Ashton Scott
She appears in the doorway, irritated. “What?”
“Have you got those numbers for the Steele proposal yet?”
“No.”
My head snaps up. “Why?”
Crossing her arms, she says, “What crawled up your ass this morning?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “More to the point, who pissed you off? You’ve been traipsing around here all day in a foul mood.”
She settles a glare on me before huffing out a breath of irritation. Dropping her arms, she enters my office. “It might have something to do with the fact Jack is hell-bent on ripping open old wounds suddenly.”
“Fuck.” I lean back in my chair. Jack revisiting the past is not something any of us need. Too many ghosts reside there with the potential to wreak havoc on everyone involved.
“Exactly.” She drops down into the seat across from me. “He called me late last night and wanted to talk about what happened between us.” Hurt flashes in her eyes. It’s an emotion she does her best to avoid, so it surprises me. It shouldn’t, though, because what went down between them wasn’t pretty. When I look closer, I realise there’s exhaustion to go with it. “I can’t do this with him again, Ashton.”
“Jesus, Jessica, you need to shut him down now. That shit was five years ago, and it’s not helpful to either of you to rehash it.”
“You know him better than anyone. I don’t think he’s going to let it go.”
She’s right; when Jack wants to drown himself in misery, he always finds a way. “I thought he was doing okay yesterday. Clearly I was wrong. Have you spoken to him today?”
“No. You?”
I shake my head. “No, I left early for work.” Pushing my chair back, I stand. “I’m going to check on him. How much time do you need to pull those numbers for me?”
“Half an hour should do it unless something urgent crops up.”
“Send them to me when you have them. I won’t be back in today.”
She stands. “You’re on soccer duty again this afternoon?”
I flick my wrist to check my watch. “Yes, and I won’t hear the end of it from Alessandra if I’m not there by four, so I need to leave now if I’m going to have time to stop in on Jack first.”
As we’re heading out of my office, she says, “By the way, I’m not sure what you said to Lorelei, but I sent her the schedule for the next couple of weekends, and she sent me back an email saying thanks, no arguments. Totally not what I expected after she sent your butt plug back. Smooth work.”
It might feel like smooth work to Jessica, but getting Lorelei to do what I want her to do is proving a challenge. “She’ll be ready to leave at lunchtime tomorrow?”
“That’s the time I mentioned in the email. She didn’t say anything to the contrary.”
We’ll see. The thing I’m learning about Lorelei is to expect the unexpected. She has a way of surprising me, which isn’t something I prefer. But with her, I’m growing to love.
* * *
I enter the bar on Willow Street and scan the building looking for Jack. I texted him after I left my office to find out where he is. It didn’t surprise me to learn he’s here as this is the bar he and I frequented when we were younger. He’s seated at a table with six empty glasses in front of him.
Jesus.
“Ashton.” His lazy smile lights up his face when I reach the table. Sweeping his arm through the air, he indicates for me to join him. “You want a drink?”
I take the empty chair across from him. “Really? This is the answer to your problems, Jack? Please tell me my friend is smarter than this.”
Glancing at the empty glasses, he says, “It’s a good answer, don’t you think?”
“I wasn’t referring to the alcohol.”
He frowns. “What then?”