So Alex definitely owned the business. And ruled it with an iron fist, apparently.
Jamie’s cell phone began ringing on her desk where she’d set it. The sound of the music from the wicked witch of the west began playing in the room. It was Christine.
“Go ahead, take it,” Gina said. “Just this once, though. Usually Mr. Reid prohibits all personal calls.”
“So sorry. It won’t happen again.” Jamie grabbed her phone and pressed it against her ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jamie, where did you put the catering menu?” Christine asked.
“You never gave me the catering menu. You said you and Stephen wanted to work it out yourself.” Because you didn’t want me to get hungry and binge-eat after seeing all of the gourmet foods on the menu.
“Oh, that’s right. What about the honeymoon brochures?”
“I’m at work. Can I call you back?”
“It’ll take you two seconds to answer. Less if you stop arguing.”
Jamie sighed and stared up at the high ceiling. “Bedroom desk, left drawer. I have to go.”
“You got a job?” Christine’s voice rose an octave “What the h—”
Jamie ended the call and quickly turned the phone on silent. “Sorry about that,” she said to Gina. “My sister’s getting married and is freaking out.”
“Been there. Done that. Twice, actually.” Gina smiled. “But seriously, make sure Mr. Reid doesn’t catch you taking personal calls. He’s very strict about following the rules and working with the utmost efficiency.”
Jamie nodded. She could understand that. The hard part would be trying to get her sister, who had never worked a day in her life, to understand that.
Gina took her around several floors of the building. Everyone she met was polite but distant. They all were very busy so Gina and Jamie did their best not to disturb them.
The last stop was at the base of the building. A workout gym took up the entire basement, lined with different equipment as well as two locker-rooms, a pool, and a sauna. It was the scariest thing yet. Jamie didn’t do gyms. She spent her life trying to hide away from working out in public. Now she had the excuse of being too busy to use it.
“Well, that’s about it.” Gina smiled. “Me and some of the others meet at the bar across the street for drinks on Wednesdays. It’s to get through hump day.” Gina laughed. “You’re welcome to join us.”
Jamie smiled. “Sounds like fun.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. There were five missed calls from Christine and two missed calls from Alex. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized how much trouble she could be in. “I have to get back to my office. Alex—Mr. Reid’s been trying to get a hold of me.”
Gina nodded. “Let’s go. We can take the stairs, it’ll be quicker.”
Jamie bit her tongue from arguing that the elevator would be quicker for her.
Alex looked less than happy when Jamie came up, out of breath and her face flushed. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?” he asked.
“My phone was off so my sister couldn’t call me during work hours.”
“Why would she call you when she knows that you’re working?”
Jamie simply handed him the phone. He looked at the screen with the missed phone call notifications and swore quietly. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card. “Get yourself a business phone at the end of the day. I need you to accompany me to my meeting this morning and to take notes.”
“Yes, sir,” Jamie said as she tried finger brushing the stray hairs that had escaped her bun away. “When’s the meeting?”
“Right now.” He frowned and checked his watch. “Grab your tablet.”
“Tablet?” She turned to find a brand new tablet with detachable keyboard on her desk.
“They’re easier to travel with than a computer.” Alex handed her a folder. “Keep this available. When I ask for a paper, hand it to me.”
“Yes, sir.” She slipped the folder in the small Kate Spade tablet holder and followed Alex out the door.
Jamie didn’t have another moment to think for the rest of the day. Every time she finished a task, Alex had six more for her. When she wasn’t attending meetings, typing up reports or filling out paperwork, she had to consult with Gina about Alex’s schedule. Appointments came from Alex and also through Gina. It was clear that Alex was a much wanted man. Jamie couldn’t see how Alex kept up with it. She definitely didn’t see how she was going to keep up with it all.
