by Lexy Timms
"Morning. No worries. My lawyer got a kick out it." He kissed her quickly and turned his attention back to Mark. "Did you know that Kristen was an executive assistant to some oil guy for a while? She just called to ask if we might have any open positions."
"Really?" Mark's face lit up far more than it should have for a casual friendship.
"I think interviewing her would be a great idea." Jamie turned her attention back to Alex, but not before she made a mental note to ask Mark if he’d told Kristen to apply. She needed to pat him on the back for the great idea. "We're talking about for Gina's position, right?"
"Yes. Speaking of Gina, she’ll be here in a few minutes. She needs to clear her stuff out." He brushed his fingers across Jamie's face as his expression saddened.
"I-I can help her with that. You don't need to be there if you don’t want to." She patted his chest and moved out into the hall before he could stop her.
As if on cue, the elevator opened, and Gina walked out, her appearance nothing like Jamie was used to. The pretty woman had her hair pulled back in a simple bun, her eyes swollen with dark circles under them.
"Hey, Gina." She walked toward her and stopped as Gina glanced up, and her eyes filled with tears.
"H-Hi, Jamie." She moved around Jamie and stopped at the desk. "Alex said that one of you would need to stand over me while I emptied out my desk.” Her voice her shook. “I'd rather it be you, if you have time."
"Of course I do. Let me grab some boxes and I'll help you." Jamie reached out and touched Gina's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wish this—"
"No. It's my fault. I've been so lonely for so long that I let it drive me in a direction I never should have taken. This is all on me, and I'm willing to bear that. I just hope that one day Alex and I can be friends again. I've spent my whole adult life here." She glanced around as her bottom lip quivered. “Time to grow up.”
Jamie didn't think twice about pulling her into a tight hug. Gina started crying softly as soon as she did, and Jamie held on tightly. Everyone made mistakes. Jamie had made more than her share for sure. Though there was no way to salvage Gina's job, thanks to trust being destroyed, there was no reason they couldn't remain friends.
Alex appeared from somewhere down the hall, and let out a long sigh before walking toward them and tugging Gina into a hug. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she cried harder, and Jamie couldn't hold back her own tears.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Alex. I never should have gotten involved with that man. He's a demon from hell." She moved back and wiped at her tears. "I know my job’s lost, which is fine, but I pray you'll forgive me someday."
"I already have. I understand the situation; I just wish you had come to me. There's not much I wouldn't have given you, Gina. You're like family to me." He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Let Jamie help you with your stuff, and when the dust settles, we can have lunch or bring you and the kids out to the house for dinner or something fun."
She nodded and turned as Jamie locked eyes with Alex. The loss in his face was a mirror image of the painful emotions racing through her.
She would have to talk to Alex about not pressing charges against Gina, or making them seem like coercion. Gina wouldn't have acted on her own without Nicholas pushing. Where she made the decision to help him, it didn't mean that he didn't take complete advantage of a lonely single mom.
"I'm going to kill that dumbass." Jamie shook her head.
Alex nodded, understanding damn well and good who she was talking about. "No need to. We'll work to destroy the one thing the loves most. His money."
* * *
Jamie finished helping Gina carry all of her stuff out and pack it into the back of her car. She gave her friend a long hug, promising that their happy hours were still on every week. There was no doubt in Jamie's mind that Gina would find another job, and soon. The only fear was that she would go to Nicholas for one. By the looks of things, he wouldn't be in business much longer.
The wind whipped around Jamie as she jogged back to the front of the building. The sound of a feminine voice stopped her.
"Jamie!"
She turned to find Annette dressed to perfection, yet not wearing the usual nasty expression she seemed so fond of.
"Hell-o Annette." Jamie nodded toward the building. "Alex won’t see you.”
“I’m not here to see him. I want to talk to you.”
Jamie shivered. “I'm going in. It's freezing. If you want to say something, come in to the lobby and we can talk there." She turned to go.
"No. I just wanted to say that I'm not sorry for still loving Alex. He's the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I don’t need to listen to this.”
“Please wait.” The tone in her voice made Jamie hesitate. “I'm not sure how to back off, but I do want him and you to know that the pregnancy thing wasn't me. I have some friends in your office, and they told me about Gina. She's a good woman. Nicholas put her up to this, just like he paid off my loans to tell you guys that I was pregnant with Alex's baby." She shrugged. "Anyway. Just let him know."
Jamie stood in stock, unable to move as the wind tore at her from all directions. The icy chill of winter couldn't come close to touching the anger that pumped through her. Nicholas had been after Alex for far too long, but why? She finally turned and jogged the last few steps to the building, slipping in as a security guard held the door for her.
"Thank you," she mumbled and walked quickly to the elevator bank.
Why would Nicholas be so hell-bent on destroying Alex's company and his reputation? He was the city's most well-known young billionaire, but he was quickly being followed by hundreds of other young guys who had proven themselves and created empires. Why Alex? Was there more to the story than she knew? Was there more to it than Alex knew?
She rode the elevator up and stopped by his office, only to find him gone.
