I Do The Boss: Billionaire Romance (Managing the Bosses Book 5) (13 page)

"I can try." She lifted up and carefully pressed her lips to his. His free hand slipped into her hair, gripping it tightly as he made love to her mouth. "I love you so much. Don't you ever leave me, okay?"

He smiled. "You don't know what that means to me. I honestly figured I would be a bachelor for the rest of my life. I know it's been trying lately, but you're the right woman for the job."

"What job?" She lifted her eyebrow at him.

"The job of loving a man like me." He kissed her again before grunting softly.

"Be careful, please." She moved back a little.

“I will.” They sat silently together, both resting and trying to let the shock wear off. Alex let his head fall back. “I can’t stop thinking about the office.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

She smirked and shook her head. “Alex Reid…” She stretched out her legs and decided to indulge him just a little. “Okay. So what happened with Nicolas the other day?"

"I settled with him." Alex licked his lips. "I'm not the kind of man to run someone needlessly through the mud. He deserves to lose everything, and he will, but it won't be because I pulled him through court. The government regulates my industry closely. They'll fry his ass. I don't need to."

She grinned but hid it behind her hand. "Okay. Whatever you think." She rubbed the left side of his chest and kissed his neck. "I'm sorry for all of this drama with Stephen."

"It's not your fault, baby. I didn't take his father's company. It was going under, and the timing was just off for all of this. I picked it up to help him turn it around. Stephen just didn't take time to ask the right questions. He's an emotional volcano, looking to explode over anything."

"Let’s not talk about him. Please?" she sighed and rested beside him.

"Fine by me." Alex took her hand and brushed it down his stomach to rest on his cock. "I know what's wrong with my blood pressure."

Jamie tried to pull her hand back from his erection as she gawked at him. "Alex Reid. Really?"

"All the blood from my body is racing toward my dick. What can I say? You're here." He smiled and cupped his hand over hers. "Touch me."

"You just got shot this morning." She ran her fingernails over the large lump where his body hardened at her touch.

"That was almost a day ago. I can't help what you do to me." He pulled her down for another kiss. "Just being out of the office alone with you is turning me on."

She chuckled and cupped him a little tighter before licking the side of his throat. "When you get out of here, I'll spend a long night taking care of the problem. Sponge baths, everything.” She shifted, growing warm at the thought as well. “Mmmm…sounds good."

"Yeah." He turned and looked at her. "I wanna watch you love on me. I've seen it in my head a million times since getting shot. Crazy, right?"

"No, I love it." She licked her lips and moved her hand up to slide it under the covers. She stroked him once as he groaned and the door to the room opened.

Jamie jerked her hand back like a snake had bitten her.

An older nurse glanced up from a clipboard. "Oh no. Your heart monitor is beeping again. Are you feeling okay? Your pulse is racing."

She moved up as Jamie got off the bed and stifled a smile.

He was fine.

Too fine, maybe.

Two Days Later

Running between the hospital and the office started to wear on Jamie. She couldn’t sleep without him home, which was weird because it had never really been a problem before. Alex was being kept for another day due to some complications with his blood work and one of the stitches in his chest mysteriously tearing.

Jamie smirked at the thought of him being so naughty as to have her lock the door and make love to him. It was thrilling, riveting, and yet they'd be paying for it with another day of him not being next to her. He seemed to think it was worth it. Her, not so much.

She'd been at work for a couple of hours and plowed through a ton of stuff by the time Kristen stuck her head in the door. "Hey. You ready for these interviews? The first one is here."

"Oh no!" Jamie stood up. "I totally forgot. Shit."

Gathering up the résumés, she grabbed a pen and pad of paper. "Give me like ten minutes and then start sending them into the conference room."

"Will do. The schedule is right here for you." Kristen moved into the office and handed Jamie a piece of paper that was sitting on the round table between them. "Let's go out for a drink tonight. You want to? Just to have some fun."

Jamie hesitated, thinking about the desire to get back to Alex as soon as the workday was over. The look on Kristen's pretty face said that it wasn't just a chance for Jamie to vent, but the Kristen obviously needed someone to talk to too. "Yeah sure. That sounds great." She walked to the door, following Kristen out into the hall. "Wish me luck."

"Yeah, I've already said several prayers for you this morning, girl. Several of these women look good on paper, but I don't know..." she smirked.

"What do you mean?" Jamie pressed her tablet to her chest.

"Two called for directions from the parking lot and another asked if lunch was included in the interview today. Her interview is at three this afternoon."

