Employed by the Boss (Managing the Bosses 7)

“What do you say we take the kids out one day this weekend? Away from all the bullsh—” Alex dropped his voice so the twins wouldn’t hear “bullshit.” He turned to look at her. He was smiling, apparently having decided that he wasn’t going to worry about the alleged baby mama anymore. “Somewhere fun. We can make a day of it, and tire them out enough that maybe we can get dinner

while they sleep.”

“That sounds really great,” Jamie said. “I’d like that.” She looked down at the baby on her hip. “What about you, Benton? Huh? Would you like to go somewhere with Daddy and Lilli and me?”

Benton waved his hands in the air, nearly smacking Jamie in the face, and she laughed.

“I think that’s a yes. Out for Saturday, then?”

“Out for Saturday,” Alex agreed, leaning down to steal a kiss.

There was still the issue of this other illegitimate child, but that could wait, Jamie decided. They’d deal with it when they had to. Until then, they had two beautiful children of their own to take care of, and that was where their focus should be.

Chapter 8

It felt strange having Alex and Jamie’s entire house to himself. Mark picked up his towel from the pile of clean laundry that he should probably put away after his swim. They’d never taken the kids anywhere for more than an hour or two at a time, and usually only to places like Jamie’s dad’s. Which was where they were planning on taking them anyway, after dinner. Or for dinner, if they got fussy. They even mentioned possibly staying away for the night. So Mark had the house and the pool to himself for the rest of the afternoon and evening, and he intended to take full advantage of it. It had been a little while since he’d had the opportunity to go swimming.

The water was cool in the heat of the early summer sun, and Mark turned on his back and floated, enjoying the quiet. Working on the country club was exhilarating, but relaxing wasn’t a word that applied to it. There was constantly something someone needed advice or approval on, and usually something that was supposed to be going right that was going wrong.

Here, though, there was just the lapping of the water against the edge of the pool, and the sun shining down on him, just warm enough against the cool of the water to be really pleasant. Mark let himself float, and tried not to think about anything but that.

His thoughts inevitably turned to Erica.

She wasn’t the only person working for him at the club, but she was the one his attention kept returning to. Not that it was any wonder. She was gorgeous, and watching her swing a club was pure art. Mark would have gladly spent all his time staring at her instead of getting any work done, but he didn’t think that she’d really appreciate it. His investors probably wouldn’t either.

He’d thought about approaching her with his interest, but the idea was a little bit terrifying. What if she turned him down? It was easy with women that he couldn’t imagine dating. But Erica was smart and funny, and he could imagine spending the rest of his life with her. He wanted what Jamie and Alex had, he just didn’t know how to find it. After his divorce, he’d vowed to wait some time and just be single. Find himself again, enjoy the odd bit of fun, but try to stay away from anything serious. It would come when he wasn’t expecting it. Trying to force it would only put him in the same position he’d been in with his first marriage. If he ever got married again, it was going to be for the last time.

The sound of voices coming around the corner of the house made Mark straighten up abruptly, dropping his feet to the floor of the pool. Who would be showing up now? Alex and Jamie were gone, and as far as he knew there hadn’t been plans to have anyone over to the house.

“Alex?” a very obviously feminine voice called through the gate. “Are you back there?”

Mark hauled himself out of the pool, not bothering to wrap a towel around his waist when it would just get soaked, and walked toward the gate.

There were two women standing on the other side, one of them short and olive-skinned, the other tall with curls in her hair and a model’s build. Both of them were exactly the kind of women that Alex had rotated through before he’d met Jamie.

“Sorry,” he said, smiling “Not Alex. Can I do something for you?”

The taller girl pouted at him. “Aww, we were hoping for Alex. Do you know when he’ll be home? We’re only in town for a couple nights.”

“Alex is out with his wife,” Mark said, because he figured it would be easier to tell them now than to string them along and let them hope they might have a chance. “And kids.”

They exchanged glances, and then looked back at him.

“Alex is married?” the shorter one asked.

“Months ago,” Mark said. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t read about it. It was all over the news.”

“Oh darn! We’ve been traveling for ages. Actually just got back to the States. That’s why we’re in New York at all,” the taller one said. “We’re actually from L.A.”

Of course they were.

“Well, like I said, Alex isn’t really available anymore. But I’ll tell him you dropped by.”

He started to turn, and the voice of the shorter one stopped him. “What about you?” she asked as he paused. “Are you available?”

Her voice was a purr that suggested she was asking exactly what he thought.

“We brought our bathing suits and everything,” the taller one said, waving a collection of fabric and string that didn’t look large enough to cover a Barbie doll, let alone a human being.