by Lexy Timms
"I know, Dad. Let's have lunch soon."
"I'd like that. We haven't seen Stephen since the papers were served, so just be careful. I don't think he's the type to get violent or anything of that nature, but the boy has a temper. I thought we were going to have to boot his ass at Christmas when he and your sister were having so many problems."
"Is Christine with him now?" Jamie turned and walked back to her chair, dropping down in it and leaning back.
"No, she's with your mother on a shopping day. She's pretty torn up since Stephen isn't answering her calls."
A shopping day. Must be nice.
"Okay, well, keep me in the loop. I love you." She hung up and set the phone down as a knock resounded at her door. "Come in."
Kristen poked her head in the room. "You doing okay?"
"Sort of. Kind of. No. Not really." Jamie ran her hands down her face. "I keep thinking things are going to die down, but they keep bubbling up."
"Yeah, the story in the paper about you and Mark was so farfetched. It's crazy how they can take those pictures when you're not looking and turn nothing into something." She walked in and closed the door behind her. "You got a minute?"
"You bet." Jamie stood and walked to the small table in her office. "Have a seat."
"Thanks. I won't be long." She sat down and glanced at her hands before looking back up at Jamie. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm putting in my notice. I need to get back to my folks, and my life. This has been great, and I honestly thought I would like it here, but I miss my real life."
"I understand that." Jamie pulled out the résumés that she'd gone through and Alex had simply nodded at. "I owe you these. Let's get them scheduled over the next few days if we can."
"Good." She let out a sigh as a smile lifted her lips. "I was worried you would be upset."
"Not at all. I think we all knew this was temporary, right?" Jamie reached out and touched the girl's arm.
"Yeah. I need to tell Paul and Mark." She sat back and bit at her lip. "I like them both, but I'm honestly not looking to date right now. Mark needs to heal, and Paul needs to grow up. A lot."
"He's still pretty young." Jamie chuckled. "I was wondering which one of them you were leaning toward."
"Neither." She shrugged. "They're both great guys, but they don't give me that overwhelming, heart-pounding feeling that I want when I start dating someone. I know it turns into more of a slow burn over time, but I want the thrill at the beginning. You know what I mean?"
"All too well." Jamie tapped the table between them. "I've been with Alex for eight months and I still feel like butterflies are dancing in my stomach when I see him. Don't settle for anything less than that. It exists."
"I'm glad to hear it." Kristen stood up and picked up the résumés. "Let's have lunch soon. I think you need to unload a bit. I would need to if I was stuck in the middle of all of this craziness."
"I'd like that." Jamie stood up and walked to the door, opening it wide and moving back. "Let me know when Alex is out of that meeting. I want to know what happened."
"I can do that. He's got a meeting with his lawyers later today too. He blocked off the afternoon for it. I assume it's related to everything you guys are dealing with, or is it business related?"
"No clue, but I'll find out about that too." Jamie watched her go before diving into her own thoughts.
No matter what was going on around them, knowing that Alex was hers and would be going home with her later that day left everything seeming alright. It was all external junk that they could handle together.
As long as they had each other.
Chapter 10
Three Days Later
The little black bag that Jamie had picked up at the mall late the week before sat on her desk as she reclined in her chair. Tonight was the night to pull it out. Alex had a long weekend of working, but most of it was done at the house, which allowed her for a little more time with him. The nightie she'd bought to tease him would have been perfect, but with everything going on in the office, she had little mental capacity left.
"What about now?" She smiled and got up, walking to the bathroom down the hall and locking herself in a stall. It was risky, but that would only heighten the high of prancing around in front of him half dressed in his office.
A warm chill ran down her center at the thought of him pushing her down onto his desk and making love to her. They’d been laying off of fucking the last few days just to make sure Alex was alright. She wanted him to go see the doctor, but his chest pains were better from what she could tell. He wasn't the kind of man who would hint at anything being wrong, nor would he whine or complain.
