Who's the Boss Now (Managing the Bosses Series, #3) (15 page)

After finally wrapping things up, she let Gina work with him on the closing ceremony for the event. Her mom had called earlier that day, but she had to ignore her due to the lack of free time in her day.

Not quite ready to go home, Jamie turned the car toward her mother's house and rolled the windows down. She felt a little better by the time she reached the house, and didn't think twice about knocking as she let herself in the front door. Why would she need to?

A loud male grunt sounded from the couch in front of her, accompanied by a sharp cry from her mother.

"Oh shit," Jamie muttered and backed up toward the door.

"Jamie?" Her father lifted his head from the couch, his eyes wide and chest bare.

"Um. Sorry?" She rushed to the door and started to open it.
Shit! Shit! Shit! That’s one image I’m never going to be able to sear from my brain!

"It's alright. Just give us a few minutes," Her mom called out.

"I'm gonna be sick." She opened the door and walked to her car, pressing her hands on her forehead. There was an elation to knowing that her parents were actually talking... intimately, but walking in on it? She hadn't experienced that type of embarrassment since she was in junior high.

Note to self. Knock next time. Every time.

By the time she decided that it would be better to just get in her car and go home, the front door opened.

Her mom smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't know you were coming over."

"I can totally come back. I..." What was there to say? Anything would sound weird and leave her more embarrassed than she was.

"No. Come on in. Your father and I were trying to work through some of our differences and things just went... you know." She shrugged and moved back. "I'm thinking it's for the better though. Remembering how good we are together in bed was nice."

"Mom. Really?" Jamie walked in and glanced around, half afraid of what she might find. "Don't ever tell Christine that I walked in on you guys. I'll never hear the end of it."

Her father chuckled as he walked out from the kitchen. He pulled her into a tight hug.

"I won't tell her, but you know your mother and her are like besties."

"What?" Her mom balked. "She gets me."

"I get you too." Her father popped her mom's butt while still holding Jamie.

"Okay. I'm leaving." Jamie pulled from him and lifted her eyebrow.

"We're just thinking that maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence." Her dad moved to the couch and patted it. "Come sit beside me."

"You guys want something to eat?" Her mother called from the kitchen.

"No honey. You, Jamie?"

"No. I'm sick to my stomach." Jamie leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm glad to see you and mom together, but this can't just be about physical attraction, Dad. You guys borderline hate each other."

"That's not true. We just have grown too comfortable with each other. So when I'm angry or hurt, I take it out on her, whether it’s her fault or not. She does the same to me. It's okay to lean on someone and let them help you work through life's difficulties. It's not okay to attack them and make them suffer alongside you." He reached over and tucked a strand of Jamie's dark hair behind her ear. "That make sense?"

"Yeah. I just wish I could figure out how to make it work in my own life." She leaned back, feeling comfortable about being around her father, but not so much her mom. They'd all promised each other that they would move toward a more healthy relationship and for the most part, her mother was sticking to the promise. Maybe it was time to start trying more than waiting for something to just happen.

Maybe the same was true in her relationship with Alex.

"Still having trouble with that impossibly handsome boss of yours?" Her mom walked in and handed her a glass of tea.

"Yeah. I'm totally in love with him, but all the stuff in his life has him either attacking me with words or passion. It's been anger and indecision as of late." She took a long drink of the tea, enjoying the rush of sugar that brushed over her tongue.

"Then sit him down and be straightforward with what you want, Jamie." Her father took her free hand. "I didn’t like the guy at first, but now I sort of respect him. However, men are dense at times. Just lay it all out and then if he isn't receptive, then you can start to pull back or play games. I'm not sure if you're like your mother in this sense, but when I attack her, she doesn't look to calm me..."

"Nope. I attack back just as hard. It's one of the things we're going to try and start working through." Her mom shrugged, looking more peaceful than Jamie could remember seeing in years.

