Love the Boss: Billionaire Romance (Managing the Bosses Book 4) (9 page)

"I did call you. I called you and then Gina." Jamie huffed. "You didn't answer, and Mark did. It's no big deal. You owe him a thank you for taking care of me. He stole your car to grab me, by the way.” She shot Mark an innocent look when his eyes and mouth both grew big. She nearly laughed but managed to hold it in.

"Tell him to drive careful and come straight here."

"Please?" A smile tugged at her. She was teasing him, but he needed to calm down.

"Please."

They hung up and she turned to Mark, shaking her head. "I'm thinking your brother is going to find himself in an early grave due to too much stress in his life."

"Well, he does run a huge company, and his girlfriend just happens to jump out in front of cars and shit. Thanks for selling me out,
by the way
." He smirked and pulled into the company parking garage. "I'll carry the coffees. Do you need me to carry you too?"

"That would not go over well." Jamie got out of the truck and carefully walked toward the elevator. "See? I can do this. I'm just going to take it easy."

"Yeah right." Mark held the door for her and they made idle chit-chat until they reached the office.

She took her coffee and Alex's from him and smiled. "Thanks again."

"Anytime." He walked down the hall as she knocked on Alex's door with her elbow. "Just me."

He opened the door and took the coffees, both of them. "Get in here."

She hobbled in and started to sit down as he set the coffees on his desk, and pulled her into a tight hug instead. The fear on his face was almost palpable.

"You're okay?" He kissed her several times in quick succession.

"I’m fine. Just a crazy, freak accident. I think I bruised my ankle from landing weird, but, other than that, I'm good. Jake’s fine too." She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted up as a yelp left her.

"Hey. Be careful." He moved down instead, kissing her lovingly. "You need to watch your surroundings a little better. I don't think I would survive if anything happened to you."

"The dog ran out in the road, but you're right. I'll be more careful."

"Just grab me or Mark for your morning runs. Or use the treadmill. I’d rather you do that anyway.”

“And let our guard dog get fat?"

“Luckily there haven’t been any more break-ins, so I think we’re safe.”

"You need to get the damn alarm fixed, silly. We’ve had this conversation." She patted his chest and moved back, taking her coffee and hobbling to the door. "Gina's sick?"

"Yes. I'm not sure what's up with her, but she called in again." He brushed his fingers by his lips. "You okay manning the desk for me today?"

“In exchange for what?” She glanced slyly at him.

He grinned innocently. “In exchange for calling the security company and getting the house alarm reset.”

"Alright. I can do that."

His eyes moved down her body slowly. "Come in here later and let's have a long, drawn-out meeting. Find a spot on my calendar and make it yours."

"I'd like that." She wagged her eyebrows and hobbled toward the door to his office. “I’ll even promise to be friendly at Gina’s desk.” She closed his door, smiling at his laughter behind it.

The pretty blond from a few days before was standing at Gina's desk. "Oh, hi! I'm sorry. I'm Kristen. I came by to see Alex the other day, but he was out of the office. Do you think I could visit with him now?"

"Let me check his schedule; if it's free, then you bet." Jamie made her way to the desk and glanced down, noticing that he was filled up except for lunch. "He's open right at lunchtime, but packed until then. Is it an emergency?"

The girl wasn't familiar, but that didn't mean much. Jamie had only been with Alex for less than a year. He had more family and friends that she didn't know about than the ones that she did.

"Lunch is good. I'll take him out if that's okay." She lifted her eyebrow and something inside Jamie's stomach tightened. Jealousy was a horrible feeling, and she pushed it away as best she could.

"Yeah. Sure. Let me just get you down. How did you say you knew him?" Jamie picked up her pen and leaned over, writing the girl’s name on the schedule.

"We grew up together. We were friends in high school." She smiled sweetly. "Thanks for getting me in to see him. I'll be back at twelve on the dot."

"Great. We’ll be here," Jamie mumbled as the pretty girl walked toward the elevator.

Perfect. More competition.

Chapter 9

The morning went by smoothly, as Alex's clients showed up on time, and Mike worked with Paul on the upcoming audits. The call from IT a few days before had revealed that the extra ID was actually for Alex, but Jamie hadn't mentioned it to him. It was his company. If he wanted to set up an extra expenditure ID to use to go to the grocery store or anywhere else, that was his prerogative. She even wondered if it was for Murray, the caterer Alex has working for him.

