Mid Life Love (Mid Life Love #1)(98)

“Fine...” He sighed and opened my door. “Enjoy your birthday.”

“Thank you. I will.”

I shut down my computer and turned off all the lights. I locked the door that connected my office to my living suite and went back into the bathroom.

Claire was busy toying with the remote, turning up the volume on a slow instrumental song.

I quickly undressed and slid into the warm tub, reaching for her. “Come here.”

“I prefer this corner.”

I rolled my eyes and moved over to her side, wrapping my arms around her. “I almost thought my lead trust advisor was more difficult than you are. How wrong that was...”

“Whatever.” She laughed. “Guess who I ran into yesterday?”

“Who?”

“Mr. Henderson...He got another promotion. Apparently he’s going to be working at the high affairs office at our other campus across town. Do you know anything about that?”

Yes... “No, but that’s quite interesting.”

“Is it?”

“It is.”

She sighed. “Admit it. Right now.”

“Admit what?”

“That you’re ridiculously jealous—”

“You already know that.”

“And that you gave him a second promotion because you don’t want him anywhere near me.”

I rolled my eyes. “I gave him a second promotion because I looked through his file and saw that he’d actually applied for the same senior position five years in a row and had been turned down. I gave him a promotion because he has a stellar review record and deserved to be recognized. His coming on to you again was just the catalyst that made me promote him faster.”

“Are you going to promote every man that flirts with me?”

“No. I’ll fire whoever does it next.”

She looked like she was about to go into one of her “I just don’t understand you tirades” but then her face softened and she burst into laughter.

I picked up a floating loofah and brushed it against her neck. “Is my birthday dinner tonight non-negotiable, even though I don’t want to go?”

“Yes.”

“Fine.” I sighed. “Should I assume that you used your credit card to hold the reservation?”

“Who else’s would I use?”

“You could’ve asked for mine. I trust you...And I trust that you know better than to actually pay for dinner.”

“It’s your birthday, Jonathan. That’s what happens when you—”

“You never have to pay for anything.” I kissed her shoulder. “Ever.”

I made sure that tonight’s dinner at Sierra Mar would be placed on my card before we walked inside. The restaurant was nestled high into a barrage of cliffs that overlooked the Pacific Ocean; its panoramic windows revealed the entire shoreline of the California coast.

The waitress led us past a full room of white clothed tables and into a private room that appeared to sit amongst the clouds.

My eyes immediately veered towards a table with two sparkling gifts, towards the woman that was sitting beside them.

Hayley?! It couldn’t be...

My sister hardly ever came to San Francisco, even when I begged her to. I always had to meet her in Memphis, or in some other city on the East Coast. She claimed she couldn’t stand “the air” on the West Coast and vowed to never come until she started to work for me.

I stopped walking and looked at Claire. My voice was a whisper. “You got Hayley to come here?”

“Is that not okay? I’m sorry if I overstep—”

“It’s more than okay...” I was utterly shocked. Not much in life surprised me.

“John!” Hayley jumped up as soon as her eyes met mine. “Happy Birthday!”

“Thank you.” I hugged her. “I thought you weren’t coming here until the fall.”

She looked over at Claire and laughed. “I wasn’t! Have a seat, have a seat. I already ordered for the two of you since you’re thirty minutes late. Traffic?”

No, sex...“Yeah...”

She shrugged. “Oh well. Claire, it’s great to finally put a face to the name. How was your—”

I zoned out. I couldn’t believe Claire had managed to get my sister to come to town. I still couldn’t believe that she’d decorated my office earlier or set up a surprise dinner. No one had ever done anything like that for me, and I was trying to determine if it was real or not.

I heard my sister asking me questions as the dinner courses were served, but all I could do was look at Claire and smile as she threw her sexy green gaze back at me. I thought about how much she’d pushed me away in the beginning, how she still had parts of herself that were closed off—completely off limits. I was getting close to her now and she knew it, but she wasn’t pushing me away as much, she was pulling herself closer.

“Are you going to blow out the candles or are you going to wait until your cake catches fire?” Hayley shook my shoulder. “Hello!”

“What?” I snapped out of my thoughts and noticed the three layer cupcake sitting in front of me. There was a “To Jonathan, From Claire” message signed in whipped chocolate on the side of its plate.

Smiling, I blew out the sparklers and looked over at Claire again. “I didn’t know they served cupcakes here...”