“Tony, has Jack ever had you drive one of his PAs home?”
“No, Lorelei. You’re the first.” He smiled through the rearview mirror.
“I see.” I looked down at my hands.
Tony pulled up to my building and opened the door for me. Climbing out, I thanked him and went up to my apartment.
“You’re back early.” Stella smiled as I walked in the door.
“He had to go to the office and meet his mother. Something about the December issue.”
“Oh. So what did you talk about?” She smirked.
I rolled my eyes as I walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of wine.
“Is Hope in bed?”
“Yes. She’s been asleep for about an hour,” Sebastian replied.
“He wanted to talk about me and my personal life.” I took a sip from the glass.
“I think someone has a crush on our little Lorelei.” Stella smiled as she hooked her arm around me.
“He can crush all he wants. He’s a womanizer and all he thinks about is sex.”
“So? You haven’t had sex in seven years and he does wear extra-large condoms.”
“Hold on a second!” Sebastian put his hand up. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” She laughed. “He had her buy him a box.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “The guy sounds like an asshole. Who does that shit?”
“Jack Sutton. That’s who,” I spoke.
Chapter Eleven
Jack
I arrived at the office at six a.m., and at about seven, Garrett came strolling in, taking a seat across from me.
“How was your weekend?” he asked.
“It was okay. I worked most of it. You know I’m leaving for Paris Fashion Week in a few days and it’s always hectic around this time.”
He gave me a light nod as he crossed his hands and brought them up to his lips.
“I’m afraid to ask how Lorelei’s working out.”
“She’s working out fine. She’s very talented. Why didn’t you tell me she studied at Parsons?”
“Would it have mattered? You never gave a shit what your PAs did as long as they were capable of working for you.”
I shrugged. “I still think you should have told me. What else do you know about her?”
“Nothing. That’s it. Why?”
“No reason. I took her to dinner Friday night to discuss the details for the launch party and I tried to get her to talk about her personal life and she wouldn’t.”
He cocked his head at me, narrowing his eyes. “You, Jack Sutton, took your PA to dinner? You’ve never done that.”
I shrugged again. “I wanted to get the details out of the way.”
He sat there and glared at me for few moments, his eyes searching deep inside me for something.
“Jesus Christ, Jack. No! No fucking way!”
“What?” I raised my hands.
“You are not even going to think about getting her into bed with you. Fuck, Jack! What the hell is the matter with you?”
“Did I say I wanted to sleep with her? I just said I wanted to get to know her better.”
“And you getting to know her better will ultimately end up with the two of you in bed and, before I know it, she’ll be hurt and she doesn’t deserve that.”
Coco walked in and, instantly, Garrett changed his tone and a smile graced his face. I had been noticing that a lot lately and it was starting to bother me.
“What’s going on in here, gentlemen?” Coco smirked.
“Nothing. We’re just having a little business conversation,” I replied.
“Jack wants to get to know Lorelei better,” Garrett blabbed.
Coco raised her brow at me. “Why? You don’t ever want to get to know anyone personally.”
I leaned back in my chair. “For God’s sake. She’s a good PA so far and I would like to get to know her better. That’s all.”
“Hmm. Stay away from her, Jack. She’s a great girl and I happen to personally like her, which is more than I could say for the other women you keep company with.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Coco?”
“I’m just saying that the superficial women you choose to sleep with are just that. Fake and plastic. Lorelei is a real person and she doesn’t deserve to be treated with disrespect by the likes of you.”
“You two may leave my office right now. In fact, I’ll show you how nice I can be to her. I’m telling her she’s going to Paris with us. I’ll need a PA there to handle a few things.”
Coco laughed. “You have never had a PA with you in Paris or anywhere, for that matter. The only thing you need her to handle is your cock.”
Garrett busted out into laughter.
“Okay. Okay. You both had your fun. Now get the hell out of my office!”
I looked at the clock. It was seven fifty. I grabbed my phone and sent Lorelei a text message.
“You aren’t by any chance walking around the building with my coffee are you?”
“No. I’ll be there in five. Starbucks was crazy this morning.”
“And how is that different from any other morning?”
As I was looking down at my phone, waiting for a response, I heard Lorelei’s voice.
“Fine. When I went to pick up the coffee from the counter, I accidentally spilled it and they had to make me a new one,” she spoke as she stood in the doorway.
“Well, at least it wasn’t on my suit.” I held out my hand for my coffee. “Go get settled and then come back in here and have a seat. I need to talk to you about something.”
****
Lorelei
After handing Jack his coffee, I went to my desk and put my things away. I spent the whole weekend thinking about him and I couldn’t tell you why. All I knew was that he was on my mind when he shouldn’t have been and it really irritated me.
