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

by Marika Ray

  “Let’s go win some oversized stuffed animal we’ll have to cart around all day.” Jayden smiled as he pulled back, his hand sifting through my hair before he sat back in his seat.

  Good Lord. For only being interested in “just friends” he sure knew how to bring the heat to any situation.

  “Na-na.”

  I froze. Jayden whipped around in his seat to look at Red.

  “Did my son just call you Na-na?” he asked incredulously.

  My heart, the one that had just tripped over itself kissing Jayden, went pitter-patter in a rhythm that could only be known as baby fever. I turned slowly in my seat to see Red smiling at me like he knew just how much he affected me. He took his chubby little finger out of his mouth and pointed at me.

  “Na-na.”

  My eyes filled with tears and Red’s angel face swam in my vision.

  Oh, no. This was not fair. Not fair at all.

  Sex with Jayden was hard enough to resist. Then we’d just spent a bunch of time together, getting to know each other. I’d given myself a stern talking-to each day this week, lecturing myself on the dangers of falling for Jayden. I’d nearly convinced myself that this attraction I felt for him was merely physical. But innocent little Red saying my name?

  That was a double whammy. A double-barreled shotgun right to the chest.

  No way to survive the Sutton boys. I was a goner already.

  “Should we go before it gets too crowded?”

  I swiveled back to the front, realizing Jayden was going to start wondering what was wrong with me if I didn’t get my shit together in a hurry. No way could I tell him I was falling for him. He’d run the opposite direction, blaming me for destroying a really good friends-with-benefits situation. And he’d be right. I’d trudged ahead in a game I knew I’d lose, all the while telling myself I’d be fine.

  “Yeah, let’s do this,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

  The entire ride to the fairgrounds, I nodded appropriately while Jayden chatted. Meanwhile I was scrambling to come up with a solution to my little emotional slide into the land of “love” and “feelings.” A lonely, dusty place when it was unrequited.

  I had to do what I always did: look at the bright side. I’d simply ignore my feelings and go along with what we had going. I didn’t want to lose Jayden, so I’d just take whatever he could offer. And right now that was spending time together and great sex. I didn’t really see the problem here.

  If it quacked like a date, walked like a date, and fucked like a date…it was a date.

  Even if Jayden didn’t want to label it.

  “Hey, there’s Titus.” Jayden pointed out the window and hollered over to him. “Hey, Titus, wait up, man!”

  I swung into a parking spot in the dusty field and got out, shielding my eyes from the midday sun. Thank goodness I’d opted for a tank top and shorts. My father would probably give me that head tilt that meant he was disappointed in my clothing choices, but at least I wouldn’t die of heatstroke. Hell took summer seriously.

  “Does Red have plenty of sunscreen on?” I asked as Jayden got him out of the car and into his arms. He hitched a backpack on his other shoulder and I couldn’t help but smile. The man was the hottest dad I’d ever seen. Teal board shorts, a black tank top, and a Niners baseball hat made him so delicious I wanted to take him on the Ferris wheel and launch myself at him.

  “Greased like a pig,” he confirmed.

  Titus joined our group, an uncharacteristic frown on his face and no Amelia in sight. Those two were best friends. Like brother and sister. Where one went, the other did too.

  “Are you okay, T?” Normally he was the one I could count on in our group to be as cheerful as me. “Oh, man, you look like you need a hug.”

  I wrapped my arms around him, my head only coming mid-chest on him. Despite his attempts to break free, he finally patted me on the back and accepted the love with a forced laugh.

  “Thanks, but I’m fine.” He gave me a fake smile that only made me more worried.

  “Let’s get through the gates and then you can fill us in on what’s going on.”

  We paid our entrance fee and bought a string of tickets to use on the rides. With Red with us, we’d probably only use them for the kiddie rides or the carny games that lined one side of the fairgrounds. Tall pine trees ringed the grounds, so at least we were provided with some shade once we got inside the fair.

