“But I really like him. My God, I slept with him. The first man in seven years and look what happens. It’s all my fault for not telling him about Hope. I was going to tell him tomorrow. I swear I was,” I sobbed.

“I know. He’s not worth it, Lorelei. Once you calm down, you’ll see that.”

I cried on Stella’s shoulder for the next hour and then I fell asleep.

****

Jack

I barely slept all night. Thoughts of Lorelei plagued my mind. How could she not tell me she had a kid? She had plenty of chances but chose to keep it a secret. Damn her. I climbed out of bed, showered, and headed straight to the office. Pulling out my phone, I sent a text message to Garrett.

“Are you in the office yet?”

“On my way, why?”

“I need to talk to you. Come straight to my office.”

“Sure thing, Jack. I’ll be there soon.”

As I walked by Lorelei’s desk, I shook my head. Maybe I should fire her. I didn’t know if I could stand to even be around her after what she did. Or didn’t do, I should say. Shortly after I sat down, Garrett walked in.

“What’s up?”

“Did you know that Lorelei has a kid?”

He stood there and blankly stared at me. The expression on his face told me he knew.

“FUCK! You did know and you didn’t tell me!”

“Jack, calm down.”

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down. How the hell could you keep something like that from me?”

“It wasn’t my place to tell you.”

“Did she ask you not to tell me?”

“No. Did she tell you?”

“No. We had a beautiful afternoon at the Trump yesterday and she left her sketchbook at the hotel, so I had Tony take me to her apartment so I could give it to her. That’s when I met Hope.”

“Oh. How did that turn out?”

“How the fuck do you think it turned out?” I threw my pen across my desk. “I was shocked. Do you know how betrayed I feel right now knowing that she lied to me all this time.”

“Did you ever ask her if she had a kid, Jack?”

“No. Why the fuck would I? She’s twenty-five years old. She shouldn’t have kids yet.”

“Did you just hear yourself?” Garrett yelled. “You didn’t ask and she didn’t volunteer. Didn’t you tell her that you hated kids?”

“Maybe.”

“Then why the hell would she tell you about hers? The poor girl was probably scared to death that she was going to get fired.”

“Yeah, well, now that I’m thinking about it, I just might fire her lying ass.”

“For what? Having a kid? You can’t do that, Jack. Not to mention the fact that you fucked her more than once. Do you know the fucking lawsuit she’ll slap on this company if you fire her? The magazine is in trouble as it is. If you fire her, you might as well kiss this company goodbye. I warned you to stay away from her, Jack. I warned you! You made your bed, now you can lie in it.” He pointed at me. “You have no one to blame but yourself.”

“You should have told me, Garrett. You’re my best friend. I wouldn’t have done what I did if I knew she had a kid.”

“Like I said, you have no one to blame but yourself. Now calm down and I’ll talk to you later.” He stormed out of my office.

I ran my hands through my hair and took in a deep breath. I was angry. So angry. But there was another feeling that resided inside me: hurt. Garrett was right; I couldn’t fire Lorelei. Not only would that be bad for the company if she decided to sue me, but she had a kid to support. Things from now on would only consist of a professional relationship.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Lorelei

My eyes were swollen from all the crying I had done last night. I dreaded going into the office and seeing Jack. If I never had to see him again, I’d be happy. What I needed to do was start looking for another job and get the hell out of Sutton Magazine. The line that never should have been crossed was, and now I was paying the price.

“What’s wrong with your eyes, Mommy?” Hope asked as she stepped into my bathroom.

I bent down and kissed her head. “Good morning, baby. Nothing’s wrong. They’re just a little puffy. It must be my allergies.”

“I thought I heard you crying last night.” She pouted.

“You must have been dreaming. I wasn’t crying. I have nothing to cry about. Now go get dressed and ready for school. I’ll go make your breakfast.”

I couldn’t let my daughter see me like this. It had always been just me and her from the start and I wasn’t about to let any man, especially Jack Sutton, destroy me in front of my kid. After getting dressed, I made Hope her breakfast and then dropped her off at latch key. As I was on my way to Starbucks to get the asshole his morning coffee, my phone rang. It was Stella.

“Hello.”

“How are you today?”

“I’m trying to be okay. I need to be for Hope. I can’t let her see me fall apart over a guy.”

“I understand, but don’t force it. If you need time to yourself to think about things or get yourself together, let me know and Sebastian and I will watch Hope for a few days.”

“Thanks, Stella, but I’ll be okay. Hey, listen, I just got to Starbucks. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, sweetie. Call me and make sure you either get him the wrong coffee or spill it on his dumb ass.”

I smiled. “I will.”

I ordered his damn Americano just the way he liked it and headed to the office. My stomach was twisted and I felt sick. The anger and disappointment in his eyes last night were unbearable to see. I saw another side of Jack when we spent time alone together. He was tender and sweet. He only wanted to please me and I let him down.

As I walked down the hallway with his coffee in my hand, I was literally shaking. I prayed he wouldn’t be in his office, but he was. FUCK! I took in a deep breath as I stepped inside and set his coffee on his desk.

“Is it right this time?” he asked in an abrupt tone.

“I didn’t taste it. So hopefully, it is.” I walked out of his office and sat down at my desk.

The launch was in a few days and I needed to finish the dress I was making. I just needed to get through this day. As I was sitting at my desk, the office phone rang.

“Jack Sutton’s office.”

“Lorelei, it’s Garrett. I want you to come down to my office in about thirty minutes. Jack has a meeting to go to, so he won’t know you’re gone.”

“He told you, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Just come down to my office and we’ll talk.”

“Okay.” Click.

Jack stormed out of his office without saying a word to me about his meeting. He always told me where he was going. But not today. I could still see the anger in his eyes and it bothered me. I got up from my desk and went down to Garrett’s office.

“Hey,” I spoke as I poked my head through the door.

“Hey.” He smiled. “Come on in and have a seat.”

I sighed as I sat down across from his desk. Looking down, I played with my hands.

“How are you doing?”

“Not good, Garrett. I feel awful because of how he found out about Hope. I was going to tell him today.”

“Well, I want you to forget about Jack. He can be a real asshole sometimes. He’ll get over this, Lorelei. You just need to move on. Do your job and everything will be fine. He can’t stay mad at you forever.”

“It doesn’t matter if he does or not. I want you to know that I’m going to start looking for another job.”

“I don’t want to see you go. Maybe I can transfer you to another department.”

“That would make Jack even madder. It’s best if I leave the company altogether.”

“I understand, but you need to stand up to Jack. He’s not going to fire you. That I can promise. You have leverage with him and you can do some great damage to him and this company if he let you go.”

“Thanks, Garrett, but I don’t want to use anything against him. I’m not that kind of person. I’ll just start looking for another job and, if I find one, I’ll let you know.” I got up from my seat.