Because He Watches Me (Because He Owns Me, Book Nine) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Hannah Ford

  Jeb took a seat at the breakfast nook nearby, watching her work. “So how long have you two been seeing each other?”

  She glanced up at him to gauge his expression. Red had mentioned that Jeb was close with his mother, so surely she must have told him her opinion of their relationship. And Nicole reckoned it probably hadn’t been anything positive. Still, Nicole wasn’t getting the impression that Jeb was automatically assuming the worst about her, so she tried to stay honest and open.

  “Not very long,” she said. “A couple of months.”

  Jeb’s eyebrows rose in a way that reminded her of Red. “That’s pretty fast.” He put his hands up. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” she smiled. Her fingers were sticky with pieces of raw meat and onion and egg. She didn’t exactly feel like a model of perfection right now.

  “Nicole, I’m going to be completely up front with you,” Jeb said. “I think that—“

  At that moment, Red burst into the room. “What in god’s name are you doing here?” he called out, a huge, happy grin on his face. His arms were open. “Come on, you rascal, bring it in for the real thing.”

  Laughing, Jeb got off the stool and went to hug his brother. Red tousled his hair and slapped his shoulder. “You look great, Doc. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  Jeb stuffed his hands in his pockets. Next to Red he suddenly seemed younger and less self-assured than he had a moment ago. “Well, I tried calling you a bunch. I guess you were purposely going dark, needed a break from all the hubbub?”

  “Exactly,” Red replied, coming behind the counter where he planted a kiss on Nicole’s cheek. He sniffed at the meatloaf. “Mmmm…that looks damn good, babe.”

  Jeb came back over and sat again at the breakfast nook. “There’s a lot of chatter about you on the web and even TV.”

  Red gave him a look. “You don’t listen to that crap, do you?”

  “I don’t know. Is CNN reputable enough for you?”

  “Oh,” Red laughed. “That kind of chatter. Well, it’s true that business is down.”

  Jeb’s expression grew more concerned. “How down?”

  Red looked at him. “All the way.”

  “So what does that mean?”

  “Hey, I don’t know.” Red grinned again. “All I know is I have this beautiful lady in my life and meatloaf in a pan and soon it will be in my stomach. I’m not getting ahead of myself.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Jeb laughed.

  “Let’s just enjoy ourselves and eat, shall we?”

  “Absolutely,” Jeb replied—but Nicole could tell he had more he wanted to say.

  Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and she saw the smile die on his lips, but then Red was going to the fridge and grabbing them a couple of beers. “Hon,” Red called out, “is it okay if me and my bro go shoot some hoops a bit before dinner?”

  “Of course,” Nicole replied, loving the fact that he’d called her hon.

  “It’s kind of dark out,” Jeb said, uncertainly.

  “That’s why I put lights on the court, dummy,” Red chuckled. “Come on, I’m going to school you just like the old days.”

  “In your dreams.” The two of them headed outside together.

  Nicole shook her head as the front door closed and their voices faded. She put her meatloaf in the oven and worked on the finishing touches for the glaze. Also, she had to make sure her sides would be ready in time. Some instant mashed potatoes, green beans and canned corn.

  As she worked, she pictured Red and Jeb playing basketball, talking trash, laughing like brothers did. She thought Jeb was a pretty sweet guy, which was what Red had said about him.

  And yet, she knew now that more had brought him here than just not being able to get in touch with Red for a day or two.

  Nicole was certain it had something to do with their horrible mother and perhaps the status of Red and Nicole’s relationship as well. Her stomach tightened at the thought of Jeb saying negative things about her, things that Red might listen to coming from someone he respected.

  Jeb seemed too nice to do something like that, but what did she really know about him?

  And would Red really listen if Jeb tried to undermine their relationship in someway? Nicole honestly didn’t believe he would, but you could never be totally certain. The pull of one’s family was incredibly strong. She knew that as much as anybody.