After turning on my computer and grabbing my notepad, a cute little boy around the age of five came up to my desk.
“Why, hello there.” I smiled.
“You’re pretty,” he spoke.
“Thank you. You are a very handsome little boy.”
“What’s this?” he asked as he touched the paperweight on my desk.
“Something you shouldn’t be touching,” Jack spoke in irritation as he walked out of his office.
The little boy ran down the hall and to his mom.
“That wasn’t very nice. He’s just a child.”
“I don’t like children. Bring the confirmed guest list in my office and we’ll go over the seating chart.”
Grabbing guest list from my desk, I followed him into his office. “What do you mean you don’t like children?”
“Exactly what I meant. I don’t like kids.” His tone was flat.
“You were a child once.”
“And I didn’t like myself. Now that I’m an adult, I like myself much better.” He winked.
“That’s a terrible thing to say, Jack.” I handed him the guest list and he looked it over.
“Do you like sharks?” he asked.
“No. Not particularly.”
“And I don’t like kids.”
I shook my head and sat there in disbelief that he would even compare a child to a shark.
“So you never plan on having a family?”
He laughed. “Who me? Do I look like a family man to you?”
“I guess not.”
“Okay, now that we’ve established that I’m not a family kind of man, let’s get this seating chart finished.”
Once the seating chart was arranged, Jack glanced up at me.
“I have some good news for you.” He smiled.
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“You’re going to Paris with me. Well, with us. Me, my mother and Coco, and a couple of other people.”
I swear the color from my face drained. Shit. Shit. Shit. There was no way I could go to Paris. He was leaving in a few days and I couldn?
??t leave Hope. I couldn’t tell him that because he had just gone on a rant about how much he hated children and he wouldn’t understand.
“I’m sorry, Jack. I can’t.”
“Excuse me?” He cocked his head.
“I would love to but...” Think, Lorelei, and make it good. “My mother is ill and I can’t leave her right now.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“We don’t know yet. That’s why I can’t leave the country.”
“I understand. Maybe next year. That’ll be all,” he spoke.
I walked out of his office and, when I sat down at my desk, I sank low into my chair. I couldn’t believe I lied to him about my mother being ill. What the hell was the matter with me? There was no way I could leave my daughter behind and fly off to Paris.
As the day went on, his attitude towards me was different. He was in and out of meetings all day and barely spoke two words to me.
Chapter Twelve
Lorelei
Instead of going to Central Park for lunch, I met Stella at a coffee shop down the street. As she was talking about how shitty her day was going, I blurted out, “Can you believe he hates kids?”
“Huh?” She gave me a blank stare as she bit into her croissant sandwich.
“Jack. He told me today that he hates kids.”
“Why does he hate kids?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say. He just said he doesn’t like them.”
“You never told him about Hope, did you?”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I sighed. “No. Why would I?”
“Why wouldn’t you? He’s your boss and I sort of think he should know you have a kid. But then again, since he hates kids, he may fire you just because you have one.” She smirked. “Just keep Hope to yourself.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I have no intentions of telling him anything about my personal life.”
“Good girl.” She grabbed her purse and threw it over shoulder. “I have to run. I have a meeting in ten minutes.” She gave me light kiss on the cheek. “Try not to kill him.”
“I won’t, because if I did, then I wouldn’t have a job.” I smiled.
Before heading back to the office, I stopped at Starbucks and got Jack his usual lunchtime coffee. When I walked into his office, he was on the phone, so I set it on his desk.
“Hold on, James,” I heard him say. “Lorelei?”
“Yes.” I stopped and turned around.
“Did I ask you to get me this?”
“No, but you always want one at this time.”
“Today I don’t, so please take it away.”
My God, the man was an idiot. I took the cup from his desk and took it back to mine. If he didn’t want it, then I did. Ever since I told him I couldn’t go to Paris, he had the worst attitude with me. It was like he was holding a grudge against me for not being able to go. He walked out of his office and didn’t say a word where he was going. Good riddance was what I thought. The less he was around, the better off I was. In fact, I couldn’t wait for his dumb ass to leave for Paris.
Garrett smiled at me as he walked towards Jack’s office.
“He’s not in there,” I spoke.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He isn’t talking to me at the moment.”
Garrett let out a laugh. “Why? Did you spill coffee on him again?”
“No. He wanted me to go to Paris with him and I told him I couldn’t. So now he’s all pissed off.”
“Did you tell him why you couldn’t go?”
“I lied and told him my mother wasn’t feeling well and I couldn’t leave the country.”
“You really can’t go because of your daughter, right?”
