Love the Boss (Managing the Bosses 4)

Jamie didn't see any signs of Gina when arrived at the restaurant, but after they'd eaten their salads, she got up and took a quick trip to the ladies’ room, purposely going past Nicholas.

Nicholas caught her eye first, and his smile drooped a little as she approached.

"Nicholas! How nice to see you." Jamie stopped and turned to see a wide-eyed Gina. "Gina. I didn't know you were here. You feeling okay? We were so worried."

"Um, yes. Just a little off this morning, but I'm much better now. I should be in this afternoon, actually." Gina brushed her hair back and turned to look at Nick. "I was just telling Nicholas how good you were doing with the audit work."

Really? Was that really something she should be sharing with him? Jamie held the comment back.

Nicholas smiled, eyeing her appreciatively. "Gina tells me you're a regular accountant on top of all of the other skills I know you have." His smiled widened. "Any way I can twist your arm to apply for my new executive assistant position? We have two openings."

Jamie forced a chuckle. "No, but thanks. I could never do that Alex. He's worked far too hard to have me walk out on him in the middle of so much success." She shot a knowing glance at Gina.

"That's true. The man knows his stuff." Gina gave a tight smile.

"I'll see you later, Gina. Nicholas, a pleasure as always." Jamie walked to the bathroom as concern raced through her once again. Something was up, and she needed to at least tell Alex her concerns. If she was wrong, then she would admit it, but, if not, they needed to be prepared.

The hardest part was believing that Gina would actually lie to her. Having to save face in front of Alex was one thing, but lying to her?

"We're supposed to be friends." Jamie let out a soft sigh and washed her hands before returning to the table.

Paul glanced up. "Is that Gina over there? I thought she was sick."

"She is. Or was. I guess." Jamie sat down and pulled her napkin into her lap, quite glad to see that lunch had arrived in her absence. "I don't know what's going on with her."

"Well, not to add fuel to the fire, but these reports show some weird spending that I honestly can't imagine my brother doing." Mark pulled out the file and handed it to Jamie. "We can eat first, but let's look at this over dessert."

"Alright." She glanced down and picked up her fork as Paul's phone buzzed.

"I’ve got take this. It's my mom." He smiled and got up. "I'll be right back. No eating my food."

"You're taking your chances, buddy." Mark smiled at Jamie as he taunted Paul. "I like that guy. He's good people."

"Yeah, he is." She took a bite of her fish and decided against her better judgment. "So, this morning someone from Alex's past came by. I think her name was Kristen Rodgers."

Mark nearly dropped his fork. "Kristen came by the office?" His face lit up. "What the hell is she doing in New York?"

"Visiting her dad, from what she said." Jamie took another bite.

"Do you know Kristen? Did Alex tell you about her?”

Jamie started to nod and then shook her head.

“Well, Kristen went to school with us. She's a year younger than Alex, and always had a thing for him, but he wasn't interested. She dated the worst fuckers ever back then. Alex ended up in juvi for her, but you'll have to check the story with him. Dad said it was for other reasons. I don't know who to believe, but it really doesn't matter. She's a great girl." Mark picked up his hamburger. “Damn, Kristen Rogers, eh?”

"She's really pretty too," Jamie mumbled and tried to focus on her lunch.

"Yeah, but Alex only has eyes for you, girl. My brother might be a lot of things, but the one thing I can tell you is that he's faithful. If he's thinking about another woman, he'll tell you, or you'd know it. He's not good at lying, or hiding shit at all." Mark chuckled. "Made being kids hell, but I guess it suits him well now."

Paul dropped back into the seat across from them and smiled. "My older brother just had his first kid. I'm going to see about flying out to Cali to see them, if you guys think I can get away for a few days."

"Absolutely." Jamie nodded and wiped her mouth. "Fill out the request and I'll take it in to Alex this afternoon. Mark and I can cover for you, and Jerry down the hall can do your trading desk responsibilities."

"Awesome. You guys are the best." Paul picked up a roll and shoved half of it in his mouth. "Well, most of you are. I'm a little testy with Gina. I'm behind because she decided to lie and take a few days off to shop. I looked at her as I passed by her lunch table. She's not sick at all. Love-sick maybe, but that doesn’t require days off."

Jamie ignored the rest of the conversation and sank into her thoughts as worry threatened to override just how delicious their lunch was.

Alex might be busy, but she was going to have to butt her way in. He needed to know what was going on.