I chuckled. “She’s not going anywhere, Stiles. I do need to speak with Lorelei for a minute, so if you’ll excuse us.”
“Of course. It was wonderful to meet you, Lorelei.” He smiled as he took hold of her hand and brought it up to his lips. Hopefully, our paths will cross again soon.”
I watched him walk away and then looked at Lorelei. “I don’t want you talking to him.”
“Why?” She began to cough again.
“Because he’s a snake.”
“Aren’t you all?” She arched her brow and walked away from me.
Isla walked over and placed her hand on my back. “How about we get out of here and go back to my place?”
“I can’t, Isla. I need to stay after with my mother and Coco. I’ll have a car service take you home.”
“Are you serious, Jack?”
“Yes. I’m dead serious.” I glared at her.
“Fine. Thanks for nothing.” She stomped on her heels and walked away.
#p#分页标题#e#
I saw Lorelei standing at the bar drinking a glass of water, so I walked over to her.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m just really tired. I think I may be coming down with a cold or something. I’m going to go home.”
“Let me drive you. I don’t want you taking a cab.”
“No, Jack. I can get home by myself.”
“I know you can, but Tony is driving you home. End of discussion, Lorelei.”
She sighed as she set her glass down on the bar. “Fine.”
She made her rounds and said goodbye to everyone before walking outside to the limo. I slid in next to her.
“Thank you,” I spoke.
“For what?” She turned and looked at me.
“For doing such a great job with the launch party.”
“You’re welcome.” She coughed a couple of times.
“If you’re not better in a couple of days, you should see a doctor.”
“I’ll be fine, Jack.” She looked out the window.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lorelei
I thanked Tony for the ride home and said goodbye to Jack.
“Good night, Jack. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Get some rest, Lorelei.”
I stepped inside my apartment and relieved my mom and Nick of their babysitting duties. They had a lot to do over the weekend since they were leaving for their cruise on Monday.
“Are you sure you have things covered for Hope while we’re gone? I feel bad.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. Stella is picking her up a couple of days and then she’s going to latch key after school. She understands and she’ll be fine.”
“I know, honey, but I still feel bad. You didn’t have a job when Nick and I booked this trip.”
“Stop worrying. We’ll be fine.” I grasped her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Have fun on your trip and we’ll see you when you get back.”
I couldn’t get them out fast enough. All I wanted to do was go to bed.
****
I woke up Monday morning with a full blown cold. Runny nose, cough, chest congestion, and headache. Stella had called me yesterday to tell me that she and Sebastian had to fly out to Arizona because Sebastian’s father had taken a turn for the worse and the doctor only gave him a few more days. She apologized up and down about not being able to pick up Hope from school. I told her not to worry about it and that Hope could go to latch key a couple of extra days.
Walking into the office, coughing and sniffling, I set Jack’s coffee on his desk.
“You’re worse,” he spoke. “Did you see a doctor over the weekend?”
“No. It really just hit me hard last night. I’ll be okay. I just took some cold medicine.”
“Maybe you should go see a doctor on your lunch.”
“Jack, it’s a cold. A common cold. I don’t need to see a doctor.”
“If you say so. I need you to run these up to my mother’s office.” He handed me a couple of file folders.
As I was walking out of his office, I was a little stunned by what he said.
“I hope that Hope doesn’t catch your cold.”
I turned around and gave him a small smile. “I hope she doesn’t either.”
After picking Hope up from latch key, I decided to take her to dinner since I didn’t feel well enough to cook when we got home.
“Can we go to Ellen’s to eat?”
“That’s pretty far, Hope. Why don’t you pick something closer to home?”#p#分页标题#e#
“Please, Mama. We can take the subway.”
As I looked down at her blue eyes, I felt bad because she had such a long day and she would continue to have those days the rest of the week.