in isn’t safe.”

“It’s not my place to tell you.” He narrowed his eye at me. “Did she tell you anything else?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I was just wondering if she told you more about her boyfriend.”

“She just said that she loved him and he was her best friend and she couldn’t see herself with anyone else.”

“That’s terrible that she suffered such a loss. So you’re the first man she’s had sex with since him and you go and open your dumb-ass, rude, insensitive mouth.”

“Yeah. Pretty much. I told her I didn’t want things awkward between us on Monday.”

“You slept with her, so it’s a little too late for that.” He kicked back his beer.

Chapter Twenty

Lorelei

My mom and Nick brought Hope home just as Stella was about to leave.

“Hey there, Hopester.” She high-fived her.

“Hey, Auntie Stella. What are you doing here?”

“Just visiting with your mom.” She bent down and gave her a kiss on the head. “I have to run. I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay.” She giggled and then ran into my arms. “Hi, Mommy.”

“Hey, baby. How was your day?”

“Good. We had a lot of fun.”

“That makes me happy. Why don’t you go put your bag in your room?”

“Okay.” She smiled.

I looked at my mom, who was grinning at me. “So how did your night go?”

There was no way in hell I was going to tell her what happened with me and Jack.

“The party was a lot of fun.”

“So you had a good time?” Nick asked.

“I did. It was a wonderful night out. Thank you again for keeping Hope overnight.”

My mom walked over and gave me a hug. “You’re welcome. You know how much we love that little girl. We have to get going, sweetheart. We’re meeting some friends for dinner.”

“Have a nice dinner and thank you again.” I kissed both their cheeks. “Hope, Grandma and Grandpa are leaving. Come say goodbye.”

She came running from her room and into their arms, hugging and kissing them goodbye. After we ate dinner, I helped Hope with her bath and we sat down on the couch and watched Cinderella.

As she was snuggled against me, she looked up. “Cinderella got her prince.” She smiled.

“She sure did.” I kissed the top of her head.

“Prince Charming never gave up until he found her.”

“Nope. He didn’t.”

“I wish you would find a Prince Charming.”

I tilted my head as I stared into her blue eyes. “Why, Hope?”

“Because you deserve one.”

My heart ached when she said that. “I had my Prince Charming, baby. Your daddy.”

“I know, but he’s not here anymore, so maybe there’s another Prince Charming somewhere out there. You don’t believe he was the only Prince Charming in the world, do you?”

“I don’t know what I believe, baby. But I do know that it’s time for you to go to bed.” I tapped her on her nose.

I tucked Hope into bed and kissed her good night. “Sweet dreams, little one.” I smiled.

“Good night, Mommy.”

I walked into my room and climbed into bed. I lay there and stared at the flowers that were sitting on my dresser. Picking up my phone from the nightstand, I sent Jack a text message.

“Thank you for the flowers. They’re pretty.”

I didn’t expect him to reply since it was a Saturday night and I was sure he was out. I was wrong.

“You’re welcome. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you on Monday.”

“You too.”

“Lorelei….”

“Yes, Jack?”

“I just want you to know that I really enjoyed our time together last night and I don’t regret what happened.”

“Me too. Have a good night.”

He said he had never been in love and that made me feel sorry for him. To be thirty-two years old and to have never experienced the beauty of love with someone was tragic. I couldn’t think about him anymore. Last night was a mistake; a beautiful mistake, but I wanted nothing more than to put it out of my mind and move on.

****

As I nervously walked down the street to the office building, the only thing I could hear was the sound of my heels clicking against the pavement. My belly was already flipping around at the thought of seeing Jack. Taking in a deep breath, I stepped onto the elevator and looked at my watch. It was seven fifty-five a.m. When the doors opened, I gulped as I stepped out and headed down the hallway to my desk. After setting my things down, I stepped into Jack’s office and let out a sigh of relief when he wasn’t in there. Setting his coffee on his desk, I took in a sharp inhale when I heard his voice from behind.

“Good morning, Lorelei.”

“Good morning, Jack.”

As I walked past him to leave his office, he reached out and lightly took hold of my arm. I stopped, looked at his hand on my arm, and then up at him.

“Again, I’m sorry.”

Was he sincere? I was eighty-five percent sure he was. Hearing him say he was sorry versus reading it on a card were two different things.

“You’re forgiven.” I gave a small nod.

He let go of my arm and I walked to my desk.

****

Jack

Sitting down at my desk, I picked up my coffee cup and, when I took a sip, I spit it out.

“Lorelei!” I yelled.

“Why are you yelling?” she asked as she walked into my office.

“What is this?” I held up the cup.

“Your Americano with a triple shot of espresso. Like you get every morning.”

“This is NOT an AMERICANO! It’s sweet and sickening. Taste it.” I held out the cup to her.

She brought it up to her lips and took a sip. “Oh. You’re right. This isn’t an Americano. It tastes like a caramel macchiato. You can clearly see on the cup it says ‘Americano Triple shot espresso.’”

“I see that. Obviously, they fucked up.”

“Would you like me to go get you a new one?”

“No. I have a meeting to get to.”

“I’m sorry, Jack. I guess from now on, I’ll have to taste it before I leave.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry I yelled your name like that.”

She gave me a small smile and walked out of my office. After grabbing my phone from my desk, I headed upstairs to my mother’s office.

****

Lorelei

As Jack walked down the hallway to his meeting, I sat there with a smile splayed across my face. Starbucks didn’t screw up Jack’s coffee. I did. I ordered a caramel macchiato but had them write “Americano” on the cup. I considered it a small payback for him being an insensitive jerk. Even though the day had just started, for me, it was now complete.