  Nicole decided not to allow herself to dwell on whatever Jeb was here to discuss—that was between him and his brother. She needed to trust Red, and she did trust him.

  She focused back on making her dinner, basting the meatloaf in her special glaze and putting it back in the oven for the final stretch of cooking.

  A few minutes later, Red and Jeb came inside, still laughing and talking excitedly like a couple of teenagers, as she was putting the finishing touches on the meal.

  “Holy cow, that smells amazing,” Red said. His forehead was slick with sweat and he looked invigorated. “I need some fuel after kicking this guy’s butt one-on-one.”

  Jeb was slightly disheveled, but laughing too. “Remind me again that I’m too damn old to be playing basketball with my hypercompetitive brother with no witnesses around to see the blatant fouls and constant cheating.”

  “Just because I go strong to the basket,” Red said. “Don’t be a hater.”

  “Oh, you’re right. Forgive my hating ways.”

  “Dinner’s ready,” she said. “Why don’t you two go sit outside on the veranda and I’ll bring the food to the table.”

  A few minutes later, everyone was eating and it turned out that Nicole’s meatloaf was a hit after all. Red had three servings, Jeb had two, and Nicole even had a couple of servings herself.

  During the meal they talked mostly about Jeb’s practice. It was obvious that he enjoyed being a doctor and caring for his patients. At the same time, he wasn’t averse to joking about them, telling a few stories out of school. He told one story about an older man who would come to see him frequently complaining of heartburn, and after a million and one tests, finally remembered to mention that he had a habit of eating paper.

  Yes, this man actually ate reams and reams of paper, day in and day out.

  “It was giving him serious indigestion,” Jeb said, snorting. “And when I told him that he needed to quit cold turkey, he looked at me and said he’d just as soon live with the heartburn then stop eating paper.”

  “That’s insane,” Nicole said.

  “So is smoking,” Jeb replied, “but that never stopped anybody.”

  “True.”

  Eventually, they were all finished with the meal, patting their stomachs and remarking on how good everything tasted.

  “So what’s the plan now?” Red asked his brother. “How long are you staying for?”

  “I have a flight back tomorrow,” Jeb told him.

  “So soon? I would have loved to get another chance to whip your ass in basketball. We could do tennis, too. I know you think you have a shot there, but believe me you don’t.”

  Jeb couldn’t seem to force a smile anymore. “I’d love to, but I can’t take anymore time off work. I came to make sure you were okay.”

  “Couldn’t be better,” Red said, smiling happily, patting Nicole’s hand.

  “I can see that,” Jeb said. Then, gathering himself, he went on. “You know, that’s not the only reason I came to see you.”

  “Oh?” Red asked, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

  “Mom spoke to me about what happened during her visit.”

  “Of course she did,” Red said, with no emotion in his voice.

  Jeb sighed. “I hate being in the middle like this.”

  “Then don’t put yourself there.” Red wiped his mouth with a napkin, crumpled it and threw it on the table.

  Nicole put a hand on his leg and squeezed reassuringly. In her mind, she was urging him to calm down.

  “I have no choice,” Jeb said. “I can’t let you and mom fight this
way.”

  “Can’t let us? Who made you the arbiter of peace around here?” Red asked him. “I resent you coming to my house with a hidden agenda.”

  “Come on,” Jeb said, laughing.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “I didn’t hide my agenda. I wanted to make sure you were okay. That was my first priority.”

  “Well you did that. You found out I’m okay—actually better than okay.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Jeb asked.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  Jeb shrugged. “And I also wanted to make sure you weren’t going too hard on Mom.”

  Red folded his arms. “She’s obviously roped you in with her distortions about what happened. I’ve seen and heard this all before. Now she’s sent you here as her surrogate to try and guilt trip me—”

  “She didn’t ask me to come. I wanted to come.”

  “Bullshit,” Red snarled. “You’re being her errand boy, doing her bidding—like you always have.”

