by Lexy Timms
"And he should be. It's open disclosure. Bitch," Jamie mumbled under her breath as she walked back to the office.
Mark glanced up and lifted his eyebrow. "Something happen?"
"No. Yes. I don't know." She closed the door and took her seat across from him again. "I heard there was a robbery in or around the neighborhood Alex lives in, and I need to ask him about the alarm system."
"I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, but go check with him. I'll wait." Mark leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Hell, all I've got is time right now."
"No, it's fine. One of the interns just made a comment about me sleeping with Alex, which irked me."
"That's not appropriate. It's none of their damn business." Mark's brows drew in tight.
"I agree! That's what I told them." Jamie shook her head. "Whatever. Not my problem. If she brings it up again, I'll talk with HR."
"She's jealous. They probably all are. You're dating the boss, which they think gives you extra power."
"Um, no. It gives me more work, more stress, and more of a need to impress him. Loving him makes me want to pull out all the stops. It's exhausting most days." Jamie pulled the résumé in front of Mark toward her and leaned over, trying to focus and force the anger that was bubbling in her belly to subside.
"I get that totally." Mark reached over and ran his finger over the top line on the paper. "I'm not sure if you guys have an accounting department, seeing as how you do finance, but I took most of my business electives in accounting. It's my minor."
Jamie looked up and smiled. "We sure do. I actually have quite a few projects that are accounting-related. This is great news."
"So, I'm hired?" Mark lifted his eyebrows.
"You knew that, silly. We just needed to see where you'll be spending your time."
"Easiest damn interview I've ever had," he chuckled.
"Right, but don't think the job will be that way at all. Your brother’s a slave-driver, without compassion," she teased him. Well, sort of.
"I grew up with him. I'm well aware." He stood up and grinned, rubbing his hands together. "So... when do I start?"
Chapter 2
After getting Mark started on a simple reconciliation project for the annual tax files that would be due in the next few weeks, Jamie stopped by Alex's office to see if he was available. Gina gave her a look as she lifted her hand to knock on the door, which caused her to pause.
"What's up?" Jamie asked.
"He's in a mood all of a sudden. Something about an unexpected audit. I don't know, but if you value your head, make sure you don't do anything that might have you losing it." She shrugged. "I have a sewing kit out here, though. I'll help you sew it back on if you need me to."
Jamie smirked. "That bad?"
"That bad, girl. That bad."
She knocked once more before slipping through a small crack between the door and the jamb, closing it quietly behind her. The sound of Alex's voice told her that Gina wasn't at all exaggerating. It had been a while since she'd heard him sound so upset.
"I understand that completely." He glanced up from his pacing, and pressed his finger to his lips as if to warn her not to say a word. She nodded. "What I don't understand is you thinking that we need this audit before it's due. We only do this type of audit every three years. It's been two. You're being irrational."
An impatient, but familiar, gentleman’s voice carried through the speaker phone. "No, I'm not! I own a large portion of your stock, Alex. I want to ensure we're following the guidelines that are set out by the various governmental bodies. They’ll be forcing everyone to do the audit every two years starting next year. I'm asking that you adopt it early."
"And I'm saying no. We have too much on our plates right now. I was up here through the holidays while the rest of you on the board were on your yachts. It's not happening. I know how to run a business. Quite successfully I might add." He took a short breath. "I'm letting you go, Nicholas. We'll speak later, but not on this. I'm not discussing it again."
"Yes, you are. Damn it, Alex! Just because you started the company doesn't mean that you alone hold the reins to it now." The older man's voice was biting, and a little more demanding than Jamie had ever heard it.
What the hell’s going on?
"Nicholas, you own stock in a subsidiary of my company. I own fifty-one percent of that sub and over sixty-five of my own company. The rest of my stock is owned by billionaires and investors. You are not one of those. This discussion is over. Enjoy your day." Alex hit a button on his phone and looked up, his voice rising significantly. "That pompous ass is trying to tell me how to run my fucking company! I've got a few things to say to him that need to be done in person. Adopt early. Yeah, okay... we'll do that, and you just drink your damn martinis and sit on the beach while I make all of you rich!"
Jamie crossed the room and slid her hands up his strong chest. "It's okay, Alex. He can't force you to do anything, right?"
"Sort of." Alex let out a long breath and brushed his hand over his forehead. "I hate his ass. We need to figure out how to offer him more than he's worth and get rid of him."
"I could have our guard dog off him." Jamie gave a cheeky grin.
Alex's expression softened as he huffed. "Guard dog. Yeah, right."
"What can I do to help?" She clasped her hands around his neck and pressed herself to the front of him, loving how well they fit together.
"I don't know. The list just keeps growing and growing, honestly." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and untangled himself from her before moving back to his desk and plopping down. "Did you get Mark busy on something, or do you finally agree with me that this might not be the best idea?"
"He's going to be great." Jamie didn’t bother to mention that it was he who’d offered the job to Mark, not her. She leaned against the side of his desk and watched him. His dark brown hair was a little messy from having run his fingers through it. He always did so when he was nervous or stressed. That he had any hair left at all was a miracle.
