Uber Bossy: A Small Town Romantic Comedy (Jobs From Hell Book 2)

by Marika Ray

  I let her go when Red started to fuss. He was tired of being held and forced in a chair. He wanted to move, but we had a bit of a ride before that was possible.

  “You put the luggage and the car seat in, I’ll help him walk the curb.” Nora pulled Red out of my arms and he went willingly, his little eyes tiny slits because of his smiling face and chubby cheeks.

  Maybe Red was as happy as I was to see Nora. She took him over out of the way of cars and pedestrians and held his little hands while he tried to walk. Another month and I’d bet he’d be walking on his own. The sight of the two of them together like that hit me sharply in the chest. While it was sweet, it also reminded me of all the ways I was failing Red. Everyone deserved to have a mom and I couldn’t give that to him.

  “All set,” I hollered over after I got the car seat and luggage in.

  Nora swept Red up in her arms and blew kisses against his neck and cheeks while he squealed. They came over and that pang hit me again, harder this time.

  “Off to the hotel?” Nora asked as we slid into the car.

  I nodded, feeling at home there in the car with Nora. “That would be great. Not much longer and I’ll close on a house in Hell.”

  She pulled into traffic, but turned to stare at me, mouth dropped open. “You bought a house?”

  I shrugged, not wanting to get into the whole thing. “Yeah, I made an offer and they accepted. Probably another week and we should close. It’s an all-cash offer, so it should move fast.”

  Her eyebrows went up into her hairline. “Well, damn. You’re just a baller, aren’t you, Jayden Sutter?” She giggled and all the guilt and worry that sat on my chest on a daily basis just drifted away.

  “I wouldn’t exactly say that, but yes, my first real estate investment in LA, plus the sale of my prior business, means I have some cash on hand.”

  Nora made a sound in the back of her throat.

  “What?”

  She shrugged. “It just cracks me up the way people with money phrase things. ‘I have some cash on hand.’ Are you kidding me?”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  She laughed again and I got a little irritated. “It’s just that for normal people, buying an entire house with cash is a dream they’ll never attain, you know? More like save every penny to scrape up a down payment and then pay the bank back for thirty years before you can even think about retiring from a job they can’t stand.”

  I could see what she was talking about and I hated that scenario was probably her reality. She was so kind and so positive, it was a shame our roles in life weren’t reversed. She deserved the full bank account more than I did.

  “I do see what you mean. Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like an ass. I appreciate what I have, but I also had to work eighteen-hour days and take on huge loans and take scary risks to get to where I am today. I’m just lucky it all paid off.”

  “Speaking of which, we need to talk business stuff. I have two interviews lined up this week and I’d love some advice.”

  I smiled, loving that I could offer her something. “Sure. I’ll be the interviewer and you can be the interviewee.”

  She smirked and I wanted to kiss those lips I hadn’t spent nearly enough time with. Why had I ever thought she wasn’t classically beautiful? She was stunning.

  “That sounds like some fun role-play. I’m game if you’re game…”

  My lower half perked up, sensing he might get another chance to penetrate Ms. Sunshine after all. The little voice went silent, probably too smug to tell me “I told you so.”

  “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” I asked, testing the waters.

  Her lips tilted up into a blinding smile. “Why can’t friends come with certain benefits, you know?”

  It was official. My pants were too tight for this conversation. Not even Red making weird noises in the back seat could put a damper on the desire coursing through my veins with just one simple question.

  “Hell yes, they can,” I breathed.

  “Maybe our first course of action is finding you a babysitter. And by you, I mean Red.”

  She blushed and I couldn’t help but slide one hand onto her bare thigh. “Will you wear a black skirt and put your hair in a ponytail for me?”

  She squirmed. I inched my hand higher.

  “Sure thing, boss,” she whispered.

  My dick had turned painful, wanting out of these pants and into Nora despite going seventy miles an hour on the freeway at the moment with Red one foot away. I removed my hand and grabbed my phone instead.

  “Everything okay?” Nora asked, her chest rising and falling rapidly. My only comfort being she was as turned on as I was.

