The day flew by and Dominique was thankful for the busyness. Meetings about sales and editorial content, and phone calls regarding the imminent announcement of a competing magazine, had kept her thoughts off of the absolutely fabulous time she’d had with Jake—two memorable days that could not be repeated. Shortly before he’d left her house, she and Jake had another version of “the talk.” Dominique reemphasized that, while the sex had been amazing, she didn’t think it wise that they hook up again. This time, Jake had agreed with her, explaining that he was feeling her in more than a casual way and since she was adamant about not having a relationship, he’d acquiesce to her wishes. Dominique had told herself that she was relieved. Saddened, however, was a better description.

Reggie’s voice broke into Dominique’s thoughts. “Tessa is on line one.”

“Hey, Tessa. What’s going on?”

“I’m at school to pick up Justin.”

“Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. But he’s not ready to leave. Something about his coach tutoring him in math. Do you know about this?”

At the sound of the word “coach,” a rush of images came to mind. She squashed them. That situation was over. “No, I don’t. Is... the coach there?”

“They’re just coming up from the practice field. Justin called earlier, but I didn’t check messages until I arrived here at the school and didn’t see him waiting for me.”

“Okay, have him call me as soon as you see him. Never mind. I’ll call you back.”

Dominique ended the call and dialed Jake. As always, his voice did strange things to her body.

“I’m calling about Justin,” Dominique said by way of greeting. “My nanny tells me that he’s staying after school and being tutored by you?”

“We sent home an announcement that these free sessions would be available. Several parents phoned in, but that wasn’t mandatory. When Justin showed up, I assumed you knew.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

A moment of silence and then, “But you’re okay with it, right?”

Dominique took a breath and released some control. “Of course. If you’ll e-mail me the schedule, I can forward it to my nanny so she’ll know what times Justin needs to be picked up.”

“Will do. But I can drop him off tonight if you’d like.”

“I won’t be home, but Tessa will be there.”

“That’s cool. I need to run an errand in your area anyway.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Five seconds passed. Ten.

“Is there anything else?” Jake’s tone suggested that there were definitely other things that he wanted to discuss.

Dominique got the feeling that tables, fractions, and equations were not among them. “No... that’s all.”

“All right then, Nick. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Good-bye.”