She and Alex stayed later than everyone else. He wanted to go over the next day’s schedule with her. And give her clothes to drop off at the dry cleaners. By the time Jamie headed home, she was exhausted. And hungry. Even though Alex had bought takeout for himself and offered to get some for her, she declined. She had read somewhere that eating less at night and more in the morning would make you lose weight faster, and figured it would be for the best. She was beginning to regret it now, though. Food sounded damn good.
She stopped at a phone kiosk to pick up an Apple phone similar to the one she’d seen Alex using today. She ran his credit card to pay and wondered if the clerk would require her to have proof for it. If he did, she wouldn’t have the energy to argue with him. Luckily he didn’t. He even helped her add the contacts from the tablet to her phone. When he suggested adding her personal phone she shook her head. No way! She didn’t need her sister calling forty times a day. She didn’t have time for it.
She drove back to the large mansion house, still not sure what it fully looked like in the day and used the gate pass Alex had given her early in the day to open the gate. She pulled into the same spot she’d parked in last night and wondered if Alex and his girlfriend were somewhere in the house.
She opened her car door to find Alex rounding the corner of the house. He spotted her before she could hide. “Good evening, Ms. Connors,” he said, smiling.
“What’re you doing here?” she blurted out. Damn it, Jamie. Don’t be rude! It’s his bloody house!
Alex just looked amused, which made Jamie even more embarrassed. “I live here,” he said. He smirked. “I actually own the house here, too.”
She stood there, too embarrassed to respond. Of course he lived here.
Alex continued when he realized she didn’t know what to say. “You must be tired, Ms. Connors,” he said. “Let me walk you to your apartment.”
“No, I’m fine, really, Mr. Reid,” she said. “You don’t have to walk me.”
“I insist,” he said. “You’re exhausted and besides, you only moved in yesterday. I assume the apartment is satisfactory for you?”
“It’s fine.” Fine? She crushed the heel of her hand against her forehead. “It’s fantastic. Sorry. I haven’t had much time to unpack.” She kept her eyes to the ground wishing Murray were there instead of Alex. She felt awkward and shy. This was his house and she was living on the main floor, overlooking the pool. That’s where he’d been. She realized his hair was wet and the t-shirt and shorts he wore were dripping. She licked her lips and shot a glance out of the corner of her eye. Dressed in a suit or casual, the man had an air about him. Hot, hot—Focus, Jamie, focus!
She never did like seeing her bosses out of work, even in meetings as innocent as this. She had read too many of Christine’s collection of trashy romances growing up to ever feel comfortable with it.
Alex didn’t seem to notice though. “When’s your sister’s wedding?”
“Why?”
He smiled. “I have to make sure you have that week off.”
“The third week of June,” Jamie said. “I thought…”
“What? That I was invited? I may be friends with Stephen from college but I’m not that close to him.” Alex looked at her intently. “Trust me.”
Jamie swallowed and nodded. She wasn’t sure what to make of Alex’s expression. Unless he was mad at Stephen on her behalf or something. She wasn’t sure why he would be, but the thought was nice. Stop it. Whatever you’re thinking about, just stop
it. She was definitely too tired to be near people right now. Her thoughts were going every which way.
“I have a gym in the house.”
“Pardon?”
“Gina mentioned she showed you the gym at the office.” He ran his tongue over his lower lip. “If you want to use a gym and don’t feel comfortable there, I have one here in the house. You are welcome to use it anytime.”
“Oh.” Great, now he was going to push her to lose weight?
“I don’t mean it in any way. You look okay. Fine.” His cheeks flushed red. “I just meant to offer the quietness here if you ever wanted it… before the wedding and stuff. It’s the room beside your apartment. The code to get in is one-four-nine-six. Top left, down, Right bottom up.”
Jamie wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. She nodded, unable to say anything, terrified she’d burst into tears. She gratefully stopped in front of her apartment door. “Well, this is me,” she said lamely. Of course he knows it’s your place. She took a deep breath in and let it out, hoping she didn’t embarrass herself again. Not in front of him. “Goodnight, Mr. Reid.”
