I Do The Boss: Billionaire Romance (Managing the Bosses Book 5) (9 page)

Maybe it was a good thing that Mark needed some time to himself. She did too.

Alex didn’t make it home that night but it was getting to be the norm, and after the craziness of the day, she didn’t blame him. Jamie fell asleep on the couch, watching reruns with Jake tucked against her chest. He’d sent her a text somewhere around midnight to say he needed to find additional help at the firm or talk about Mark taking a bigger position at the company. Something had to give. She didn’t argue. Where she wasn't overly concerned with Alex spending time with anyone other than her, the fact remained that he was only human. He was going to run himself completely into the ground if he wasn't careful.

She spent the early morning hours thinking about his business and toll it was taking on him. He’d made his millions, and his billions. What more did he need? It was fair to want to continue to have a successful company, but if he didn’t slow down he wasn’t going to be able to enjoy it.

He’d mentioned yesterday that he was having chest pains, and it worried her. Hopefully it was indigestion, but anxiety could cause it as well.

She tried to think through how she was going to talk him into stepping back or even down a little. It seemed like climbing a mountain backwards in the snow would be easier. She chuckled at the thought.

Jake jumped around her feet as she worked to get him a bowl of food before heading into the office. The paper was just outside the front door, and whereas she would usually ignore it, the picture on the front caught her attention.

Billionaire's fiancée playing the field?

"What the hell?" She knelt down and picked it up as nausea raced through the center of her chest. A picture of her and Mark at the park having what looked like a lover’s rendezvous was front page news. "No fucking way."

She tucked the paper under her arm and got in the car as she tried to talk herself out of going back into the house and crawling into bed. Could nothing go right?

Her phone buzzed and she answered it, knowing that it would be Mark or Alex.

Mark.

Good.

"Hey." She pressed the button to put him on speaker. No reason to almost crash her car again.

"Oh fuck, Jamie. I told you they were going do this shit. Unbelievable. Alex has his door shut, and Kristen said that he's not talking with anyone until he talks with you."

"Really?" She let out a soft huff. "I swear I'm not going to survive this life. I just want simplicity."

"We all do." Mark chuckled. "Well, one good thing about it is that they got my good side in the picture. You... uhh… they could have photo-shopped it a little."

She laughed, unable to help herself. "Alright. I'm headed into the office now. Just steer clear of Alex so that I can explain myself what happened first."

"Not a problem. I'm headed into a meeting that should last most of the morning. Good luck."

"Thanks. I think I’m going to need it."

She valeted the car, though it wouldn't have taken her more than fifteen minutes to park and walk into the building. It seemed like time was of the essence, and having Alex believe for one more minute than necessary that she and Mark were seeing him behind his back was not an option.

She jogged to the elevator and tapped her foot as it moved up to her floor incredibly slowly. It had to have stopped on every floor before getting to hers. She walked out to catch Kristen's eye, and held up her hand. "I know. I've already been told. Thanks." She knocked once and opened his door, slipping in and pressing her back to the closed door behind her. "It's not what you think."

"I know it's not. I'm just tired from all of this shit." He tossed the paper onto his desk. "I don't like how they made you two look so comfortable in the photo. I just want to know what the hell the papers think this has to do with my business. My personal life is my own. It’s not about you. I know you love me."

"More than anything else in my whole life." She dropped her stuff by the door and walked to him as he stood up. “The media is a vicious pack of dogs. You’re the superhero hometown boy who went from rags to riches. They see me as the money-hungry monster. If people who read this shit believe it, they’ll just find more ways to find it.”

Alex sighed. “I know. And saying anything just feeds the pack of raging dogs.”

“So we ignore it.” It was going to be hard, but she would try her best.

“Unless it hurts the business.”

Not your fiancée?
“Yes, unless it hurts the company.” She blinked back the tears that suddenly seemed to want to fall. She cleared her throat and looked out the window to the city below. "Can I add something else?” She sucked in a sharp breath, not wanting to lose the nerve. “I'm tired of going home to be alone at night, Alex. I want to wrap myself around you every night and talk about our day. You need to figure out a quitting time. You can’t run Reid Enterprises completely on your own."

He moved beside her. "I know, baby. I'll figure it out. Let me get through this quarter, and we'll work through it." He pulled her tightly against him and leaned down, brushing his lips across hers. "For a few minutes after seeing the picture I had one of those what-if moments. What if Mark was in love with you? He deserves you far more than I do. He's the good guy. The all-American."

"Stop it. I'm not at all attracted to your brother, or any other man. Not at all. Not even a little." She lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to his.

He cupped her face and pushed into the kiss as he breathed in deeply and slid his tongue against her lips, wanting in. She opened up and let out a soft moan as his flavor rushed across her tongue, staining her with need. The kiss was long and hot, leaving her panting as he broke it and went in for another one.

"I miss you in my arms," he mumbled against her mouth. "I don't want to lose you to this place."

"That's not going to happen. What do you think if we come back and hit the news with our own statement?" She moved back, licking at her lips as she brushed his suit jacket back down into place. "Do you have someone at the paper you can trust, that you know?"

"Yeah. I know several of the guys in the business segment. I'll call one of them today, as well as my attorney. Stephen was served papers this morning for the lawsuit as well." He let out a long sigh. "Why does this shit come in waves? It seems like everything is going to be fine, and then all of a sudden we're hit with a million things at once."

"I don't know." She picked up her stuff and tugged her bag over her shoulder. "Speaking of shit hitting the fan, how did things work out with Paul yesterday?"

"It's all good. Just a misunderstanding. We spoke a little about him spending too much time at Kristen's desk, and he apologized for that. He loves his job, and he's a good guy. He just got wrapped up in wanting the attention of a pretty girl, I guess." He reached out and touched the side of her neck, his eyes following his fingers as they trailed downward. "I know the feeling all too well."