  I spotted Amelia in line at the timed basketball game with some guy plastered to her, whispering in her ear. “Oh, there’s Amelia!” I waved obnoxiously and she finally saw me, giving me a finger wave and wink in return before turning back to the guy.

  “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go find some rides, huh?” Titus grumbled.

  We started moving toward the little kid area. I glanced over my shoulder a few times but couldn’t place the guy. Amelia dated plenty normally, but it was a small town. I should know who he was. “Okay, but who’s the hot guy with his tongue down Amelia’s throat?”

  Titus stumbled. “Hey, I just remembered I was supposed to meet up with Rip. I guess he and Hazel got in some kind of argument and he wants a beer before he’ll think about having fun today. I’ll find you three later.”

  He took off in a hurry, leaving Jayden and me with raised eyebrows.

  “What’s his problem today?” I asked.

  Jayden shook his head. “I don’t know, but your dad is currently looking at me like I’m the rat he’s trying to trap at that lady’s house.”

  I spun around and saw my parents approaching. “Oh, crap. Incoming.”

  “Lenny!” my mom called loudly. Heads turned, probably wanting to see if the rumor was correct. Was Lenora Murphy finally dating a man, and a single father at that?

  “Hi, Mom.” I gave them both a hug, drilling my dad with a look that begged him to turn down the angry father schtick a notch.

  “Dad, you two remember Jayden from the night he helped us get you to the hospital, right?” I stood right by Jayden’s side, wanting him to know I was there for him.

  Dad nodded. “Sure, I remember that. Though I recall his name was Jay. Do you go by Jay or Jayden?”

  “Jayden, sir. And I was glad to hear your heart troubles were less severe than anticipated.” Jayden shifted Red to his other hip and stuck out his hand for my father to shake.

  After a moment of hesitation, Dad shook it. Still no smile, though.

  “And who is this precious little thing?” Mom asked, the lure of a baby too much to overlook even in a tense situation.

  “This is my son, Red.” Jayden angled Red to my mom. He smiled at her, his finger still in his mouth.

  “That’s a weird name,” Dad deadpanned.

  “Dad!”

  “What? It is odd.”

  Jayden nodded. “It sure is. He’s actually Alfred on his birth certificate, which is the name his mother picked out, but I’ve always called him Red. Helps now that his hair is coming in with an auburn tint to it.”

  “Oh, just like my Lenny,” Mom cooed. “In fact, Red looks more like Lenny than he does you.”

  I blushed, the implication that Red could be mine, or that Jayden and I were a couple, made me squirm. “Well, we better get going and actually get on one of the rides. This is Red’s first fair.”

  “Okay, honey,” Dad relinquished. “I’ll see you at church on Sunday, Jayden Sutter.”

  With that parting shot, they walked on, greeting other parishioners and citizens of Hell. Jayden swallowed hard.

  “Your dad seems like a hard-ass,” he said through a clenched jaw.

  I hated conflict. Hated it like I hated lima beans. There was just no purpose for it when you could ignore it and push it to the side of your plate to focus on the good stuff.

  “I know. He’s really not that bad, I swear. It’s just seeing his only daughter with a guy kinda makes him double strength.” I twisted my fingers, hoping this wouldn’t send him running the other way.

  Jayden paused, lo
oking unseeing at the throng of people milling about the fair. Just when I was about to blurt out something stupid just to keep him from sending me packing, he smirked.

  “Your dad has nothing to worry about. We’re just friends.” He swung his free arm over my shoulders and nuzzled into my ear. “And maybe a little more he doesn’t need to know about, right?”

  I blushed over the “more” part even as my stomach clenched into a tight knot. Forcing a light-heartedness I didn’t entirely feel, I brushed my lips over his cheek, breathing him in.

  “Exactly right. Now take me on the Ferris wheel, Mr. Sutter.”

  We finally made our way to the rickety Ferris wheel, finding Bain, Lucy, and Roxy along the way. They took Red so Jayden and I could ride together, with us promising to return the favor. We were next in line, scrambling to get into our bucket seat. All hesitation over being called his friend vanished at the prospect of some alone time at the top of the Ferris wheel with Jayden.

