Page 43 of Boss with Benefits

She sniffed. “I called the lawyer, but he didn’t make me feel any better.”

Brady’s blood began to boil. He gently pushed her away, handed her the flowers, and ducked into her office. Before she had a chance to ask what he was doing, he used her land-line phone to call the law firm. He was ready to fire them all.

When the receptionist answered, he said, “This is Brady. I want you to tell Ms. Crawford to get the entire team together and meet me in your conference room in thirty minutes. If she does not comply, I will be looking for a new law firm.”

As he spoke, he watched Jessica’s eyes grow wide. At least she wasn’t crying anymore. He hung up and sat in her chair without thinking. She didn’t seem to mind. A hopeful smile tilted her mouth, and she took a moment to smell her flowers.

“Thank you,” she said. “They’re lovely.”

“I should have done this sooner,” he said. “I keep the firm on retainer for a reason, and them giving you the low man on the totem pole was not acceptable.”

“You are sexy when you take charge.”

He grinned, and the tension in the room eased. “Remember that later when the kid is in bed and we’re doing the dishes.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll remember.”

For a moment, he lost the romantic feeling they were creating. It was quickly replaced by the old fear he would turn out like his father. Once again, they were getting too comfortable in their new roles as a married couple. The worst thing to him was that the homey picture they created—two people washing dishes before bed—didn’t freak him out the way it had at the start of their marriage.

It bothered him that being married to her didn’t bother him anymore.

He hit the intercom button. “Katherine, Jess and I need to go out for a while. Move our appointments to tomorrow. We might not be back today.”

“Gotcha, boss.” Katherine didn’t stop there. “Where will you be, you know, in case I need to get in touch with you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Call my cell. You don’t need to know where we’re going.”

After pushing the intercom button to turn it off, he crossed the room to stand with Jessica. “Are you ready? They’ll be expecting us soon.”

Her damp blue eyes locked with his. “I have never been this scared in my entire life.”

“Don’t be scared,” he said while lacing his fingers with hers. “We can handle this. We are going to win.”

“It isn’t enough to win full custody, Brady. I don’t want Randy to haveanylegal hold on my son. If the judge gives him visitation, he’ll do something to hurt Axl. I know he will, and I won’t be there to stop him.”

Brady’s jaw tightened at the thought of her ex being mean to the kid. What if this Randy guy was like his father? Abusive. The thought of someone hitting Axl made him crazy mad. He understood exactly how Jessica felt. No matter what he had to do, he would make sure Randy left them alone. That guy could not get visitation.

“You’re right,” he said. “We’ll find a way to push Randy out of the picture.”

Maybe if he offered the guy a million dollars, he would walk away.

She grabbed her purse, and they left the office together. The ride in the elevator was long and uneventful. People got on and off. Neither of them said a word to each other. They weren’t in the mood to play the elevator game.

He made a mental note to call his private detective for an update. How long was it going to take him to find out why this Randy character all of a sudden wanted to be a part of his son’s life? Failing that, maybe they could discover his Achilles heel. More than anything, Brady needed to know what Randy wanted from life. What was his dream? His lifelong goal?

If they could find that out, Brady could deal with the guy. With his money and connections, there wasn’t much out of his reach.

∞∞∞

“I pay you people an insane amount of money each month so you’ll be available when I need you.” Brady gestured to Jessica. “I sent my partner here to you for help, and what do you do? You hand her off to an associate when she should have been talking to at least one of the senior partners.”

Jessica stood off to the side and watched Brady tear into them. She’d never wanted him more. He was in his element, speaking calmly even though he was obviously angry.

Everyone except for Jessica and Brady were seated at the long conference table. Jillian Crawford, the senior attorney, sat at the far end. With pursed lips, Ms. Crawford listened to Brady berate her firm. She kept her mouth shut until he was finished.

Then the forty-something woman stood. “Please, accept my humble apology for the misunderstanding, Brady.No onethought to mention your partner was here for legal advice. Now that I know, I will personally take over the case, of course.”

Relief washed over Jessica. In an instant, she had gone from a distracted lawyer who couldn’t care less about her situation to the attorney Brady referred to as a hungry shark. Ms. Crawford had already won several lawsuits for him. What was one more?

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