Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Lorelei
I wanted to tell him so badly about Hope. He needed to know, but I was scared. He hated kids and what we had just shared was beyond magical. I’d never felt this kind of connection before. Don’t get me wrong. I loved Brett with every fiber of my being. He was the love of my life. But this connection I had with Jack was something different—something I couldn’t explain. Did I want to open up the wound that never fully healed seven years later? Not tonight.
“Can we talk about it in the morning? I’m really tired right now.”
“Of course. Get some sleep.”
I lifted my head from his chest and kissed his lips. He gave me a small smile, and my insides filled with happiness. This was the tender side of Jack Sutton. A side I hadn’t been so sure existed.
The next morning, I opened my eyes and looked around the room, trying to focus on where I was, forgetting at the moment that I wasn’t in my bed in my apartment. Rolling over, I stared at the empty spot where Jack had laid last night. Regret started to settle inside me. What the hell did I do? Now what? I sat up, holding the sheet over me as my eyes looked around his bedroom. The gray walls were the same as the rest of the house, as were the white crown molding that accented them. His bedroom furniture was black and very much the same style as the downstairs.
Climbing out of bed, I used the bathroom and then grabbed a blue t-shirt Jack had lying on the chair. After slipping it over my head, I walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where the aroma of coffee awoke my senses.
“Good morning.” Jack smiled. “Coffee?” he asked as he held up the pot.
“Yes. Please. Coffee is very much needed right now.”
He poured coffee into a cup and handed it to me. His eyes raked over me from head to toe.
“You look great in my t-shirt. Very sexy.” He leaned over and kissed my lips.
“Thanks. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want to get back into that dress.”
“I don’t mind at all. I really like the view.” He winked.
Sitting down on the stool at the island, I took a sip of my coffee. Jack set down a small brown basket filled with croissants, muffins, and small pastries.
“Dig in.” He smiled as he took a croissant. “My maid, Madeline, is off on the weekends, so she makes sure to pick these up every Friday.”
“You have a maid?”
“Yeah. She’s great. She’s more than just a maid, though. She’s my chef, friend, confidant, and tailor if something needs mending, and she’s a great woman overall. Between you and me, I think she and Tony have a thing for each other.”
I laughed. “Really?”
“Yeah. Even though they won’t admit it, I know something’s going on.” He set down his coffee and sat on the stool next to me. “How did you sleep?”
“Great. How about you?”
“Good.” He slowly nodded his head. “Are you ready to tell me why you haven’t had sex in seven years?”
I cocked my head as I stared at him. “You’re just dying to know, aren’t you?”
“I am because I can’t imagine someone as beautiful as you not having sex for all those years.”
Taking another drink from my cup, I sighed. “When I was sixteen, I met this guy named Brett. We fell in love and had big plans for our future together. We would go away to college, graduate, get married, start a family, and live happily ever after until he was killed in a car crash two years later by a drunk driver.”
“Lorelei, I’m sorry.” He reached over and placed his hand on mine.
“After he died, I had no interest in meeting other guys. Brett wasn’t just my boyfriend and my lover. He was my best friend, and I couldn’t see myself with anyone else.” I looked down.
He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “I can’t even imagine what you went through, but not having sex for seven years seems a little ridiculous.”
There was no way he could understand. He was Jack Sutton and not a very emotional man. I turned my head and glared at him for a few moments.
“Have you ever been in love, Jack?”
“No. I can’t say that I have.”
“Then you could never understand. Please do me a favor. When you fall in love at some point in your life, tell me how you’d feel if something happened to that person. How your whole world comes crashing down in a split second, and you find it hard to breathe and go on without them in your life.”
I got up from the stool and went upstairs to get dressed and leave. Jack walked into the bedroom and clasped my shoulders as I slipped on my dress.
“Lorelei, I’m sorry. I was being insensitive. I’m not a very sensitive person. Let me ask you something. Why me? After seven years, why did you finally choose to have sex with me?”
“If you would have asked me that last night, I would have told you something different from what I’m about to say now. The truth is, I don’t know. I have to go.”
I grabbed my shoes from the floor and my purse from the nightstand and walked down the stairs. I expected him to follow me down, but he didn’t. I left his penthouse through the front door and took the elevator to the lobby. Walking down the street and trying to put on my shoes, I waited until I reached the corner to hail a cab. My stomach felt sick, and my feelings were hurt. Maybe Jack wasn’t the man I thought he was. Or maybe he really was, and I just chose to see him as someone different. Who the hell knew, and who the hell cared. I was happy I didn’t tell him about Hope. Jack Sutton was nothing to me but a one-night stand who happened to be my boss.
Jack
Lorelei left in anger, and I just let her leave. I should have gone after her, but I didn’t like what she said to me. I still didn’t understand why she wouldn’t have sex. I guess it was a woman’s thing. I knew that I would never go without having sex for seven years. Good grief, I couldn’t even make it through a week. I sighed as I stepped into the shower. Once I was finished, I went into my closet to get some clothes. As I was getting dressed, I looked at the crumpled sheets where Lorelei lay in my arms and slept last night. She didn’t know it, but I lay there for a while and watched her as she slept. She looked so peaceful and so angelic. She made me feel things last night as we were making love that I’d never felt before, and for her to just walk out like she did today really bothered me. Great. She was mad, and now things were going to be tense at the office on Monday. I needed to rectify things, and I needed to do it now.
I walked down the street to the florist. A woman approached me as I was looking in the cooler at the beautiful arrangement of flowers.
“Hello, there. Is there something I can help you with?”
“I need to send some flowers to a woman I pissed off.”
“Ah. Apology flowers. We send a lot of those. I would suggest our apology bouquet, which consists of red and white roses arranged in a glass vase with greens and sprigs of baby’s breath.”
“Okay. That sounds nice. I’ll send one of those.”
“Very good. If you would follow me to the counter, I’ll get some information from you.”
When I approached the counter, the woman showed me the cards they had on display.
“Here is your choice of cards to send with the flowers, and here’s a pen.” She smiled. “The name of the recipient?” she asked.
“Lorelei Flynn,” I replied as I took one of the white cards from the display.
“Address, please.”
“Oh shit. I don’t know her address. Hold on a second.” I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and dialed Garrett.
“Hey, what happened to you last night?” he answered.
“We’ll discuss that later. I don’t have time right now. I need Lorelei’s address. Do you have it?”
“It’s at the office, and why do you need her address?”
“I just do. I can’t explain now. But I need to send her some flowers.”
“Jesus Christ, Jack. NO!” he yelled, and the woman looked at me.
Then it hit me. Tony had driven her home so he would have her address.
“Just remembered something. I’ll call you back later.”
I dialed Tony.
“Hello, Jack.”
“Tony, I need Lorelei’s address. You have it, right?”
“Yes. Hold on a second, and I’ll get it for you.”
After a moment, he rattled off her address as I wrote it down on the white card.
“Thanks, Tony.”
I handed the woman the card and pulled another one from the display. She glared at me.
“What? You can charge me for that card.”
She typed the information into her computer, and I handed her my credit card as I wrote an apology to Lorelei.
Lorelei,
I’m sorry for what I said. I hope you can forgive me. I don’t want things to be tense between us in the office on Monday.
Jack
“I need these delivered today and as soon as possible.”
“Very well, Mr. Sutton. I hope she accepts your apology.” She smirked.
“So do I.”