Page 3 of Mr. Perfect

“Until someone shinier comes along,” Felix replied. “Today is not that day, and that’s all I can be sure of really.”

“True. I love you, Fee. I can’t wait to see you this weekend.” They’d made plans for Felix to drive to Atlanta to celebrate the big three-five.

“Love you, and I’m looking forward to seeing you too. Give Stephen my love.”

“Will do.”

Felix disconnected the call, turned off his car, and headed inside.What surprises will darling Jimmy have in store for me today?

It didn’t take him long to find out. He’d strung a colorful banner across the break room that read: Happy Birthday Felix!

Jimmy had his back to the door and didn’t know Felix had arrived. The rookie removed brightly decorated cupcakes from the pastry box and arranged them on a three-tiered display thingy. He completed his task and stood back to admire or assess his work. Felix wasn’t sure what he wanted to do more: eat one or shove it in Jimmy’s face. The rookie reporter adjusted the pale green cupcake at the top by moving it a few centimeters to the right. “Now, it’s perfect.”

“Except you missed the comma between birthday and my name.”

“Oh!” Jimmy gasped. He spun around, placing his hand over his heart. “You scared me.”

“Sorry about that.” Felix wasn’t. “What’s going on here?”

Jimmy laughed nervously, gesturing to the banner. “I figured it was pretty self-explanatory.”

“Okay. I can see what’s going on. Maybe the better question is: why are we having a celebration for my birthday? I’ve worked here for thirteen years, and I’ve never had a birthday party.”

“Maybe that’s due to your prickly attitude,” Jimmy countered.

“I’d believe that if I was the only one who hadn’t received a banner and cupcakes before you came along.”

Jimmy blew out an exasperated breath. “Can’t you allow someone to do something nice for you?”

With the exception of his friends, people didn’t do things for Felix unless they wanted something in exchange. “No.”

Jimmy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t you think that says more about you than it does other people?”

“Maybe, Jimmy. It still doesn’t explain why we’re starting a new tradition with me. Why not Maureen from classifieds? Her birthday was two weeks ago. No cupcakes. No banner. Holton’s birthday was last month. No cupcakes. No banner. So, again, I ask: why me?”

“James.”

“Excuse me?” Felix asked

Jimmy rolled his eyes. “My name is James, and sometimes people call me Jamie. No one calls me Jimmy.”

“No one?” Felix asked, quirking a brow.

“Okay. My mamaw still does. Everyone else calls me James or Jamie.”

“I’ve been calling you Jimmy since you arrived,” Felix countered.

“And I’ve corrected you each time.”

“Yet you make a banner and bring in cupcakes for my birthday. Why?”

Jimmy sighed as heavily as Ree had. Felix understood. He was exhausting, especially when something didn’t add up. Felix had been downright rude to Jimmy from day one, and yet the kid set up a little birthday party. Felix smelled a rat.

The younger man ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, messing it up and somehow making it look even better. “You don’t like me, and it bothers me.”

“I don’t know you,” Felix countered. “If you want to succeed in this business, then you better find a way to squelch your people-pleasing tendencies. You’ll burn out in a year. You need to write the unvarnished truth about whatever story you uncover and not pull your punches just because someone might not like it. I’ve been an asshole to you since the day we met. I don’t deserve cupcakes and a banner, even one with incorrect punctuation.” Jimmy groaned and covered his face, and Felix felt bad about embarrassing him. Sort of. “Even though you shouldn’t have gone to the trouble, I have every intention of stuffing one of these cupcakes in my mouth.”

“Yeah?” Jimmy asked, sounding hopeful.