Who's the Boss Now (Managing the Bosses Series, #3) (8 page)

Then why hide me?

"He's an idiot, but most men are. He's just not used to having someone that he plans on keeping for a while. Tell him that it hurts you and once you've been crystal clear about it, then you can get defensive and hurt if he does it again." He smiled. "You're beautiful and he's a lucky man. Period."

"Thanks." She wiped at her tears, feeling childish. "It's fine. I need to just be clear with him about it. I'm letting my past haunt my future."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We all do. It's going to be fine."

"Thanks, Mark."

"Me on the other hand... I'm thinking about filing for divorce. I'm so tired of not being loved." He squeezed her once and let her go. "I keep thinking it's going to get better, but it just doesn't. She wasn't cold or borderline cruel when we met. I don't know what the fuck changed inside of her, but it's like night and day. I'm almost at my breaking point."

It was her turn to comfort him. She reached out and rubbed his back as he leaned over the rail in front of them.

"You need to do what you think is best, but exhaust all other options first. Divorce sucks badly." She glanced up as Alex walked out onto the porch. He turned to look at her and lifted his eyebrow as his gaze moved down to her rubbing Mark's back.

She jerked her hand back like she it was being burnt.

"What's going on?" Alex asked and moved toward them.

"We're just talking about shit. You wanna join us?" Mark stood up and moved back, making room for Alex to slip past him.

"Not really. I'm ready to go." Alex reached for her hand. "Come on. Flight’s in thirty minutes."

"Oh really?" Mark glanced from Alex back to her. "I was hoping that you guys were staying for another night. I wanted to bring you out to the house."

"Sorry to once again disappoint you." Alex tugged Jamie past his brother and wrapped a possessive arm around her. "Call if you need anything."

"Right. See you later Jamie." Mark waved and moved to lean against the railing again.

She followed Alex, but made the mistake of glancing back. "He looks miserable."

"Not sure why that would be. He has a beautiful wife, and it would seem the attention of my girlfriend far more than he should. Nothing to be sad about at all." Alex dropped her hand and opened the door. His expression was tight with anger.

"Right." She got into the car and turned to face him. "I'm your girlfriend now? I thought I was just your PA. Remind me of the on and off times again. I'm getting a little confused."

"Is this what this is all about?" He turned to her and narrowed his beautiful blue eyes. "You're pissed that I told the lawyer you work for me, so you come out on the porch and love on my heart-broken younger brother? That how it's going to work?"

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, moving to the other side of the car. "Take me home and don't say another word to me."

"Jamie. You have to see it from my point of view. You were rubbing his back and have been basically cuddled up to him since we got here."

"You're out of your mind." She wiped at her tears as they started to drip onto her cheeks. He was the ass she imagined him to be. "Remind me the next time I want to make you feel better not to hit my knees for you. Nothing like sucking a man's dick and then him calling you his secretary instead of his woman. Extreme confidence builder there."

He touched her leg and scooted closer. "Stop it. That's horrible. You know how I feel about you."

"Yep. I sure do." She didn't say another word, but watched the world go by outside the window nearest her. He was an asshole, and she didn't want to clear things up about what she and Mark had been doing. The fact that his world was falling apart was enough to gleam him a friendly hand on his shoulder from anyone. It should have been Alex that did it, but heaven forbid he act out of character around his brother. Heaven forbid he care.

––––––––

T
hey flew home in silence, the hot love making session having been put on hold. Their relationship was a freakin’ yo-yo. It did feel like they were teenagers again. She didn't have much to say as they sat in the back of the car either, though Alex reached out and took her hand about halfway home. She didn't push him back, but she didn't give much thought to making things right either.

His phone buzzed and accidentally connected to the car stereo as the message from his caller was recorded.

"This is Alex Reid. I'm away from my phone. Leave your name and a short message and I'll return the call when I can."

A loud beep resounded.