"I just feel the need to prove to him that I'm more than enough for him. That I'm all he needs and if he gives me up..." Tears burned her eyes and lodged a frog in her throat.

"It's okay, baby. You are more than enough for any man. He's damn lucky to have you in any capacity." Her father moved closer, wrapping his arm around her. "Maybe he's not the right guy for you."

"No," her mother interrupted, "I think he's exactly the guy for her. He's ballsy and strong, loving and dominate from what I gather. She just needs to fight for him. Whatever is going on in his personal life should include you. Go get up beside him and don't worry about reminding him of anything. If he's worth your time, he already knows what kind of woman you are. Fight for him. If it's against another woman, hurt the bitch. If it's for his time, wiggle your way into his day. If it's for something else, figure it out. You're smart, Jamie. Don't let this get you down. If you want him. Go get him and don't take no for an answer."

"Damn, that's hot." Her father pulled from her and moved toward her mom, wrapping the pretty older woman in a hug and growling.

Jamie chuckled through her tears, got up and walked toward the door. "Yeah, that's my cue to leave. I'll try to fight for him. I want him in my life more than anything else. I guess I'm just waiting for him to not want me anymore. Like Stephen did."

"Stephen’s an idiot." Her father turned and barked his response. "You're better than that. Your sister is too, and you can tell her I said that."

"Okay, daddy. I love you guys. I'll see you soon." She walked out as her phone buzzed against her leg. She pulled it from her pocket and smiled.

Mark.

"Hey you. How are you?" Jamie got in the car and buckled up while trying to balance the small contraption.

"Good. Just met with my attorney." He let out a long sigh. "I think I'm ready for this next step, but it's so fucking scary, you know?"

"I actually don't know, but I can imagine. My folks are going to try to work things out." She started the car and turned out onto the sleepy street she grew up playing on. "Is there anything worth trying to work out between you and Paula?"

"No. I wish there was, but she's a different woman completely from the one I married. We're doing far more harm to each other than good nowadays."

"Sounds like me and Alex." She let out a painful sigh.

"Yeah, but there is a lot left to fight for between the two of you. Life's coming in between you, nothing else. You need to kick it back and reclaim your man. He's too lost in the fear that he's going to lose his company or the reputation that he's built to see a solution to anything right now. He's somewhat defined by his success, you okay?"

"No, not really. Explain." She pulled onto the freeway and forced herself to relax. She was going to have a heart attack over the combination of worry and stress if she didn't start forcing it away.

"With the situation he had with her dad when he was a kid, he was never good enough. You know he was the rowdy one out of the two of us, always going against the grind and doing his own thing. My father hated that shit and wanted conformity. He beat Alex with his words into believing that he wasn't the man he should be, though he was deep down inside. His success rebuilt the loss he suffered from my father's parenting style. It gave Alex a new identity, a new face. One he could be proud of. He's done incredible things, but now that it's being threatened, he's falling apart."

"But it's not being threatened." Jamie took her exit and honked as a guy almost hit the side of her car.

"No? You don't think him having an illegitimate kid with some chick isn't going to stir up talk and leave him looking less responsible than he wants?"

"I guess it could, but why in the world would anyone have to know?"

"You're being naive, which isn't at all the girl I've come to know you as. Stop trying to dismantle my explanation and think through whether your relationship with my brother is worth fighting for."

"Of course it is. He's all I think about, Mark, but he's being an ass on multiple levels right now. If I keep bowing down and forgiving his actions, doesn't that just validate that I'm fine with him acting like that?"

"No, it means that you love him. You're not validating anything. You have to explain to him, just like you do a child, that he can't treat you like he's been treating you, but that you're willing to forgive him. Have you told him that you love him?"

"No." She pulled into the driveway and turned the car off, suddenly feeling so heavy.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I'm scared." Tears burned her gaze again.

"Well, if you love him, then he should know that. It's silly to hold that inside. You're already vulnerable because of the feeling. Share it and I bet it changes things."