"So you say. What's he going to be doing?" Alex typed on his keyboard, turning his attention to his computer screen.
"Accounting and a few other things. We're working on the bank reconciliations for the tax files." She huffed softly, hoping he would look up and realize that he'd been putting in too many hours. She tried hard not to feel like she was the second wheel in his life, but, truth be told, she very much was. His first love was his business, and it was hard to get him to focus on anything but the numbers, the growth, and the success.
"Good. Start looking into the requirements for the governmental audits that dumbass just mentioned. I know you weren't here two years ago when we filed them, but have Gina pull the files and let's at least see what we're up against, should Nicholas call a board meeting and win the vote on early filing," he growled softly, but never turned his attention on her.
"Alright. Are you coming home for dinner tonight?" She tried not to let any of the neediness that she was experiencing slip into her voice.
"No. I'll be lucky if I get to come home at all. Too much to do right now." He typed a bit more as his teeth pressed into his bottom lip.
"Alright. I needed to ask you about the alarm on the house. There are a lot of thefts on the news right now. I'm a little bit—"
"Jamie." He glanced up. "Can this wait? I'm really overwhelmed and need a couple of hours to myself to get some things sorted out. We can talk about the house and the dog later, baby." He turned his attention back to the screen.
She stood up, feeling as if someone had slapped her. "Right. Let me know if you need anything." She turned to the door, not appreciating his comment as she did.
"A clone, please. No one else can seem to catch up."
She didn't respond the way she wanted to. She didn't respond at all. After walking out into the hall, she turned to Gina and shrugged as she fought again the need to cry. "Well, you were right. He's in a mood. Stay out of there." Jamie turned to walk down the h
all to the bathroom, but Gina stopped her.
"You okay? Need me to sew your head back on?"
Gina was trying to be silly, but with all of the lonely nights as of late, and silly little fights over nothing more than Alex being an ass when he was stressed, Jamie couldn't help the tears that burned her eyes. "How about my heart? Got anything for that?" A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away.
Gina moved around the desk quickly and pulled her into a hug. "Aw, honey. This is why you don't date the boss. Most of them are jerks, and they only take it out on their secretaries and tough-ass PAs. That used to be you, but when you started caring, it changed everything. Just take a deep breath and go splash some cold water on your pretty face. It's going to be okay. He'll start acting right, or you'll find someone who treats you like gold." She stepped back from Jamie and set her hands on her hips. “And, for the record, Alex gave you a promotion a few weeks back. Senior Advisor, remember that? That’s your job title, so feel free to tell him to shove it up his ass if he’s being intolerable.”
Jamie forced a soft chuckle. "I'm just being overly sensitive. It's okay. Really."
"No, it's not, but nothing’s going to change unless you stand up for yourself and force him to be a better guy." She put her hands on her hips and nodded toward the bathroom as the phone rang. "Go take care of yourself and let me know if you want me to go kick him in the shin."
"Thanks, Gina." Jamie turned, not wanting to take up anymore of her friend's time, and yet some part of her wanted to convince Gina that Alex was really good to her. He loved her, without a doubt. She was just being extra sensitive because it was her nature.
"Right? I'm overreacting," she mumbled to herself as she walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face before patting it dry. Alex had too much on his shoulders, and, in all honesty, he didn't need another PA or senior advisor. He needed a partner. She would talk to him about it soon and see if she couldn't start to persuade him to get a little bit of help.
She finished putting herself back together and walked to her office, to find Mark working intently at the small desk in the middle of the room where she'd left him.
"Hey. You doing alright?" she asked as she stopped beside the table.
"Yeah. Just plowing through this stuff. It's super easy. I always felt like accounting was too easy, but maybe I'm just missing something."
Paul walked in and moved to stand beside them before looking up at Jamie. "What's up? You've been crying."
Mark jerked his head up and stood. "What's wrong? I didn't even realize you were upset. Why didn’t you say something?"
Jamie gave Paul a stern expression and rolled her eyes. He'd seen her upset more times than she cared to talk about over the last eight months. Being with Alex was a rollercoaster, and her not having any friends left Paul as the only one she really lamented to besides Gina.
"I'm fine. Just got something in my eye and it was hard to get out." She forced a smile. "I'm good."
"Right." Paul moved to sit down. "I'll look over these recs with Mark to make sure they're right. Your phone’s buzzed nonstop with messages. Go take care of your stuff and let me help you."
"Yeah. We got this, boss lady." Mark reached out and squeezed her shoulder firmly. "You sure you're okay?"
"Absolutely. Just something fluttering around in the air, I guess." She blinked rapidly as if still trying to clear her vision, and turned around. She could play the idiot role all day long if it meant not having to really face anything emotional. No drama. No tears. No more shit in her life. She’d had enough of that growing up in a thin family with a mother who was sure to remind her of her weight problem.
"Not anymore," she mumbled, and sat down at her desk as she pulled out her keyboard and started to work.
A few minutes went by before Paul called out to her. "Jamie? Come check this out."
