Falling For My Boss

by J. S. Cooper

  “Yeah. Good memory,” he said sounding surprised. “I only mentioned them once before.”

  “Yeah, I’m an actress, remember?” I said quickly. “I’ve got a good memory.”

  “Yeah.” He laughed. “Okay, so we have a match this week. I’ll text you the info and you can come, okay?”

  “Okay, sounds good.” I took a deep breath. “So I’m going to meet Alice as well?”

  “Yeah.” His voice softened. “She’ll be there as well.”

  “You should just ask her out, Aiden.”

  “I will,” he said with a sigh. “I just need to make sure that this is something she really wants as well. Because this is for forever for me. And if she’s not ready for forever, I’ll be heartbroken.”

  “I understand,” I said softly. “I’ll talk to you later, Aiden,” I said and hung up. I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes. What would it feel like to be loved by someone that much? This Alice didn’t even know how lucky she was. Aiden absolutely adored her. I only hoped that she was worthy of his love. I was scared that I was going to meet her and think she wasn’t good enough for Aiden. Or that she didn’t love him like he loved her. I was praying that she was the one for him. I wasn’t sure I could handle being a part of another heartbreak, even if it wasn’t my own.

  ***

  “Lacey, I cannot believe I have to play flag football.” I groaned into the phone as I walked to the field where I was meeting Aiden.

  “Girl, who cares about the football? I’m more concerned about the fact that you’re going to see Scott again!”

  “Yeah, there’s that as well,” I said casually, though my heart was racing.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Nervous as hell,” I said, my throat dry.

  “Understandable,” Lacey said. “I’m sure it will be fine. I bet he’ll see you and beg you to take him back.”

  “I sincerely doubt that,” I said. “Especially when he hears I’m there with Aiden.”

  “You’re not going to allow him to think that, are you?”

  “Hell no.” I laughed. “I’m going to tell him as soon as I get an opportunity.”

  “Good,” Lacey said. “I wish I could have come.”

  “Yeah, me too. Maybe you can come to the next game. Hopefully it will be fun. I can’t believe I’m going to be meeting Scott’s whole family.”

  “I know, it’s crazy.”

  “I hope he’s not still angry at me,” I said, as my stomach curdled. “That would suck.”

  ‘Girl, just be prepared for a cold reception from him and then go from there.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “I know. Eek, I’m seeing them on the field. I’ll call you when I’m on my way back, okay?”

  “Okay. Good luck,” Lacey said and hung up. I put my phone back into my bag and ran onto the field, taking several deep breaths as I approached the group. I ran over to Aiden and I could see Alice staring at me with big eyes.

  “There you are, darling.” I ran over to Aiden and gave him a huge smile.

  “Lizzie!” he exclaimed and started beaming at me. I thought he was putting it on a bit strong, but who was I to say anything? I could feel Alice staring at me with a stiff face and I hid a small smile. So maybe this girl did like him after all.

  “Sorry I’m late.” I wrinkled my nose as I gave Aiden a sorry voice.

  “You’re not late,” he said and grabbed me. I stumbled into his arms and stood there awkwardly as he gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. “You’re right on time.” He grinned at me, his blue eyes sparkling. I looked over at Alice and I saw a dart of unhappiness crossing her face. I felt bad about the way she was feeling, but at least she was exhibiting signs of caring about Aiden. “Elizabeth, I want you to meet Alice. Alice is my sister Liv’s best friend.” He nodded at Alice and I saw them exchange a quick look. “And Alice, I want you to meet Elizabeth, a good friend of mine.” I almost laughed at that. Good friend, indeed. I thought it was cute that though Aiden was playing this game, he didn’t want her to think I was his girlfriend.

