Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Lorelei
Jack climbed into the tub first and held out his hand to me. Placing my hand in his, I climbed in and laid my back against his muscular chest. He wrapped one arm around me while he handed me a glass of champagne.
“I have a question for you. It’s something that’s been bothering me for a while.”
“What is it, baby? You can ask me anything.”
“Who was that woman you were with in Paris?”
“What woman?”
“I saw a picture of the two of you online on the balcony of your hotel room. You were both drinking coffee and wearing robes.”
“That was my cousin, Meredith. She was at fashion week, and her room was next to mine. She stepped out the door in the morning to grab the newspaper, and it shut. She knocked on my door because our rooms were joined, and we just ended up having coffee and talking. Did you think I slept with her?”
“Well, yeah. What would you think if you saw a picture of me with some guy in our robes on the balcony?”
“True. Why didn’t you ask me about her when you saw the picture?”
“Because it was none of my business. We hadn’t even slept together at that point.”
“I’m sorry you thought that and carried that question around with you all this time. God, what you must have thought of me.”
I laughed. “I thought some pretty bad things about you.”
“I’m sure you did. So, when will we tell Hope we’re dating?”
“We can tell her tomorrow. She misses you, Jack. She asked today when she could see you again, and I told her I’d call you to see if you wanted to hang out over the weekend.”
“I want to hang out with the both of you every day. I love your little girl, Lorelei. I can honestly say that both of you have changed my life.”
“And you’ve changed our lives, Jack.”
“I want to take you and Hope on a trip.” He softly stroked my arm.
“Where?”
“Disney World.”
I looked back at him in shock. “You do realize that place is crawling with children, right?”
He chuckled. “Yes, I realize that. Hope would love it. Especially Cinderella’s castle. I’ve never been there. Our vacations growing up always consisted of Hawaii or the Virgin Islands. Monaco, Aruba, Bahamas.”
“Okay.” I laughed. “That really sounds like an amazing childhood.”
“It was okay. But I never got to experience Disney World like most kids. So, I want to go.”
“I’ve always wanted to take Hope there, but I could never afford it.”
“Well, now you don’t have to worry about that. I was looking things up online, and did you know you can have breakfast with the princesses? Hope would love that.”
“And do you know that you must book that at least a year in advance?” I smiled as I turned around and straddled him.
He brought his hand up and pushed my hair behind my ear. “Don’t you worry about that. Hope will have breakfast with the princesses. I’ll make sure of it.”
I smiled as I brought my lips to his. “I know you will.”
The next morning, Jack and I made love a couple of times before going down for breakfast. I pulled my phone from my purse and noticed a text message from Stella.
“No need to thank me. You’re welcome, and I love you too!”
I smiled and showed the text message to Jack.
“When did the two of you plan all of this, and how?”
“I ran into Stella at Bloomingdale’s when I was picking up my suit, and she was looking for a sweater for Sebastian. We got to talking, and then we went and had coffee. We planned it from there.” He winked.
We climbed into the limo and headed back to the apartment, where we waited for Stella to bring home Hope. As soon as she walked through the door, she saw Jack and ran to him.
“Jack! What are you doing here?”
“Your mom told me you wanted to hang out, so here I am.”
She giggled as he tapped her on the nose.
“I’m going to go now.” Stella winked at both of us. “Call me later, Lorelei.”
“I will. Thank you again.” I walked over and hugged her.
When she left, we sat Hope down on the couch.
“There’s something we need to tell you, Hope,” I said as I ran my hand down her hair.
“I hope it’s that you two are dating!” she exclaimed in excitement.
“We are, Hope,” Jack responded with a smile.
“YES! I knew it. I knew you’d never give up, Jack.”
We both looked at her in shock. “What do you mean?” he asked her.
She turned to him and placed both of her small hands on his cheeks.
“You are Prince Charming, Jack, and Prince Charming never gives up.”
Not only did tears form in my eyes, but Jack’s became watery as well. He pulled her into him and gave her a tight hug.
“You are one special little girl. How would you like to go to Disney World?”
Hope’s eyes widened as she looked at me and then back at Jack.
“Are you being serious, Jack? Because it’s not nice to play with a girl’s emotions.”
Jack and I both busted out into laughter at the same time.
“I’m very serious, Hope Flynn, and I would never play with a girl’s emotions.”
“YES! When. When. When are we going?”
“I was thinking right after Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks.”
“You’re the best, Jack. Can we go, Mommy? Please!”
“Of course, we can go.” I smiled as I tickled her.
“Then I guess I better start booking this trip,” Jack said.
“You don’t want your PA to handle it for you?”
“Nah. This is something I want to do all on my own.” He smiled as he leaned over and kissed me.