The Millionaire's Intriguing Offer

Lunch with Maria

As it turned out, it was a tie. Although granted, Jack was the first to make her scream that morning, she'd quickly turned the tables and had him yelling out her name. Sex with Jack was the best she'd ever had in her life, and if she was getting a little too attached to it - and him - well, she just wasn't going to deal with that right now.

If she was honest with herself, it wasn't just the sex. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. They were planning to take a long weekend soon and head down to Key West for the much touted - by Jack - conclusion to the Date of a Lifetime that had been interrupted by the tropical storm when they were in Bimini. And she actually couldn't wait.

Jack had also been right about the advantages of being his plus one at various events on the Miami social calendar. In just a few weeks she'd made so many connections she wasn't sure how she and Tito would have time to put all the evolving programs into action. Regrettably, some would just have to be shelved until next year. And when you added to that all the events Mitsy and Trip had convinced her and Jack to accompany them to, it was enough to make your head spin.

The only negative was that she was afraid she might fall in love with him. She and Jack were clearly on the same page about this being a temporary relationship. A friends with benefits deal where the rest of the world might think they were dating, but the two of them knew the score.  It was getting harder and harder to remind herself that none of this was for real.

Today, though, she was heading out to lunch with Maria, ostensibly to talk about how the plans were going for the art program launching the next week that they'd both been working on with Vivienne. Bailey strongly suspected, though, that her relationship with Jack might also be part of the conversation.

They met in the same sandwich shop where she'd had her original after-interview lunch with Tito. Bailey was glad. She'd been to enough fancy dinners recently with Jack to really enjoy ordering a sandwich at the counter, grabbing her drink from the soda fountain, and sitting down until her number was called. It was much more her style. 

"So, how's everything going?" Maria asked as soon as they had their drinks and found a table.

"With Vivienne? It's- "

"No, not Vivienne," Maria interrupted, "although I'm sure we'll get to that topic." She leaned forward. "I want to know how things are going with Jonathon."

Bailey felt herself blush, even though she'd known this topic would be coming.

"He's great. Neither of us are serious, though."

"Why not?" Maria asked.

"Why not?" Bailey struggled with how to answer, and decided honesty was the best policy.

"Jack is a really great guy, but we just come from completely different backgrounds. I mean, Jonathon Berrington III? I'm not anywhere near in his league, and it would be foolish to think there could ever be anything serious between us."

Marie held up a hand. "Just stop right there. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. If Jonathon was looking for someone with his own background and social standing, don't you think he would have found them years ago?"

"Maybe, but-"

"That's right. And no 'buts' about it. He's not interested in women who join committees and play tennis and have fancy lunches with other women who join committees and play tennis. For heavens sake, he avoids his own family except for a few obligatory visits every year. He's interested in you. Not your background. You."

"I know you think that, but Jack and I understand each other. We agreed when we started seeing each other that this wasn't going to turn into anything serious."