  The bucket swooped up quickly and then stopped, letting someone else on. Jayden reached over and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together. Then the Ferris wheel began rotating in earnest, the breeze cooling us off and sending my hair flying into my face. I tucked it back behind my ear and looked out at the town of Auburn Hill. From the top, I could even see the damn traffic circle from hell.

  “Lovely view, isn’t it?” Jayden’s deep rumble filled my ear.

  I slowly turned my head back to him, only to see him staring intently at me.

  “You even lookin’?” I teased him.

  He smirked, that little dimple coming out to play. “I’m looking at the very best part of the view.”

  Something popped and bubbled over in my chest, spilling warmth to all my extremities. “Are you flirting with me, Mr. Sutter?”

  His face turned serious. “Yeah, I think I am.”

  I leaned in closer. “Well, it’s working.”

  He closed the distance, his lips closing in on mine right as the Ferris wheel swooped us up into the sky. There at the top of the Ferris wheel at the Auburn Hill Summer Grunion Festival, I had the kiss all girls dream of.

  The one that changed it all for me.

  I was falling in love with Jayden.

  14

  Jayden

  “Oh Lord have mercy, Janey’s here,” Nora announced.

  We all looked around and Bain and Lucy cracked a huge grin. Meanwhile I was lost.

  “Who’s Janey?” I swiveled my head around, but didn’t see anything unusual.

  Until a group of teens moved off to the side and an older woman was revealed standing alone with quite a weight on her back.

  “Oh shit…” I mumbled. “It’s that damn baby goat that forced itself on me.”

  Nora gasped. “That was the goat? The one who frenched you?”

  At my nod she threw her head back and burst into laughter. Bain and Lucy joined her, looking between the poor baby goat strapped to the back of Janey in a baby carrier and my disgusted face. The thing bleated miserably and then started chewing on the ribbon tied to Janey’s ponytail. I shivered in the waning afternoon heat, reliving the moment he’d taken a swipe at my tonsils.

  “I think I need to hear this story,” Bain said after Nora got ahold of herself.

  She kept wiping tears from her eyes and bursting back into laughter.

  “Janey lives between here and Monterey. She’s an eccentric old lady. Ever heard of women getting on in years and getting a whole herd of cats like Yedda?”

  “Don’t you mean a clowder?” I smirked at her.

  She beamed at me. “Yes, exactly right. Well, Janey here didn’t care for cats, so she started adopting goats. Whenever they get too big, she puts them in her acre yard and gets a new kid to wear around. She’s perfectly harmless, I swear.”

  “Tell that to my tonsils,” I muttered, putting Red down to have him work on his walking while Nora told my brother and Lucy about that day in the airplane.

  Not long after, Bain and Lucy said goodbye and left the fair to put Roxy down for the night. Red rubbed his eyes with one slobbery fist and I figured we’d better do the same. As we walked around, the tiny goat zeroed in on me and stared me down from its perch on Janey’s back. It was beyond creepy, but what else could you expect from Auburn Hill?

  “I know the sun’s barely going down, but I need to put Red down soon or he’ll get super cranky. Do you want to stay with your friends? I can probably still catch up with Bain.” I really wanted her to come with me, but I couldn’t ask that of her. I was the single parent here, not her.

  She threaded her arm through mine and snuggled close. “Nah, I’ll stick with you boys. I’m tired too.”

  We walked out of the fairgrounds holding hands for all to see. I should have been freaked out by the rumors that would surely start, but oddly, I wasn’t. Half the damn night I felt like I was living in a movie. The whole scene was idyllic—minus the goat—entirely too good to be true. Here I was in a tiny little town along the coast with newfound friends, my brother and his family, a job, a fair with lights and sounds that fascinated Red, and most of all Nora. How could she—and this thing between us—be real? Things like that didn’t happen for me. I let people get close and they screwed me over. It had happened more than once, so what was I to believe? That coming to Hell would be where I found true love?

