by Lexy Timms
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."
Jamie ignored the rest of the conversation and sank into her thoughts as worry threatened to override just how delicious their lunch was.
Alex might be busy, but she was going to have to butt her way in. He needed to know what was going on.
&nb
sp; * * *
After working through the rest of Gina's duties that afternoon, and Gina not showing up as she said she would, Jamie canceled a few of Alex's appointments and walked to his door, knocking lightly.
"Come in." He was bent over his computer, working furiously as she walked in and closed the door behind her. "My next one here?"
"Yup. I canceled the rest of your afternoon.”
He turned slowly in his chair, an eyebrow raised. “Really?” He glanced at the door. “Did you lock it?”
She shook her head. “I need to talk to you." She walked to the window and looked out over the city. Her ankle was starting to throb from the morning’s adventures, which meant a night on the couch and her laptop on her lap. She wasn't going to overdo it and possibly end up on crutches. That wasn't happening.
She half expected him to tell her to wait a second, but he was at her back, touching her shoulders softly as he pulled her against him.
"What wrong?"
She turned in his arms and slid her arms around his waist, leaning into him. "A lot, I think, but I'm not sure."
"Talk to me. You cleared my calendar for a reason. Did I do something? Is this about Annette? Kristen?" He paled a little.
"No. It's about Gina." Jamie pulled from his hold and walked to the table in the middle of the room. "I kept thinking that I was just going to bug you if I brought it up, but I'm not so sure anymore."
"Is this about her dating Nicholas? I told you I was going to look into that. He's up to something. He's a sly bastard, and is probably trying to get her to come work for him." Alex ran his fingers through his dark hair as he took the seat closest to her.
"He's trying to get all of us to come work for him. I agree that you need to look into him, but I think it's more than that." She handed him the file she'd brought in with her. "We've been working on reconciliations and such for the last week or so, and Mark noticed a new ID was added to some of our expenditure accounts. I looked into it, and Barton came back and said that you were the approver, but the expenses are ridiculous. A trip, a grocery store run, and the latest is two hundred dollars at a candy store. Either you guys are throwing some great parties and I'm not getting invited, or something is up."
Alex's brow furrowed. "What? Let me see this."
He took the file as Jamie bit at her lip. The situation with Gina had to come first, then the damn security system, then she could dig into who this Kristen girl was and what she was up to.
This blast from the past obviously had feelings for Alex; how could she not? Alex has saved the girl from an abusive boyfriend... he was her hero. That couldn't lead to anything good. Why was she looking for him after all these years anyway?
Even Mark's eyes had lit up when they started talking about the girl.
"I don't know what this is, but I'll look into it." Alex's voice brought her from her thoughts. "I can't honestly imagine Gina doing anything to hurt me or the company."
"I know. Me neither, and yet she called in sick this morning and was at lunch with Nicholas today." Jamie pressed her hand to her chin. "I wasn't going to look into her dealings, but I couldn't help myself. She's put all of us behind, and I want to choke her after seeing her at lunch. She's not sick at all."
"Damn..." Alex leaned back in his chair and pressed his palms to his eyes. "Surely she's not up to anything. It's Gina. She's like an older sister to me. We've been through more together than you can imagine."
"I’d look into it, Alex. Something’s not adding up. When we were out for drinks the other day, she said she was tired of arguing with you, and she would leave if things didn’t get better. It was her frustration talking, but now I’m starting to wonder. I'll help with anything you need me to. I hope I'm wrong." She reached out and ran her hand up his thigh, squeezing softly. “Maybe it’s just a slew of coincidences thrown in together.”
The sadness in his face drove a stake into her heart as he looked down at her. "I hope so, too. Hopefully you’re wrong, but something tells me you aren't."
Chapter 10
Jamie checked in with Alex one more time before finishing up for the evening, but he refused to come home just yet. Her canceling his appointments might have been the best thing to happen to him. From what she could tell, his mood was lifting even though he was still knee-deep in work.
They all were. Her later mornings in and the day she had taken off with Mark had set her behind as well. Sitting at Gina’s desk, covering, had forced her to stay put and do both jobs at once, but she was still behind. It didn’t matter, though, the work would still be there tomorrow and the files she took home to work on that night could travel with her. This was the kind of job that you never got ahead on. Jamie was beginning to figure out that if you were ahead, then somewhere, somehow, money wasn’t being made.
She rode home with Mark and they stopped by the local burger joint for dinner, neither of them too interested in cooking. She sent Murray a message as Mark parked her car to see if he could take care of meals for Alex and her the rest of the week. She got an automatic reply to say he was away for another ten days. Must be on vacation, lucky stiff. She got out of the truck and hobbled to the front door, her ankle starting to feel worse than it had that morning.