"Oh, gimme a break!" Jamie turned and walked to the conference room, dreading the idea of having to talk to anyone. She was behind on wrapping up a project for the quarterly earnings release, as well as finding a wedding dress. Alex hadn't set a date with her just yet, but she knew he wanted it to be sooner rather than later. How he thought her capable of planning a wedding while she was knee-deep in all the drama around them was beyond her.

She'd just sat down when someone darkened the door of the room. Mark.

"How are you holding up?" He gave her a warm smile.

"Good. You?" She sat down in the chair closest to the window.

"I'm good. Alex still on the schedule for a release tomorrow?" He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah. He's hoping so. Me too." She pulled out the first résumé and skimmed it. "I have an afternoon of interviewing for Kristen's position."

"Yeah. She said she was ready to get back home. I don't blame her."

Jamie glanced up as Mark ran his fingers through his hair. "You okay? What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm just ready to live a little. Wearing this suit and sitting in this office is only going to go so far. I'm a salesman by heart and a lot like my brother. I want to own something of my own. To watch it grow and thrive. I can't do that here. Alex and I got into a small tiff before everything happened, on the process we use for vacation accruals." He shrugged. "I just want to make my mark somewhere. I'm thinking it's not here."

"I can see that." She leaned back and crossed her legs. "Let's talk later about all of it. We'll figure it out." She could see him standing on his own. He’d needed his brother but now he was thriving and doing well. “Ahhh, it looks like my little broken-winged bird is all mended.”

“Shut up,” he said, laughing good naturedly. “I love ya too, momma.”

“Momma?”

“Like a mother hen. You know.”

She laughed. “Oh you bugger!”

A smile played at the edge of his mouth.

"What now?"

"I had to stop by and feed Jake last night since you were at the hospital, and I couldn't help but notice the magazines scattered all over the big table. Wedding dress time?" He grinned, loving it because he knew Jamie thought it was pure torture.

"Yeah, I think so. I was actually just starting to feel a little panicked. I haven't picked out a dress, but it's kind of irrelevant seeing that we haven't set a date. With everything that's happened, who knows when we'll get married? It was more of a means of distraction while I’m home without Alex." She let out a frustrated sigh as he moved back and Kristen brought in a woman who looked like she belonged on the cover of
Playboy
, not in a stuffy office answering phones.

"Call me later." Mark moved back as his attention diverted to the girl.

"This is Kinsey." Kristen plastered a smile on her lips. "Kinsey, this is Jamie Connors, Mr. Reid's assistant and director of operations."

"Nice to meet you, Kinsey." Jamie stood up and extended her hand. "Can you shut the door for us, Kristen?"

"You bet. Let me know if you need anything." Kristen closed the door, and Jamie couldn't help but notice the subtle disappointment on the woman's face.

"So tell me a little about yourself. Your résumé looks great and speaks volumes, but—"

"Am I not being interviewed by Alex? I thought the job was to work directly for him. Am I applying for the wrong position?" The girl's voice was tight with what sounded like aggravation.

"That's the position, but he's not available today. I'm the next best thing."

"And the job would be to work with him, right? Not you?"

Jamie stifled a laugh that bubbled up inside of her. Was this girl for real? Where did these women come from? Just because Alex was once the city's most eligible bachelor didn't mean he didn't run a tight operation at the office. There was no way he would hire someone only to seduce them.

She shook her head, ignoring the small voice in her head that said that her story was a little like that, and yet nothing like it at all. She'd been overweight, lacking confidence, and needed someone to believe in her. And he had. Completely. His confidence and attention had given her a breath of fresh air and a reason to push forward into the new life she wanted so badly.

And now we're getting married.

"Are you listening to me?" The girl leaned forward, pulling Jamie from her thoughts.

"Hmm? No. Thanks for coming in today. I have all I need." Jamie got up and walked to the door, opening it and moving back. "Tell Kristen to send in the next interviewee please. We'll be in touch."

"You didn't even ask any questions." She picked up her purse and moved out into the hall.

"I didn't need to." Jamie turned and walked back into the conference room, sitting down and jotting down a few reasons why Kinsey was a bad fit for the firm.

First being:
gold-digger.

* 

After a long afternoon of interviewing Barbie after Barbie, Jamie was glad to finally have an interviewee who seemed genuinely interested in being at the company. Funny enough, it was a man. A younger man.

"So you're working on your degree and are only two years out. Congrats on that." Jamie smiled at him as they concluded the interview.

"Thanks. I really feel like taking on a position like this one would be beneficial to the future for me, seeing that I'd like to work here as a trade analyst when it's all said and done. I realize the position would have to become available, but I'm good waiting. I just want to work for someone who's made it through hard work and being a good citizen. That's what I see in Mr. Reid."

