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to spin on its axis. "What did he look like?" I don't know why I'm asking. I have no idea what guy in a suit would be coming to talk to Jessica at work. I also have no clue why the fuck she hasn't talked to me about it.
    She stomps her foot as if that's going to magically make me disappear. "He was older than you. I'd say he's even more handsome than you." There's no mistaking the spite dripping from that.
    Whatever. Jesus, this woman is annoying as all fuck. She must be new, that, or she's so forgettable that I can't place her within my mind. "Did you see him talking to Jessica?" I know I sound desperate. That's because I am. Obviously, I need to look to anyone, including this stranger, to help me understand what's going on with the woman I'm sharing my bed with.
    "Yes." Her eyes spring back to my face. "They talked in the corner and then she started crying and he took off." Her hand flies through the air past my head towards the entrance to Axel NY.
    "He was only in here the one time?" The question doesn't come out with all the apprehension I'm feeling. Shit. Who is the guy she's talking about?
    "No." She stops as if she's unwilling to share more. I'd venture a guess that it's more about her enjoying being the one in control. She knows she's dangling something I want right in front of my face and I'm going to have to acquiesce to whatever she wants to get it from her.
    "Listen," I pause. My eyes search her plain black dress for a nametag. There's nothing.
    "Sasha," she offers.
    Sasha? Really? The only Sasha I knew was back in Boston. I met her in a club and she definitely lived up to the name. This Sasha looks like she doesn't even comprehend the meaning of the word sexy. She's serious, through and through.
    "Sasha," I repeat back in an even a tone as I can muster. "Did the man who came to see Jessica only visit her here once?" That sounds semi-professional.
    "You're dating her, aren't you?" She just went off the track at full speed. "I've seen you in here before. I saw your hand on her ass."
    Guilty as charged. How am I supposed to keep my hands off Jessica? That's almost impossible. "We do date, yes." Stilted much, Nathan?
    "Is she dating him too?" There's a question I never saw coming. "I mean, does she have a thing for lawyers?"
    I pull my hands to my face, massaging my temples with brisk, easy circles. "She has a thing for me," I say with confidence. I'd bet my right hand and foot that Jessica's not cheating on me. That can't be what's going on. Maybe that's just my male pride talking, but the way that woman looks at me and the way she reacts to my body, I know there's little chance that she's jumping into another guy's bed.
    "She kissed him."
    The proclamation bounces around in my ears before it sinks into my brain. "Jessica kissed him?" I repeat back. I didn't hear that correctly. There's no way in hell Jessica put her lips on another man.
    "I saw it with my own two eyes." Her hand darts into the air and she points at her face. "When she first saw him, she kissed him."
    On the lips, I want to ask but I'm not a middle school kid who just found out his girlfriend made out with the opposing school's football team captain. I'm an accomplished lawyer, I own an apartment that borders on Central Park, I have more money than most people make in ten lifetimes. I'm confident. I don't fall to pieces because of a kiss.
    "Sorry to break it to you." She taps me lightly on the shoulder.
    "What?" I spit back.
    "Sorry to be the one to tell you that Jess is getting it on with someone else." She breezes past me then and I don't try and stop her. I can't. I can't move. All I can think about is my beautiful Jessica, tucked into the arms of another man, her lips coursing hot over inch of him. My hand darts into the inner pocket of my suit jacket. I reach for the box. It's the same box I've carried with me for the past six months. It's my future. It's the ring I've been trying to give her. The same ring she'll never accept. Maybe now the