  “Hi,” Alice said and she smiled at me, a light in her blue eyes that showed me she was being completely genuine and kind to me. That surprised me. I’d expected to see some sort of jealous hate in her eyes. We exchanged some small talk. But I was finding it hard to concentrate. Where was Scott? I was dying to see him. I felt guilty that I wasn’t able to concentrate on the conversation well, but it was obvious to me that both Aiden and Alice were only really interested in talking to each other. It was becoming increasingly obvious to me that Alice was in love with Aiden as well. I wasn’t sure how he was so blind as to think there might be any doubt in her mind, but I knew it wasn’t my place to push him into thinking that.

  “Oh, here come Liv and Scott,” Aiden said and I felt my body growing hot. This was the moment. “Hey guys,” Aiden said and he grinned at his siblings. “Guys, I want you to meet my friend, Elizabeth. Elizabeth this is my sister Liv and my brother Scott.”

  I know I must have said something, but I can’t for the life of me remember what. All I can remember is looking into Scott’s narrowed blue eyes as he stared at me. My heart thudded as I took in his appearance. He looked sexy in his black soccer pants and white t-shirt. Too sexy. It was almost too much for me to take. I wanted to reach over and kiss him. I wanted to touch his face. Kiss his lips. Feel his warm hard body against mine. But instead I just stood still and smiled like a fool. I played football and smiled with Aiden and ignored Scott as best as I could, but all I could think about was the fact that I wanted to go and talk to him. Badly. I was going to make an excuse to go over and talk to him at the end of the game, but as I was about to run over to him, I saw him walking over to Alice and watched them leaving the field together. My stomach lurched as I watched them leaving together, and all I could think about was whether he liked her now. I could remember that they had shared a kiss once. I wondered if he was going to go for Alice, even though he knew his brother was in love with her. I wanted to scream and shout and run after him. I wanted to stop them from leaving together. I wanted to beg him to talk to me, but instead I just walked over to Aiden and chatted with him for a few minutes about what his next plan was and then I left. There was a match the next week, and I was determined to get an opportunity to talk to Scott before this assignment with Aiden was over.

  ***

  “Elizabeth, you know that I love you, right?” Lacey said as we sat in front of the TV that night.

  “Yeah, why?” I looked at her suspiciously.

  “You need to call Scott.”

  “What? No way.”

  “Yes way. There is no way you’re going to last until next week, and what if he doesn’t talk to you then? What if he leaves early with Alice again?”

  “I’ll worry about that next week.” I made a face at her.

  “Call him.” She grabbed the remote and paused the screen. “Now.”

  “You’re bossy.”

  “Here’s your phone.” She handed me my phone. “I’m not giving you the remote back until you call him. I don’t care if that’s tonight or in two weeks. No call, no remote.”

  “You can’t last without TV for that long.” I made a face at her.

  “You wanna bet?” She cocked her head and smiled.

  “Fine.” I groaned. “I’ll call him.” I jumped up off of the couch and walked out of the living room. “And I’m not going to give you the joy of hearing the conversation either.”

  “Aw, what a pity for me.” Lacey grinned. “What ever will I do?”

  “Whatever.” I shook my head and walked to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me and jumped onto my bed. I lay back and stared at the phone, my heart racing. I wanted to call Scott, but I didn’t know what to say. Would he even answer his phone? Would he even want to talk to me? I didn’t even know what to do. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and started punching the numbers in to unlock my phone when I suddenly got a text message. My heart jumped as I saw that it was
Scott.

  Hey. It was one word, but it felt like an ocean of words.

  Hey. I texted him back right away. I wasn’t going to play games and wait.

  How you doing?

  Okay. You?

  Not bad. So you’re seeing my brother now?

  No. You know I’m not.

  Yeah.

  I waited to see if he was going to text anything else. This couldn’t be the sole purpose of him contacting me, could it?

  I told Aiden about Candy Grams. I didn’t think he’d hire you. It was the only company I could think of. He wanted to hire someone to pretend to be his fake girlfriend.

  I was basically the only choice.

  Figures.

  Hope you’re not mad.

  He loves Alice, you know.

  I know. And she loves him as well.

  I know.

  They should be together. I typed and my fingers shook. I wanted to add, just like us.