He smiled at her. “Goodnight, Ms. Connors.”
His smile made her stomach flip and before she completely humiliated herself, she opened the door and quickly shut it in Alex’s face.
Yeah, that wasn’t humiliating at all.
Chapter 7
The next morning, after a restless night, Jamie got up an hour early and dug through one of her boxes for some workout clothes. “I’m not doing this for Christine, or my mother, or Alex Reid,” she told herself. “I’m just doing it because I want to see what the gym looks like. I’ll just peek around and spend twenty minutes on a treadmill.”
She yawned, feeling like a zombie that hadn’t started rotting yet. There’s no way I got enough sleep last night. Didn’t lack of sleep also affect weight loss? It definitely wasn’t healthy. Shouldn’t she be losing weight in a healthy way? “Doesn’t matter, not right now. Exercise will wake me up.”
She set a skirt and blouse on her bed and dug through the laundry hamper she had filled with shoes for a pair of sneakers. She slipped out the door, wondering if she should lock it as she stared out into what should overlook the pool. The sun did not rise at four, it wanted to sleep.
The cool morning air did little to wake her up. She checked her messages on the short walk to the gym door. There were five more calls from Christine and three from her mother. Even one call from Stephen and a text message from her father. Apparently she had one day of work and the entire world fell apart. She opened the text message from her dad as she stood outside the gym door.
Jamie, honey, I think you need to come home. Your mother and sister are freaking out. Maybe this new job of yours should wait until after the wedding.
Jamie blinked back tears. He had been the only one excited for her. Even if it was for just a few seconds, he had been, and now he was telling her to quit like everyone else. He’s just saying that because he can’t handle mom when she’s hysterical. Nevertheless, it still hurt.
She sent him a simple reply: I’m doing great. All is well and I’ll call Mom and Christine later today.
She shoved her phone into her gym bag that held a water bottle and towel. She made a mental note to make sure she stopped at the grocery store on the way to and from work today.
Luckily the gym was unlocked. Jamie went in and lights flickered automatically on. The place was nearly as big as the gym at the office, with more mirrors than a ballet studio. If she’d been half asleep before, she was fully awake now.
She looked around and dropped her bag to the floor. She might as well do something. Half the equipment looked like machines built to traumatize or kill people. She settled for the treadmill. Safe and not a killing machine. She was so tired she almost tripped getting on. Luckily she was alone.
Jamie turned on the treadmill, thinking about how she was going to have to call her sister back and wondering what she was going to say. By this point her mother and Christine had no doubt gotten together and had a huge discussion on how Jamie was a terrible sister. She could just imagine the words; let down, unreliable, selfish, and so forth. Stephen would join in, and twist it to make himself look like the generous brother-in-law who had been coerced into helping her find a job.
As she was envisioning the conversation she pressed the up button on the treadmill to get it started and adjust the speed. She rubbed her eyes, yawned, and stepped on. She wasn’t prepared for the speed on the machine, though, and as soon as she put her left leg on, it swung back and she tried to run with her right foot and grab the handrails to stop herself.
No. Such. Luck.
Her weight shifted but could not keep up with the moving path. She whipped her head back just as her body was flung backwards, across the gym. Arms and legs flailing everywhere until her back rammed into something hard.
The wall.
Right at Alex Reid’s feet.
Fucking. Hell.
“Good morning, Ms. Connors,” Alex said, frowning at her. “Are you all right?”
Jamie scrambled to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand ready to help her up. “Good morning, Mr. Reid,” she said, her face burning from embarrassment and exertion. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Not at four thirty in the morning.
“I’ve heard exercise reduces stress. Sometimes I need all the help I can get.”
“Oh. Of course.” Jamie made herself look at his face instead of at his gray t-shirt that showed off his muscles and made him look like a Greek god and a normal human all at once. “Well, I just finished. Enjoy your workout,” she said, nodding and then walking with as much dignity as possible after what happened and grabbed her bag before scurrying out of the gym. She didn’t bother turning off the treadmill.
