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“Tempting, but I’m here on business tonight.”
She pulled back and rolled her eyes. “When did you become so serious?”
“Probably around the same time you got married for the second time. Or was it the third?”
She gave me a playful shove. “You’re the worst.”
I put my hands on her upper arms and gave her a gentle squeeze. It probably seemed like a kind gesture, but it was really to hold her back from hanging all over me.
“I really am here on business, but it was great to see you, Kiera.”
She pulled herself from my grip and stood on her tiptoes. She was anything if not persistent. She wrapped her hands around my neck before giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“Call me when you want to have some fun,” she said before slinking off.
I watched her go and then scanned the room for Heart and the pink dress I had helped take off just over an hour ago. I was ready for round two now that my business was done. I wandered around the room, giving smiles to some acquaintances, while I looked for her. She wasn’t at the bar, which was a given. She wasn’t at the buffet table. She wasn’t at the silent auction table where they were now compiling all the bids.
I didn’t know where she was.
I slipped my phone out of my jacket pocket and texted her:Where are you?I waited for a few minutes, drumming my fingers against my phone. She didn’t reply. I tried calling her, but it went to voicemail. I furrowed my brow. That was strange. I didn’t think she would leave without saying goodbye.
After our time up in my suite tonight, I thought maybe we had sorted everything out. I knew we hadn’t gotten a lot of talking done, which we probably should have, but she was just as eager as I was on that bed. I thought she would stay the night with me tonight after she was done working.
An hour later, the charity event was starting to wind down. I texted Heart again, but received no reply. Disappointed, I said my goodbyes and went upstairs to my suite. I thought maybe she would come join me, but when midnight came around, I realized she wasn’t coming.
The only explanation I had was that maybe she had gotten sick. I knew she would still get bouts of morning sickness, even at night, which was weird. Why did they even call it morning sickness?
I took a hot shower and climbed into the plush bed that still smelled like her. I breathed her in as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
The next few days, I tried calling Heart again, but all I got was her voicemail. I left a few messages, but then gave up wasting my breath. I didn’t understand why she had disappeared at the charity event and why I was now getting the silent treatment.
Repeatedly, I replayed the conversation we had in the hallway. She had been so angry. She hardly ever cussed, but harsh words flowed off her tongue easily then. All the things she had said were true. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I knew that it was taking a toll on her. I wished I would have told her how I was feeling rather than taking her to bed.
Well, I didn’t regret that part completely. I just knew we had things to fix, and now it felt like I tried to slap a Band-Aid on it with sex. I just couldn’t help myself around her. I knew the feeling was mutual, or we wouldn’t have wound up having wildly angry, passionate sex that night.
Whatever flip switched, clearly my texts and phone calls weren’t working. I picked up the phone at my desk and dialed Margaret at the front desk.
“Yes, Mr. Jacobs?” she answered.
“I need you to put an order in at the florist on Fifth Ave. I want three dozen red roses. And they have to be delivered today.”
“But it’s already four o’clock…”
“Pay double. Triple. I don’t care. It has to be today.”
“Okay. Where should they be sent?”
“Ms. Heartly’s home address.”
“Yes, sir.”
I ended the call and wondered if it would be enough to fix whatever I had done.
It wasn’t.
Three days had gone by and I didn’t hear from Heart. I was starting to go crazy. It had been a week since the charity event, and nothing. I didn’t realize how much I needed her until now. I was completely infatuated with her. Perhaps even falling for her, which was something I did not do.
That night, in my apartment, I poured a generous serving of whiskey on ice. Images of Heart and our first night together flashed through my mind, as they usually did in this space. I took a sip and gripped the counter’s edge as I studied myself in the mirror.