His Hired Mistress: A BWWM Billionaire Romance (12 page)

Chapter10

The night was still young but Jamie and Christian’s date ended earlier than expected. Jamie no longer felt the connection that was steadily brewing between her and her ex-fiancé. It fizzled out and died. Stopping her life for a possibly empty promise from Nathan was out of the question.

So, when Christian called her the following week and asked to take her out, she agreed. What if Nathan had a change of heart and didn’t follow through on the promise he made after amazing sex? After he descended from cloud nine and went home to his wife, he probably changed his mind.

Jamie stood in front of her door with Christian. He looked at her expectantly and she didn’t want to be alone.

“You want to come in?“ she asked.

“I get to come in this time?“ he wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed, “Don’t get any ideas, it’s nothing like that. I figured that since it’s still early we could hang out a bit more.“

Jamie meant every word that she said. She had zero intentions of sleeping with him. She could have gone another round with Nathan, but he was the only one she wanted in that way.

“I’ll take whatever I can get. I meant it when I said that I would be patient. You don’t have to worry about me rushing anything.“

Jamie opened the door and they stepped inside.

Christian looked around her place, “This place is so you.“

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?“

“It just is… It’s neither good nor bad. This place is so masculine, but it’s clear that a woman lives here. You walk that fine line. It has everything that a bachelor’s pad would but there is something distinctly feminine about it,“ he observed.

She smiled, “You know me well.“

“Better than you know.“

Jamie made a beeline for her favorite couch, “Feel free to sit wherever you like. I’ll get you something to drink in a moment. These shoes have been killing me today, which is weird because that hardly ever happens to me.“

Jamie sat on the couch and was startled when Christian was in front of her on one knee, “What are you doing?“

Christian’s lips twitched nervously, “I meant it when I proposed to you years ago and I mean it now. I love you Jamie, I know that things have changed but my love for you is still the same. Would you please do me the honor of being my wife?“

Jamie stared at him and wondered if he was dabbling in drugs, “You know that I can’t do that. I hardly know you! I don’t even know if I want to be your girlfriend, why would I want to be your wife? We can’t just pick up where we left off Christian. You weren’t off at war, you were in jail!“

“That wasn’t my fault and I’ve already told you that I’m willing to wait. It can be a long engagement,“ he suggested.

Is he hard of hearing or just stupid? Hell, maybe it really is drugs? Rick James did say that cocaine was a hell of a drug.

“I’ve let you know where I stand on this issues. Please get up and stop this,“ she rubbed her temples in an attempt to stop her oncoming migraine.

Christian got up, the look of nervousness on his face was replaced by anger. “I knew it. You fucked that white man that came to your house last week. Who was he? Have you been dating him the entire time? Why didn’t you tell me that you were seeing someone else?“

“My life outside of you is none of your business,“ she said plainly. “I don’t owe you an explanation regarding anything that I do, so please don’t get it twisted. I knew this was a bad idea,“ she shook her head. “I can’t believe that you would accuse me of something like that anyway.“

“Don’t try to deny it. I saw the man come into your place late. I had to use the bathroom so I was going to come back, but I was shocked when I saw that you had him in your place as soon as I left. You probably couldn’t wait for me to leave,“ he paced her place like a caged animal.

“He is a client and it was an emergency,“ she lied. She didn’t know why she felt the need to lie to him, now was a great time to break the news to him. It was always better to kick people while they were already down, in her opinion. Building them back up and then kicking them again just seemed cruel. However, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth. “I can’t believe that you think that I would do something so unprofessional.“

Her words deflated him. All of the fight in him was now gone, “I’m sorry for accusing you that way. You deserve better than that. I’m just disappointed that you don’t want to be with me as much as I want to be with you.”

She sighed and felt empathy towards him. It wasn’t as if he had the opportunity to form any other romantic relationships. The last one that he had was with her. So could she blame him for being stuck on her?

“Let’s just move forward.  I’m willing to be patient with you but you have to ease up a little. You should consider dating other people and seeing what’s out here,” she suggested.

“I just don’t know what to do. I had everything so perfect in my head. I thought that you and I were going to be together. I thought that if I could just make you see that I still felt the same way about you that things would be okay. In my head, you were waiting for me since you haven’t been in a serious relationship. I never considered that you would be over me. I know why you abandoned me, at least, I thought I did. Now, I don’t know anything.”

Guilt overtook Jamie. She didn’t know what to say. How could you console someone when you were the source of their pain? She could only manage, “It’s all going to be okay.“

He sat down in one of her chairs that sat against the exposed brick and cradled his forehead in his hands, “It was so bad in there Jamie. I didn’t belong in there with those... criminals. I was innocent but I was treated like an animal. Hell, people treat animals better. The only thing that got me through was thinking about you. That’s what made me keep fighting. Our life together fueled me to never give up even when things looked bleak. I just wanted to clear my name so that I could show you that I’m still worth marrying.“

“Aww Christian, I’m so sorry that this is happening,“ she whispered. “It’s just that I wouldn’t be doing you any favors by marrying you. You deserve someone that’s going to love you the very same way that you love her.”

“I guess I’ve been holding on to you for dear life because you were my best friend. I just need a friend, a friend that knows who I really am and that won’t judge me. A friend that I don’t have to hide from.”

“See, that’s where we can start,” Jamie suggested. “I can definitely do that for you. How about you stay for the night, eat, drink, and pass out. I’ve got Harlem Nights,” she grinned.

He laughed, “We’re gonna have to order some food, because I know that you only have healthy stuff in here. I want some pizza and wings.”