She worked the black, lacy one-piece over her nakedness and tucked her panties and bra into the bag. After getting dressed, she deposited the bag in her office and stopped by to see Kristen.
"Hey there. How are you?" Kristen glanced up and gave her a warm smile.
"I'm great. All the interviews are scheduled for Thursday this week. It's going to be a long day, but I marked off the conference room, and we'll order in some sandwiches or something for you and Alex. Are you guys interviewing together or one right after the other?"
"I'm not sure." Jamie slid her hands over the desktop. "I'll ask him in a few minutes. I'm going to go over stuff for… this week. Meetings, lawyers, you know; the boring stuff. I also have to go over some interview stuff.” She faked a laugh and hoped it sounds convincing. “I’ll lead with the boring stuff so I can try to talk him into another interview. He’ll be mad, but I’ll see what strings I can pull. Can you make sure to hold his calls and don't interrupt unless it's an emergency? Shouldn't take more than an hour."
"Sure. No problem." Kristen glanced back down as Jamie walked into Alex's office and closed the door behind her.
He glanced up and lifted his eyebrow. "Why do you look like you're up to something?"
"’Cause I am." She walked to his desk and stopped just beside him with a smile on her lips. "I got you something."
"I don't need anything but you." He slid his hand up her thigh and gripped her hip. "Did you tell Kristen to keep everyone away from my door?"
"Of course I did." She reached down and touched the side of his face as he stood up.
"What did you get me?" He licked his lips before leaning down and brushing a kiss across her lips. A warm shiver drove through the center of her. How the man could melt her with nothing more than a kiss was beyond her, but she coveted it. Coveted him.
"I thought you didn't want anything." She nipped at his lips and turned her back to him, pressing her hands to his desk.
"If you're dishing out attention, I want some." He brushed his hands over the curve of her ass before pressing himself against her, and leaned down to kiss the side of her neck. "You smell good. Like honey and lust."
"I had hot tea, and you always leave me smelling like sex. Why is that?"
He chuckled before moving back and pushing softly against the middle of her back. "Because you belong to me, and you know it. It seems to do something to you women to be owned by the right man."
She sucked in a tight breath as his fingers brushed by the back of her thighs before tugging her shirt up. He let out a sharp growl just before the wet warmth of his kiss littered the back of her legs.
"So fucking hot," he murmured against her center as he licked around the edge of the thin translucent material. "I'm a lucky guy. The luckiest I know."
"Stop talking so much. We have an hour." She stifled a laugh at her directives and pressed her chest to the desk as he laughed deep in his chest.
"I wonder who the boss is most of the time with you, woman." He tugged the material away from her and licked at her center, lapping and sucking as she closed her eyes and let herself be dragged away by him.
"I want you. Take me," she mumbled as her stomach tightened.
"In a minute. I want this right now." His tongue bathed her over and over until she lost the battle to keep her composure. She gripped the de
sk tightly and bit her lips, half crying out as Alex gripped her legs and pressed his face to her tightly, drinking her in.
"Fuck," she cried out, panting as the room spun.
"Yeah, now we can." He stood up and the sound of his pants hitting the floor left her butterflies doing somersaults. "Damn, Jamie. I want to see this whole outfit on you. Wear it for me tonight?"
"Anything you want." She reached back and gripped his strong thigh as he pressed himself into her and lay down, trapping her between his strong frame and the desk.
"I want you. Wet. Crying out. Coming." He kissed the side of her mouth before thrusting deeply into her.
A moan raced from her lips as she reached back and dug her nails into his thighs. "I love it. So delicious."
"Mmmm, yeah you are, baby. Naughty lil’ thing. Coming in my office in this nightie when you should be working. Now I get to work you instead." He stood back up and gripped her ass, using the thick flesh to tug her back for deeper impact each time he drove into her.
The delicious tension of being opened up by him and worked deeply left her skin sensitive, her nerve endings frayed. He continued to take his time, fucking her slow and deep as she let him know just how good it was with her whimpers and groans.
