Page 16 of Boss with Benefits

“I still owe you a last night together,” she said.

He shook his head. “You don’toweme anything.”

“Fine. I’ll rephrase. I want to give you one more night, but we need to wait until Axl is all mine.”

“Understood.”

“Drive safely.”

She leaned against the door frame and watched him walk down the hallway to the elevator. Her body sagged. She felt like she didn’t have a single bone left. It was all too much. She was emotionally and physically drained. A quick glance up and down the empty hallway made her feel better. If Randy had someone watching her, at least they were being discreet and not camped out on her doorstep.

Within seconds of closing the door, she missed Brady.

It hurt her to think he didn’t feel the same way. Although he didn’t say anything about having a date, he probably did, and it was no doubt with a beautiful model.

Chapter Four

Brady downed a shot and signaled for the passing waitress to bring him another. He and his closest friend, the only one who knew his real name, met for drinks once a week and twice for their shrink sessions. They usually watched a game on the big screen, but he wasn’t in the mood tonight. All he could think about was Jessica. Seeing her interact with her son at the zoo earlier had been enlightening. She was even a better mother than he’d originally thought and deserved to keep her son.

The waitress returned with another shot for him and a beer for his friend. Deacon openly flirted with her even though he was married. It didn’t mean anything. He flirted with everything in a skirt, but he never followed through. For some reason, his wife didn’t seem to mind. That was what confused Brady the most. If he lived to be a thousand, he wouldn’t understand marriage. Or women.

Despite his friend’s attempt to stir up interest in the waitress, she made it clear she wanted Brady. Her fingers trailed along his arm when she set his drink in front of him, and her eyes invited him to make a move.

Problem was, he couldn’t stop thinking about Jess.

He lifted the shot glass to his lips and threw his head back, quickly downing the whiskey. Another layer of gauze wrapped around him. Cozy. Feeling numb, he leaned back in his chair and glanced up at the TV. One of the players in red fumbled the ball.A few guys at the corner table voiced their displeasure. Loudly. There was also some grumbling from people at the bar.

Brady couldn’t remember who was playing.

“Hey,” Deacon said, snapping his finger in front of Brady’s face. “What’s up? Why are you working on a hangover?”

“Huh? What’d you say?”

Brady had to run the sentences through his mind twice before he caught the meaning. A nice, fuzzy feeling had settled over his entire body. He couldn’t feel his tongue. Or maybe he could and he was just imagining things. Weird.

“You okay, man?” Deacon asked.

Brady wasn’t drunk, not yet, but he was having a hard time thinking in straight lines. “Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“You know you can tell me anything,” Deacon said. “I’ve kept your secrets a secret so far, haven’t I?”

“That’s when I’m on the couch. You have to keep them for your doctor-patient con-fi-den... con-fi-den… you-know-what thing to make sense.”

Brady thought it was strange and kind of funny talking to a shrink didn’t bother him anymore. In the beginning, he had fought Deacon on having regular sessions, but they were best friends. Deacon knew what buttons to push. So they’d been listening to each other’s problems since college, long before his buddy got his license to shrink heads. They’d been roommates, so maybe Deacon using him as his first patient was only natural

“I can’t stop thinking about Jessica,” he admitted.

Deacon scoffed. “Are you kidding me? This is about some chick? I thought you were immune to the effect women have on us mortal men.”

“So did I.”

Half-mockingly, his best friend said, “Tell Dr. Deke the whole story. Go ahead. What happened?”

“I’m not on the couch right now,” Brady said, feeling instantly defensive. “Stop talking to me like I’m on the couch.”

“I’m still your shrink, even if I’m not on the clock. You’re still protected under the doctor-patientconfidentialityrule.”

Brady lifted his empty shot glass when he caught the eye of the passing waitress. In turn, Deacon shook his head at the woman. With a heavy sigh, Brady set his glass down on the table. He quietly prepared his story as people cheered around them. A few launched to their feet.

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