She tucked the paper under her arm and got in the car as she tried to talk herself out of going back into the house and crawling into bed. Could nothing go right?
Her phone buzzed and she answered it, knowing that it would be Mark or Alex.
Mark.
Good.
"Hey." She pressed the button to put him on speaker. No reason to almost crash her car again.
"Oh fuck, Jamie. I told you they were going do this shit. Unbelievable. Alex has his door shut, and Kristen said that he's not talking with anyone until he talks with you."
"Really?" She let out a soft huff. "I swear I'm not going to survive this life. I just want simplicity."
"We all do." Mark chuckled. "Well, one good thing about it is that they got my good side in the picture. You... uhh… they could have photo-shopped it a little."
She laughed, unable to help herself. "Alright. I'm headed into the office now. Just steer clear of Alex so that I can explain myself what happened first."
"Not a problem. I'm headed into a meeting that should last most of the morning. Good luck."
"Thanks. I think I’m going to need it."
She valeted the car, though it wouldn't have taken her more than fifteen minutes to park and walk into the building. It seemed like time was of the essence, and having Alex believe for one more minute than necessary that she and Mark were seeing him behind his back was not an option.
She jogged to the elevator and tapped her foot as it moved up to her floor incredibly slowly. It had to have stopped on every floor before getting to hers. She walked out to catch Kristen's eye, and held up her hand. "I know. I've already been told. Thanks." She knocked once and opened his door, slipping in and pressing her back to the closed door behind her. "It's not what you think."
"I know it's not. I'm just tired from all of this shit." He tossed the paper onto his desk. "I don't like how they made you two look so comfortable in the photo. I just want to know what the hell the papers think this has to do with my business. My personal life is my own. It’s not about you. I know you love me."
"More than anything else in my whole life." She dropped her stuff by the door and walked to him as he stood up. “The media is a vicious pack of dogs. You’re the superhero hometown boy who went from rags to riches. They see me as the money-hungry monster. If people who read this shit believe it, they’ll just find more ways to find it.”
Alex sighed. “I know. And saying anything just feeds the pack of raging dogs.”
“So we ignore it.” It was going to be hard, but she would try her best.
“U
nless it hurts the business.”
Not your fiancée? “Yes, unless it hurts the company.” She blinked back the tears that suddenly seemed to want to fall. She cleared her throat and looked out the window to the city below. "Can I add something else?” She sucked in a sharp breath, not wanting to lose the nerve. “I'm tired of going home to be alone at night, Alex. I want to wrap myself around you every night and talk about our day. You need to figure out a quitting time. You can’t run Reid Enterprises completely on your own."
He moved beside her. "I know, baby. I'll figure it out. Let me get through this quarter, and we'll work through it." He pulled her tightly against him and leaned down, brushing his lips across hers. "For a few minutes after seeing the picture I had one of those what-if moments. What if Mark was in love with you? He deserves you far more than I do. He's the good guy. The all-American."
"Stop it. I'm not at all attracted to your brother, or any other man. Not at all. Not even a little." She lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to his.
He cupped her face and pushed into the kiss as he breathed in deeply and slid his tongue against her lips, wanting in. She opened up and let out a soft moan as his flavor rushed across her tongue, staining her with need. The kiss was long and hot, leaving her panting as he broke it and went in for another one.
"I miss you in my arms," he mumbled against her mouth. "I don't want to lose you to this place."
"That's not going to happen. What do you think if we come back and hit the news with our own statement?" She moved back, licking at her lips as she brushed his suit jacket back down into place. "Do you have someone at the paper you can trust, that you know?"
"Yeah. I know several of the guys in the business segment. I'll call one of them today, as well as my attorney. Stephen was served papers this morning for the lawsuit as well." He let out a long sigh. "Why does this shit come in waves? It seems like everything is going to be fine, and then all of a sudden we're hit with a million things at once."
"I don't know." She picked up her stuff and tugged her bag over her shoulder. "Speaking of shit hitting the fan, how did things work out with Paul yesterday?"
"It's all good. Just a misunderstanding. We spoke a little about him spending too much time at Kristen's desk, and he apologized for that. He loves his job, and he's a good guy. He just got wrapped up in wanting the attention of a pretty girl, I guess." He reached out and touched the side of her neck, his eyes following his fingers as they trailed downward. "I know the feeling all too well."
"You're going to make me blush." She smiled and cupped her hand over his. "I'm going to review résumés. I'll have a handful of them for you by lunch time. I love you."
"I love you more." He moved up and kissed her once more. "I'll be home tonight. I promise. Dinner and some chill-out time on the couch. Sound good?"