  “Finding a babysitter.” I gritted my teeth and focused on the task at hand. I needed someone to watch Red first, then I could have my way with Nora. And this time, I wanted to be face-to-face with her when she came, her legs spread wide for me and my cock buried in her so far I couldn’t go any farther.

  Titus texted me back that he had his bowling league tonight and couldn’t cover me. I was so focused on finding a babysitter I didn’t even give him grief for being on a bowling team. Dude had a mullet and he was a bowler? No wonder the asshole was single.

  He did ask Amelia for me, though, and when he texted me back her acceptance, I nearly agreed to join his team just to express my gratitude properly. Thankfully, the sight of Nora taking off her red flannel shirt and tossing it in the back, leaving her in just a tiny white tank top and cutoff jean shorts, stilled my fingers. She also had me drooling a bit. How did a country girl get to be so much hotter than some of the models and actress-wannabes I’d dated in LA?

  “Like something you see, Mr. Sutter?”

  Fucking hell, Nora was flirting with me. And still role-playing.

  “I’d like you better if you were bent over my desk. All in good time.” I winked at her, enjoying how confidently she flirted yet her cheeks were as red as the flannel shirt she’d just taken off. “Amelia will babysit for me tonight.”

  She glanced over quickly. “Really? Amelia?”

  We pulled off the freeway and made our turn toward Auburn Hill. The welcome sign had been graffitied again at some point in the week I’d been gone.

  “I know. She hasn’t been exactly accepting of me being here, or being around you specifically, but she said yes.” Actually now that I thought about it without lust clouding my brain, I was a little worried as to what price I’d have to pay for this babysitting. And I wasn’t talking about money. Amelia would be the type to extract payment in some other, more painful, creative way.

  “Hmm,” Nora murmured, focused on taking the roundabout without incident.

  I looked around for rusty tow trucks or farm animal–sized cats making a run for it. So far, the coast was clear. The perfect welcome to Auburn Hill.

  We pulled up outside the hotel and I nearly wrenched the damn door off the car in my haste to get Red out and checked in. The sooner I got that squared away, the sooner Nora and I could have a friends-with-benefits date. I probably should have been heading to the realtor’s office to get the first tour of the house I was under contract on, but that didn’t seem as important as getting a willing Nora naked.

  Amelia greeted us behind the front desk with a wicked grin.

  “Welcome to Hell, Jayden. Let’s get you checked in.” She winked and then clacked around on the keys, eventually handing me my room keys while Nora and I stood there grinning like idiots.

  Amelia pinned me with the death stare that had me feeling like less of a man. “Oh, before I forget, I’m off in twenty minutes and I’ll take an IOU to be redeemed later for the babysitting.”

  Nora jumped into the conversation. “You know I’ll make sure—”

  “I wasn’t talking to you. Jayden here owes me. Not you, Sunshine.” Amelia grinned and the evil I saw in her eyes made me think—just for a second—that whatever she had in mind might not be worth the free time with Nora.

 
I opened my mouth, but Nora beat me to it by hugging Amelia with a squeal.

  “You’re hella awesome. Thank you. Just stay here at the hotel with him, would you? I don’t want anyone to see him and wonder where Jayden is and then put two and two together.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that—that somehow I was a secret Nora didn’t want getting out—but then again, I asked for no commitments, so what did I expect? She wasn’t going to risk her reputation for a guy who couldn’t even commit to anything beyond a simple friendship. In fact, I was proud of her for protecting herself from a guy like me.

  “You coming?” Nora stood a couple paces away, a hesitant smile on her face.

  I blinked and turned away from Amelia. Maybe I just needed to get away from her. She tended to cool any lustful thoughts I was having about Nora. That evil grin was the ultimate cockblocker. Damn thing just shriveled up and left town.

  “Yeah, sure am.” I hitched Red on my hip and checked into my room with Nora’s help.

  When Amelia came to collect Red a little while later, my cock had gotten over its encounter with Amelia and was ready to play. Like the wuss I was around her crazy friend, I had Nora get the door and I stayed in the bathroom to take a quick shower.

