Brother to the Boss (Managing the Bosses 8)

Zander sighed. “It’s her business because I told her to tell me. And it’s my business because I got a call from your wife last week with orders to make sure that you weren’t forgetting to eat for entire days. I’d say she knows you pretty well.”

Jamie had called to make sure he was having lunch? The knowledge warmed Alex. Just after they’d met, when she’d collapsed one day on his office floor from too much running and not enough food, he’d taken it upon himself to make sure that she was eating every couple of hours. Now it seemed the roles were reversed, and he couldn’t bring himself to mind too much. It was nice to know that his wife was thinking of him.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll eat something.”

“Good.” Zander stood, and dropped a file on his desk. “After you eat, that’s the Berwick file. The analyst in charge wants you to take a look at it.”

Alex reached for the file, and Zander cleared his throat.

“If you don’t eat, I’m calling Jamie and telling her. Read the file after.”

“You’re overstepping your bounds, Zander,” Alex warned, but he smiled anyway.

Zander just grinned at him and slipped out of the office again.

Maybe, Alex thought, watching him go, Jamie would like to satisfy her concerns with her own eyes. It had been too long since he’d seen her. He reached down and picked up his phone, hitting the speed dial, then lifted it to his ear and listened to it ring.

“Hey, baby,” Jamie said, picking up on the second ring. “What’s up?”

She sounded a little breathless, like she had just been running, or laughing, and Alex smiled.

“Trying to keep up with the twins?”

“Something like that. You’d think washing a baby’s hands would be easy, but it’s surprisingly difficult, especially now that they’ve learned to walk. Give it a month and I’ll be chasing them all over the house.”

Alex laughed. “You eaten yet, baby?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “No,” Jamie said. “I was busy feeding the kids. Why?”

“Just wondered if you might like to leave them with the nanny for an hour or so and come meet me for lunch.” He held the phone a little tighter. “I miss you.”

“I would love that,” Jamie answered. He could hear her smile even through the phone. “Give me ten minutes to get ready, and I’ll be on my way. Where are we meeting?”

“That café a few miles from here?” Alex suggested. “Easy stuff to eat in a reasonable amount of time, and they have a nice atmosphere.”

“Sounds good,” Jamie said. “I’ll see you then.”

“See you then.”

Alex hung up the phone, and glanced down at the file that Zander had dropped on his desk. He had ten minutes before he had to leave. It wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look at it, see what the analyst was having a problem with. He’d told Zander he would wait until he had eaten, but the man wasn’t his boss. Or his mother. He opened the file.

***

“There you are,” Jamie said as Alex hurried into the restaurant fifteen minutes later than he’d meant to be.

She stood up from her seat and Alex stepped forward to wrap his arms around her, kissing her long and slow in apology as much as in greeting. It took a moment, but she melted against him the way she always did, warm and soft and perfect, and Alex held her closer, reluctant to pull away.

“Sorry, baby,” he said when he finally drew back. “I decided I had time to take a quick look at something while you were getting ready, and it took a little longer than I thought. I didn’t mean to leave you waiting.”

She gave him a narrow-eyed look. “I suppose I can forgive you this time. But next time you invite me to lunch and show up late, you’re getting it.”

“Getting what?”

Jamie looked thoughtful. “I don’t know,” she decided. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. So I’d better not come to it.”

“I promise never to be late again,” Alex said sincerely, and her attempt at a stern look dissolved into the smile he’d known was hiding under it.

“Alright, then, you’re f