Page 44 of Big & Bossy

Jackson Big’s new fiancée is pregnant!

Nope. Unless she has something to tell me. But I highly doubt she’d tell the press before telling me.

My phone buzzed in my hand as I swiped, lighting up the screen with Samantha’s face and name, a little PR symbol next to it. I answered.

“What’s up?” I wheezed, hitting the stop button on the stair master and following it down, my aching legs hitting the ground.

“I just wanted to check something with you. Do you have a minute?” The sound of papers shuffling in the background echoed through the phone.

“Yeah, shoot.”

“Great. So, you’re probably not too aware of this yet, but your inboxes are, well, overflowing,” she explained. “It’s too much for us to handle with you being in the media like you are right now. There’s a lot of spam that we have to sort through in order to find legitimate requests from reporters and journalists. Well, spam and a few death threats.”

It’s fine. It’s not related.

I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s not unusual.”

“I know that. But we’re struggling to keep up. Would it be okay if I hired another secretary to help us sort through all of it? Otherwise, stuff is going to get missed, and I doubt you want that. Ideally, we need to be on top of this shit in order to get the media off your backs.”

I scratched the little bit of scruff growing under my chin, making a mental note to shave before bed. “Uh, yeah. That’s fine. We definitely don’t want to miss any important bits.”

“Amazing. Thanks, Jack. I’ll let you know when we’ve got someone, but I’m going to shift one of the HR reps over to cover in the meantime, they’re not too busy right now.”

“No problem?—”

Another call made my phone buzz against my ear.

“Hold on, Sam.”

I pulled it away, checking the screen, and my stomach dropped. Why are you calling me?

“Same, I’ve got to go. Thanks again,” I blurted, hitting the end call button and answering the other.

“Hello? What’s up?”

Giggles. So many giggles.

“Mandy?”

“Hi, Jack,” she slurred, her voice far too loud. Drunk. “How are you?”

Grabbing the towel from the stair master, I wiped down the back of my neck as I made my way toward the door. “Well, I’m sober, for one. How are you?”

She hiccuped, the sound bleeding through the speaker. “I’m amazing. So good. A little lost, but good.”

“Lost?”

“Mmm-hmm. Amanda and Harry already went back to the hotel.”

The sound of people mingling, chatting, and singing started pouring through the phone as I made my way through my living room, down the stairs, and toward the door. “What about Tiana?”

“She left with her friends.”

“For fucks sake, Mandy.” I held the phone between my ear and shoulder as I slid my jacket over my arms. The closest shoes were slippers, and they were going to have to do. “Where are you?”

“Don’t really know,” she slurred. She shouted something behind the phone, something that sounded suspiciously like an order for a rum and coke. “I found a bar so I’m just kind of hanging out here.”

“Great,” I mumbled, pulling open the front door. Bitter air hit me like a wave, leaving my shorts covered legs exposed to the freezing air. “Listen. Send me your location and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

---