Page 41 of Boss with Benefits

“Am I?”

Brady still didn’t know what to do about Jessica and her kid. He’d married her to save them both from her nasty ex, but he might be making things worse. What if Randy’s private detective delved too deeply into Brady’s past and found out about his parents? What if someone discovered his biggest secret?

Jessica could lose Axl because she’d married him. The irony didn’t escape him. Perhaps he should tell her the truth, all of it, and let her decide what she wanted to do. He didn’t imagine being divorced would be any better for her than being a single mom, but the decision should be up to her.

“You’re a good guy,” Deacon said. “It’s a shame you haven’t figured it out yet.”

Brady glanced at his watch. “I’m late. I need to get to work.”

“Say hi to Jessica for me.”

∞∞∞

Jessica couldn’t wait to see Brady. After their talk earlier that morning, she was worried about him. She hadn’t pushed him on the issue of his father and had asked about his name instead, because it was obvious he couldn’t talk about his childhood with her. Not yet. She knew how to read between the lines. His father must have been abusive, and it still weighed heavily on Brady. She decided to make it her job to get him to open up to her. He was putting his life on hold in order to save her son from her ex. The least she could do was help him deal with memories of a bad childhood.

When she got off the elevator in their office building, Mona said, “Brady has been asking for you.”

“Good. I want to talk to him.” She took a second to ask the receptionist, “How have things been with you?”

Mona dropped her gaze. “F-fine. I’m g-good.”

Jessica hurried into the inner sanctum and found things running smoothly as usual. Their sales guy was on the phone with a client, talking while tapping his bobbleheads with a pencil to make their heads bob; the ad writers were tapping away on their computers; the accountant was working on her calculator and jotting numbers down.

Katherine jumped up from her desk the moment she saw Jessica and made a direct path straight to her. “He’s in a foul mood today, and he’s looking for you.”

“Mona told me.”

“Did she also tell you he fired Chuck this morning?”

Jessica’s jaw dropped. “Our new intern. Why?”

“Beats me.” Katherine whispered. “You’re his wife, and you need to do something about him before he fires someone else. I need my income to pay for all the gifts I give my grandchildren. I spoil them rotten. It’s my right, despite what my son says.”

Jessica blinked. “What am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Lock his office door and have some alone time, if you know what I mean. That would put a smile on his face.”

“We have a meeting with Anderson in less than an hour.”

Katherine winked. “Make it a quickie.”

Jessica’s cheeks burned, and she gave the other woman a withering look. Her gaze traveled to his closed door. She had been anxious to talk to him, but not with a crowd of curious onlookers.

The employees pretended to be caught up in their work; they peeked at her in imaginative ways. Vinny coughed into his fist while glancing her way. Joan used a mirror to check her lipstick. It conveniently caught Jessica’s reflection instead. Mary ‘accidentally’ knocked a book off her desk. When she reached for it, she took a moment to check out Jessica.

If it was a contest, the winner would definitely be Neeka. The beautiful mother of two brought Jessica a waiver to sign. She couldn’t help but notice how Neeka’s eyes went to her left hand and stayed there. Looking for a wedding ring?

Darn Brady. He’d been right about Katherine. She’d obviously told everyone about their secret wedding. Jessica had mixed feelings about it. The good news was they could testify that the two of them had wanted to keep their marriage a secret. Bad news? The employees were going to be staring at them, gossiping about them behind their backs, and probably asking a lot of nosy questions.

“It’s on a chain around my neck,” Jessica blurted out.

Neeka blinked. “Pardon?”

“You were searching for a wedding ring.” Jessica pulled the gold chain free from her blouse and let it rest against the creamy silk fabric. The shiny gold band dangled on the end. “There. See?”

Neeka shook her head. “It’s nothing to do with me. I didn’t ask.”

The woman returned to her desk with a satisfied smirk.

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