  I came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, a towel around my waist held up by an erection that only wanted Nora, any way I could have her. I found her all right, standing buck-ass naked with her auburn hair in a high ponytail. She held the hotel notepad in one hand with a pen in the other.

  “Did you need me to take notes, sir?”

  Oh, fuck yes.

  She wanted to go along with my little fantasy. And I wanted to also, but first, I had to lose the towel and simply drink in the sight of her. Take a mental picture to last me a lifetime. When I was old and gray, recounting the good old days, this was what I’d remember first.

  Her pretty pink toenails, all the way up her strong legs to her tiny waist, which of course, led to the breasts that currently held all my attention. She was perfection, right down to the tiny mole on her hip I intended to get my lips on before the night was over.

  I took a few steps to throw the towel on the desk chair and had a seat, deciding on exactly how I wanted Nora. Thing was, I didn’t need role-play to be excited to be with her, but who was I to look a gift-role-play-sex-horse in the mouth?

  “Come a little closer, sweetheart.”

  Her lips twitched, but she fought for the straight face, walking over with a lot more hip swing than was normal for her. I appreciated it. Just like I appreciated the way her bare breasts jiggled and her ponytail swung from side to side.

  Definitely adding a strong ponytail grab to the to-do list for tonight.

  When she stood between my spread legs, my cock lay against my stomach, ready to go and wondering why we weren’t reaching for her already. I wanted to play with Nora, all night if she’d let me, so there was no need to rush things.

  “Have a seat on my lap.” I bit my bottom lip, telling myself to keep my hands off her for now. To not indulge myself too quickly.

  Nora hesitated. Her cheeks flushed bright red and then she made a bold move. Instead of settling primly on one of my thighs like I thought she would, she lifted one shapely leg and climbed right on top of me, straddling me and the desk chair like the greedy girl she turned out to be.

  I couldn’t be held responsible for taking it slow like I intended when our play toys were mere centimeters apart and her boobs were pressed into my face.

  “Dammit, Nora.” My hands closed on her ass, gripping like she might slip away from me if I didn’t.

  She ground down on my lap and I forgot my name and where we were.

  “Fuck the role-play,” I grumbled, taking one pert nipple into my mouth.

  She tossed her head back and moaned, her skin heating beneath my hands instantly.

  I didn’t say it, but I thought it. Chanted it actually, over and over in my head for the next several hours of sweet bliss.

  I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of Nora.

  13

  Lenora

  The last week had been one of the best in my whole life.

  My parents had been distracted by a parishioner who called my father at ten o’clock at night because of a huge rat in her house. When my father suggested the older woman get a trap or call a professional, she’d become hysterical. Apparently, she wanted the thing caught, not killed. And since my dad was her minister, the Bible said he was the shepherd that watched over the flock. It was his job to catch one of the flock. Faulty logic aside, after several days of trying to catch the thing my father was getting in shape—Mom said the exercise was good for him and just what the doctor ordered when he’d had his heart attack scare—and the old lady was getting some much needed entertainment and social interaction. It was a win-win, really.

  For me, it just meant they didn’t notice that I was spending very little time at home. When I wasn’t giving rides or hanging with the Hell Raisers, I was with Jayden and Red. I tried not to be seen in public with them at first, wanting to avoid joining the gossip that week, but it was soon impossible. We couldn’t just hang out in his hotel room all the time. And quite frankly, if Jayden didn’t mind being attached to me in the gossip, then why should I?

  After that first night, we hadn’t had another opportunity to play boss and secretary, if you know what I mean. Which was too bad because the things he did to me that night got me all hot and sweaty just thinking about it. Amelia offered to babysit again, but Jayden adamantly refused, saying he couldn’t owe the devil more than one favor. I was disappointed, of course, but then he asked me to go to the fair with him on Saturday night. I decided it was a date, whether he meant it that way or not.

  I hit the traffic circle on my way to pick them up when my plans—and good mood—hit a snag. The roundabout was at a standstill. I poked my head out the window of my car to see what the matter was.

