“Perfect,” I whispered, moving to a corner as I looked out at the busy, busy New York streets. We had had sex again, Jack and I, once more after the first time, and then again in the morning, which brought our total up to three. It wasn’t a bad number when you thought about it, and knowing the first time hadn’t been a fluke was just the icing on the cake. I had all kinds of bruises to show for it, but I especially loved the ones on my hipbones and the sides of my stomach. When I closed my eyes, I could still feel his fingers digging into my skin. “How are you feeling?”
His answer was soft and gentle, so opposite of him. “Perfect.”
I looked down at my shoes and grinned. “We have good sex.”
“That we do.”
“Did you want to say something?”
“I can’t just call my wife because I want to?”
“You can, and you should, too. Whenever she crosses your mind, you should call her or text her. I think she likes talking to you.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I definitely think so.”
“Tell me more. What else does she like?”
I looked over my shoulder to make sure Sally was still busy stacking the sandwiches and couldn’t hear me. “She likes when you whisper into her ear.” My own voice had dropped into a rough whisper as my body shuddered just thinking about the night before and that morning.
I listened to Jack clear his throat and mutter something to someone who was apparently in his office with him. I waited until he came back to me.
“Sorry. I had a junior associate with me. I’m alone now.”
I nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting ready for a meeting.”
“And we’re about to open.”
“I see.”
“I think I missed you,” I admitted in a low voice. It had been only hours since I’d stolen one last kiss when he joined Raymond and me on our little morning commute. He’d said he wanted to be at the office early to go over some things, and I’d said he didn’t want to let go of me. He had kissed me then, right in front of my coffee shop. So what? he had said once he’d left me all breathless and hungry again.
“You think?” he asked, sounding amused.
“I know.”
“Would you like to have lunch with me then?”
“Rose?” I looked up and to the side to see Sally grinning at me. “Should I unlock the door?”
“Yes, yes. Sorry, I’ll come help in a second.”
She waved a hand at me. “I got it.” Then, with an even bigger smile, she unlocked the door and welcomed our first two customers of the day. I hadn’t even noticed they were waiting outside in the cold.
Basically squeezing myself into the corner, I focused my attention back on Jack. “If you missed me so much that you couldn’t continue on with your day without seeing me during your lunch, I would consider that option…but since you haven’t mi—”
“You’ll always call me out, won’t you?”
“I think that’s a given.”
“Good. Well, if you don’t go out to lunch with me, my entire day will be ruined because I won’t be able to think about anything but you, you and your taste.”
I blushed. He definitely knew my taste.
“Fine. I’ll have lunch with you. I’ll have to cancel all my other plans, but only because you insisted so much.”
As I smiled down at my shoes, there was a heavy silence from the other end of the line.
“Jack?”
“I’ll make you happy, Rose. I promise.”
Words got stuck in my throat for a short moment. “I’ll make you happy too, Jack.”
Before he could respond, I heard an unexpected and unwelcome voice behind me.
“Rose?”
My smile dropped before I even set eyes on him. Joshua. His hair was slicked back, which made him look like a total douchebag, and he was wearing a suit—nothing as good as Jack’s suits, but still a black suit. He looked like a perfect fit for someone as rich as Jodi was. When we had been together, he hadn’t been like this—no slick hair, no suits. It was as if he had molded himself into a different person, or maybe my cousin had molded him into a different person. Either way, it wasn’t my business.
“Jack,” I said, still holding the phone to my ear. “I…uh, we just opened. I should go. I’ll text you when we slow down a bit.”
After a quick goodbye, I hung up the phone.
“What are you doing here, Joshua? Again.”
“I’d like to talk to you, if you have a few minutes.”
I frowned at him. We had nothing to talk about. I glanced over his shoulder, annoyed that he was almost blocking my way of escape. “We just opened.” I repeated the words I’d said to Jack. “I don’t have time to talk—I need to work.”