  You’re looking good.

  You too.

  You don’t look like you’ve been spanked in a while.

  You could change that. I held my breath as I pressed send.

  I’m still mad at you.

  I know.

  You totally played me.

  I didn’t mean to.

  You should have asked me what was going on if you had doubts.

  I didn’t think.

  Obviously.

  I had a rough childhood. Two messed up parents. It affected me. I’m sorry.

  I thought it was your dad that abandoned you?

  Yeah, but mom is off as well.

  Oh. Sorry.

  Not your fault. And not an excuse. It just makes me a bit of a mess in relationships and dating stuff.

  Got it.

  You have a great family, though. I love Aiden. He’s amazing. And Liv seems really funny as well.

  Yeah, they’re not bad. I’ll keep them.

  Liv’s fiancé, Xander, seems cool too. Why does she call him Mr. Tongue?

  Who told you she calls him that?

  I heard her saying something to Alice.

  Oh. Smh.

  What?

  You don’t want to know.

  I do.

  Well, I don’t want to talk about it.

  Why not?

  She’s my sister.

  So?

  Think about it!

  About what?

  Mr. Tongue!

  Oh! I started laughing as I realized what Mr. Tongue must have inferred. Oops!

  Yeah! Ugh! Do not want to think about my baby sister like that.

  You’re funny.

  You’re sexy.

  Not really.

  Yes really!

  I grinned as I stared at his last messages. Scott thought I was sexy. Maybe that meant he really liked me after all.

  You there or did I lose you?

  I’m here.

  Can I call you?

  I grabbed my phone and called him instead.

  “Hey you,” he said as he answered the phone.

  “Hey,” I said softly.

  “I can’t believe you’re doing those acting gigs.” He sounded annoyed. “I mean—”

  “Scott!” I sighed. “Are we going to start off the call this way?”

  “Would you rather it be phone sex?”

  “No.”

  “I’m still mad at you.” He sighed. “It was a shock seeing you the other day.”

  “It was a shock seeing you as well.” I took a deep breath. “Did you lose your job?”

  “No, but I did get written up.” He sighed. “I’d already complained about Helen, so she was fired, but I was written up for indecent conduct on company property.”

  “Sorry,” I said softly. “I shouldn’t have done it.”

  “I’m glad you did it.” He laughed. “It was hot. Damn. I still think about it at night.” He sighed. “However, what I don’t like is the reason why you did it.”

  “I didn’t just do it to embarrass you,” I said softly. “I enjoyed it as well.”

  “I know you did,” he said huskily. “You forget I felt your orgasm.”

  “Scott,” I said, feeling embarrassed.

  “What?” he said with an amused tone. “Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed now.”

  “I’m not embarrassed,” I lied.

  “Good,” he said. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. You should feel proud. Proud of your sexual rebellion, not of your lack of trust in me.”

  “I know, and I am.” I laughed. “Kind of.”

  “So, should we start over?” he asked softly. “Do you want us to go on a date?”

  “Yes, I’d like that,” I said softly, my heart racing, but suddenly a fear filled me. A fear that I knew all too well. A fear that had stopped me from going on dates in the past.

  “Did you hear that Xander proposed to Liv?” Scott said casually. “Can you believe it?”

  “No, I didn’t know.” I laughed. I wasn’t sure why I lied. Maybe it was because I wanted to see what he was going to say. “I don’t really know them.”

  “Sorry, I always forget that you haven’t been in my life longer. I always feel like I’ve known you forever.”

  “I feel the same way,” I said and closed my eyes, so I could think of his face as we spoke. “Anyway, why are you shocked that Xander proposed to Liv? Didn’t you say he loved her?”

  “Yeah, but so soon.” His tone dropped slightly. “They barely know each other. I love my sister, you know, but I think they should date for a bit longer. I don’t think people need to rush into an engagement.”

  “Oh.” I held in a sigh. “How long do you think a couple should be dating before they get engaged?”

