Georgia wasn’t in the bedroom anymore, but her phone was still plugged in on the nightstand, exactly how I’d left it. I went into the adjoining room and found her staring out the window.
Walking up behind her, I kissed her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I was an asshole.”
She turned and her face softened a little. “I was upfront about everything with Gabriel.”
“I know you were.” I shook my head. “I just got jealous. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but it happened. That’s on me. But I put it on you, which was wrong. So I apologize.” I reached out and took her hand. “Forgive me for being a jealous dick?”
She smiled sadly. “Yes.”
“Thank you.” I grinned. “Because I really want to win that competition. I heard there’s a booby prize.”
She cracked and laughed. “You’re such a jerk.”
“I am. But you like me anyway. So what’s that say about you?”
Georgia rolled her eyes.
I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Do you want to call him back?”
“I didn’t.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking if you want to call him back. Like, do you feel the need to talk to him?”
She shook her head. “Not really.”
“Do you talk to him every day?”
“No, I don’t. When he first left we spoke every two or three days. But now, maybe it’s once every week or week and a half.”
I nodded. “Are you going to tell him you’re seeing someone?”
“I’m not sure. To be honest, he’s never asked. Even when we were in Paris, and I asked him, he never asked me. I think he just assumes I’m not, or maybe he doesn’t want to know if I am. I’m not sure.” When I was quiet, she added, “Would it make you feel better if I did?”
The truth was, it didn’t make a shit of difference if he knew. I was jealous because he’d had her, and in some ways he still did—and I didn’t. Not really anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to make things more complicated for her. “No, I don’t think it would make me feel better. Don’t do anything for my sake. You do whatever you think is best for you.”
Georgia nodded.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
“I’m starving.”
I tugged at her hair. “Come back to the room and look at the menu. I’ll order us some food.”
After we ate breakfast, Georgia said she needed to check in with the office and shower, so I gave her some privacy and hit the gym downstairs. When I returned, I heard her talking next door. She hadn’t shut the adjoining door.
“Oh my God, Maggie,” she laughed. “Do not do that. How old is he?”
Quiet.
“I’m pretty sure you can find a man who can do it more than once a night who was eligible to vote in the last election.”
Quiet.
She laughed again. “He definitely can. Honestly, it’s nothing like with Gabriel, and I can’t even put all that blame on Gabriel. Even at the beginning, I didn’t want him the same way I want Max. I can’t explain it, but there’s just so much more sexual chemistry than we ever had.”
Quiet.
“Alright. Well, thank you for holding down the fort. I’m glad everything is going smoothly. Though you know a part of me feels a little sad I’m not as needed as I thought.”
Quiet.
“Okay. Thanks, Mags. Love you.”
I waited a minute, then walked into her room. I’d picked up two more coffees in the hotel lobby. Holding one cup out, I dangled it from my fingers. “Caffe latte.”
“Oooh…my favorite. Did I tell you that?”
I nodded.
She looked me up and down. “Did you shower already?”
“Downstairs, after I worked out.”
Georgia puffed out her lower lip in a pout. “I was looking forward to seeing you all sweaty and then in your after-shower towel.”
I tugged her to me, running my nose along her neck. “I’m happy to get all sweaty again.”
“I’ll definitely take you up on that. Just a little bit later. I made plans for us. Did you have anything on the agenda today? It will only take an hour or two, but we have to be somewhere at one.”
“If we’re in the neighborhood, I’d like to stop by the Garden for a few minutes to check in on my friend Otto. His health isn’t great, and I haven’t seen him in a few weeks.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear your friend’s sick. We can definitely do that.”
I nodded. “Great. So what is it you have planned?”
She smiled. “You’ll see.”
“Alright. Unlike you, I like surprises. So I won’t be trying to figure it out and asking for hints.” I kissed her. “Everything okay at the office?”
“Yeah. Well, except for Maggie considering seducing a nineteen-year-old.”
“What happened to her ex’s lawyer?”
“They finished the last conference and have all the terms of the divorce agreed to finally. There’s no more chance that Aaron will walk in on them, so I guess she got bored. Plus, the nineteen-year-old is apparently her neighbor’s little brother—the neighbor she used to be friends with who slept with her husband. So this is a new and exciting way of getting back at them.”
“Remind me never to get on Maggie’s bad side.”
“You’re not kidding.” She laughed. “So the place we’re going today is a long walk, but it’s nice out, and the Garden is on the way. Why don’t we stop by to see your friend and then if we have time, I’d love to also stop by my flower shop that’s right near there. It’s the first one I opened. I like to pop in from time to time. Would you mind if we left a little early and did both?”
“Not at all. I’d love to see your shop. We just need to be back by seven.”
“Oh, okay. Do we have plans tonight?”
“Only me. Doing you. I want to make sure we break that record.”
Georgia bit down on her bottom lip. “We could…bank one now with a quickie before we go?”
“Oh yeah?” I grinned. “What’s the fastest you’ve ever come?”
Georgia’s eyes lit up. “I don’t know. But I’m sure we can beat it.”
I lifted her off her feet and tossed her over my shoulder. “Damn right we can.”
CHAPTER 14
* * *
Georgia
“This used to be the prep room, where we dipped the flowers and put them through the preservation process.” I pointed to an area that was now wall-to-wall refrigeration. “We had folding tables I’d bought at garage sales lined up against this wall, and thick plastic bags laid out over flattened cardboard boxes under them to catch any leaking chemicals. Now I have big, fancy machines that were custom made to do what I did by hand.”
I was showing Max around one of my flower showrooms. Back when we’d started, this was my first expansion—taking Eternity Roses from my apartment to this little shop.