  Please.

  It would take more than a goat tongue down my throat to change my mind on that fairy-tale nonsense.

  The music from the live band that had started up right at sunset floated out on the evening breeze all the way to the car. No one was around in the parking lot, most people planning to stay at the fair for a few more hours at least. I got Red into the car seat in the back, barely buckling him in before his head lolled to the side and his eyes closed.

  “Out like a light,” I said softly, closing the door as quietly as I could so as not to wake the sleeping baby.

  Nora had her arms crossed over her chest, head tilted up to the night sky, the breeze ruffling her hair away from her face, eyes closed. An ache started in my chest, much higher on my anatomy than I expected. She was beautiful standing there in those shorts that drove me wild and her neck exposed, waiting for me to sweep her hair back and kiss her soft skin. The music changed to a new song. A slower one this time.

  I didn’t think. Just went with the moment.

  “Will you dance with me?” I whispered and held out my hand.

  She turned, her eyes fluttering open. The soft smile on her lips lit up her whole face. The sounds of the fair faded into the background and it was just me and Nora and a country love song by Sam Hunt floating on the air.

  Nora slid her hand into mine and I spun her into my arms under the boughs of the pine tree we had parked next to. Her head rested on my chest, those curves I’d admired all day pressed against the length of my body. The slow beat of the song had us swaying right there in the dusty parking lot. A wave of something unidentifiable grew in my body, filling every empty crevice I hadn’t known existed until that moment. Filling my head with crazy thoughts about Nora and me. Thoughts of the future.

  I wanted to stop time. I wanted to hold Nora forever, just like this. I wanted Red to be ours with a couple more on the way. I wanted her dad to accept me and be the dad I’d never had growing up. I wanted a thousand more nights just like this one. I wished for all kinds of things that could never be.

  Nora shifted as the song came to an end. I gripped her waist harder, thinking to keep her there with me just a minute or two longer. I needn’t have worried as she wound her arms around my neck and brushed her hips suggestively across my straining cock. She wasn’t going anywhere based on the way she notched my hard length between the juncture of her thighs, just a thin layer of clothing between us. God, I loved summer clothes.

  My hands drifted lower and with one swift motion, I hoisted her up with my palms under her thighs. She squealed lightly, then slammed her lips on mine, holding my head right where she wanted me. Her ton
gue dove in, exploring, tasting, taking. I let her, backing us up a step to lean her against the side of her car to get better leverage. I’d kept my hands off her all day, following her around the fair and dying a slow death at the sight of her legs in those shorts. Even a city boy like me knew eyes were on us at all times. But now, out here in the deserted parking lot, there wasn’t one reason why I shouldn’t crush her to me and take what we both wanted.

  She pulled her lips away and gasped. Her breasts heaved, tempting me with each press into my chest. “Think there’s enough room in the car?”

  My blood heated past boiling. “Fuck yes,” I barely got out.

  I backed up an inch to let her slide down the length of me. Her lips looked more puffy than usual, her eyes sparkling in the dim light afforded by the full moon rising in the sky. I took her hand and tugged her over to the passenger side, opening the door and sliding in before her. I looked in the back seat to assure myself Red was indeed asleep.

  Before I turned back around, Nora had her head in the car, ripping open the Velcro that held my board shorts together. Her warm hand slid in and grabbed ahold of my cock, giving it a rough tug. I nearly bit a hole in my cheek trying to keep in the groan.

  Dear God, I hope Chief Waldo is busy inside the fairgrounds. As the new guy in town I couldn’t afford an indecent exposure citing. A chance to slide inside Nora’s warmth and see that smile light up her face would be worth it, though.

  Nora lifted up quickly, hitting the back of her head on the doorframe. “Ouch!”

  I nearly choked on a laugh. “You okay?”

  Her hands hit the button on the top of her jean shorts. All laughter and words dried up. In the next second, the sound of the zipper lit up the quiet of the parking lot and she stepped out of them, completely naked from the waist down.