“Jack Kingsley?” Paul yells back, sounding surprised.
“Do we know any other Jacks?” Doris looks back at Jack, bustling her way out from behind the counter to pull him into her arms for a hug. When she lets him go, she says, “Where the hell have you been? We thought we’d done something to offend you.”
I look between them, confused as to what’s going on here. Doris and Paul’s café was our favourite café when we were together. We came here daily unless we were away for Jack’s work or travelling. Sometimes twice a day if I wanted croissants and Jack was in a mood to come back and get me more. I’ve never stopped coming, and while Jack hasn’t lived in Sydney since, I assumed he’d visit when he was in town. It doesn’t sound like he has.
He shakes his head as Paul joins us. “You didn’t do anything.” He glances at me. “I couldn’t come here after Jessica and I broke up. It reminded me of her too much.”
Jesus, Jack’s sentimental ways hit me right in the feels sometimes.
I doubled down on coming here because it reminded me of him. Not that I would have admitted that to anyone all these years. He went the other way, for the same reason.
We wasted so much fucking time.
When he puts his arm around me and pulls me close, I say, “For the record, I am still mad at you.”
He bends his face to mine to hear what I say. When I’m finished, he says, “I have no doubt.”
“Oh God, I am so glad to hear that,” Doris says, her hazel eyes flashing with excitement. She pushes her curly red hair behind her ear, trying to contain it, before motioning at the table in the back corner that she always reserved for us at breakfast. “Your table is free. I’ll get coffee.” She stops and eyes Jack. “Do you still drink the same coffee?”
He nods, sending her a smile. “Yeah, Doris. Nothing’s changed for me.”
“Good.” She places her hands on her hips. “Bacon and eggs too?”
“Fuck, yeah. No one makes bacon and eggs like you guys,” Jack says.
That makes her happy. Her entire body lights up. “Okay, sit. We’ll have your food out soon.”
Jack and I sit at our table, and I narrow my eyes at him. “Did you stop going to any of our other places?”
“Sweetheart, I stopped going to all of them. I’m fucking glad we’re back together because now I can start eating my favourite food again.”
“Of course you did,” I mutter. He’s far too sentimental for his own good, but it can’t be denied he makes me feel like the only woman in the world.
A text hits my phone, distracting me.
Mira: Are you there?
Jessica: Yes.
Mira: Jack?
Jessica: Yes.
Mira: Good, put him on.
Jessica: Wow, does this mean he’s your best friend now?
Mira: No, my darling, no one will ever take that job from you. I just need to ensure he’s still planning on getting you to the tea party this afternoon.
I hold my phone out to Jack. “Mira wants you.”
He engages in a text conversation with her and then gives me the phone back. “If I don’t get you there by three, my balls are as good as gone. I’d forgotten how much like you she is.”
“Ooh, let’s be late and see what happens.”
“Fuck no. I’m getting you there by two thirty.”
“You are such a pussy, Jack Kingsley.”
Doris brings our coffee, and Jack and I settle into a conversation about the screenplay he’s working on. We also discuss the book he’s still thinking about turning into a movie. He tells me he mentioned the book to Burt Stoll, the director he had lunch with, and that Burt seemed interested to know more about it.
I could listen to him talk about the projects he’s interested in for hours. It’s in the way his eyes come to life and in the way his shoulders and body move while he talks. When Jack is inspired, his entire body feels it, which makes me feel it.
We spend a few hours at the café, eating, talking, and catching up with Doris and Paul. When Jack stands and tells me we have to leave, I don’t want to. I’m enjoying being back here with him. But he’s insistent and drags me out to the car to take me home.
“I want to get some writing in before the party,” he says, opening the car door for me. “And I’m thinking you might need a nap.”
Jet lag is hitting me, so he’s right; I could do with a nap.
“Fine,” I grumble, getting in the car.
One of the things I love about Jack? His ability to put up with my grumbly moods. Hell, sometimes I think the man actually likes it when I’m moody.
He gets in the car, turns it on, places his hand on my thigh, and says, “I’ll let you suck my dick after your nap. Don’t ever tell me I’m not a giving bastard.”
I refrain from encouraging him.
Jesus, this man.
“I love Jack,” Mira says half an hour into the tea party. “I mean, look at him.”
I look at Jack, who is playing a game of ‘I’m A Little Teapot Freeze Dance’ with the girls in the park. He didn’t hesitate to jump in and play when Mira asked him to. The girls love him, just like Mira does. I love him too, but she needs to stop getting carried away.
“He puts the toilet rolls around the wrong way, you know,” I throw out. “And he dumps his dirty clothes on the floor instead of putting them in the laundry basket. Oh, and let’s not forget how he puts a pretty-much-empty bottle of milk back in the fridge. I can go on if you want.”
She laughs. “Babe, we can all go on about our men. I just love him because he’s so easy-going. He reminds me of Will.” She leans into me and adds, “Plus, he loves spending time with my girls. Anyone who loves that gets all the ticks of approval from me.”
He really does love spending time with the girls. And that gets ticks of approval from me too.
I’m busy watching Jack play the dancing tea pot game when Will comes our way.
“Look who the cat dragged in. Tell me, how do you get away with being late, but I have to be here at two thirty?”
“Who told you to come at that time?” he says.
I watch Mira and Jack with the girls. “Jack didn’t want to be late.”
Will follows my gaze and chuckles. “Mira has that effect. I’m glad to see he’s still alive.”
“I imagine you never expected to ever say those words.”
His laughing eyes disappear, and he turns serious. “Never. And I’m only saying them now because I want you to be happy, and since I know you are a woman who does not forgive easily, if ever, I know Jack has had to prove himself to even be anywhere near this party.”
“Good.”
He gives me a questioning look. “Good?”
“Yes, good. Mira’s in full-blown love with Jack. I can’t be trusted not to fall completely. One of the three of us needs to keep their damn head over that man. I know I can trust you to get the job done.”
“You can.” We go back to watching the girls dance. “So Ashton finally made you COO. I would say congratulations, but we both know you earned that years ago.”
“I love your hard-ass ways, Will Johnson.”