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right, silly girl." He laughed, and Jamie forced out a tight chuckle.

"Thanks for the talk."

"Anytime. Go win my brother back. I want him with the best, and for him, that will always be you."

J
amie changed into a blue cotton dress and pulled her hair down, brushing through it a few times before slipping on a pair of pretty sandals and heading up to Alex's. She pulled the key from the potted plant on the deck, wondering if he would ever give her one of her own. Maybe having a key to his place was too much, too intimate for him.

She unlocked and turned the alarm off inside the house and went through the living room and kitchen, opening windows to let in the fresh air. It was far too gorgeous outside not to invite it in. She needed an ambiance of serenity around them for the discussions that were headed their way. She wasn't leaving without full resolution on everything facing them. He was too important to put it off and act as if it didn't matter.

Murray, Alex’s chef, had made a meal that was in the fridge. Jamie checked the pantry and inside the refrigerator. She needed something to do. Murray’s food could be eaten tomorrow. She could make dinner now. Something simple, yet elegant. Jamie started a pot of rice and worked to sauté mushrooms and onions before slipping the chicken into the oven. She put some soft jazz music on her phone and danced around the kitchen, feeling better all of a sudden.

The fact that her parents were going to try and work through things was a huge weight off her shoulders she didn't even realize she was carrying. The idea of them being apart was funny enough a good thing, but maybe that was just what she wanted to believe. After so many years of them being together and most of them being decently happy years, there was something there to save.

The door closed in the front foyer, and she paused from cutting tomatoes for the salad. Her heart started to race as butterflies danced in her stomach. She needed to tread carefully. Her and Alex parting words were quite terse and hateful to one another.

"Jamie?" His voice was deep, but somehow soft.

"In the kitchen." She wiped her hands and sat the towel down before walking toward the living room. She stopped in the doorway as he held up a bottle of wine and a bouquet of red roses.

"Great minds think alike?"

She laughed as tears blurred her vision. "I'm sorry. For everything."

The plan was to let him apologize first, but seeing him standing there with flowers in his hands looking sexy in his slacks and button-down shirt with the look of a thousand apologies on his face broke her in two.

"Me too, baby." He moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her, his hands still full.

Her fingers tugged at the roughness around his cheeks as she pulled him in for a long kiss. She breathed in deeply and opened herself up, wanting him to penetrate her deeply with his warm tongue. She groaned at the taste of need she found on his tongue.

The firm press of his body to hers was almost too good, and though breaking the kiss seemed a tragedy, she pulled back and smiled. "I'm tying you up and spanking you if you actually write me up at work." She moved back and took the flowers before walking into the kitchen and searching for a vase.

"I wrote you up. Spank me?" He stopped behind her, sat the wine down on the counter and slid his arms over her hips. His large hands cupped her sex and he ground himself against her rear, whispering softly in her ear. "I'm an asshole, but I wanna be your asshole. Forgive me. Please. I got scared and honestly, I'm still shaken."

She forgot her task of getting the roses set up and turned in his arms, snaking hers around his neck and lifting to her toes to pepper him in kisses. "I'm scared too, but you and I have to stop beating each other up. If we're going to move forward together, then know that no matter what... I'm here for you. I'm going to be beside you to help with the Annette situation, to raise the baby with you, to take care of you and anything else you need. That's me, Alex."

He pressed his forehead to hers, closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "And I want that to be me for you. Not a shell. Not half-assed. I want to be everything to you."

"Good." She pressed against him. "Let's eat dinner and figure out a few things and then we're getting in the shower. I need someone to wash my back."

"And your butt?" He opened his eyes and smiled wickedly.

"You have a tool that can do that?"

"Oh hell, I’ve so many tools that’re waiting to drill into you." He wagged his eyebrows and chuckled.

"I want all of them. All of you." She nipped at his lips and turned to focus on the task of the roses. She set them in the sink when she couldn’t find a vase. "Open the wine for us and let's have salads first."