"Alex," the voice was sexy and a little too familiar. "It's Annette. I need you to call me when you get this, baby. It's really important okay? No ignoring me to make me jealous or sad. I need to talk with you. Its business related and I know how much you love business."

The message ended and Jamie's stomach tightened. He was worried about her and Mark? That was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. She only saw Mark when she was with Alex, and that had been a total of three times, maybe four with all they had going on over his father. She jerked her hand out of his.

Annette on the other hand was an old lover that just wouldn't seem to drop out of Alex's life. The thought of him calling the red-headed minx back left Jamie broken even farther.

“That was nothing.” Alex reached for her hand again. "Hey. Talk to me."

"Really? What do you want me to say?" Her voice was soft and laced with pain.

"Tell me that nothing is going on with you and Mark."

She snapped her attention toward him. "Is that a joke? Of course nothing’s going on! He's your brother, Alex. He's filing for divorce and having money problems. He wants a relationship with you and misses your father. I was just telling him that
we
were here for him. Excuse me for fucking caring for him. I'll make sure to steer clear in the future."

Alex sat quiet for a long moment. He sighed and spoke quietly, "I didn't know that, Jamie. I'm sorry. I was in the wrong."

The car stopped and she opened the door, moving away from him. "Yeah. You were. Have a great evening, Mr. Reid. Your PA will see you in the office tomorrow."

"Don't do this," he called after her, but she slammed the door regardless. All she wanted was to comfort him, to offer her a piece of her heart and all of her shoulder to lean against. Some good it did...

They were not meant to be together. That much was clear.

S
he was still angry the next morning when she got up, but she tried to ignore it. They were meant to be together. They would just have to work things through, there was no other option. She wasn't interested in working for anyone else, and she certainly didn't want anyone else in her bed or in her life.

Her father texted to see if she would be able to join him for breakfast, and she agreed, though the thought of any more drama was a bit overwhelming.

She drove to the small diner he loved best as bitterness over the business trip with Alex tore at her. They were supposed to have spent quality time together the weekend before and again in Philadelphia, but they hadn't. Something always had to come up and as of late, it was him and his shitty attitude.

Getting out of her car, she slammed the door a little too hard, which got her a look from a young couple standing beside a nearby car.

"Sorry. Door sticks." She shrugged sheepishly and moved into the rich smells of maple syrup and coffee.

Her father stood and waved, the smile on his face a delight after the shitty night.

"Hey pumpkin." He moved toward her and pulled her in a warm hug. "Why are your eyes puffy?"

"Can you tell? I tried hard to get them to go back down, but I guess a long night will always show up in one way or another." She sat down and turned the cream-colored coffee mug over that sat in front of her. A waitress stopped by almost immediately. Jamie ordered chocolate chips pancakes with pecans and extra butter and her father got the same.

"Something’s wrong. Talk to me." Her father reached across the table and touched the side of her arm. "Guy troubles?"

"Always guy troubles." She fixed her coffee and let out a long sigh. "Let's not talk about me. Let's talk about you."

"Okay. Well, I wanted to see you to let you know that I'm filing for divorce. I'll be getting myself a place in the city, and it has two bedrooms, so if you need a place to stay there is always a room for you with me." He smiled warmly.

Jamie glanced up and really studied him, finding his complexion clear and healthier than she had seen it in years. His time with her mother had been good for a long time, but the last five or six years, he'd starting looking worse and worse.

"I'm glad. I’m sorry things aren’t working between you and mom, but to be honest, you look really good, Dad."

"I feel good." He lifted his arms in the air and stretched. "I'm sick of being beaten down and kicked around. I'm going to spend the rest of my days with someone that really cherishes me, or alone. I'm happy going at life by myself."

"Me too actually." She shrugged.

"You're too young to be cynical." He laughed and moved back as the food was delivered. "Wow that was fast."

