The Boss (Managing the Bosses 1)

Jamie watched him walk away, her mouth dry. You’re supposed to be professional. She just hoped it could be as easy for her as it was for him.

Chapter 12

Thanks to the business of having to catch up from almost a week away, Jamie didn’t have time to consider if she was acting professional or not. Alex Reid had been swamped while Jamie had been gone. He must have spent most nights in the office as her tablet and business phone had synced to all his work and she was able to go through everything he had done. He’d made rough notes for her and had Gina fill in on a few meetings to write press releases. Jamie played catch up with everything else and by the end of the day Wednesday she believed she had caught up with everything.

She stepped into Alex’s office as she finished sending out an email to a company Alex was planning on buying. She knocked lightly on the door, “Mr. Reid?”

Alex stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out the massive windows at the city below them. He turned and looked at her. “Yes, Ms. Connors?”

“Is there anything else that needs to be done today?” She snuck a glance at her watch. It was nearly six. Her family had planned on meeting her about six thirty. If she had to cancel, she needed to do it now.

“We’re fine. You’ve worked double time day and night the past three days. Thank you for that, I appreciate your hard work. I have another meeting I can manage on my own.” He turned back to the window. “Goodnight, Ms. Connors.”

“You, too, sir.” She hesitated before finally stepping back into her office. She had been tempted to tell him it was her birthday. What good would that do? It was just a number anyways. She’d gone through the entire day without a phone call or email to say happy birthday. She was fine with it, why would she think suddenly now she needed one from him?

She hurried down the stairs and stopped at the public bathroom on the main floor to check her makeup. She touched up her lipstick and headed outside to drive to Michael Angelos.

Her family sat waiting for her, already ordering a bottle of wine before she had even sat down.

“Hi sweetie!” Her father came over and kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday!”

“Oh yeah!” Christine lifted the bottle of wine. “I forgot it was your birthday. Happy day.” She went to pour a glass for her and realized the bottle was empty. “Whoops. Guess we started without you.” She motioned for the waiter to bring another one.

Jam

ie’s mom smiled at her. “Happy birthday. Do you think this time next year we’ll have a bun in the oven?”

“Excuse me?” Jamie blinked. The only empty chair was in the back corner beside Stephen. She had to ask him to scoot forward so she could get by.

“For Christine.” Her mother rolled her eyes. “I was talking about Stephen and Christine having a baby. Giving me a grandchild finally.”

Stephen stood and pushed in his chair. He stepped against the table facing Jamie as she had to pass him. He surprised her by kissing her on the lips as she tried to squeeze by.

She had been focussed on not letting any of her body parts brush against his cock to see his head coming towards her. She froze when his lips touched her.

“Happy birthday, Jamie.” He patted her bum before finally letting her pass.

Nobody seemed to notice the exchange. Shocked, Jamie sat down and picked up her menu. She held it high covering her face so no one would notice it burning. When she finally calmed down enough to participate in the conversation, she realized the second bottle of wine had come and had been filled into everyone’s glass but hers. She reached for it, disappointed it had been emptied again. Stephen’s, Christine’s and her mother’s goblets were full.

“Here.” Her dad handed her his glass. “I’m not supposed to be drinking.” He winked at her. “I may have filled this up to save for you.”

That was the only present she got at the table. She sat in her little corner, participating in the conversation when it called on her and thought about work and Alex when it didn’t. She wondered what meeting he had tonight and if he was seeing anyone since Annette. It was none of her business.

“Jamie!”

She blinked and turned her attention back to her sister. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

Christine rolled her eyes. “How much wine have you had?” She didn’t wait for Jamie to answer. “Mom and I were talking and we were thinking it would be really neat if we made wedding favors ourselves. It’s kind of the in-thing to do these days. What do you think?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s a great idea.”

She clapped her hands. “Perfect! I knew you would do it! I’ve already ordered the material and the cutting shape and everything. You’ll have to make about,” she said and turned to her mom, “two hundred? Two hundred fifty of them?”

“Wait! What?” Jamie tried to figure out what part of the conversation she had missed. Her mom and sister sat at the one end and she was wedged between the two men who were mainly talking about stocks and sports. Two things that really didn’t seem to go together.

“I asked if you would make them for me.” Christine tilted her head, her eyebrows coming together when things were suddenly not going her way. “You just said, and these are your exact words, yeah, sure. It’s a great idea.”

“I thought you were talking about you and Stephen making them.”