Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
December 2 nd
8:34 A.M.
It felt like she’d never left.
Jessica swallowed a yawn as she tried to focus on the screen in front of her.
Sleep had remained elusive for most of the night. She’d felt bad about not giving Donovan Davidson a chance to explain himself, assuming he was doing what the call-in had accused him of, and embarrassed for being so wrong about things even if she was only doing her job and acting on the intel she had.
Then there were the dreams.
When sleep finally did come, her dreams were filled with a dark-haired man with gray eyes and a charming smile. For the first time in she couldn’t even remember how long, she had dreamed about sex. Waking when the alarm went off with a throbbing between her legs and a heavy weight of unfulfilled need clinging to her.
As always, the morning rushed by in a whirl of trying to get herself and her seven-year-old ready for the day simultaneously, while also trying not to think about the fact that a man had asked her out on a date.
Five years had passed since she’d gotten divorced, and she hadn't been on a date since.
There was just no time.
Exactly what she said to Donovan last night when he asked if he could take her to dinner. Her experience said that most men were interested in having sex with her but not in taking on all the baggage she had being a single mom with an ex who contributed nothing toward his son’s care.
Just because she hadn't been asked out on a date didn't mean she hadn't been propositioned. Usually, as soon as she told them she had a kid and dating her would have to fit around that they ran a mile.
A nice little ego boost, that was all last night could be. It was a nice compliment that a billionaire as she knew Mrs. Grayson’s children to be would ask her out, especially given the awkwardness of her having cuffed and arrested him. Add in that Donovan was attractive, and yeah, it definitely felt nice even if there was no way she would have said yes.
As soon as he knew about her son, he would have taken those words back.
For now, she had to accept that dating wasn't in the cards. Work and Freddie were all she could handle on her plate right now. Maybe one day, when her son went off to college, she could think about re-entering the dating pool, scary though that would be.
So what if sometimes she was overcome with loneliness?
All things considered, she had a pretty good life. Her son was an amazing little human, she loved her job, she had great friends, and she was content knowing that even though her family had thrown her away when she got divorced, she would never do that to her child.
“Hey, Jess.”
“Yeah?” Looking away from the computer screen, she rubbed at her bleary eyes. Not enough sleep was catching up with her. Maybe this weekend she’d have to convince Freddie to stay in, take things easy, watch movies, play video games, and wrap presents, ready to start following their holiday traditions and start delivering them soon.
“Someone had these delivered for you,” Adam told her .
Blinking away the grittiness that seemed stuck in her eyes, her mouth dropped open in shock when she saw what her partner held.
It was the biggest bouquet she’d ever seen.
So big in fact that Adam could hardly hold it.
There were at least half a dozen different flowers and a myriad of colors. Pretty pinks and purples, brighter reds and yellows, all mixed in with the greenery to make it look like a rainbow had touched the ground and someone had gathered up the evidence and put it together.
Beautiful, no other word to describe it, but not for her.
Couldn’t be.
Who would send her flowers?
“What do you mean they were delivered to me?” she asked, pushing away from her desk and standing up but not taking a step toward her partner or the flowers.
“Card has your name on it, and the driver had your name and this address,” Adam said, his dark eyes sparkling with curiosity.
They were friends and their shared understanding of how hard it was to be a single parent had brought them even closer. They shared most things, and it was obvious her partner was wondering why she hadn't mentioned a boyfriend.
Only there was no boyfriend.
There wasn't even a boy.
Well, man not boy.
Other than friends, people related to work, or people related to Freddie’s school, the only man she’d even conversed with lately was …
No.
He wouldn't.
Would he?
“Something you want to tell me?” Adam asked as he set the giant bouquet down on her desk.
“Umm … no. Nothing.” Despite how it seemed that was absolutely the truth.
“Certainly seems like there should be. You seeing someone and failed to mention it?”
“Seeing someone? When would I even have the time?” Her hand trembled as it reached out to grasp the card sitting amongst the flowers .
“Then who’s sending you flowers?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. Just because she had a crazy idea of who it might be didn't mean it was true.
“One way to find out.” Adam nodded at the card in her hand.
Slowly, she opened it, almost afraid to see who they were from. “If you feel like teaching me the ropes of lock picking the offer for dinner still stands,” she read aloud, her voice shaking as much as her hands.
It was from him.
From Donovan Davidson.
“Lock picking? Someone asked you out and asked you to teach them how to pick locks?” Adam asked, clearly confused.
Embarrassed about last night, she hadn't told him about it this morning, hadn't thought there was any need to. Hadn't believed that a billionaire like Donovan would give her a second thought.
But he had.
More than that he’d sent her flowers.
After handcuffing him and putting him in the back of her car, he’d still asked her out. Even when she’d said no, he’d reached out again.
Why did that have excited butterflies dancing in her stomach when she knew it could never go anywhere?