“Yes. You never told Jack about Hope. Why?” I asked.
“There are some things Jack doesn’t need to know and I felt if I told him about your daughter, he would have told me to fire you. He’s not exactly fond of children and he would have felt that you having a kid would get in the way of business.”
“I know. We already had that discussion about him not liking kids.”
“Listen, Lorelei. Don’t let Jack get to you. Just come in, do your job, and all will be good. Jack will talk to you again when he comes back from Paris.”
“Really? Because I like it when he doesn’t talk to me.”
He laughed. “You’re the best PA yet. I have to run. I have a meeting. If you see Jack, tell him I stopped by.”
“That means I’ll have to talk to him.” I smirked.
Garrett pointed his finger at me and winked before walking away.
****
Jack
As I was at the airport checking in, I noticed my boarding pass said “Economy seating.” What the fuck? I pulled out my phone and called Lorelei.
“Mr. Sutton’s office.”
“It’s me. Why the fuck am I sitting in economy?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t make your reservations.”
Shit. That’s right. Amber did. That bitch.
“I can get it changed for my flight going there. Call the airlines and get it switched for the return flight. I don’t have time to deal with this.”
“I’m sorry about that, Jack. Maybe your last PA did it because she was planning on quitting and you pissed her off,” Lorelei spoke.
“Excuse me?”
“Just an observation. I’ll get the return flight changed over.”
“You better!” Click.
I had been on edge all week because Lorelei wasn’t joining us in Paris. This would have been a fantastic experience for her and everything would have been paid. Since she loved fashion and the industry, she could have learned a few things on this trip, plus I would have been with her and been able to spend a lot of time with her. Maybe get to know her better.
As I was talking to the girl at the ticket counter, she informed me that all first class seats were booked. Now I was really pissed and I needed to figure a way to get a seat in first class. Damn that bitch, Amber. Lorelei was right. I bet she did this on purpose and she was probably sitting at home right now laughing her ass off knowing that I’d be stuck in economy.
I took a seat at my gate in between my mother and an older gentleman. I glanced over at his boarding pass that was in his hand and saw he was in first class.
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Yes.” He looked over at me.
“I see you’re sitting in first class. I will reimburse you for your ticket, plus I’ll give you an extra five thousand dollars if you switch seats with me.”
He arched his brow as he stared at me. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I will call my assistant right now and have her wire you the money.”
“You just bought a very expensive seat in first class, son.” He smiled.
I smiled back and pulled out my phone, dialing Lorelei.
“Mr. Sutton’s office.”
“It’s me again. I need you to wire sixty-five hundred dollars to a Mr. Thomas Burkhart. I’ll put him on the phone so he can give you his account number.”
“Umm. Okay.”
Once he finished giving Lorelei his account number, he handed my phone back to me.
“Make sure it’s done ASAP. Like right now, Lorelei.”
“I am doing it now. So let me guess. You just bought the man’s seat in first class, right?”
“Yes.”
“Have a nice flight, Jack.”
“I will now.” Click.
Chapter Thirteen
Lorelei
What a pleasant and quiet week with Jack gone. Such a shame it was coming to an end and he’d be back in the office on Monday. I even snuck out early a few days and picked up Hope from school.
It was Sunday afternoon and Hope and I packed our last picnic lunch of the year and met my mom, Nick, Stella, and Sebastian in Central Park. The weather was starting to change and it was getting chilly. After eating lunch, Sebastian and Nick took H
ope over to the swings.
“When is Jack expected back?” Stella asked.
“His flight gets in tonight and he’ll be back in the office tomorrow.” I sighed.
“That man sounds like a horrible person,” my mother spoke. “I don’t know how you can stand working for him.”
“I have no choice, Mom. He can be a handful, but he’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“I think Mr. Sutton has a crush on your daughter.” Stella smiled.
“Stop that! He does not.”
“Well, if he does, Lorelei isn’t that stupid to get involved with a man like that. Right, honey?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“But…maybe a little casual sex wouldn’t hurt.” She smirked.
“MOM! He’s my boss.”
She shrugged. “So what. Sex is sex. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I had plenty of sex with different guys after your father died.”
I covered my ears with my hands. “STOP IT!”
Stella fell back on the grass in hysterics.
“Relax, Lorelei. Did you really think I didn’t have sex until Nick?”
“She hasn’t,” Stella spoke as she sat up.
The look on my mom’s face displayed a great deal of shock as she looked at me.
“For real? You haven’t had sex since Brett?”
“I am not talking about this.”
“Sweetheart.” She reached over and grabbed my hand. “You’re too young to go without sex for that long. What is wrong with you?”