  Now it was Jeb’s turn to take offense. “Errand boy? I’m a doctor with my own practice, my own life, and my own opinions.”

  “That’s why you let her dictate your romantic interests,” Red told him.

  “She does not dictate my romantic interests. And I resent the implication.”

  “What did she tell you?” Red asked. “What new lies did she spout this time?”

  Jeb shook his head. “She just said that the two of you had fought horribly, that you kicked her out of the house. She was crying, she felt awful…”

  “Bullshit,” Red scoffed. “She didn’t feel awful, she’s a master manipulator.”

  “It’s easy for you to see her that way,” Jeb told him.

  “And it’s easier for you to wear blinders,” Red replied. “What kind of mother gives her son an ultimatum in order to force him to break up with a girl he’s in love with?”

  Jeb’s hands clenched and his jaw twitched, much the way Red’s did when he was angry. “You’re talking about something that happened years ago. Why would you bring that up now?”

  “It’s totally pertinent to this conversation,” Red said, pointing a finger at his brother. “She did something completely unconscionable to you, and you allowed her to get away with it. You still make excuses for her behavior.”

  “I’m not making excuses. She’s our mother. And whatever else she is—she deserves a little goddamn respect.”

  Red stood up, pushing his chair back forcefully and planting his hands firmly on the tabletop. His expression was thunderous. “You’re lucky you’re my younger brother, Jeb. Or so help me god, I would beat you like a redheaded stepchild for talking this shit in my house. I don’t want to discuss that woman—I don’t want to hear her words coming out of your mouth like some fucking ventriloquist’s dummy. I’m finished. Got it?”

  “Loud and clear.” Jeb stood up and looked at Nicole. “Thank you so much for dinner. I’ll be in my room the rest of the evening and on the first flight out tomorrow morning. Unless you’d rather I went to a hotel instead?”

  Red folded his arms and refused to look at him. “I don’t give a shit what you do,” he muttered.

  Nicole wanted to somehow make peace, but hadn’t a clue what to say. Jeb left the veranda and she turned back to Red. “I’m so sorry that happened.”

  “Yeah. Me too.” He was staring out into the darkness now, with that same distant and guarded look on his face. She knew he was unreachable in this state.

  Instead of trying to talk to him, Nicole decided to just let him be. She cleared off the table and brought everything to the sink, did the dishes. Eventually he left the veranda and went upstairs, probably to his study.

  Nicole had a bit of a sick feeling in her stomach again. She told herself that this was a difficult time in Red’s life and as his fiancé she had to be willing to go through it with him.

  But she still felt bad for his brother.

  Jeb hadn’t meant to do anything wrong—he simply had a totally different view on the situation.

  When she was done putting the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning off the table in the veranda, wiping down the counter tops, Nicole was fairly tired. She wanted to go up and check on Red, make sure he was holding up okay.

  And then she saw Jeb standing in the hallway entrance, watching her. She let out a startled noise, put a hand to her chest. “Sorry, you surprised me,” she laughed.

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Jeb said, coming further into the kitchen. “I didn’t want to cause a scene here.”

  “It’s okay,” she told him. “I get it. I know how it can be with siblings.”

  “You have a sister or brother?”

  She laughed. “Actually, no. I don’t. But I can imagine.”

  Now he laughed as well, and when their eyes met, she sensed again that he was a kind person. “Ours is a complex family,” he told her. In that statement, she sensed, was much more than met the eye.

  Nicole nodded, her eyes downcast. “Red is emotional lately. I don’t think he meant to be so hard on you.”

  “No?” Jeb laughed, a brittle, harsh sound.

  “I think that your mother is a sensitive topic for him right now. You weren’t here when she visited, but I can assure you it was pretty awful.”

  “I’m sure it was,” Jeb told her. “But you don’t see the other side of it. Red is such a loose cannon. His temper is out of control and he makes it so that people walk on eggshells around him. My mother’s not the eggshell type.”

