Dear Heart, I Hate You

I wanted to be home in that instant. Why hadn’t someone invented a transportation machine yet?

“Now. I’m ready to go now,” I said, and he smiled.

“Good. I’d rather all this sweat on your body have come from the things I’m doing to it.”

My thighs quivered as I sucked in my bottom lip and pulled him toward the exit. The evening air was cooler than I expected, and when it hit my sweat, it made me shiver. Cal noticed and wrapped me in his arms, tucking me against his side as we waited for the valet to bring my car around.

“So, spill. I’m dying here,” I said as soon as we were alone in my car.

“Jules, that was insane. Apparently, Tabbie just fired her finance guy. She found out he was stealing from her,” he said, and I nodded my head. “Ron did too.”

“That’s right,” I said as recognition dawned on me. “Bernard. He was stealing from a lot of people out here. It’s been a big deal.” I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t put two and two together. It had been all over the news for the last couple of weeks.

“Right. So she was telling me about this and how she needs a financial advisor, but she doesn’t trust anyone in Hollywood right now since Bernard had come so highly recommended. She said she’d like to use someone ou

tside of Hollywood, not wrapped up in the business. I have a call set up with both her and Ron on Monday to finalize the paperwork, but I also have to follow up with twelve other people.” He sounded excited and dumbfounded. “Twelve, Jules.”

“Cal, this could be huge for you. You could corner a market with this.”

The wheels in my head were turning. If Cal got one celebrity, it wouldn’t be long before word of mouth got him more.

He laughed. “Lucas is gonna flip.”

“Poor Lucas.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t make me bring him with me on this trip.”

“Aw, you should bring him next time,” I said without thinking, and when Cal didn’t respond, I wished I could suck the words right back.

It was so easy to forget that he wasn’t my boyfriend, or that what we had was still new and not set in stone the way I sometimes felt it was. Cal and I come a long way since we’d met in Boston, but we still hadn’t discussed what any of it meant.

And for whatever reason, I was too nervous to be the one who brought it up.

Last Day

Jules

My phone had been blowing up all morning, and as much as I wanted to continue ignoring it, I knew that I couldn’t. I looked over at Cal, who watched me through sleepy eyes, even though it was almost noon. We’d stayed up half the night, drunk on the possibilities about his potential new clients and our desire for each other, each one fueling the other.

“I have to take this, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said as he rubbed my back and dropped a kiss on my bare shoulder.

I sat up on the bed and answered the call from one of my coworkers, who filled me in on the properties she’d been showing to one of my clients all weekend. They wanted to make an offer on one, and she asked if I wanted to jump in and handle the deal or if she should just take care of it. I glanced at Cal and handed the reins over to her, knowing that meant I’d have to split the commission.

In that moment, I didn’t care about the money. My time with Cal was limited and I didn’t want to spend it working, even if it came at a financial loss. I would always make more.

When I hung up, Cal pulled my body against his and spooned me.

“Work stuff?” he asked, running his fingers through my hair.

“Remember those clients I told you about? The ones who’ve been really hard to please?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re finally putting in an offer on a house.”

“That’s great. Do you have to go? You know I don’t mind.” He continued stroking my hair as I turned to face him, our mouths mere inches apart as his hazel eyes looked at me with concern.