From This Day Foward: Switched at Marriage Part 4

by Gina Robinson

  Jus flipped the paper onto the table and tapped it with his finger. "Riggins and I are trying to do something about this."

  "You want to put a stop to philanthropy?" I said, deadpan.

  He laughed. "Right, smartass. That's it. Death to all philanthropy." He rolled his eyes, which twinkled with amusement.

  He was just so happy. I almost wanted to slap some sense in him.

  I didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed. And maybe, if I was honest, I was a bit annoyed because I realized I was pretty happy, too.

  "We want to do our part," he said. "But we're novices at being billionaires. Well, I am. Riggins has a little more experience at being rich." Jus laughed. "I want you to meet him."

  "I'd love to meet the mysterious Riggins." Which was absolutely true. I was insanely curious about Riggins. Who, like Lazer, had made the list of Seattle's most eligible rich guys many times over.

  "He's not so mysterious. We'll get together with him soon." As Jus glanced at the paper again, a frown creased his forehead.

  It could have just been me, but I thought it was exaggerated to impress me. Which was sweet of him.

  "At Flash, we're trying to do our part to help the local community. All the proceeds from our sample sales go completely to community causes—battered women's shelters and the children's hospital. Volunteers from both organizations help organize the sales and man the cash registers at the events. Once a year, we have a huge sample sale and benefit that's open only to the patients, staff, and patrons of the hospital and domestic violence shelters we support. Our employees take over for the charities' volunteers."

  "That's awesome." I took a bite of my filled croissant, getting powdered sugar on my lip and all over my fingers.

  "Ophie's in charge of it." Jus made a dusting motion. "You have a little something…"

  At the mention of Ophie's name, I sat up straighter, suddenly annoyed by the powdered sugar as I licked it off.

  Okay, Ophie, I thought, feeling a little bit superior, but still unhappy at the thought of her. I'm the one who made a man out of him. He's got my grin on his face. Why should I fear you?

  But I still didn't like the thought of her being in love with him.

  Jus was watching me closely. "As the company has grown, so has the event. It's gotten out of hand. And frankly, it's too big a job for Ophie to handle. Especially with all her other job responsibilities."

  He took my hand, squeezing it playfully. "I'd like you to be involved with Flash. I've offered before. I was serious about it. Now that we've gone public, it would be awkward for everyone if I hired you now."

  "What are you thinking?" I said, trying not to get my hopes up.

  "I'd like you to take the sample sales over from Ophie."

  "Yes!" I couldn't hold my smile down. "I'm already bored staying home. A billionaire's wife can’t just go out and get any old job. It just doesn't look good. And I've already called in rich at the one I had."

  He nodded. "That's what I was thinking." He got an almost shy look on his face. "As a matter of fact, I was hoping you'd be game for taking over the bulk of my charitable obligations."

  I frowned, unclear exactly what he was asking. "What do you mean? People are going to want to see you at events."

  "I'm messing this up." He squeezed my hand. "I was thinking of starting a charitable foundation to oversee my charitable giving. We'd start small. The first task would be deciding which causes and charities to support. Besides the ones Flash already does. You could head it up. Help me get it started. Your first task will be the annual sample sale benefit."

  Suddenly all the empty days in front of me were filled with exciting possibilities. My life had meaning. "Yes!" I said before he could change his mind.

  He leaned across the table and kissed me. "Thanks, Kay. I really do need you."

  His words, his tone, and the look in his eyes were so sincere, they hit me with a powerful force. I hadn't ever been needed that badly. And helping others in need would help me deal with the guilt of suddenly, undeservedly, being so filthy rich.

  My mind filled with possibilities. Still, I hesitated. "I don't have a lot of experience. I was the philanthropy chair one year at my sorority. But that was it."

  "That's okay," he said. "We'll start small. If you need help, we'll hire a manager with experience to guide you and run the day-to-day. Eventually, you'll be more the public face of it."

  "What about in a year?" I fiddled with my napkin, tearing little bits of it off, suddenly nervous.