  “Certainly not,” Nicole agreed, remembering the comments Erica had made and how she’d found the older woman sneaking around their master bedroom.

  “Look,” Jeb said, leaning against the counter. “I’m not saying my mother is the easiest person to get along with. She’s very difficult. She’s had a tough life and she did the best she could under hard circumstances. But she loves her kids. She loves my brother dearly, and it’s killing her the way the visit ended.”

  Nicole sighed. As much as she didn’t like Erica Jameson, she also hated to think that her engagement to Red might have been a contributing factor to a son not speaking to his mother. “I’m sure it will blow over in time,” she said. “People just need a little distance to come at it from a new perspective.”

  “Red’s not known for changing his mind once it’s made up.”

  “I think he’s got more compromise in him than you might give him credit for,” Nicole replied.

  “Well, it’s obvious he’s got a great woman by his side. That makes me feel a little better.”

  “Thanks.”

  He rapped the counter with his knuckles. “I’m tired, I think I’m going to turn in. But maybe you could talk to Red at some point and remind him that there are people who care about him—people that have the same blood that run through his veins—and that those people miss him dearly.”

  Nicole nodded uncertainly. She realized that she’d just been tasked yet again with trying to make Red reconsider a decision he’d made. And once again, she’d engaged in a conversation with someone whom Red was feuding with, and whom he probably didn’t want to hear much about.

  Jeb disappeared back to his guest room and Nicole slowly made her way upstairs to the master bedroom.

  Red was in bed reading a book when she entered.

  He looked up from it and forced a smile. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey.” She sat down on the edge of her side of the bed.

  “I’m sorry I made a scene. That wasn’t right,” he said softly.

  “I know you were in a tough position trying to defend your choices to your brother.”

  “The guy is just blind when it comes to my mother. He won’t admit that she’s completely psychotic and destructive.”

  Nicole turned and looked at him. “Are you going to at least talk to him before he leaves tomorrow?”

  Red shook his head and picked his book up again. “I don’t know. Right now I definitely can’t do it.”

  Nicole
was torn. Now she was questioning what his reaction would be when she told him about her and Jeb’s conversation. But she didn’t want to make the same mistake as she had in Germany, when she’d kept her conversation with Kane Wright to herself.

  “After you came upstairs, your brother came back to the kitchen and apologized to me,” she said, finally.

  Red glanced sideways at her. “He did?”

  “Yeah.” She looked at him, her hands clutching each other nervously. “Please don’t be angry with me.”

  Red took a long, slow breath. “What did you say to him?”

  “Just that I understood it was hard.”

  Red’s expression darkened. “What does that mean?”

  “Come on, Red. What am I supposed to do, tell your brother to fuck off when he apologizes to me?”

  “I never said that.” He put the book aside and looked her straight in the eye. “At the same time, it feels like no matter what I do, you’re always second guessing me. I trust you, I listen to you—and the next thing I know you spin me in circles.”

  “How do I spin you in circles, Red?”

  “In Germany, you told me to make a deal, then you told me not to, and then on the flight home you said maybe I should make the deal again. And now you’re telling me to go make up with Jeb. Tomorrow you’ll probably tell me that Jeb’s an asshole and I should never speak to him again.”

  “Come on. That’s not fair to me. What am I supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know, Nicole. Why don’t you tell me what else you and Jeb talked about behind my back?”

  “I knew you’d do this,” she whispered. “I knew it.”

  “What did you know?” he demanded.

  She looked at his red face, his bulging eyes. She was so tired of defending herself against whatever new mistake she’d made. “I can’t do this right now.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I just can’t. Please stop talking.”

  Red stared at her. “Nicole, are you breaking up with me?”

  “I need some time. Just…just leave me alone.” She got up and ran out of the bedroom and downstairs. She wanted to leave, but it was late and she didn’t want to make a bigger deal of things than she already had.