"That's exactly who he is." Jamie stood and extended her hand. "Well, Justin, it was great to meet you. I'll have Alex give you a call in a week or so for a follow up interview with him."

"Thanks so much." He shook her hand and walked out in the hall. Mark stepped into the conference room and lifted his eyebrow.

"Wow. A guy?" He looked down the hall.

"Yep. He's my top pick too. He has all his stuff together, or is a damn good liar." Jamie chuckled and checked her phone. "Can you go over to the hospital for a few hours? I want to go have a drink with Kristen, but I feel bad not having someone go over and see Alex. He's been there all day by himself. You know he goes stir- crazy."

"Yeah, I can do that. Didn't you take him his laptop?" Mark moved back as she walked out of the conference room and closed the door behind her.

"I tried. Dr. Bennett wouldn't have any of it." She laughed. "They ran a stress test and thankfully his heart looks great. He's just about healed up from the gunshot wound. It's all stress-related."

"I figured as much." Mark walked with her back to her office. "What’re they going to do about it?"

"I would assume put him on a much-needed diet of stress-reducing medication, a week of vacation, and talk to him about pulling back a little here. Dr. Bennett asked me about everything the other day."

"He does work too much. Who does he have who can step up and do a little of what he's doing?" Mark stopped just side her door as she worked to put her stuff back on her desk and clean up a little. "I mean, besides you. You being up here doesn't help much of anything."

"There's a lot of senior-level staff Alex would probably consider. It's more of a trust issue with everything that's happened lately." She glanced up and worked to get her hair into a messy bun. "How about you? Are you still looking to get out and start something on your own, or are you thinking you might want to take on a bigger role here?"

"I don't know." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'll talk to him about all of it today. I really don't think I fit in here very well, but we'll see what my big brother has to say about all of it. I can't imagine not helping him out if he needs me, but knowing Alex he has three backup plans for any and every possible outcome."

"That sounds about right." She laughed and grabbed her purse. "Tell him I'll be there in a little bit. I just want to talk to Kristen about a few things."

"Will do." Mark moved back into the hall. "Everything okay with her? She's not upset about something, right?"

"Should she be?" Jamie closed her door and turned to face Mark.

"Not that I know of, but you know how you women can be. We think everything is fine, and then we're blindsided by something we didn't even know about."

"We're such complex creatures, aren't we?" She walked backward down the hall as she teased him.

"More than you know." He turned and walked the other way as she moved to Kristen's desk.

"You ready? I need a whole bottle of vodka to burn some of those interviews from my mind." Jamie tugged her shoulder strap to her purse up higher. "Did you see some of those chicks?"

"I did. I honestly would have killed to be a fly on the wall. Who wears four-inch pink pumps to an interview?" Kristen got up and grabbed her purse. "Or a top that shows almost all your breasts? That was so inappropriate."

"They were hoping the interview was with ‘Mr. Reid’." Jamie wagged her eyebrows and moved to the elevator. "I was quite the disappointment today."

Kristen laughed and pressed the button on the panel for the bottom floor. "I bet you were. Shame really. People have no class nowadays."

"Agreed. At least some don't." Jamie glanced up at the small screen above the floor panels on the elevator wall and watched the advertisements on the small screen. One came up for a bridal show and she groaned.

"What?" Kristen glanced over at her. "Getting tired of wedding planning?"

"More like tired of wondering when we're going to do it. We haven't set a date yet, but I know Alex is chomping at the bit to get it over with. I am too." She shrugged. "I thought we would have something huge because of who he is, but every time we talk about it he keeps referring to it as a small wedding, or intimate gathering."

"And you want something big?" Kristen walked out into the lobby as Jamie pointed to the restaurant just across the street.

"No, I'm good with small. Let's go over there. The martinis are delicious, and it's half off appetizers right now." She pushed the door open for Kristen.

"Sounds great. Small and intimate sounds like Alex. He's never been the showy kind of guy I think everyone expects him to be. He's just a good man with a lot of ambition. You're a lucky woman." There was no jealously that Jamie could find in Kristen's face. She seemed to be incredibly genuine, which was rare.

"I agree. I'm insanely lucky." She turned and waved as someone from the office called out her name.

"How many bridesmaids do you have?"

Her question hit Jamie square in the chest. "Um... none."

"What? That seems crazy." They walked across the street together as the wind picked up.

"Yeah, but I don't have many friends. Stephen and I had some friends together, but when he dumped me for my sister, that all changed."

"For your sister? That's sick." Kristen held the door to the restaurant. "Well, I could fill in if you needed me to. I don't know if you need—"