He stilled for a minute and dug his nails into her. "Oh shit. I'm so close."
"Come for me then." She pressed back, bouncing on his erection as he groaned loudly.
"You did that on purposes." He was smiling; she could hear it in the tone of his voice.
"Of course not." She arched her back and lifted one leg to press her knee to the top of the desk as he softly grunted and gripped her tightly. His pace picked up, and the sounds and smell of their sex left her swooning for more.
Alex slid his strong hands around to cup her breast and moaned into her ear as he came with her.
It took a few minutes to find her balance when he moved back, leaving her to rest with her dress hiked up and thighs quivering.
"I need that every day. We should just set up an eleven o'clock time on the calendar. An hour of making love to my woman." He brushed his hand down her back before working to get himself put back together.
"No way. Then you'd never come home." She pulled her skirt down and lifted her shirt to show him just how well her breasts filled up the pretty nightie as she backed away from him. "You like?"
"Oh my, my, my. I'm coming home tonight. I want to see this thing in full effect. Damn, woman. That's incredible. You're so hot." He licked at his lips and smiled. "I'm gonna taste you on my lips all day long. Mmmm."
She blushed and pulled her shirt down before picking up her tablet and walking to their adjoining door. "You're corrupt."
"Only with you, baby. I'm a good guy everywhere else." He winked at her before sitting down at his desk and typing something on his keyboard.
Jamie closed the door behind her, grabbed the black bag, and went to the restroom to clean up. The sound of yelling caught her attention as she walked out.
Making a quick stop by her office, she dropped off the nightie and jogged to the front as she realized who it was yelling.
Stephen.
"Just go get her. I don't care what her schedule says." He glanced toward Jamie as she rounded the corner.
"Are you looking for me?" She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side a little. If the sadistic bastard thought he was going to intimidate her, he had another thing coming. She wasn't the overweight sensitive girl she'd been when they were together.
She was a grown woman with a future and a new life. His trying to destroy that left her wanting to cross the room and strangle him in front of a host of witnesses.
"Yes. I am." He took a few aggressive steps toward her before pausing. "How dare you have your big-shit boyfriend sue me? I did nothing but tell the papers the truth. You're a needy whore and all this Cinderella bullshit is getting old. Alex Reid is nothing but a miser, a money hoarder, and you're his latest whore. You think you matter to him? You don't. As soon as he's done using you up, your ass will be out too."
"Does it make you feel better about yourself to demean me?" She wrapped her arms around herself, not at all concerned with what Stephen thought of her or her future. She still had the warmth of Alex racing through her system, the wetness of their passion between her thighs. Nothing was going to change the way he felt about her; or her, him.
Stephen was grasping at straws.
"You ruined my life." He pointed a shaky finger at her. Jamie had never seen him so upset, so volatile. It was a little concerning, but with Alex ten feet away behind his closed door, what could the asshole do? Nothing. "Not only am I facing a lawsuit over being a truth-teller, but your asshole boss bought out my father's company yesterday. What was the point of that? Hmm? To show me just how little I am? I sent you here to be a secretary, to help an old friend out, and what did your fat ass do? You got him to fall in love with you, or so you thought. You're an idiot if you believe it. No one could love you."
"Hey! That's enough." Kristen picked up the phone. "I'm calling security."
Jamie took a few steps back and opened Alex's door before turning back to Stephen. "Sorry you feel that way. It’s past time for you to leave."
"Fuck you. Fuck all of you." He reached behind him and pulled a pistol from the back of his pants, pointing it at Kristen. "Put the phone down. No one’s calling security unless you want to burden your friends here with cleaning your pretty face up from the floor later."
Kristen slowly put the phone down as Jamie moved toward Stephen.
"Stephen, calm down. This is out of control. You don't want to hurt anyone, Stephen. That's not you."