"Sure." She finished typing a message that Alex wanted, and sent it out to the board of directors. It seemed he was going to call a meeting before Nicholas could get to it. Smart, and yet it really just meant more work for all of them. Letting out a weary sigh, she got up and walked back over to the table.
"What's going on?" She leaned in between them and scanned over the documents.
"Looks like there are some odd reconciling items on the main supplies account." Paul pulled it toward her and pointed out the items.
"And on the business travel account." Mark handed her another file. "I might just be looking at it wrong, but it seems a little weird to me. Do you have offices in the Caribbean?"
"No. I don’t think so." Jamie took the two files and stood up. "You guys keep looking through the other accounts, and I'll look into these after I get a few things out for Mr. Reid."
"Sounds good." Paul moved back around the table as they started working again.
Jamie read through the reconciling items and decided it might just be easier to ask Gina about them later. Both accounts that had odd charges were accounts she managed. They were Alex's accounts, but she filed the receipts and worked with accounts payable to process the payments. Maybe they did have an office in the Caribbean.
Gina would know. She would also know what the monies were all about, and, if not, they could call records and have them pulled.
Jamie's work phone buzzed, and she picked it up.
"It's Gina. Alex is on the other line. I'll patch him through."
"He’s not in his office?" Jamie asked, confused.
"He is." She let out a sigh. "In a mood, remember."
"Right. Patch him through." She sat back in her chair and tried to let the fact go that he could have just walked into her office from the door connecting them, then asked her to come see him. Maybe he didn’t want to deal with Mark and Paul right now.
"Jamie. Have you sent out that e-mail to the board?" He was borderline barking at her.
"Yes. It's already out—"
"Damn it!" He let out a long string of curses.
"Now what?” She didn’t mean to snap, but it slipped out. “I’ll come to your office. One sec." She stood up.
"No. It’s fine. I just wanted to adjust the wording a little. Next time you send something out from my desk, I need to review it. Okay?" He wasn't asking, though he made it sound like a question.
"Since when? You haven't reviewed my stuff in six months." She pressed her hand to her chest as heat raced up her center and warmed her neck and cheeks.
"Since now. It's a simply request. Just respond, 'okay, boss' and we're good."
"Okay, boss." She hung up the phone and picked up her purse. "Okay, then!” She needed some space from the four walls around her, and the boyfriend who seemed to be related to Scrooge. There were out of office things she could do for the rest of the day. “Well, you boys have fun. We'll dig into this a little later tonight. I’ve got running around to do for Sir Topham Hat. I’ll be back later… maybe."
"Oh shit." Mark stood. "I don't have a ride. I took a cab."
"I can give you a lift home, dude. No problem," Paul offered.
"No, it's okay.” Jamie waved her hand. “Come with me now. We'll work on this stuff tomorrow." She walked to the door, waiting for him while trying to shove down all of the heavy emotion that kept welling up in her chest.
"You sure?" he asked, getting up and trying to organize the piles. “I don’t mind staying.”
"Yeah, come on. Let's get things rolling at the house and we'll deal with this stuff in the morning. I'll come in early and we can get a good start on it." She forced a smile.
"Go ahead." Paul pushed Mark's hands away playfully. "I'll clean all of this up. You guys get out of here."
"Alright. Thanks, man." Mark grabbed his jacket and walked out into the hall behind her. "Should we tell Alex that we're heading out?"
"No. Gina will." Jamie stopped by Gina's desk as she looked up.
"Gina will what? Don't be signing me up for nothing today, girl. I'm just trying to stay out of the way of the bombs coming from the big man's off
ice." She smiled and gave Mark a sideways glance.
"Yep. I just got the last one I'm taking. I'm out of here for the rest of the day. If he needs me then just tell him that I'm shopping, with his card. All business-related, of course."
Gina laughed, but nodded. "Will do. Nice to meet you, Mark. Glad one of you boys ended up nice and friendly."
"Alex is nice and friendly." Jamie shrugged. "When he wants something."
Mark laughed and held the elevator door for her. "Sounds like trouble in paradise."
"Who said anything about trouble? This is the norm. Shit hits the fan all the time in this place. You just gotta know how to deflect and save yourself." Jamie pressed the button and leaned against the back wall of the elevator, letting out a long sigh.
"And how do you do that?" Mark asked as a smile tugged at his lips.
"Go shopping. With his credit card."
Chapter 3
"Are you eating with Alex tonight?" Mark asked as they pulled into the long drive that led up to the house. They had been shopping for business items, and also things for Alex’s apartment that Jamie felt the place needed. There had been no personal shopping, even though she had joked about it at the office.
Jamie cast him a look as she hit the button for the garage door opener.
Mark shrugged. "I'm good if you guys need some time together. Seems he might need to talk to someone."
Jamie scoffed. "That's a joke, right? Alex doesn't talk about his problems. I wish he would, but I guess a lot of guys don't, right?"
"True. We don't want the women we love to take on anything extra, even if it means suffering in silence." Mark opened his door and got out; he pulled out the bags of things Jamie had insisted the apartment needed. He began walking out of the garage toward the apartment Jamie had stayed in for the last eight months prior to moving in upstairs. "Thanks for working this out for me. I'll get my own place soon. I promise."