A ding on Gina's laptop caught Jamie's attention, and she turned to answer the e-mail. It was from Nicholas who wanted to let Gina know that he would be a few minutes late to lunch.

"Late to lunch?" Jamie's eyebrow rose as she sat back in her chair. She'd gotten behind on her own duties thanks to Gina calling in twice over the last week. If the woman was sick, it was fine, but from the looks of things, it didn't seem that way.

She typed him a quick message back, asking where they were meeting again, and writing down the restaurant. It wasn't any of her business, but this was Alex’s dime and his business. If Gina was thinking about leaving Alex's company, then they needed to know. She wasn't the kind of person who would just up and leave, but with Nicholas tugging at her with the promise of more than just a job, maybe she did already have one foot out the door. Bumping into them casually with Paul and Mark wouldn't be that big a deal.

It would have been nice to take Alex, but he had a date with a cute cheerleader who had a smile that was sure to melt hearts.

Speaking of.

Jamie glanced up as Kristen walked from the elevator and stopped tentatively by the desk.

"Hi again. Your morning go okay?" the pretty girl asked as Alex walked came into the lobby from his office.

"Thanks for asking. It was—" Jamie was cut off by Alex's loud exclamation.

"Kristen Rodgers? No way!" He walked toward her and scooped her up in a warm hug. "Oh, my goodness! It's been years. How’ve you been?" His eyes shone. “You look fantastic!”

She giggled and pulled back from him as Jamie's whole body stiffened.
Another old flame? Seriously?

"I'm good. I was in the city for a few weeks, visiting my dad, and thought I’d stop by. I saw the news about your dad in the paper. I'm sorry to hear about all that. You and Mark doing okay?" She reached out and rubbed his arm softly.

Jamie watched, knowing full well her mouth was hanging open.
She knows Mark too?

"Yeah. We're good." Alex glanced over at Jamie, as if realizing she was standing there, looking like the secretary that she wasn't. "Kristen, this is my girlfriend and PA/Advisor, Jamie Connors. Jamie, this is Kristen. She's a good friend of mine from high school." He reached out and touched Jamie's hand as she laid it on the high desk top.

"Oh nice!" Kristen turned and gave Jamie a warm smile. "You should come to lunch with us. Alex saved my life all those years ago, and got himself in a world of trouble doing it. I never got to really say thank you."

"No need for that, Kris." Alex pulled his hand back and wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly looking uncomfortable. He smiled and clapped his hands. "Let's all go to lunch. It would be nice to catch up, and I promised Jamie some of my time today. She's a good woman and puts up with far too much shit from me."

Jamie smiled happily, hiding her relief that his friend wasn’t an old flame. This was the girl he had risked his life for, that he had lost touch with his family over. She had nothing to worry about.
Wait, what?
"I'm good, guys, but thank you. Go and catch up. I need to run a few errands. Really." Jamie walked around the counter and slid her arm around the back of Alex's waist. "Eat something yummy for me."

"Will do." Alex leaned down and kissed her quickly before looking back at Kristen. "Let me grab my keys and we're outta here. Does Mark know you're here?"

"No, but I'll see him when we get back." Kristen reached out and touched Jamie's arm. "You sure you're good with us going?"

"Should I be worried?" Jamie waited until Alex had disappeared into his office to ask.

"Heaven's no! I'd never hurt a flea. He's a good man. Hold on tightly to this one." She winked and released Jamie, her disposition and tone welcoming and kind.

Jamie’s insides relaxed. This girl meant no harm. "I plan to. Thanks." Jamie turned and walked to her office, stopping at the door and leaning against the frame. "I need to go over to La Griglia for lunch. Someone want to take me?"

"Alex buying?" Paul glanced over his shoulder.

"Yep. Why not?" Jamie chuckled and turned her attention to Mark. "You coming?"

"Yeah. I'm still not so sure that I'm comfortable with what I'm seeing in these records, but I'll bring the stuff with us and we can talk over lunch. Will that work?"

"Beautiful. Makes it a business write-off. Grab your coat. It's freakin’ freezing out there." Jamie walked back to the front and noticed her ankle was feeling better. She was barely limping as she went to pick up her scarf and coat before checking to see that Alex was gone. She could trust him. He hadn't done anything that said otherwise. Besides, being concerned about him loving someone else was going to get old fast. He either was or wasn't. Her bet was on wasn't.

