by Claire Adams
“Welcome back to Nashville,” my pilot announced over the intercom.
* * *
The rain splattered against the limo, its constant patter soothing in a strange way.
I didn’t envy my chauffeur as he navigated through the pouring rain on the way to Lionel’s house. Emily had already called ahead to tell her ex to get Juniper ready, and from what she told me, it wouldn’t be a big issue, as he tended to be eager to unload his daughter after she spent more than a few days with him.
Emily stared through the window. At what, I wasn’t sure. There was nothing really to see but rain and the occasional car.
“You excited?” I said.
She glanced over at me. “Excited?”
“About seeing your daughter again.”
A soft smile appeared on her face. “Yes. I did miss her. She would have loved Japan.”
“I imagine she would have.” I thought about saying something about bringing her next time but decided against it.
Emily frowned slightly and then looked back out the window. I was curious why she frowned. She’d been so quiet since landing, it was maddening. But we also had a very long flight, and neither of us got as much sleep as we would have liked. It can be hard when you’re traveling internationally to get your body back on track.
After a few minutes, Emily broke her silence. “I meant what I said.”
“Huh?” I looked over at her, trying to read her face, but her expression was distant and neutral.
“About Tokyo just being about good memories and things staying there.” She shrugged. “Maybe I should have said something on the plane, but I wanted to make that clear now.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“I still want to be friends with you, but I just wanted a break.” She sighed.
I waved a hand. “Don’t overthink it. We’re both adults. Just think of it as a ‘friends with temporary benefits’ thing.”
Emily burst out laughing. The smile on her face warmed my heart.
“Friends with temporary benefits?” she said.
“Yes. That’s the best way I can think to describe things.”
“Okay, then,” she said, still smiling. The limo pulled up to her house. “Don’t make him get wet.” She pointed toward the chauffeur through the divider. “Please.”
I pressed the intercom button. “Just pop the trunk. You don’t need to get out.”
“Are you sure, sir?” he replied.
“Yes.”
Juniper was already waiting on the porch, her small pink rolling suitcase beside her. She waved both arms as Emily opened the door.
She sprinted through the sheets of rain to her daughter, grabbing her suitcase with one hand and her daughter’s hand with another.
My heart did a little flip at the sight.
“Calm down, damn you,” I whispered.
I don’t know why I even bothered. It’s not like my heart was going to listen.
Mother and daughter rushed toward the limo.
The front door opened, and Lionel stepped out. He was too far away to make out his expression, but I could only imagine what he thought seeing his wife and daughter rushing to a limousine. He had to know it was mine.
The thought filled me with more than a little satisfaction. The cheating bastard. Truly, a pearls before swine situation between Emily and him.
I hopped out of the car and rushed around the back to grab Juniper’s suitcase and put it in the trunk before closing it. Soon, all three of us were safely ensconced in my limousine.
I pressed the intercom button again. “Please take me back to Emily’s house.”
“Yes, sir.”
Juniper snuggled up against her mother. “Mama, I’m so happy you’re back.”
Emily squeezed her daughter, her face lit up with joy. “I’m glad to be back, my little sweet pea.” She kissed her on the forehead. “Did you have a good time?”
“We played some games and went out to ice cream a lot. Daddy’s new girlfriend doesn’t eat ice cream though. She’s mean to milk.”
“What?” Emily said.
“They told me in school that intolerant means being mean. Daddy’s new girlfriend said she was lactose intolerant, and Daddy says lactose is from milk.”
I managed not to burst out laughing. Emily chuckled and ruffled her daughter’s hair.
Juniper pulled away from her mother to surprise me with a tight hug. I hugged her back.
She deposited herself between the two of us and then shook her finger at me. “Next time, I go.”
“Sure, Juniper. Whatever you want.”
Emily laughed softly.
The next few minutes, Juniper regaled us with a detailed rundown of the various types of fast food and ice cream she’d eaten while we were away and her progress on various LEGO sets. The attention to detail was outstanding, even more so since she seemed to like working on multiple projects.
The car finally pulled up to their house. I again told my chauffeur to pop the trunk and stay inside.
“You and Juniper make a run for it,” I said to Emily. “I’ll get your bags.”
“No, I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. I’m a billionaire. I do what I want.” I winked.
Emily rolled her eyes and then grinned down at Juniper. “Are you ready, sweet pea? We’re going to have to run hard to avoid getting too wet.”
Juniper nodded, her face a mask of stoic determination.
Her mother threw open the door. Emily and Juniper ran toward her front door at full speed, both laughing as they hit the porch and escaped the worst of the pouring rain.
I scooted over and jumped out on their side, slamming the door closed behind me. Emily’s compact packing pleased me as I grabbed her suitcase and then her daughter’s and began my jog to their porch. By the time I arrived, she had the door open and was standing inside with Juniper right behind her.
I placed their suitcases right inside the door with a smile. Maybe it was a pointless gesture of gallantry, but I hoped Emily would appreciate it.
“Hey, Juniper,” Emily said. “Go upstairs and check on your room. Make sure there’s no water in it.”