"He's in a meeting with IT, gathering additional support." Paul's voice surprised her.
"Oh. Thanks." She moved toward Gina's desk where Paul sat and smiled down at him. "Are you playing admin today?"
"Yes, ma'am. You'll need to take a ticket and get in line if you wanna see the big boy." Paul shrugged and pretended to pick at his nails.
"Um, yeah, don't let Alex hear you calling him that," she chuckled.
"Oh, yeah, I am. I hate sitting up here in the front. If I'm inappropriate, he'll send me back to the hole I call home." He leaned back and dropped the charade. "Nah, I'm good helping out. You know that."
"We should be interviewing this week. Alex actually has someone in mind."
"Is she pretty?" Paul stood and slid his hands into his pockets.
"Yep, but she's taken." Jamie shrugged.
"Well, damn." He winked and picked up the schedule on the desk. "Does he not have this on his computer? He's too old-school. You gotta work on him."
"He does. That was Gina's way of keeping up with things." Jamie tapped the desk between them. "I thought you went on a date the other day. Mark said you were taking some girl out for lunch."
"I did, but she's not my type at all. She was more interested in talking about the inner workings of return on investment than getting to know me. I don't need a colleague. I need someone to experience life outside of work with." He wrapped his arms around himself. "You got a sister?"
"I do, and I like you far too much to even talk about her with you," Jamie snorted and walked back to her office. She could talk with Alex later about Nicholas. It was just one more thing to put on the ever-growing list of stuff the older man was up to.
Nicholas. Oh, the man rubbed her the wrong way. There had to be more to the story that Jamie wasn’t able to see at the moment. She planned to dig into it the minute she got a chance. Alex could deal with the legal side of things, but she wanted to know the reason for Nicholas' intentions. Surely something had happened to start him on the path to destroy Alex.
But what?
Chapter 19
V
alentine’s Day
The next morning, Jamie woke to find herself alone in their bed again. She shuffled down the hall when she heard Jake whining. The poor thing probably had to go outside or needed food. She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, in surprise to find Alex standing there in a pair of jogging pants and a heavy sweater. He was working on getting a new coffee pot they had picked up over Christmas to work.
"Hello there, handsome." She moved up to him and wrapped herself around the front of him as he turned and reached for her. “What a nice surprise.”
"I decided we're taking the day off."
"Together?" Her eyes widened. She touched his forehead. Was he ill?
"Yep. We're going to do everything you want to do. No talking about all the shit at work, or being sad over Gina. Just fun stuff only. We'll go for a jog if you’d like to, eat breakfast at that ’café you love, and go to the mall. Besides, Mark said you needed to get me something for Valentine’s." He kissed the top of her head and turned around, bending over and tinkering with the coffee maker again.
"He did?" Jamie moved to the refrigerator as embarrassment rolled up her chest and covered her cheeks. Did Mark really tell Alex that she was getting a nightie to wear for him? That seemed a little much.
"He did. I told him that he was right, too..."
"You did?" She turned as Alex glanced back and chuckled.
"Yeah. White washes me out."
She burst out laughing, and warmth infused her. With everything they had been through over the last couple months, a day of fun was more than she could hope for, and perfectly timed. "We don't have to go on a run if you don't want." She moved over and bumped his hip, forcing him out of the way as she got the machine working.
"How did you do that? I have three damn degrees and couldn't get it to budge for me." He slid his hands over her hips and pressed himself to her rear.
"I'm this really big-shot's PA/senior advisor. He makes me do all sorts of things that you wouldn't want to hear about." She pressed against him and moaned softly as his hands moved up her front to cup her throat.
He pressed a long hot kiss to her neck and growled low in his chest. "I actually want to hear all about it."
She smiled and pulled from him. "Tonight then. As much as spending the day naked and sweaty sounds like bliss, you haven’t taken me out for a day of fun in forever. I'm opting for that today, and loads of depravity tonight."
"Depravity. I like the sound of that. Let's just say that depravity is exactly what I want for Valentine’s Day. Get me that." He swatted at her butt as she jogged out of the kitchen.
"Already purchased it."
"Good. I plan to unwrap it slowly tonight." His words followed her into the bedroom as she changed quickly into her running outfit.
He had two mugs of coffee ready to go by the time she joined him back in the kitchen. “How about we go for a walk instead?”
She smiled in agreement and the coffee she offered. She walked to the door, but paused when she realized that he wasn't following her.
"Aren’t we going to take Jake along?" Alex asked. He tilted his head to the side, studying her. "I thought he always went with you."
Jamie burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? He hates going out there. Maybe in the spring time, but I went through a whole bag of treats the other day trying to get him to keep up." She laughed and Alex chuckled, shaking his head at her.
"Then you're doing it wrong." He turned and walked toward the laundry room. "I'll show you how to do it."
"Please do." She put her hands on her hips and waited for the show to begin.
Half an hour later, they were walking by themselves, and Alex was still ranting about picking out a dog that acts more like a king than an animal.
"Leave him alone." Jamie swatted at him as they turned the final corner back toward the house. "He's just a baby. He'll grow out of it."