  "We'll deal with that when it comes." He took a sip of coffee. "Which brings up another thing. Britt cornered me at the party. She wants a job at Flash. Given the circumstances, what do you think?"

  I shrugged. Britt wanted the job so badly. "She'll be hurt if we don't give her a chance."

  He nodded. "Yeah. There's no way out. Tell her to send me her résumé. I'll pass it along. I have to go through channels now, but I usually get my way." He paused. "It's going to be harder to keep up our game with her around the office all the time."

  "You could always lowball her with your salary offer?" I said, and probably sounded way too hopeful.

  "And get a bad rep for being a sweatshop?" He grimaced adorably.

  I laughed.

  Two attractive women about my age walked toward us, whispering to each other excitedly. They stopped at Justin's elbow.

  The bolder one of them spoke. "Excuse us. Sorry to interrupt, but aren't you Justin Green, the owner of Flashionista?"

  They were obviously nervous and impressed. And even though I was sitting right there, I was invisible to them as they tittered over him and flirted.

  He nodded.

  They just started gushing. "We love Flashionista! Over half my wardrobe and the stuff in my apartment is from your website. If it wasn't for Flash, I couldn't afford all the boutique stuff I have…"

  On and on. They fell all over him.

  Jus smiled, joked with them, was completely at ease and charming. He talked with them way too long, in my opinion. Could it be I was a tiny bit jealous of his attention being diverted?

  I sat there mute, with a frozen smile hurting my face, until the waitress saved me by coming by to refill my coffee.

  "Oh, sorry! We're taking up too much of your time," the bold one said, falling all over Jus.

  "No. It's been great meeting you." Jus pulled his wallet out. "I love all our customers." He pulled two cards out of his wallet and handed one to each girl. "Gift cards. For your next order. To thank you for your loyalty."

  The girls squealed happily, gave him flirty waves, and disappeared.

  "How much did you give your fangirls?" I sounded grumpier than I meant to.

  He shrugged. "Fifty apiece."

  "Crap, Jus. Just for stroking your ego?"

  He should have been mad. Instead, his smile deepened.

  "You'd better give our waitress at least that," I said, still the grump. "If she hadn't moved them along, we'd be stuck here all day."

  * * *

  On Monday, I finally got a chance to go through that coat of Justin's where the mysterious letter was stashed. And it was…gone! Of course. Foiled again.

  The producer of Northwest Mornings, a local Seattle morning TV show, called. She wanted to book me for an interview, the blushing new bride gushing over her billionaire groom. As more and more requests for interviews poured in, I began to contemplate getting an administrative or personal assistant for myself. Someone to manage my appointments and screen calls. The media had given us a few days off. A big news story about the current celebs of the moment had eclipsed my story of snagging the billionaire nerd boy. But the media frenzy from that had died down and I was news again.

  I agreed to go on their Friday show. Now that I was taking over Justin and Flash's charitable work, I figured it would be a good place to announce it and get a jump on PR. I immediately booked several sessions with the top media coach in the city and began working on my public persona. Which, as far as I co
uld tell, would be adoring wife and dedicated humanitarian. And, of course, fashionista dressed by Flashionista.

  In my mind, I was playing out our year together. How soon until stories of our marriage sliding toward the rocks should appear? A few months before the end? A few weeks? What would our breakup look like? Could we part amicably, still friends?

  I pushed thoughts of our parting away. There were growing increasingly depressing. Why should I think about them today when they could be pushed off to the distant future of a year?

  Despite having fantastic sex together, and Jus adoring me and spoiling me completely and totally, he hadn't said he loved me. Not that I expected him to. I hadn't told him, either. Because I wasn't really in love with him. Not yet. But he was special to me, an intimate friend. And we had so much fun together.

  First thing Monday morning, Jus set up a meeting between Ophie and me. She was too busy to meet with me until Wednesday. That was her claim, anyway. I believed she was putting me off in a pure power play. Frustrating. I couldn't publically announce my involvement in the charity sample sale until Ophie had been told and we'd met to discuss details and transitioning it to me.