“Okay, Mama.” The little girl scurried off with surprising speed.
“You have problems with your roof?” I asked.
Emily shook her head. “I just wanted to get her out of there before this.” She moved forward and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me lightly on the lips.
I was so surprised, I didn’t even have time to deepen the kiss before she pulled away.
“I really do want to thank you for taking me, Logan,” she said softly. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that trip.”
“I only wish I could have spent more time with you.”
“Work is important.” She shrugged. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
We stared at each other for an uncomfortably long period. I imagine we might have stayed their longer if Juniper hadn’t come rushing over.
“There’s no water in my room, Mama,” she said, bouncing up and down. “Yay.”
“Well, I better get going,” I said. Juniper rushed over to hug my leg, and I patted her on the head.
“Good night, Mr. Hawkins.”
“Good night, Juniper.”
With that, I waved and sprinted back toward my limo.
Once inside, I spared one last glance at their porch, but Emily had already closed the door.
“Where to, sir?” the chauffeur asked over the intercom.
I glanced at my watch. Against my better judgment, I’d decided to board my boys in a kennel for this trip at the last minute, but it was already too late to go pick them up.
“Home.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the limo pulled away from Emily’s house, my thoughts drifted to her face on the porch and Juniper’s smile.
What happened in Tokyo was supposed to stay in Tokyo.
Screwed. That’s what I was. Completely and utterly screwed.
Maybe before going on the trip to Tokyo, I would have had some sort of chance of pushing Emily out of my mind and heart, but now that I’d slept with her, I might as well have chopped off an arm and pretended it didn’t hurt.
Friends? No way.
I didn’t want to be friends, even friends with benefits, temporary or otherwise. I wanted more than that.
I wanted to wake up with her beside me. I wanted to go to sleep with her beside me. I wanted to come home to her every day.
A lot of people might call that a lot of things, but I prided myself on never lying to myself. I knew exactly what this was. Love.
As Emily had made it clear that what we shared in Tokyo wasn’t coming stateside, I was pretty sure this meant I was doing nothing but breaking my own heart.
There was nothing to be done. I’d taken her halfway across the world on a fun-filled trip, pleased her in bed, and made it clear I was interested, and she wanted nothing more despite all that.
My thoughts drifted to Juniper. I’d never thought much about kids, but spending time with the little girl made me realize what I’d been missing as well.
Alone with my thoughts, I stared out the window until the limo took me back home. I thanked the driver and hurried in with my own suitcases. He didn’t seem to understand my reluctance for his help, but I was hoping that at least he could have a good night since I wasn’t.
I opened the door and trudged inside, my sodden coat dripping on the floor. Arla wouldn’t be in until the morning, and I didn’t even have the boys there to greet me.
A crushing weight descended on me.
Welcome back to America, and welcome back to loneliness.
I pulled off my coat and placed it in the closet. I left my suitcase by the front door and headed for the stairs. I wanted to fall into my bed and sleep.
Sure, I’d traveled halfway across the world and was dealing with some jet lag, but really, I wanted the comforting embrace of unconsciousness.
I dragged myself into my bedroom and removed my clothes, tossing them on the floor next to my bed. I slipped under the covers and closed my eyes.
The darkness crept up on me in the next few minutes, but not before my mind drifted again to an image of Emily’s lips swollen from a kiss.
Love and lust. A perfect and painful pair.
I was so screwed.
Chapter Twenty-three
EMILY
I stifled a yawn as I made my way to Juniper’s bedroom. Getting up early on a Monday after flying in on a Sunday wasn’t exactly fun, but my little girl still needed to head to preschool, and I had to head to work, so it wasn’t like I had any choice.
Knowing her father, she’d probably not gone to bed at a decent time the entire week. It was easy for him to set himself as the fun dad since he didn’t have to deal with consequences most of the time.
I rapped my knuckles on the door. “It’s time to get up, sweet pea.”
She didn’t respond. Not with words anyway. A loud, hacking cough sounded from the room.
I frowned and opened the door. Juniper sat up on her bed, her hair matted with sweat, dark circles under her eyes.
“Mama, I don’t feel so good,” she said.
Sitting down beside her, I placed my hand on her forehead. A fever and cough. Not good.
“Open your mouth for me, sweet pea,” I said.
She complied, and I looked inside with the help of the light on my phone. White splotches covered her reddened tonsils.
I sighed. Probably strep throat, which meant I couldn’t have her sleep it off.
“Okay, Juniper,” I said sweetly. “I’m going to get you some medicine, and then I’ll make some calls. I think we should go to the doctor.”
“What about school, Mama?” she said, between coughs.
“You’re going to probably miss a few days. Lie back down for now.”
Juniper nodded and laid back down, pulling the covers over her.
The next few minutes were a master class in motherly efficiency. First, I called and set up an appointment with her pediatrician. Then, I called my boss.
Fortunately, I pretty much never took any time off, so I had a month of time off saved up. It also helped that my boss liked me, and I was a hard worker. He had no problem telling me not to come in that day.