"You don't know anything about me. You've ruined everything. I hate your fucking sister. She's a whiney bitch, and by far the worst lay I've ever had. You didn't teach her anything, Jamie? How greedy of you." He waved the gun at her, and she was sick over the fact that she'd opened Alex's door. A silent prayer ran through her that he wouldn't come to see that the noise was about.
No such luck.
"What the hell?" Alex walked out and stopped short. "Stephen? What the hell are you doing, man?"
"I'm taking back my life." He pointed the gun at Jamie and waved it. "This bitch ruined everything. It's all her fault."
"What's her fault, Stephen?" Alex moved up beside Jamie and pushed her back a little.
"No. Stop moving her. I'm not leaving here until everything is made right. If you can't make things right, then I'll just take my payment with her life. Easy enough."
"And spend the rest of your life in jail?" Alex chuckled, surprising Jamie. "What kind of life is that, man?"
"Fuck you, Alex! You sent your lawyers to take what little I have, and when they weren't effective you reached down deep and took my family's business. Why? Isn’t it enough that you got the girl?" He took a few steps closer, and something changed in his expression that sent a tendril of fear through Jamie.
"You leave her alone!" Alex shifted slightly, but Jamie moved back up beside him.
"Stephen." Her voice was soft. "Please put the gun away. Why don’t you come to my office? We can talk all this through and figure something out. Please."
“Talk?” He looked at her like she was the crazy one.
“Sure. Just you, me, and Alex.”
“You want to have a civilized conversation?” He stared at her, the gun aimed at her as he struggled to control his anger.
“Let’s talk.”
"No! I'm not in the mood to talk.” He swung his arm and aimed the gun at Alex. “I gave her to you! And this is the thanks I get?” His face burned red at he glared at Alex. “I hate both of you. All of you." He turned swung the gun back toward Jamie and pulled the trigger as he screamed, “I hope you die, bitch!”
Suddenly it felt as if the world was in slow motion. Jamie saw Stephen’s loss of control of the situation, the realization that he hated her more than anything. It was almost as if she knew he was going to shoot her, and it came as no s
urprise when the loud bang of the gun went off.
Jamie cringed and prepared for the worst. She thought about how much she loved Alex. She hoped she’d told him that enough. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.
Mark rounded the corner in a full sprint and tackled Stephen to the floor. The gun skittered across the floor and under Kirsten’s desk.
He was a second too late.
Stephen had aimed to hit her, but miraculously missed. Jamie stared down at her body, expecting to see red leaking from somewhere and shock to knock her senseless. It didn’t happen.
Until suddenly Alex fell to the floor, curled up, with blood oozing from his chest.
Jamie stared down in horror, her body dropping beside him as a different kind of terror settled into her chest. "Nooo! No! No! Please no!! Call 9-1-1 now!" Full-blown panic set in as she frantically pressed her hands to his chest, tears burning her eyes. "Help. Help!"
She watched as blood seemed to pour through her fingers as she pressed against the hole. “Don’t you dare die on me, Alex Reid.”
Several employees raced up and moved to the floor, working to press their hands to Alex's wound as he glanced weakly up at Jamie.
"It's okay. I'll be okay. Just a nick." He let out a shaky breath as his face visibly paled, scaring Jamie to death.
Moments later, but what felt like forever, EMS arrived and pushed everyone back as Jamie tried to stay close to Alex. Security had dragged Stephen out of the room to wait for the police. Or maybe the police had come. Jamie didn’t know, as she’d been too focused on Alex.
"Please, Miss. Go down to the street level and you can ride in the ambulance with us. Just back up for now." The guy told her before moving back to help Alex.
Mark reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. "It's going to be okay. They'll patch up Alex and we can probably take him home tonight." He looked terrified.
He was lying to make her feel better, but she couldn't blame him for trying. He was shaken up too. Alex wasn't moving by the time they took him downstairs, or not from what she could tell. Terror raced through her and she let a few tears go to relieve some of the pressure building up inside of her.