Taking the Boss to Bed

Ryan picked up his wallet and mobile from the console and opened his door on a large sigh. It was so much easier to remain single, he thought. His life had been so uncomplicated before Jaci.

Boring, admittedly, but uncomplicated. Ryan turned to close the car door and saw Jaci’s father turning the corner to walk up the steps. “Morning, Archie,” he said, holding out his hand for Jaci’s father to shake. “Have you seen Jaci?”

Archie, vague about anything that didn’t concern his newspaper or world news, thought for a moment. “In her room, with the politician,” he eventually said.

Blood roared through Ryan’s head. “Say what?” he said, sounding as if he was being strangled. What the hell did that mean? Had Whips and Chains spent the night? With Jaci?

What the...

“Ryan!”

Ryan looked up as Jaci’s slim figure walked out of the front door of Lyon House, her ex close on her heels. He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his hand on Jaci’s back, and he sent Ryan a look that screamed Yeah, I did her and it was fantastic, dude. Ryan clenched his fist as Jaci skipped down the stairs. He could watch her forever, he thought, as she approached him with a smile on her face that lit her from the inside out. God, she was beautiful, he thought. Funny, smart, dedicated. Confident, sexy and, finally, starting to realize who she was and her place in the world.

Clive greeted Archie as he walked back into the house, then he kissed Jaci’s cheek, told her to give him a call and walked toward his car. Jaci stared at Clive’s departing back for more time than Ryan was comfortable with and when she turned to look at him she was—damn, what was the word?—glowing. She looked—the realization felt like a fist slamming into his stomach—soft and radiant, the way she looked after they’d shared confidences, exactly the way she looked after they made love. Her eyes were a gooey brown, filled with emotion. He could read hope there and possibilities and...love. He saw love.

Except that they hadn’t made love. He hadn’t made love...

Jesus, no.

Maybe she had slept with Whips and Chains again, Ryan thought, his mind accelerating to the red zone. It was highly possible; three months ago she’d loved him, was planning to marry him. Those feelings didn’t just disappear, evaporate. He was a politician and he probably talked her around and charmed her back into bed. Had he read too much into whatever he and Jaci had? Had it just been a sexual fling? Maybe, possibly...after all, Jaci hadn’t given him the slightest indication of her desire to deepen this relationship, so was he rolling the wrong credits? They’d slept together a couple of times. For all he knew, she might just regard him as a way to pass some time until her ex came to his senses.

Did Jaci still love Clive? The idea wasn’t crazy; yeah, the guy was a jerk-nugget, but love didn’t just go away. God, he still loved Ben despite the fact that he’d betrayed him, and a part of him still loved Kelly, even after five years and everything that happened.

But, God, it stung like acid to think of Jaci and Clive in bed, that moron touching her perfect body, pulling her back into his life. He’d shared a woman before and he would never do it again. Ryan felt the bile rise up in his throat and he ruthlessly choked it down. God, he couldn’t be sick, not now.

Feeling sideswiped, he looked down and noticed that his mobile, set to silent, was ringing. He frowned at the unfamiliar number on the screen. Thinking that taking the call would give him some time to corral his crazy thoughts, he pushed the green button and lifted the phone to his ear.

“Jax? This is Jet Simons.”

Ryan’s frown deepened. Why would Simons, the slimiest tabloid writer around, be calling him and how the hell did he get his number? He considered disconnecting, blowing him off, but maybe there was a fire he needed to put out. “What the hell do you want? And how did you get my number?”

“I have my sources. So, I hear that you and Jaci Brookes-Lyon think that Leroy Banks is a slimy troll and that you two are pretending to be in a relationship to keep him sweet. What did you two call him, ‘Toad of Toad Hall’?”

Ryan’s eyes flew to Jaci’s face. The harsh swear left his mouth, and only after it was out did he realize that it, in itself, was the confirmation Simons needed.

“No comment,” he growled, wishing he could reach through the phone and wrap his hand around Simons’s scrawny neck. Strangling Jaci was an option, too. She was the only person who used that expression. He sent her a dark look and she instinctively took a step back.