That helped a lot. I didn’t want to think I was leaving my boss or the other people at the bank in a bind. More guilt was the last thing I needed.
After finishing my calls, I fished some kids’ Tylenol out of my medicine cabinet and headed upstairs.
* * *
Two hours later, Juniper trailed behind me at the pharmacy. The official verdict was in. Strep throat. We’d already picked up her antibiotics, and now we were looking around for some soup. I was extra glad for my time off. My mother might be willing to watch her, but this was a situation where a little girl needed her own mother.
Juniper coughed a few times, and I sighed, patting her on the head. She’d been a trooper during the morning, but she was miserable and needed to get set up at home on a couch with soup, cartoons, and popsicles.
I grabbed a can and put it in my basket. I was just turning the corner when we all but ran into an older woman.
“I’m sorry,” I said, backing up. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
“It’s quite all right. Emily?”
It took my brain a few seconds to process that I’d almost run into Amelia Hawkins. Not only was the chance of randomly running into her low, but I also hadn’t expected to run into an old socialite at a pharmacy. Then again, considering the plastic bag she had with pill bottles, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. Just being an old socialite didn’t mean you were free from life’s infirmities.
“Good morning, Mrs. Hawkins,” I said.
She shot me a dazzling smile. “I hope you enjoyed your time in Japan.”
I looked down, suddenly nervous. “I did. I hope I’ve made that clear to Logan.” I considered for a moment. “Has he said something about it?”
“Oh, no. Other than sending me a text message to me let know he’s back home, he hasn’t talked to me about it.” Mrs. Hawkins’s gaze dropped to Juniper. “Good morning, Juniper.”
I held up a hand. “Juniper’s got strep, so I wouldn’t get too close.”
Juniper leaned against my leg and didn’t say anything.
“Oh, you poor little thing,” Mrs. Hawkins said. “I remember one time when Logan got it as a child. The poor boy was sick for a week.” She beamed a smile down at my daughter. “Just mind your mother, drink a lot of water, take your medicine, and get rest, and you’ll be fine.”
Juniper nodded quickly and coughed.
“I hate to be rude, Mrs. Hawkins,” I said, “but I really should be getting her home.”
“You do that,” she said. Her expression shifted. Something about it made my heart kick up. “I’ll let Logan know.”
Always the matchmaker, even when a little, sick girl was involved.
I managed not to sigh as I tugged Juniper toward the register.
* * *
“You have the VPN set up on your home computer?” my boss asked over the phone.
“I do.”
“Then don’t worry about coming in. Just work from home starting tomorrow. Can’t risk you coming in here and infecting everyone anyway. If she’s still sick by next Monday, we’ll revisit the issue.”
“Thank you very much.”
“I hope she gets better soon.” He hung up.
I glanced over at Juniper. She was asleep under her covers on the couch. I hoped she’d spend most of the day resting and maybe wake up refreshed in the morning without a fever, but even right then, I accepted that was wishful thinking.
I thought back to running into Amelia Hawkins at the pharmacy. She had probably already called Logan to pump him for information about our trip. She could easily use Juniper’s illness as the excuse to call before getting to what she truly cared about.
That made me wonder what he would tell his mother. I had a hard time imagining he’d tell her about all the sex we had. That’s just not the kind of thing you talked to a nice socialite mother about, even one who was trying to marry you off.
Would he tell her we hit it off, even though I told him I wasn’t interested in anything stateside?
If he did, that might mean she’d call up my mother to try and get her to pressure me. I sighed, then swallowed. Amelia Hawkins might already be talking to Mama. They were probably already planning the wedding together.
I quickly dialed, my heart pounding while I waited for Mama to pick up.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Mama?”
“Yes, Emily?”
A few seconds ticked by. If she’d talked to Amelia, she would have probably already asked me questions, so now the whole call seemed pointless.
“Just wanted to let you know that Juniper’s sick.”
“Oh, no. Poor girl. Cold?”
“Strep throat.”
Mama sighed. “Did you take her to the doctor?”
“Yes. I’ve already got antibiotics. I’m working from home for the week.”
“That’s sad, but that’s children for you. So many germs, especially at school.” Another long pause followed. “It pains me to say it, but you should probably let your no-good ex-husband know in case he might have caught it. I don’t mind the idea of him being a little sick, but it wouldn’t be very Christian not to warn him.”
“You’re right, Mama,” I mumbled. “I’ll give him a call here in a bit.”
“So.”
“So?” My heart kicked up. Even without Amelia Hawkins, Mama knew where I was. She had her own expectations.
“How did the trip go?”
“It was fun.”
“Just fun?”
I glared at the phone. “I saw some nice places. I bought some nice things. Logan took me to a sushi restaurant. It was nice. He even bought the building for the guy to keep him in business during a rough patch.”
Mama laughed softly. “Oh, now that’s lovely of him, supporting the local businesses even when he’s overseas.”
That was one way to look at it, I supposed.
“Well, I won’t bother you more other than to say you should build on whatever happened there,” Mama said.