"Not if we don't train him to." He glanced over at her. "You look hot, by the way."
"You’ve told me that. Ten times."
"I'll tell you ten more, too. You're breathtaking. I wanna make sure you know it." He brushed his hand down her back and popped her butt as they moved up to steps toward the front door. "Can I have some of my gift now? Just a little bit?"
"No. Stop being greedy. The gift is to be unwrapped tonight." She glanced over her shoulder to find his gaze diverted down to her rear.
"Yeah, but those pants hug your ass so nicely." He moved up behind her and cupped her butt again, squeezing as he pressed his chin into her shoulder and gave her a sad look. "Please?"
"No. That puppy-dog stuff doesn't work with Jake, and it's not working with you. Get dressed for our day, and I promise you that, after tonight, you won’t be able to walk right." She turned and kissed his cheek quickly before going into the house.
* * *
The mall was a mess of people, as if no one had a job, or maybe Valentine’s had become a bank holiday. Jamie tried on several nighties, but refused to come out and show Alex simply because she wanted the outfit to be a surprise for later that night.
He stood not-so-patiently at the front of the dressing area and kept trying to peek over the top. The attendant threatened to send him out, but Jamie saved him from getting ejected from the store. She walked out of the dressing room, laughing at him as he gave her a stern look. "What?"
"You told her that you didn't know me. Really?" He reached for her hand and tugged her beside him. "I'm spanking you for that."
"Good. I'll have loads of ass showing later. You'll have plenty to spank." She shrugged as if they were talking about the weather.
"You're such a bad girl. Did you know that?" He locked her arms behind his, trapping her to his front. "I love it. It turns me on in ways I never dreamed possible." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in the middle of the mall, kissing her softly at first and then harder.
She wasn't used to public affection, but something about the moment kept her trapped there.
"Is that Alex Reid?!" Several voice rose, and cameras flashed here and there.
Jamie's first inclination was to jerk back. Alex was very protective over his reputation, and she didn't want to do anything to harm that, but he seemed set on letting the world know that they were together.
His fingers found their way to her face and held her in place as he opened his eyes and kissed her a few more times. "I love you."
"I love you more. Let's get out of here and go make love. You were right. We should have stayed home." She kissed him quickly once more before moving back and taking his hand.
"As much as I would love that, I have dinner reservations for us at six tonight. We have three hours until then. Let's get you a new dress and some pretty jewelry as my Valentine’s gift to you. We'll go home and get ready and then head back out. You're going to love this place. It's a new steakhouse in downtown, and the reviews alone make your mouth water." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers as they walked toward a large, expensive department store.
"I don't need a new dress, baby. You've bought me plenty." She tried to divert him, but he wouldn't have it.
"No. I want you to have something new. Don't deny me this. Then I'll have to think of something else that I want to buy you, and I have very little time. Get a dress for tonight. For me." He lifted his eyebrow and gave her a sexy smile.
"Instead of the depravity you ordered?" she teased him.
"Um, no. I need that depravity, but I'm pretty sure the dress will just be part of the overall package that is you." He pulled her toward a large expensive store. "Get to it, woman. Find something that will leave me panting after you."
"Okay. Let's see what they have in nude," she laughed as he growled softly.
"Tease."
“And you love it.”
“You friggin’ bet I do.” He grinned at her. That sexy grin that made her knees weak.
Chapter 20
The restaurant was extravagant, the setting romantic and insanely beautif
ul. Small white lights danced along the ceiling, and candles burned on each table. Red heart balloons floated and a violinist played music in a far corner of the place.
Jamie held tightly to Alex's hand as they moved through the empty dining room. She started to ask him why in the world the whole place was empty, but maybe they were just early. Alex didn't particularly care for crowds, but it was six on Valentine’s Day. The place should have been filled with people.
"This is beautiful," she whispered and tightened her hand around his. The dark suit he wore only brought out the intensity of his blue eyes and his muted pink lips.
She didn't think she could fall any more in love with him, but she was wrong.
He had picked out a muted blue dress that fell to right above her knees and hugged her hips and breasts tightly. She wanted to argue that she wouldn't be able to breathe, but after trying the thing on, she had quickly fallen in love with it.
Now that she was in the middle of one of the fanciest restaurants she had ever seen, she was grateful for the choice they had made on the dress. She felt like a princess, and had no doubt that the man next to her was most certainly her prince.
Alex opened a tall ornate door in front of him and moved back. "For you. I love you with all of my heart, with every part of me."
She paused as her stomach tightened and her heart fluttered in her chest. She smiled at him and brushed a kiss on his lips before he urged her to go into the quaint room before them.
Turning, Jamie walked in, but stopped short. Soft music played from the speakers above her, and the room was lit up as if fireflies were dancing around the air. A string of light pulled from the edges of the room to create a runway down the center of the room, and on the far end was a table no bigger than a nightstand. Lights and rose petals ran down the white tulle that was draped across the table, but it was the open black box nestled into the center of it that almost caused her heart to stop.
Surely it was a necklace or a pair of beautiful earrings. She had fallen for that once before. Not again.