"You're going to make me blush." She smiled and cupped her hand over his. "I'm going to review résumés. I'll have a handful of them for you by lunch time. I love you."

"I love you more." He moved up and kissed her once more. "I'll be home tonight. I promise. Dinner and some chill-out time on the couch. Sound good?"

"Sounds divine." She turned and walked to the door. "How much longer do we have Kristen? Did she say?"

"I think another couple of weeks. After the drama yesterday, I just steered clear of her. I think she was waiting for me to blow a gasket, and I would have with my brother but not with one of my employees. Just didn't seem right." He shrugged and sat down in his chair. "You look good today, baby. I'm sorry for all the drama in the paper. I'll take care of it."

"Or I can?" She paused by the door, studying him and loving what she saw. He needed rest, but he was strong man, capable of holding a lot on his broad shoulders. For some reason, the realization of that made her only want him more.

"No. You deal with working through the interviewees for the position out front. I'll deal with the paper and the lawyers." He turned his attention from her. "Come get me at six and make me leave with you."

"That's not an easy task. I'd rather deal with the paper." She chuckled as he glanced up.

"Just tell me no sex for a week if I don't get up and leave then." He smirked.

"That's a punishment for us both. Not happening, mister." She opened the door and walked out, pausing to close it and then turning to Kristen. "Everything’s fine. Are those résumés on my desk?"

"Yes. Is he upset with me about yesterday? He didn't say much, but I know the he has a ton going on. I worry about him sometimes." She stood up and shrugged. "What can I do to help? I feel so useless."

"You're doing great. I promise. He just takes on a lot, and there isn't much we can do but keep doing our jobs and supporting him when he needs it." Jamie turned to see Paul walking in from the elevator. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything." Kristen sat down as Jamie turned and caught up with Paul.

"Hey, you." She elbowed him.

"Hey." He glanced over at her, but didn't give any clues to his mood. He was expressionless, and his voice completely deadpan.

"You okay after the drama yesterday?" She stopped by her office, and was glad that he stopped as well.

He turned to face her and shrugged. "I didn't know that Mark was seeing Kristen a few weeks back. No one told me that. I'd have been subtler with my attention if I had."

"Did he tell you that before the fight?" Jamie leaned into her office and turned on the light.

"Yeah. He was angry over some project work, which he had every right to be. I was dragging my ass, and I'm glad he called me out on the floor for it, but the stuff over Kristen didn't have to escalate to that degree. I wouldn't have pushed his buttons at all on something like that." He shrugged once again. "I'm going to get started. Sorry if it disrupted the day."

"Shit happens. Get over it. Mark already has, I promise."

"Yeah, I hope so. I like the guy a lot. We were just starting to become good buds." Paul turned and walked to his office, leaving her standing there with a million things that she wanted to say, but none of them seemed quite appropriate. It would be between Paul and Mark to work out all the shit they were struggling over, namely Kristen.

The sound of someone being less than pleasant caught Jamie's attention, and she let out a short sigh before stepping into her office and setting her stuff down. Christine.

"Really? I can't just have one damn day this week without drama?" Jamie walked out into the hallway and stopped at the opening to the lobby, catching her sister's attention. "Come on back here and stop causing a scene in front of everyone."

"I wouldn't have to cause a scene if you'd answer your damn phone," Christine barked and moved up beside Jamie as they walked back to her office.

"I didn't see that you called, and lower your voice or I swear I'm going to drop you to the ground and sit on you like I did when we were kids." Jamie closed the door to her office behind her sister and walked to the window, not wanting to sit down. They weren't going to talk long, and the chance of it being pleasant at all was slim.

"I want you to stay away from my husband. This is me asking nicely." Christine pressed her hands to her narrow hips and narrowed her eyes a little. "I'm serious."

"What?" Jamie gawked at her sister. Was this chick for real? "What are you talking about? Your piece of shit husband submitted lies about me to a national newspaper and said he had sex tapes, Chris. If he has that tape, which he’d better not, then he got it illegally by recording us while we were dating."

"I don't want to hear about the glory days, Jamie. I'm serious. All he talks about is you. It's getting old. At first it was just him mentioning from time to time that he wished I could fuck like you, or take a dick like you." She reached up and brushed a tear from her cheek. "I'm not you, and I'll never be."

"Nor would you want to be." Jamie walked to her desk and plopped down in her chair. The idea that Stephen was even thinking about how she used to work him in the bedroom was sickening to think about. He'd promised her his heart, but it was a lie. All of it. He was a damn lie.

"I'm not here to talk about your pitiful life as the soon-to-be-wife of a billionaire. I'm here to tell you that you’d better back the fuck up, or I'm going to make your life miserable."

Jamie came out of her stupor and smirked. "Oh yeah? And please do tell me what you're going to do. How could you possibly make my life more miserable than Stephen's already working to do?"

"I'll figure something out. He's mine. You have your own man. Stay the hell away from mine." Christine had tears running down her face as she pointed a finger a Jamie, and shook with what looked like barely-contained rage.

"I've not gone near him since I was at the house for Christmas, and I didn't see him then. Remember? I was with you the whole time, trying to make you feel better. You've lost your mind. Get out and don't come here again. I'll see you in court when Alex and I sue him for what he's done, unless you're not coming that day."

"He's not going to court. You're not the only one with big-time lawyers, Jamie. Uncle Jon is going to help us with the case. Daddy's brother. Remember him?" She moved toward the desk and Jamie stood, not wanting their fight to turn physical, but more than ready to dish out an ass-whooping should her sister think otherwise.