Page 37 of Boss with Benefits

“Understood.” He gestured to the paperwork on his desk. “Let’s get busy.”

Jessica tried to concentrate on work, but it was hard to keep her mind off her problems. Especially when one of those problems was talking to her in a husky voice that gave her goose bumps.

Chapter Nine

A week slipped by without incident. They didn’t hear from Jessica’s ex, his lawyers, or any private investigators. Brady slowly settled down into a routine he could tolerate. For the moment. Having two people living under his roof seemed unnatural to him. Everywhere he looked, he saw evidence of his lost privacy. Lacy undergarments hanging on the shower rod. Tiny toys that got between the carpet and his unprotected feet. Feminine products where they had no business being.

Jessica had added a few female touches without his prior knowledge or consent. There were frilly pillows on his couch, a vase with flowers on the kitchen table, and probably a hundred and one other small changes to his decor that made him cringe. When he complained, she reminded him the marriage had to look real. What if the private investigator hired by her ex’s attorney peeked through a window?

Brady tried not to notice how enticing Jessica looked as she scurried about the kitchen, cooking them breakfast. She would make some guy a great wife someday. Just not him. The image of her with another man brought a painful lump to his throat, which was ridiculous since he didn’t want her on a permanent basis. He didn’t care if she found love. If she did, good for her. He certainly didn’t want to stay married.

She hummed while she cooked. The happy sound made him smile... until he remembered she was making herself toocomfortable in his home. In fact, she was wearing one ofhisshirts. The hanging material covered the captivating curve of her toned bottom until she reached high for a bowl. Then the shirt slowly rode up. His breath caught in his throat as he waited for the color of her panties to be revealed.

She was wearing shorts.

He rolled his eyes.

Her son entered the kitchen, and Brady realized she had put the shorts on because of Axl. She was always thinking about her kid. How could anyone consider separating them? Her ex had to be the biggest creep in the world. He made a mental note to do some digging and find out why Randy suddenly wanted his son in his life. It was on his list of things to do; he moved it to the top.

Axl climbed up on his booster seat and started babbling about dinosaurs for some reason. His mom put a glass of orange juice next to his plate. She kissed his forehead and asked what he wanted for breakfast.

Brady barely listened to the exchange. It was too intimate, too domestic for his peace of mind. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him until...

Axl flew a tiny toy plane over his plate. In his haste to get the imaginary passengers to their destination, he knocked over the glass. Orange juice raced across the table in Brady’s direction. Some of it splashed on his trousers before he could leap out of the way.

Brady jumped up from the table, and a slew of curse words flew out of his mouth.

“Brady!” Jessica shouted in warning.

She jerked her chin in the kid’s direction, obviously not wanting him to learn new words.

Eyes wide, Axl stared up at him.

A memory roared to the front of Brady’s mind, and a mess of tangled emotions hit him hard. In the vision, he was the child. He had knocked his glass off the table. The memory of his mother’s gasp returned like a gunshot, and he remembered how her worried gaze swung to his father.

Brady stormed from the room, trying to flee the past. He went to the master bedroom and changed his pants. Normally, he would be in jeans, but he had a meeting with an important client in the early afternoon. Again. He was getting tired of these meetings. Maybe he should start delegating more, maybe pass the meetings off to his partner.

“Are you okay?” Jessica asked from the doorway.

He sank down on the edge of the bed. The urge to tell her to take her son and leave his home was almost too strong to resist. Half of him still wanted to save her from her ex, but the other half wanted her gone. Both of them. It wasn’t the kid’s fault he had a troubled past that he didn’t want to deal with. Maybe he should call Deacon and ask for an emergency shrink session.

His father’s voice intruded on the present.“I swear I wish you’d never been born, you useless runt!”

The verbal abuse had been worse than the physical beatings. Although, his younger self would have strongly disagreed. A child couldn’t understand physical pain was a temporary thing. Unfortunately, his father’s cruel words continued to haunt him more than two decades later.

Jessica took a step closer and repeated, “Are you okay, Brady?”

He slowly shook his head.

“Is there something I can do?” she asked.

He compressed his lips to keep from shouting at her to get the hell out of his house. His childhood had nothing to do with her. It wasn’t her fault, and it wasn’t Axl’s fault. He put thereminder on repeat in his brain so he wouldn’t take his anger out on them. “Finish breakfast,” he said. “I need to get to work.”

“We work at the same place. Remember? I know what you have on your docket for today, and you don’t need to rush off.”

When he refused to respond, she sat next to him on the bed. The woman couldn’t take a hint. He kept his mouth shut, afraid he might say something they would both regret later.

She put a hand on his leg and rested her head on his shoulder. “This marriage might not be the real thing, but I’m here for you. I hope you know that. We’re friends, and we’re partners. Can you tell me what’s got you so upset?”

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