  In the meantime, I played alpha video game tester with Data on my lap. She was a good pup and seemed to enjoy the game, barking when I killed bad guys and made my way through the levels. Bonding with a dog over video games was interesting. It was so Justin to have a nerd dog.

  My princess character was beautiful, and rather useless, as she floated along in the background. I made a note to complain to Lazer about that. In the meantime, I struck up an immediate online friendship with several other testers. Several, one in particular, were terrible flirts. But Lazer, despite his offer to play the game with me last Saturday, was never on when I was. And Jus declined to play, preferring to lock himself in his office and work on his Flashionista algorithms.

  Wednesday was nearly the longest day of the year. The merch girls at Flash got tired of waiting for an excuse to have a happy hour party to meet me. They planned a nearly shortest night of the year pub party, complete with karaoke, and issued Jus and me an invitation that couldn't be refused. Suddenly my Wednesday was booked—a coffee meeting with Ophie, followed by meetings with the top merch buyers, topped off by a hump day happy hour.

  Wednesday afternoon, promptly at two, I met Jus and Ophie at a well-known local bakery near the Flash offices. It was crowded with tourists and office workers from downtown. Jus and Ophie were already there, working at a table in the corner, heads bent together intimately, laughing. It was clear from the familiarity between them they were used to working this way. In informal, date-like settings. At odd hours. I pictured them in the early days of Flash, working late together at the office. Or over candlelit dinners.

  She poured Jus another cup of coffee from a small manual immersion brewer on the table. Ophie reached across him and dumped a packet of raw sugar into his cup, along with a splash of cream, like a long-married wife does for her husband. I'd seen my grandma do the same thing for Grandpa. Ophie even stirred the coffee for Jus. She knew, evidently, just how he liked his coffee. And anticipated his needs. I wondered if he was even aware of how she spoiled him.

  I pushed down a bubble of jealousy.

  Neither of them saw me come in. I got in line to get an iced coffee and one of the bakery's famous scones and watched them. How could Jus be drinking hot coffee on such a gorgeous, warm day? He drank entirely too much coffee, to be honest. And too many energy drinks as well. All that caffeine couldn't be good for him. I laughed at myself. Here I was worrying over him like an old hen. I wasn't his mom. Thank goodness.

  When Ophie didn't think anyone was watching, her face shone with love and longing for Jus. He was clearly the sunshine in her day, so warm it scorched the rest of us. When he looked at her, she masked it. As well as she could. It was still a wonder to me that Jus didn't see it. Because as sure as the Seahawks were the city's favorite team, and destined to be Super Bowl champs again soon, everyone else in the bakery could.

  I felt the sting of her desire for him as I waited in line. It bordered on obsession. And while that may have been flattering to Jus, it was dangerous to me. And us. And Flash. Not just because of the circumstances and Justin's crazy ID thief marriage we were covering up. Under any circumstance. She would put being close to Jus above Flash. Above everything. Even the law. I suppressed a shudder. And pushed away a premonition of darkness and trouble.

  I was an intuitive person. I didn't discount my feelings of dread. Fear was a gift. That was what a book on self-defense I'd read said. Don't ever ignore it. And never, ever, underestimate your adversary. Especially when she wants your guy.

  Ophie might seem meek and mild and geeky, matronly, definitely the underdog against glamour and fashion sense, but I wouldn't drop my guard. Her type run deep with unfulfilled passion. She struck me as exactly the kind who believed the end justified the means. For something she wanted.

  Jus looked up as I finished paying for my scone and coffee. His face lit up when he saw me. He waved as the waitress handed me my white chocolate iced mocha.

  I joined them at the table.

  He stood and kissed me with pride of ownership and possession. And the absolute high of newfound sexuality. I would have said love, but that wasn't it. Maybe infatuation. Sex was still a shiny new toy for him and I was its vessel, his playground. A week ago, I would never have imagined he could be so confident. Did Ophie see the difference in him? Was she insanely jealous?