Maybe next time she’d try after work and just stick to the basics. The treadmills were dangerous killing machines, they’d just tried to fool her by appearing simple and easy to use.
“There’s a call for you on line two, Jamie,” Gina called as she passed by her office door.
Jamie never took her eyes off the press release she was writing as she grabbed the phone. “Hello, Reid Enterprises.”
“Jamie!” Christine’s shrill voice pierced through the receiver. “I need you right now! You need to come over here right this instant!”
“I can’t, Christine,” Jamie said. “I told you, you can’t call me when I’m working.”
Christine sobbed over the phone. “I need help,” she cried. “The wedding dress just came in and it makes me look like a prostitute.”
“I’m sure it’s fine. Talk it over with the seamstress.” Jamie slipped a pen in her mouth as she marked off what she’d needed in the release. “I’m sure you look beautiful. Look, I’ll call you after I get out of work.”
“But—”
Jamie hung up and covered her face with her hands, sighing. She wasn’t sure if losing twenty pounds was worth being the maid of honor when it was already a bitch of a job as it was. Damn, I want pie, right now.
“Is everything all right, Ms. Connors?” Alex stood near her desk.
Jamie jumped slightly. She hadn’t even heard him leave his office. “Yes.” She pressed her lips into a thin line. “I’m afraid my sister found the number to here. I don’t suppose there’s a persona non grata list or something we can put her on? Otherwise, I have a feeling she’ll be tying up the phone lines trying to reach me.” Thankfully he hadn’t mentioned anything about literally bumping into him at the gym this morning. Her lower back couldn’t forget it though.
Alex looked at her thoughtfully. “I’m sure something can be set up.” He checked his phone, which ironically buzzed the same time as Jamie’s new work phone. “Isn’t there anyone else who can help her with her wedding?”
“I believe so,” Jamie said and then shook her head. “It’s my fault. I told her I would be her maid of honor.”
“Most maids of honor I’ve met have jobs and lives of their own
,” he said dryly.
Jamie shrugged. “I’m sorry.” If she lost this job because of Christine, she wouldn’t need a maid of honor, Christine would be needing a pall bearer. “I’ll talk to her. I’ll try and keep her from calling me so often.”
“I’m not sure you can get her to see reason.” Alex laughed. “If she’s anything like your mother.”
Jamie’s head shot up to look at Alex. “You know my mother?”
“She’s called me three times today to tell me to fire you.” Alex’s face gave nothing away.
“Shit,” Jamie muttered. She was going to have to kill her family. Over and over. Then go to jail for murder. Either way she was going to lose her job. “Mr. Reid, I will definitely understand if you need to… let me go.” She sighed. “My family alone makes more hassle than necessary and if I’m not mistaken, a personal assistant is supposed to take away some of the hassle.”
“You’re right,” Alex said. “A personal assistant is supposed to take away the hassle.” He paused and she leaned forward, anticipating what he was going to say next. “And that is exactly what you’ve done.”
Shock ran through Jamie’s body. He actually thought she was worth something, even with her mother begging him to fire her? Even after that embarrassing scene in the gym that clearly said incompetence like nothing else? “R-really?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling. “Yesterday was the easiest work day I have had in a long time. And clearly you’re a good personal assistant if your sister wants you as her wedding planner-PA thing this badly. Believe me, I’ve no intention of firing you.”
Jamie smiled, still not sure what she should do with the praise. “Thank you, Mr. Reid. I’m glad I can be of use to you.”
“You are of a lot of use to me,” he said. “I hope you keep up the good work.”
Jamie found herself blushing and really wished she was wearing a pound of foundation on her face to hide it. “Thank you, Mr. Reid,” she said again, wishing she could find something more intelligent to say. She looked at him, unsure if that’s all he wanted or not, and was unsure how to ask him.
Bad Boys & Billionaires: An Anthology Page 38