"This place is always good about getting the food out quickly. It's one of the reasons I love it so much." Jamie drug her finger through the syrup on her pancakes and licked at it. "This homemade syrup is the other."

The laughed and talked through her father's next steps as they shared breakfast together. By the time they were done, she felt better, more centered and grounded. She was a good woman, and the issue didn't rest with her worth, but with Alex's understanding of how to really treat a woman, and accept a good one in his life.

She was ready to have a sit down meeting with him to really lay things out on the table. He'd spoken several times of taking their relationship to the next level. She was more than ready to make it happen.

––––––––

J
amie was surprised to see Paul gone for the day, and a note that Mark had left her a message. He seemed in good spirits, and calling him back would be rude, even it Alex wouldn't approve. There was nothing but a comfortable budding friendship stating between them. If things worked out with her and Alex, Mark would be her future brother-in-law. An already established relationship with him was smart.

She got up to close her door before calling him back. Alex was out, so there was no concern about him walking in on her, but Mark wouldn't be calling about anything that wasn't confidential or personal in nature.

"This is Mark."

"Hey. It's Jamie Connors."

"Hey Jamie. You guys made it back safe and sound then?"

"We sure did. I just walked in from having breakfast with my dad. Crazy times."

"Oh yeah? What's going on?" He coughed softly.

"My father is finally fed up with my mom. He's filing for divorce. It's a good and bad thing, I guess, but don't let me bore you. Tell me why you called."

"Divorce seems to be in the damn water. I'm sorry to hear that. You know I'm here if you need someone to talk to, though I bet my brother would be a strong shoulder to lean against too."

It warmed her to hear Mark push her toward Alex. He really was a really good guy. Too bad Alex hadn't figured that out, though she understood the tune of past hurts all too well herself.

"So what's going on?" Jamie asked.

"I wrapped up the estate sale yesterday, and everything went well. We sold a lot of the larger items, which helps with cleaning up the place and finally closing everything down."

"That's great news. Do you want me to talk with Alex about him coming back up to help with the final clean up?" She pressed her pen to her lips and sunk back into her chair.

"No. I can get it. I'm thinking I'll come in on Saturday to have those papers signed in the next few days. I would have told Alex just to hang out if I'd known how fast they wanted to move with everything."

"I wish we would have known. I hate for you to make a trip up here."

"It's all good. I could probably use an excuse to get the fuck out of here for a while anyways. It's less than amicable at home right now." He snorted. "I'd be searching for a reason to visit if this hadn't come up."

"I'm sorry about that." She shook her head as sadness rushed through her. "I'll talk with Alex about the papers and seeing if you can just stay at the house with him. I live on the property, so we'll have dinner or something while you're in as well."

"I'd love that. With money kinda tight at the moment, I'm not sure if I can afford a hotel."

"Don't worry about that. We'll work it out."

"Well, I appreciate that. Listen, please don’t mention to Alex about the money. I don’t want him to know my situation on that." He coughed again. "I'm gonna let you go. Call me soon and let me know what Alex thinks about me coming up. Thanks again for being so great. I'm blessed to have met you, Jamie."

"Me too. Take care." She hung the phone up and leaned back in her chair. Alex had to figure out how to make up with his brother. She wasn't even in the family and yet had to play the middle man like a sister or wife might.

It was ridiculous and she didn't at all get paid enough for the level of drama Alex was bringing to the table.

Enough!
It was time to work and focus on that. Before her sister’s wedding, Jamie had spent night and day working. Now she was being lax and focusing too much on making her relationship work and shoving food in her mouth. It was time to get back to the pattern she had when she started her job here.

She worked through a few new projects she had on her desk for the rest of the morning. It was almost unnerving to realize how much easier it was to work without Paul there. It wasn't because he was chatty, but something about having another person in the room just let her inefficient.

"Speaking of." Jamie got up and walked out into the hall as her stomach growled. She needed to talk with Gina about getting her officemate his own office, and then lunch could be up next on the agenda.