“Dude, you’re gonna make me gain like three pounds over night.”

“You can have a salad,” he suggested.

“Fuck that, you’re not going to have pizza and wings in my face. If they’re around, I’m eating those bad boys.”

“Then let’s do it.”

***

Jamie smiled from the viewing room the following Tuesday. There was nothing like watching Nathan on set with a talk show host. He usually stole the show. He was so personable and they could never get enough of him. Usually, they tried to rebook him before he walked out of the door. Her damage control program had gone flawlessly and the public was in love with him once again.

How could he give that up for her? It was obvious that the stage and the spotlight was his friend when he wasn’t being a careless idiot. She couldn’t let him leave it all behind for her. That wasn’t going to work. Besides, she worked her ass off literally for everything that she had. She built a multi-million dollar business and she couldn’t just walk away from that. No, if they were going to be together, then they would have to tough out the rough patch and the backlash. Hiding on an island would be fun for about a month and then she would be bored out of her mind.

Jamie’s focus was thrown off when Stephanie walked into the viewing room and stood next to her in front of the screen. The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

“Good morning Stephanie, I’m glad you could make it,” Jamie said in an attempt to be cordial.

“Good morning Jamie, you look really good today.”

“Thank you, so do you, as usual. Those shoes are to die for, are they Valentino?” Jamie asked.

Stephanie beamed, she loved shoes and it was even better when people recognized them. “Yes, I practically snatched them off of the runway model at the show last month. I couldn’t give them my money fast enough. These should be hitting the shelves in another two weeks. You know your designers,” she said with an impressed smile.

“I try to keep on top of the trends. I didn’t attend the fashion show but my stylist sent me the look book. Some of the pieces will be to me in another two weeks,” she shifted from one foot to the other. The light-hearted conversation between her and Stephanie disarmed her. They hardly spoke to one another lately and now she was being nice—it was weird.

“Oh, I guess you’ll get them around the same time as everyone else, no shame in that,” Stephanie said as she flipped her thick hair and smiled at her husband on the screen. “He sure knows how to work a crowd. He rarely meets anyone that doesn’t love him. If they don’t like him when they first meet him, they leave mesmerized,” she said in awe.

It sounded like a trap so Jamie just nodded. “Most stars usually have charisma, he’s no exception.”

“So tell me groupie, did you enjoy fucking my husband last week?” Stephanie asked with a pleasant smile.

So there it was, out in the open. Once again, Jamie had the opportunity to verbally kick her in the gut but she kept it professional and fixed a look of shock on her face, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please,” Stephanie waved at her dismissively, “I know all about where my husband goes at all times. You may think that you’re sneaking around, but you’re not. I know that he went over to your house really late. If you’re going to screw my husband, then at least be more discreet. In your profession, I would think that you would know better. You’re no smarter than that hooker that he picked up off the street.”

Jamie envisioned herself ripping all of the pretty hair out of Stephanie’s head and knocking a tooth or two out. What right did she have to speak to her that way? She closed her eyes to steady herself and to stop her trembling. By the time she opened them, Stephanie was already out of the door.

***

A few days later, Jamie sat at her kitchen counter and watched TV from the front room. She needed to be working, but her mind was all over the place. The run-in with Stephanie threw her for a loop and barely hearing from Nathan didn’t help to ease her peace of mind.

“Screw it,” Jamie said to herself, “I’m going to open a bottle of wine and park my ass in front of the TV. I need to finish watching Daredevil anyway.”

She grabbed her bottle from her wine fridge and got her opener. She placed the opener on the top and worked her magic. Her doorbell rang, startling her.

She silently prayed and hoped that it wasn’t Christian. He didn’t seem too emotionally stable, and the less contact they had the better. He needed some time to find out who he was outside of her and outside of prison. She even offered to pay for a reintegration program for him. He needed it terribly.

She walked to her door and looked out of the peephole—Stephanie stood on her doorstep.

Jamie opened the door quickly in annoyance. Somewhere along the way, Stephanie had her confused with a wilting flower. She was a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them.

“What do you want? Why are you at my home?” Jamie asked.

“How rude,” Stephanie grinned. “Can I come in so that we can speak like civilized human beings?”

“If you’re going to play those kind of games, you can get off of my doorstep.”

“I didn’t come here to argue,” Stephanie insisted, “I just came here to talk. Can I please come in?”

Jamie sighed and secretly wished that she remained rude. It would have been easier to kick her down the steps that she walked up. Jamie opened the door wide, “Come in. I have a few minutes.”

Stephanie walked in and gave the loft a thorough once over, “This is cute, too dark for my personal taste, but cute. I imagine that this is what Nathan’s man cave would look like if I allowed him to have one.” She walked over to a chair at Jamie’s dining room table and took a seat.

“How can I help you?” Jamie was instantly annoyed.

“Well,” Stephanie said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a checkbook, “I was wondering how much it would take for you to say no to my husband the next time he comes around. How much for you to say no to being his concubine?”

Jamie’s hand shook and trembled. She fisted them and attempted to steady her breathing, “I don’t need your money. If you want him to stop sleeping with me, then maybe you should talk to the man that you married. Deal with the source.”

Stephanie didn’t look bothered “I’ve made the other women go away much easier but this is tricky because we need you now. Just name the number and I’ll pay it with no problem.”

“Okay, this is all getting insane now. Turning up at my house is highly inappropriate. You took this risk when you chose me to work with you again. I didn’t ask for any of this and I don’t have to deal with it. Because this has gotten completely out of hand, I’m withdrawing my services immediately.”