Jamie didn't see any signs of Gina when arrived at the restaurant, but after they'd eaten their salads, she got up and took a quick trip to the ladies’ room, purposely going past Nicholas.

Nicholas caught her eye first, and his smile drooped a little as she approached.

"Nicholas! How nice to see you." Jamie stopped and turned to see a wide-eyed Gina. "Gina. I didn't know you were here. You feeling okay? We were so worried."

"Um, yes. Just a little off this morning, but I'm much better now. I should be in this afternoon, actually." Gina brushed her hair back and turned to look at Nick. "I was just telling Nicholas how good you were doing with the audit work."

Really? Was that really something she should be sharing with him? Jamie held the comment back.

Nicholas smiled, eyeing her appreciatively. "Gina tells me you're a regular accountant on top of all of the other skills I know you have." His smiled widened. "Any way I can twist your arm to apply for my new executive assistant position? We have two openings."

Jamie forced a chuckle. "No, but thanks. I could never do that Alex. He's worked far too hard to have me walk out on him in the middle of so much success." She shot a knowing glance at Gina.

"That's true. The man knows his stuff." Gina gave a tight smile.

"I'll see you later, Gina. Nicholas, a pleasure as always." Jamie walked to the bathroom as concern raced through her once again. Something was up, and she needed to at least tell Alex her concerns. If she was wrong, then she would admit it, but, if not, they needed to be prepared.

The hardest part was believing that Gina would actually lie to her. Having to save face in front of Alex was one thing, but lying to her?

"We're supposed to be friends." Jamie let out a soft sigh and washed her hands before returning to the table.

Paul glanced up. "Is that Gina over there? I thought she was sick."

"She is. Or was. I guess." Jamie sat down and pulled her napkin into her lap, quite glad to see that lunch had arrived in her absence. "I don't know what's going on with her."

"Well, not to add fuel to the fire, but these reports show some weird spending that I honestly can't imagine my brother doing." Mark pulled out the file and handed it to Jamie. "We can eat first, but let's look at this over dessert."

"Alright." She glanced down and picked up her fork as Paul's phone buzzed.

"I’ve got take this. It's my mom." He smiled and got up. "I'll be right back. No eating my food."

"You're taking your chances, buddy." Mark smiled at Jamie as he taunted Paul. "I like that guy. He's good people."

"Yeah, he is." She took a bite of her fish and decided against her better judgment. "So, this morning someone from Alex's past came by. I think her name was Kristen Rodgers."

Mark nearly dropped his fork. "Kristen came by the office?" His face lit up. "What the hell is she doing in New York?"

"Visiting her dad, from what she said." Jamie took another bite.

"Do you know Kristen? Did Alex tell you about her?”

Jamie started to nod and then shook her head.

“Well, Kristen went to school with us. She's a year younger than Alex, and always had a thing for him, but he wasn't interested. She dated the worst fuckers ever back then. Alex ended up in juvi for her, but you'll have to check the story with him. Dad said it was for other reasons. I don't know who to believe, but it really doesn't matter. She's a great girl." Mark picked up his hamburger. “Damn, Kristen Rogers, eh?”

"She's really pretty too," Jamie mumbled and tried to focus on her lunch.

"Yeah, but Alex only has eyes for you, girl. My brother might be a lot of things, but the one thing I can tell you is that he's faithful. If he's thinking about another woman, he'll tell you, or you'd know it. He's not good at lying, or hiding shit at all." Mark chuckled. "Made being kids hell, but I guess it suits him well now."

Paul dropped back into the seat across from them and smiled. "My older brother just had his first kid. I'm going to see about flying out to Cali to see them, if you guys think I can get away for a few days."

"Absolutely." Jamie nodded and wiped her mouth. "Fill out the request and I'll take it in to Alex this afternoon. Mark and I can cover for you, and Jerry down the hall can do your trading desk responsibilities."

"Awesome. You guys are the best." Paul picked up a roll and shoved half of it in his mouth. "Well, most of you are. I'm a little testy with Gina. I'm behind because she decided to lie and take a few days off to shop. I looked at her as I passed by her lunch table. She's not sick at all. Love-sick maybe, but that doesn’t require days off."