  For the first time since Justin's sexual awakening, I felt like his mistress. A kept woman in every sense. Ophie and I were like two halves of what should have been one wife—a woman who adored and cared for him and a woman who gave him pleasure.

  "Hey! You should have let me get that for you," he said as he held my chair out for me. He whispered in my ear, "You look beautiful." He sounded almost in awe.

  He hadn't seen me since we'd tumbled around the bed together this morning. He left before I'd showered and dressed.

  "Thank you." I stroked his bearded cheek and smiled at Ophie. "So good to see you again, Ophie. Thanks for making time to see me." It was hard to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

  "Jus tells me you're terribly busy. And now he's added more to your plate." I put just the right of amount of sympathy in my voice and on my face. "He says you're a wonder, a superhero of the office. I'm happy to be able to take the less pressing issues off your workload."

  Yes, I was playing up to her. Praising her. Trying to put her off her guard. My words were sweet and soft. Feminine and totally guileless. In outward appearance only. In truth, they were totally calculated. And as barbed as the blooming blackberry bushes in every vacant lot in the city.

  Jus had already told her he was moving the sample sales and charity events to me. If I had been anyone else, I imagined she would have been only too happy to off load that "fluffy" stuff. Though it wasn't fluffy at all. It was high profile, or would be in my hands. Good PR and advertising for Flash. Community goodwill was essential for any business to thrive. And Jus could use the goodwill, too. Always bank goodwill if you can.

  Ophie nodded curtly. "Yes, good to see you, too. Jus has already explained the situation to me." She beamed at him.

  Yes, beamed. Intentionally. To show me how close she was to him. Her chair was also indecently near his. Closer than mine. The way the table legs were positioned, it was impossible for me scoot any nearer to him. Without out-and-out sitting in his lap. And I hated the way she used the familiar of his name, Jus, like I did. It seemed unprofessional. Too friendly.

  I had a vision of the future, of the two of them married, running Flash together. Of their children taking it over. I wondered if she would be successful at snagging him once our agreement ended and I let him go. She'd have to fight off and beat out a gaggle of hot girls. His newfound confidence would not be her ally.

  The thought of them together made me irrationally sad and angry. A week ago, I had been semi-inclined to help
her catch him. They seemed well suited in many areas. I would be walking away with my millions, so what would I care? As long as Jus was happy. But now? I wasn't so sure I would trust Jus to her.

  "Ophie brought all the information you need. She knows everything. She's prepared to answer any and all questions." Jus beamed as he looked between us, his efficient admin and his trophy decoy wife.

  Was he so completely unaware of the tension rippling between us, cold like the waters of Puget Sound sparkling outside our window? Or how much she disliked me and, as a consequence, I was growing to dislike her?

  Jus got a text. He glanced at it. "Shit. There's a problem with the website. Tech needs me onsite immediately. I have to run. Sorry, Kay!" He squeezed my hand. "I'll see you later?"

  I nodded. "Go!" The website was always top priority. "I'm meeting with some of the merch people after this. After work you and I can walk to the happy hour together."

  "Excellent! Ophie can walk you back to Flash and get you checked in at reception." He slapped the table, took a last drink of his coffee, and gathered his things. "I'll leave you two to it!" He kissed me goodbye and was off.

  Both Ophie and I watched him go. But I was watching her out of the corner of my eye. I hadn't been wrong. She was absolutely fixated on him.

  When he was out of sight, she finally turned back to me and we got to work. She'd efficiently set me up with Flash's digital cloud and stored everything I needed there. I didn't know what made me think it, but I made a mental note to talk to Dex before I used my cloud account. And have him check for spyware. Dex was a computing genius, like Jus.

  "The sample sales are a nightmare to stage," Ophie said. "The merch people are uncooperative, never committing to what will be in the sale until the last minute. Have you been to one of our sample sales?"

  I shook my head. "Never had the pleasure. I haven't been either a friend or family long." No, I couldn't resist getting in that subtle show of my superior position. She may have been an employee. But I was family, first family, of Flash now.