Page 42 of Flyboy
"What happen to being partners on that, huh? Or have you forgotten that's what you said in Vegas after our wedding?"
Dammit. They had agreed on that. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Could she let him take control of more things? If it got her out of this conversation, she could give a little. "Fine. The groceries. And when the utility bills come in, we'll decide how much you should put in."
Jack nodded. "Okay. For now. But we'll revisit this discussion when you aren't about to drop from exhaustion. Get in the shower and go to bed."
"It would be nice if you stopped ordering me around," she muttered.
"Maybe if you took better care of yourself, I wouldn't have to."
The phone in her pocket vibrated making every muscle tense. It was one of two people. Rosie asking her to work another shift, which wasn't going to happen, or Gina.
She didn't want to check with Jack in the room. If it was Gina, who'd taken to calling her every day at all hours, she didn't want him to know.
"Why aren't you answering that?"
Shit."Ah…"
"Who is it?"
Resigned to the inevitable, Alyssa dug her phone out of her pocket and held it out to show him the screen.
"Gina."
She smiled. She loved that he knew whoBio-Monsterwas. She'd added the contact after they'd returned from Vegas. She'd had to after Penny had answered her phone while she was in the shower. There was no way she wanted to subject her sister to that again. Now they both knew who was calling and Penny wouldn't pick up the call no matter where Alyssa was.
"Are you going to answer?"
"No." She shrugged. "Not much point. It's the same old, same old. Plus, I already picked up once today. She usually gives up after that though…" she said, frowning at her phone.
"Want me to answer?"
"Oh, hell no. That would really set her off. She's been bad enough since we moved, finding out there's a man…ah fuck.That'swhat this is about." She threw her phone on the bed where it bounced twice before settling screen up. "That fucking bitchknowsyou're living here."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because she's hinted at it. She'd been poking, trying to get me to give her information."
"About what?"
"Well, one comment was something about it being nice to have a sugar daddy."
Jack snorted. "A sugar daddy? Don't I have to be more than twice your age for that?"
Alyssa shrugged. "Who the hell knows. I'm not exactly an expert on that sort of thing. Gina on the other hand…wait. How the hell does she know…?" Her gaze locked with Jack's, her muscles no longer tense; they were concrete. "She's in Sunnyville. She has to be. It's the only way she'd know. I haven't told her anything. The only reason she knows Penny's here is because she answered my phone last week."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, no. But what other explanation is there? How else would she know about the new house and my sugar daddy?"
"Are you sure she knows?"
"Yes. She talked about it. Mentioned I must be doing all right for myself having that big house. Can't exactly get the implication in that wrong."
"No. Definitely not. Okay. You shower and get ready for bed. I need to make some calls."
"What? Why?"
"To check in with Roark."