  Chief Waldo stood in the middle of the road with yellow crime scene tape in his hand looking down at something on the pavement. The mayor stood in the center of the roundabout in the shadow of the statue, hands in his hair looking quite stressed. My heart rate picked up, thinking we were looking at a horrible accident and hoping selfishly it wasn’t anyone I loved dearly. I hurried to get out of the car, but didn’t get very far.

  “Don’t look!” Poppy, the mail carrier, currently sporting a tiara in her short gray hair, held her beefy hand up to stop me. “It’s real gory, Lenora,” she whispered loudly.

  The color drained from my face and I felt dizzy. “Who?”

  Poppy shook her head, her jowls shaking with her. “Not who. What?”

  “What?” I asked, my face scrunching up.

  “Exactly!” She smiled at me and I was so amazed by the sight of it, I almost forgot what we were talking about.

  I shook my head to clear it. “No, Poppy. What is happening up there?”

  The smile instantly fell off her face and I figured it would be another ten years before I saw it again. “Oh, just a poor skunk who got run over when Peggy Sue made a fifth lap around the traffic circle this morning. She’s a hazard, I tell you. Shouldn’t be allowed to drive anymore.”

  I wrinkled my nose, feeling ornery now that I knew it wasn’t a person who’d been hit. “All this commotion over a skunk?”

  Poppy tilted her head like I was simple. “I’m surprised at you, Lenora. Doesn’t that poor skunk have a right to live a life free of the crushing tires of Peggy Sue?”

  “Well—”

  “But no, that’s not all. Before the poor skunk expired, it got scared. Probably when it saw Peggy Sue’s fender heading straight for its defenseless body. It sprayed, but not in the proper direction. It sprayed poor Jazzie in her daddy’s convertible in the outer lane, on her way to the fair to be the Grunion Princess. Now the poor thing needs a tomato bath and won’t be able to fulfill her duties as Princess. It’s a tragedy, Miss Lenora. Tra—ge—dy.” Poppy pointed her finger at my chest for unnee
ded emphasis.

  I was biting my lip to hold back the laughter. I shook my head and Poppy thought I meant it in commiseration for the town “tragedy.” What I actually thought was this would only happen in Hell.

  Maybe taking a job in San Jose was a good idea. Stay too long in a town like Auburn Hill and before you knew it, you wake up one morning and you’re Poppy, spewing nonsense and spreading it like a virus.

  The car ahead of me inched forward and I left Poppy after a quick hug—because even crazy pants deserved hugs—to climb back behind the wheel. Chief Waldo had put his crime tape down somewhere and was directing traffic to take the outside lane around the traffic circle. We all crept along slowly, necks swiveling to take in the gory site of a smushed skunk and wide-eyed Peggy Sue shaking like a leaf.

  I texted Jayden as soon as I got to the hotel parking lot.

  Lenora: Sorry I’m late. Skunk emergency in the roundabout. Ready to go have some fun?

  Jayden: I don’t even want to know what that means. On our way down now.

  I put my phone away and checked my teeth in the visor mirror. Oreos were tasty little treats, but boy did they leave their mark on you. I wanted my teeth sparkling so Jayden would kiss me today. Not that he’d kiss my teeth—that’s just weird—but from my limited experience, having the appearance of a clean mouth was the surest way to get a boy to kiss you. Amelia would have argued flirting and biting your lip was a much better way, but I liked to set my expectations a little lower. Coordinated flirting was better left to greater women than me, women such as Amelia.

  “Thanks again for picking us up, Nora.” Jayden appeared next to my car window, out of breath with Red on his hip.

  I flipped the visor back up. “Nowhere else I’d rather be. Hop in.”

  Jayden got Red buckled into his car seat and then got in front, leaning over to cup my face and lay a big one right on my lips. Boom. See? Clean mouth. Worked every time.

  My stomach took flight and I couldn’t recall a time when I’d been this excited about anything, let alone a hot and sweaty day at the fair where I was usually the third wheel while my friends had men hovering around them. This time I was going with the hottest guy I’d ever seen and his little mini-me. Not that Red looked like Jayden. In fact, they looked nothing alike so far, but they were a pair. A team. A single dad and motherless son duo.