“No, don’t try. You have to.”

“I’ll do my very best.”

“Promise.”

“Hey.” I pull her away from me so I can look into her tear-drenched eyes. “You know I can’t promise something if I don’t know for sure I can do it. But I’m going to do my very best, okay?”

She sniffles and nods, and my heart breaks. She’s already lost so much in her tiny little life. I don’t want her to lose this too.

So now, how do I go about finding the sexy Adam?

Chapter Three

~Sarah~

“Good grief, you look tired,” my co-worker, Ashley says as she sits at her desk, which is next to mine. This is just the start of my workday, but I feel like I could go back to bed and sleep for a week.

“Hailey isn’t sleeping well,” I reply and reach for my coffee. “Last night was the third night without her bear.” I cringe and take a long gulp of the liquid caffeine, hoping with everything in me that it kicks in soon.

“What happened to her bear?” Ashley asks.

“I left it in a stranger’s car,” I reply and shake my head in disgust. “It’s a long story, but a Good Samaritan helped us out when I had some car trouble, and we forgot it.”

“Did he give you his name?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t get in a car with a stranger if he didn’t tell me his name,” I reply. “It’s Adam…something. I can’t remember his last name.”

“Hmm. What else did he tell you?”

“He owns a bar in the Quarter.” I tap my lips, trying to remember the name of it. “The Ursula? The Little Mermaid?”

“There are a lot of bars in the Quarter, and I may not know all of them, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t a Disney-themed bar there.” Ashley giggles, and I laugh with her.

“I clearly spend a lot of time watching Disney movies. Let me think. I’m pretty sure it was a Greek mythology name. The Odysseus?”

“The Odyssey?” Ashley says, and I snap my fingers.

“Yes! That’s it! I pray he still has that bear because I can’t go on like this, girl. I require sleep.”

“Obviously,” she says with a smirk. “The only time you should look like that is if a sexy man has had his way with you all night long.”

“I don’t think that’s even a remote possibility.” I shake my head and sip more of my coffee. Ashley and I go way back. She and I worked together in Miami, where I grew up, until she transferred to the New Orleans office. After a year of cajoling, she talked me into applying here as well.

I’m glad I did. Miami holds a lot of memories for me. It was time to start somewhere new.

“When was the last time you got laid?” she asks, not even trying to keep her voice down.

“I don’t think you asked that loud enough,” I reply with a scowl. “I’m pretty sure the people on the fourth floor couldn’t hear you.”

“I’m serious. How long?”

“Kurt,” I reply quietly and look down at my fingers while I shred the sleeve on my Starbucks cup. “I haven’t slept with anyone since Kurt.”

“Sarah,” Ashley breathes. “It’s been three years.”

“And four months, two weeks, and six days,” I add, then laugh humorlessly. “Trust me, I know. I’ve been busy.”

“I’m going to set you up.” She slaps her desk and sits back, as if it’s all settled. “I know some guys.”

“No.” I shake my head vehemently. “Not gonna happen. I’m not going to get set up.”

“You’re new to town. How are you supposed to meet a sexy guy?”

“I’ve already met one,” I reply without thinking, then wince when her eyes go wide.

“What? And you didn’t tell me? Spill it!”

“It wasn’t a big deal.” Except, it was a big deal. I don’t know what I would have done if Adam hadn’t helped us. He renewed my faith in the idea of nice people still being out there in the world. Okay, so maybe he didn’t renew my faith, but he sure gave it a boost. And, the man made my lady parts sit up and take notice.

And that hasn’t happened in three years.

“The guy who helped us the other day was pretty hot.”

“How hot?”

“There’s a hot scale?” I ask with a laugh.

“Of course there’s a hot scale,” Ashley says, looking at me like I’ve gone mad. “There’s hmmm, he’s cute. Then there’s wow. And then there’s holy shit I want to strip him naked and just lick him everywhere.”

I’m laughing so hard at this point I have to lock my knees together to keep from peeing. “Stop.”

“It’s true. So, where does he rank?”

“He’s between wow and unsanitary licking.”

“Wow,” she says. “You absolutely have to go to the bar to get Hailey’s bear, and to ask him out.”

“Yes to the former, no to the latter.” I’m shaking my head again and staring intently at my computer, hoping that she’ll just go away.

But this is Ashley we’re talking about and she’s not going anywhere.

“Don’t get all professional hoity-toity on me,” she says, wagging a finger in my direction. “You should at least try.”

“I’ll get the bear,” I say and square my shoulders. “But I’m not asking him out.”

“Okay, just flirt with him a bit and don’t say no when he asks for your number.”