"Alex..." She bent down, squatting in front of him. Anytime she was near him, her body wanted sex. She pushed the thought aside and focused on what it would take to get him wanting sex too. “Talk to me about what's going on."
"You're not interested in Mark, right? I keep telling myself that I'm being a jealous ass, but the minute I feel better about it... something else happens."
"What? Didn’t we clear this all up already?" She sat back on her heels as confusion rolled through her. "Why in the world would you think that I'd be at all interested in your brother?"
"You seem to get along with him really well. He likes you a lot, obviously. I mean, hell, he's calling you to see about staying with me."
"I'm your personal assistant, Alex. Of course he's calling me to get to you. Everyone does."
"You haven't answered my question." His expression darkened.
"No. I'm not interested in your brother. He’s having a hard time; he didn’t even want me to tell you about his financial issues but I did anyway, because I'm interested in you. However, you're doing a great job of making me question why the fuck I bother." She stood and walked to the window, hating how quickly the moment turned from a warm embrace to him accusing her of something so ridiculous that it pissed her off.
"I'm not sure why you're so upset about me calling you my PA. You are," he chuckled.
Jamie turned to pin him with a hard stare over her shoulder. "What the heck happened? Why would you go from being so sweet to being so uncaring and callous?"
"What happened in general, or today?"
Oh, she’d drop-kick him out the window if she knew how. "Both! Either! Hell, I don't care. Just tell me what the fuck is going on!"
"Mark called this morning to talk to me about coming into town tomorrow because he couldn't get a hold of you. Then the asshole told me to lay off of you because your parents are going through a divorce and you have a lot of shit on your plate." Alex stood and took a few steps toward her, his voice rising. "Why the hell does my brother, who lives a thousand miles away, know this, and I don't?"
"Because he's going through a divorce, too, so I shared some of my shit with him. You've been a little busy lately, and instead of bombarding you with my problems, I've been trying to help alleviate yours. That's what people who care about each other do." The burn of tears shouldn't have surprised her, but it did. She was tired of feeling like shit for no real reason. Maybe all of her internal struggles from the past were silly and unmerited, but they taunted her nonetheless. They both had these insecurity issues. Why didn’t he understand?
"He's getting divorced from Paula? Why the hell didn't I know this?" He stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to pace.
She stared at him in surprise. She’d told him he was having problems. She knew she had. It only made her more frustrated to know he hadn’t been listening to her. "Because you didn't care to say more than five words to him. He's your brother." She moved toward the door, done with the argument. "I'm out. I'll finish up what I have going on, and then I'm going to get a drink with Gina. Nicholas and I are having dinner to discuss some new investors for your portfolio. You're fucking welcome."
"I don't want you going to dinner with Nicholas. I don't like him." His voice was commanding.
Jamie spun around. "It's part of my job, and he's a client. The sooner you get it through your head that I'm not interested in anyone but you, the better it will be for us from a personal and business standpoint." She reached for the door back to her office.
"Jamie. Wait." He let out a long growl. "I met with Annette yesterday and... and..."
Jamie whipped around and pressed her hands to her hips. "And what? I'm tired of trying to figure you out. You communicate beautifully here. Communicate with me, damn it!"
"Right." He glanced down at his desk and took a shaky breath. "She's pregnant, and she says it's mine."
"What?" Ice-cold horror rolled through her. No, no, no, no!!
"I’m sorry. I have no clue what the fuck to do about it. I don't want anything to do with her, but if she's carrying my child…"
"Then she has the baby and you help her with it." Jamie walked across the room, trying to push away the idea that Alex might actually try to work things out with Annette. The beautiful redhead was a total witch, who treated everyone like trash. That woman wasn’t meant to be a mother, except maybe to a clutch of vipers.
"I know… I just..."
"What other options are there?" Jamie swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around hersel
f.
"Many, okay? There are many options. I had what I thought was a shitty father, and I just remember growing up thinking that if I ever had a kid, that I would love him with an intensity that left him breathless; that above all he would know that his dad loved him and supported him."
The tears in Alex's eyes were almost too much, but the thought of him leaving her in order to suffer alongside Annette was soul-shattering.
"I understand that more than you know." She reached up and brushed away a tear. "That’s a decision you need to make. With or without me." It broke her heart to say that. She would step aside if she had to. She didn’t want to think about it, but she knew she would.
"Just give me time to think through this, okay?"