  “Five years?” he said seriously and my heart stopped. Five years? “You?” he asked me softly and I wondered how we had gotten to such a serious conversation already. We’d only just got to talking again.

  “I don’t know, maybe six months to a year.” I said.

  “Six months?” His voice was incredulous. “What?”

  “I think when someone knows, they know. True love and soul mates should be together as much as possible. I see nothing wrong with getting engaged and married quickly.”

  “Oh,” Scott said and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he regretting calling me now? Was he seeing that perhaps we weren’t very compatible? I felt sad at the thought, but wanted to be realistic. Maybe all we’d had really was sexual compatibility. Maybe what had happened with Helen had been good for us. Maybe it had saved us both from even more heartache.

  “Eliza.” Lacey knocked on my door and I groaned.

  “Hold on Scott, my friend Lacey is at my door.”

  “Lacey, your best friend that lives with her parents?”

  “Yes, but she lives with me now and she’s at my door.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “A few weeks ago.”

  “A lot changes in a few weeks,” he said softly and I nodded.

  “Yeah. Hold on okay?”

  “Okay,” he said and I jumped off of the bed and hurried to my door.

  “What is it?” I asked her quickly. “I’m on the phone like you told me to be.”

  “You’ve got flowers,” she said and held a bouquet in front of her. “They just arrived.”

  “From Scott?” My heart thudded. Maybe this was going to work out after all.

  “No,” she said softly. “Not Scott.”

  “What?” I could feel my face going white as I stared at her. “Please tell me these red roses aren’t from Aiden.” My heart dropped as I gazed at her. If they were from Aiden I’d scream.

  “Not from Aiden,” she said and pursed her lips. “Check the card.”

  “Who else would be sending me flowers?” I frowned and grabbed the card. I opened it and read, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” I made a face. “Someone likes quoting Shakespeare.”

  “Read the rest.” Lacey urged me.

  “But an Elizabeth
that wasn’t Elizabeth Jeffries just can’t hold my heart.” I rolled my eyes, but continued reading the card. “I miss you, Shane.” My jaw dropped as I realized who’d sent me the card. “Bloody hell! Shane?” I looked at Lacey with a shocked expression. What was Shane doing sending me flowers? He’d been out of my life for two years now. I’d finally gotten over his cheating and my heartache.

  “What are you thinking right now?” she asked softly, her eyes studying my face.

  “I want to know why he’s contacting me. The bloody bastard.” I stared at the card and the roses. “Why now?”

  “I bet he regrets what happened.” Lacey said. “I bet he wants you back.”

  “There’s no way,” I said. “Just no way,” I said confidently, but something in my heart didn’t feel so confident, not now that I was beginning to doubt my compatibility with Scott. “I gotta go back to my call.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll be in the living room if you want to talk.”

  “Okay,” I nodded. “I’ll be out in a bit.” I turned around and walked back to the bed and picked up the phone. “Hey, sorry about that,” I said, trying to be cheerful.

  “That’s okay. What happened?” he said lightly.

  “I just got flowers,” I said, I wasn’t sure why I was telling him.

  “Oh?” His voice changed.

  “Yeah, from my ex-boyfriend, Shane.”

  “The one that cheated on you and broke your heart?”

  “Yeah,” I mumbled. “That one.”

  “I thought you guys didn’t talk anymore.”

  “We don’t,” I said, as my mind raced. Why had Shane sent me those flowers?

  “So, he just decided to send them tonight? Out of the blue?” Scott’s voice was tense.

  “Yes,” I said. I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know how to explain that Shane and I went back years. That we’d always had a bumpy relationship, but that I’d thought he’d always be there for me. I didn’t know how to tell him that as much as I hated Shane, I was still curious about what might have been. I didn’t tell him that Shane and I had a history of going back and forth. That I knew what I got with him. That I was scared to venture into new relationships because I was scared of getting hurt.

  “You’re a woman of mystery, Elizabeth,” he said simply.