I needed a drink, so I walked up to the bar, knowing that Jack and his skank were standing there. I didn’t care. I was taking Coco’s advice and holding my head up high, even though it hurt me to see him with her. After ordering a cosmopolitan, I felt a hand lightly touch my arm.

“Lorelei,” Jack spoke.

“Hi, Jack.”

“You look—”

“Beautiful? So I’ve been told quite a few times already.”

The corners of his mouth curved into a sweet smile. A smile I hadn’t seen since that afternoon at the hotel. A smile that always made my panties wet.

“Yes, beautiful. Is this another one of your designs?”

“Yes.”

“It looks great on you.”

“Jack, darling.” The skank hooked her arm in his.

“Isla, this is Lorelei, my personal assistant. She’s responsible for putting this evening together. Lorelei, this is Isla.”

“Nice to meet you, Lorelei. I love your dress.” She extended her bony hand.

Extending mine to be cordial, I spoke, “Nice to meet you too.” I really wanted to claw her eyes out.

The bartender finally set my cosmopolitan on the bar. Picking it up, I looked at Jack and Isla. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go make sure everything is set.” I walked away, holding my head up and pretending that I wasn’t broken inside.

****

Jack

I watched and sipped my scotch as she walked away. She looked incredible and fuck if I wasn’t starting to get hard. She had done everything perfectly for the party and, so far, it was a huge success. It was almost time for Vidal to show off his collection, so everyone began to take their assigned seats at their tables. I escorted Isla over to my table and took my seat next to Lorelei. I had to make a last-minute change to the seating arrangement to ensure there was enough room for my date. Lorelei leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“I see you changed the seating arrangement.”

“I did.”

“I would have done it for you.”

“I know.”

She picked up her drink and took a sip. Isla excused herself to the restroom.

“She’s pretty,” Lorelei spoke.

“I guess.” She was making me uncomfortable.

“Did you make sure she didn’t have a kid before asking her here?”

“That’s enough,” I whispered in a stern voice.

Lorelei began to cough and she turned her head the other way.

“Are you okay? Here, have my water.” I picked up my glass and handed it to her.

“I don’t want your water. But thank you anyway.”

Isla returned from the restroom and my mother stood up on the runway and introduced Vidal before taking her seat across from me. The showing was a success, and afterwards, Coco and I stood with my mother and Vidal while people chatted and congratulated us. I couldn’t help but glance over at Lorelei as she was talking to Stiles Lang, CEO of Lang Industries. She was smiling and touching his arm. I could feel an anger brewing inside me as I clenched my jaw.

“Excuse me for a moment,” I spoke as I looked at my mother. I was going to find out what the hell they were talking about.

Walking over to where they were standing, Stiles held out his hand.

“Jack, excellent launch.”

I shook his hand instead of punching him like I wanted to. “Thanks for coming, Stiles. I see you’ve met my personal assistant, Lorelei.”

“Yes. She quite a talented young woman. I’d keep my eye on her if I were you. Someone may come and snatch her up right from under you.” He winked at her, which infuriated me even more.

I chuckled. “She’s not going anywhere, Stiles. I do need to speak with Lorelei for a minute, so if you’ll excuse us.”

“Of course. It was wonderful to meet you, Lorelei.” He smiled as he took hold of her hand and brought it up to his lips. Hopefully, our paths will cross again soon.”

I watched him walk away and then looked at Lorelei. “I don’t want you talking to him.”

“Why?” She began to cough again.

“Because he’s a snake.”

“Aren’t you all?” She arched her brow and walked away from me.

Isla walked over and placed her hand on my back. “How about we get out of here and go back to my place?”

“I can’t, Isla. I need to stay after with my mother and Coco. I’ll have a car service take you home.”

“Are you serious, Jack?”

“Yes. I’m dead serious.” I glared at her.

“Fine. Thanks for nothing.” She stomped on her heels and walked away.

I saw Lorelei standing at the bar drinking a glass of water, so I walked over to her.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m just really tired. I think I may be coming down with a cold or something. I’m going to go home.”

“Let me drive you. I don’t want you taking a cab.”

“No, Jack. I can get home by myself.”

“I know you can, but Tony is driving you home. End of discussion, Lorelei.”

She sighed as she set her glass down on the bar. “Fine.”

She made her rounds and said goodbye to everyone before walking outside to the limo. I slid in next to her.

“Thank you,” I spoke.

“For what?” She turned and looked at me.

“For doing such a great job with the launch party.”

“You’re welcome.” She coughed a couple of times.

“If you’re not better in a couple of days, you should see a doctor.”

“I’ll be fine, Jack.” She looked out the window.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lorelei

I thanked Tony for the ride home and said goodbye to Jack.

“Good night, Jack. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Get some rest, Lorelei.”

I stepped inside my apartment and relieved my mom and Nick of their babysitting duties. They had a lot to do over the weekend since they were leaving for their cruise on Monday.

“Are you sure you have things covered for Hope while we’re gone? I feel bad.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. Stella is picking her up a couple of days and then she’s going to latch key after school. She understands and she’ll be fine.”

“I know, honey, but I still feel bad. You didn’t have a job when Nick and I booked this trip.”

“Stop worrying. We’ll be fine.” I grasped her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Have fun on your trip and we’ll see you when you get back.”

I couldn’t get them out fast enough. All I wanted to do was go to bed.

****

I woke up Monday morning with a full blown cold. Runny nose, cough, chest congestion, and headache. Stella had called me yesterday to tell me that she and Sebastian had to fly out to Arizona because Sebastian’s father had taken a turn for the worse and the doctor only gave him a few more days. She apologized up and down about not being able to pick up Hope from school. I told her not to worry about it and that Hope could go to latch key a couple of extra days.

Walking into the office, coughing and sniffling, I set Jack’s coffee on his desk.

“You’re worse,” he spoke. “Did you see a doctor over the weekend?”

“No. It really just hit me hard last night. I’ll be okay. I just took some cold medicine.”

“Maybe you should go see a doctor on your lunch.”

“Jack, it’s a cold. A common cold. I don’t need to see a doctor.”

“If you say so. I need you to run these up to my mother’s office.” He handed me a couple of file folders.

As I was walking out of his office, I was a little stunned by what he said.

“I hope that Hope doesn’t catch your cold.”

I turned around and gave him a small smile. “I hope she doesn’t either.”

After picking Hope up from latch key, I decided to take her to dinner since I didn’t feel well enough to cook when we got home.

“Can we go to Ellen’s to eat?”

“That’s pretty far, Hope. Why don’t you pick something closer to home?”

“Please, Mama. We can take the subway.”

As I looked down at her blue eyes, I felt bad because she had such a long day and she would continue to have those days the rest of the week.

“Okay. Ellen’s it is.”

After we finished our dinner, Hope and I stepped outside onto Broadway. As we were heading down the street to the subway station, I heard someone call my name.