"You're going to need to go to the doctor if it swells. I'll put some ice on it for you when we get to the house, and then I'll leave you be." Mark smiled and held the door open, and Jamie moved into the much-needed warmth of the restaurant.
"Sounds good to me. A good glass of wine will be perfect company until Alex finally makes it home." She moved to the counter and glanced up at the board, trying to decide if she should make a good decision or a bad one.
"I usually get two of these beauties, but only finish one and a half. You want the other half, or are you in the mood for a whole one?" He stepped up beside her, saving her from having to make a decision at all.
"I'd love that. I was just thinking how good a bacon double cheeseburger would be, but I didn't want to have all the calories from it." She smiled and pulled out her wallet. "I'll get this."
"Nope. My turn." He pushed her hand back as she tried to hand the lady her card. "Really. Go get a seat and I'll bring everything over. Coke or something else?”
"Diet Coke for me, please." Jamie smiled and walked to a booth, dropping down and sliding in. There had to be hope that Alex would be able to find some semblance of balance over the next few years. She loved hanging out with his brother, and would hopefully be doing so for years to come, but she had to be honest: she would rather be hanging out with Alex.
She stared out the window and tried to sort her head through things. She was thinking long-term, but demanding he change, or telling him he needed to spend less time at the office, was not going to fly. She loved him for who he was, and his business had been his baby for long before she showed up. She worked with him and could see him all day, so why was she complaining? She snorted quietly as she considered how he made up for dinner absences when they went to bed. He knew how to make love. Damn, that was a talent he knew better than making millions, and he was pretty fantastic at knowing how to make money.
She shifted in her seat, having grown warm at the thoughts running through her head. She missed him, and yet she had been well aware what kind of life she was signing up for with him. She pulled out her phone and sent him a quick text, wanting him to know that she was thinking about him and couldn't wait until he got home that night.
Mark brought the food over and set everything down in front of her before taking his seat.
"So... did you get a chance to talk to Alex about his secretary?" Mark worked to cut one of the burgers in half before sliding some of it over to her.
"A little. He's going to look into it, though I honestly hated to put that on him. Gina's been with him since he started the firm. The look on his face was so damn sad." She picked up a fry and dragged it through the puddle of ketchup between them. "I wish I could make it all go away, but I can't. I'm just trying to not pull anything
else into the drama right now."
"Anything else like what?" He took a big bite of his burger and groaned. "Damn, I love the food here! They have these burger huts back home."
Jamie smiled and handed him a napkin. "You have ketchup on your chin. I love this place too."
"Stop avoiding my question. What else could you bring into the drama? Something’s bothering you. I can tell." He wiped his mouth and watched her intently. “Spill it, Connors. Or I’ll smoosh this ketchup all over your pretty little face.”
She laughed at his fake-menacing face. “Ketchup? Really?”
“Stop avoiding, and answer the damn question,” he growled, holding the little tub of ketchup close to her nose. “Don’t make me use this.”
She moved to the right and held her hands up in mock defense. “Alright, alright, you win! I’ll spill the beans.” She took a bite of her hamburger and savored the delicious taste of fresh tomato, hamburger, bacon, and cheese. So good. She wiped her mouth with a napkin while Mark patiently waited for her. "It’s silly, I know, but maybe you can help convince me I’m being silly because I can’t stop thinking about it.” She inhaled and stared down at that the salty fries, unable to meet Mark’s eyes that were so similar to Alex’s. “I'm still trying to think through why Alex wouldn't have mentioned Annette coming to the office. He had it on Gina’s calendar but he blocked the time off on the joint one he and I share electronically as personal time. If he had told me, then I'd have gotten over it and been mature about it. I think not knowing makes it look… makes it feel like he was hiding something." She nibbled on a fry, wishing like hell that she had a girlfriend to share all of her silly unimportant concerns with. Mark was filling that spot brilliantly, but she knew it wasn't right. Alex wouldn’t appreciate it. Nor would she appreciate if Alex talked to her sister about his problems.
Marked watched her for a moment, as if trying to figure out how best to respond. "Maybe it just wasn't important to him. The meeting with the girl part, not you getting upset or reading something into his meeting. He probably just figured it was going to be quick and painless, and he could just get rid of her. Why upset you over her stopping by when he had every intention of just kicking her ass back out?" Mark lifted his eyebrow and shrugged. "I wouldn't have mentioned it."
