"As good as can be expected." She got in the car and let out a shaky breath.
Alex was everything she wanted in a man, when he was acting like a man. Too bad right now he was being a spoiled ass.
Chapter 17
They didn't talk for the rest of the afternoon, which was probably a good thing. She didn't quit, but she was ready to if he thought to press the damn write-up thing. What a silly, asinine thing to try to pull on her. Just because he couldn't control the situation with Annette didn't mean he had to try to control everything else in his life to the smallest detail. He was beyond being ridiculous.
The next day grew insanely intense as they worked together, communicating only when they had to. How they'd once again gone from mind-blowing sex to being stiff and angry with each other was beyond her. Alex needed to get the situation with Annette put behind them. It was messing up everything in his life. Some of the investors had even been talking quietly about him losing his edge. She wanted to pull him aside, but instead went on damage control.
After finally wrapping things up, she let Gina work with him on the closing ceremony for the event. Her mom had called earlier that day, but she had to ignore her due to the lack of free time in her day.
Not quite ready to go home, Jamie turned the car toward her mother's house and rolled the windows down. She felt a little better by the time she reached the house, and didn't think twice about knocking as she let herself in the front door. Why would she need to?
A loud male grunt sounded from the couch in front of her, accompanied by a sharp cry from her mother.
"Oh, shit," Jamie muttered and backed up toward the door.
"Jamie?" Her father lifted his head from the couch, his eyes wide and chest bare.
"Um. Sorry?" She rushed to the door and started to open it. Shit! Shit! Shit! That’s one image I’m never going to be able to sear from my brain!
"It's alright. Just give us a few minutes," her mom called out.
"I'm gonna be sick." She opened the door and walked to her car, pressing her hands to her forehead. She felt elation from knowing that her parents were actually talking... intimately, but walking in on it? She hadn't experienced that type of embarrassment since she was in junior high.
Note to self. Knock next time. Every time.
By the time she decided that it would be better to just get in her car and go home, the front door opened.
Her mom smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't know you were coming over."
"I can totally come back. I..." What was there to say? Anything would sound weird and leave her more embarrassed than she was.
"No. Come on in. Your father and I were trying to work through some of our differences, and things just went… you know." She shrugged and moved back. "I'm thinking it's for the better, though. Remembering how good we are together in bed was nice."
"Mom. Really?" Jamie walked in and glanced around, half afraid of what she might find. "Don't ever tell Christine that I walked in on you guys. I'll never hear the end of it."
Her father chuckled as he walked out of the kitchen. He pulled her into a tight hug.
"I won't tell her, but you know your mother and she are like besties."
"What?" her mom balked. "She gets me."
"I get you too." Her father popped her mom's butt while still holding Jamie.
"Okay. I'm leaving." Jamie pulled from him and lifted her eyebrow.
"We're just thinking that maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence." Her dad moved to the couch and patted it. "Come sit beside me."
"You guys want something to eat?" her mother called from the kitchen.
"No, honey. Jamie?"
"No. I'm sick to my stomach." Jamie leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm glad to see you and Mom together, but this can't just be about physical attraction, Dad. You guys border-line hate each other."
"That's not true. We just have grown too comfortable with each other. So when I'm angry
or hurt, I take it out on her, whether it’s her fault or not. She does the same to me. It's okay to lean on someone and let them help you work through life's difficulties. It's not okay to attack them and make them suffer alongside you." He reached over and tucked a strand of Jamie's dark hair behind her ear. "That make sense?"