Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (113 page)

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but you’ll have to
take your call girl to a hotel until you find a permanent place to live.”

“Damn it, Marjorie, get the hell out of my
house, now.”

“Oh no, dear, you’re mistaken. It’s my
home. I never actually moved my things out, remember? My lawyer tells me that
gives me every right to be here now. So, the way I see it is, you can go to a
hotel, stay with your whore, or you can live here with me until this is all
decided in a court of law.” With that last insult, she swung the door closed in
our faces. Alicia was pale as a ghost, and I was so angry it’s amazing the veins
in my temples didn’t pop. Alicia put her hand on my arm and said,

“Come on, baby. We can stay at my place
tonight and figure this out in the morning.”

I wasn’t thinking rationally, I was just
so pissed off. I jerked my arm out of her grasp and said, “No!” too harshly.
She looked shocked, and I instantly felt bad. Marjorie had just called her a
whore, and I was the one acting wounded. “I’m sorry, baby. It just makes me
crazy. I can’t just walk away and leave her to claim my home.”

Alicia looked even more shocked. “You
intend to stay here…with her?”

I took her face in my hands and said, “I
need you to trust me, please.” She didn’t answer me and I knew I would play
hell getting her to speak to me tomorrow. I couldn’t let Marjorie do this to
me, though. I had earned this money. I had worked for it, not her. I took a
deep breath and said, “The car will still be outside. Have him take you home.
I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.” She turned around slowly like a zombie
and headed for the elevator. I reached to push the button for her and she
batted my arm away. She wouldn’t look at me and I knew I was probably crying. I
felt like shit, but what was I supposed to do?

CHAPTER
FIVE

ALICIA

Somehow, I made it upstairs to my
apartment in a zombie-like fog after I left Adam. I stripped off my dress,
hose, and shoes on the way to my bedroom. I didn’t even wash my face. I just
crawled underneath the covers and slipped into a sleep filled with nightmares
of attending Adam and Marjorie’s reunion party. I was dressed all in black,
with what looked like an old woman’s hand-knit shawl draped carelessly over my
shoulders. The Adam in my dream only took his eyes off of his
impeccably-dressed wife once. That was to glance in my direction with disdain
and something that resembled pity.

I woke to the alarm screaming loudly with
the pillow over my face and the dream still playing in my head. I knew it
wasn’t real, but I couldn’t help but remind myself the reason I’d dreamt it in
the first place was because Adam had spent the night before with Marjorie.

I finally reached over and stopped the
incessantly screaming alarm and forced my weary limbs out of the bed. I had to
be in Judge Nolan’s courtroom promptly at nine a.m., and from the feel of the
left-over make-up crusted to my eyelid, it was going to take me a little more time
than usual to get ready. I put on my morning coffee to brew and headed for the
shower. As I passed my purse in the floor where I left it the night before, I
realized it was ringing. I thought about just walking on by when I realized it
was Adam’s ringtone. Deciding I may as well get it over with before I saw him
at work, I fished it out and answered it with a curt,

“Hello?”

“Good morning, baby,” he said, like
nothing had ever happened. When I didn’t say anything back right away, he
asked, “How are you?”

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry as I
asked, “How would you imagine I am, Adam?”

I heard him sigh, and knowing him so well,
I pictured him rubbing his hand over his face and then dragging his fingers
through his hair as he often did when he was anxious or upset.

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am that
Marjorie ruined our evening. I had a horrendous night, if it makes you feel any
better.” He gave a small laugh and then added, much more seriously, “Nothing
would have made me happier than to have woke up next to you this morning.”
Again, I didn’t say anything. “Baby, we will talk later, I promise. I just need
you to keep in mind that she is trying to take everything from me that I have
worked for my entire adult life. I cannot…no, I will not just sit back and
allow that to happen. I’m sorry you are always caught in the middle of all of
this. Truly, I am. I love you.”

“I will try to keep it in mind. Now,
however, I have to get dressed. I’m due in court in an hour, and I can’t be
late.”

“Okay,” he said. I could tell he was
disappointed. He had probably hoped that his words alone would be enough to
send my anger running, as usual. He was very good at talking. It was actually
what he did best. He earned his living by phrasing things in just the right
way. I wasn’t buying it that easily this time.

“We’ll talk later.” Without saying
anything further, I hung up.

I was good, as most lawyers are, at
compartmentalizing things. I put my anger towards Adam in a box in the corner
of my mind. The lid wasn’t shut tightly, and I knew the thoughts would seep out
throughout the day, but I didn’t have time to let it consume me today. I had a
client and two colleagues that were depending on me to give one hundred percent
of myself today, and that is what I intended to do.

********

An hour later, I was rushing up the steps
to the courthouse and nearly collided head-on with a man who was on his way
down. He put out his arm to stop me from falling backwards, and when I looked
up to thank him, I realized that I was looking into the emerald green eyes of
my former lover, Jack Grant. “Oh my God, Jack?”

“Alicia! What an amazing coincidence
bumping into you…literally. I actually left a message for you yesterday at your
office.”

I smoothed down the edges of my skirt with
my free hand and looking back up at Jack I said, “I know. I’m so sorry I hadn’t
had a moment to get back with you yet.” I glanced at my watch and realized I
didn’t have a moment now. “I have to apologize once more, I’m afraid. I’m due
in court, now, as a matter of fact. Is there a chance you might be free for
lunch? We can catch up then.”

Jack smiled. I had almost forgotten how
good looking he was. “Of course,” he said. “The sandwich shop across the street
okay?”

“Perfect,” I told him. “I’ll see you
around noon.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” he said
with another dazzling smile. I swallowed the lump that had involuntarily formed
in my throat and headed in to the courthouse. I rushed in to find that Kyla had
already started. Nico and Nelson were seated at the defendant’s table, and
Dawson and his assistant DA sat at the table opposite. Jury selection was in
process, and I tried to slip into the chair next to Nico quietly so as not to
alert Judge Nolan to my tardiness. He was a tough judge who was known for his
lack of tolerance for things that slowed business down in any way in his court.

Nico handed me a list of potential jurors
as I sat. He and his paralegal assistant had already done the hard work of
putting them in groups by age, profession, and even race. When picking a jury,
it was essential that everything that could possibly work for or against our
client be taken into consideration. I smiled at him and mouthed, “Thank you.” I
made eye contact with Nelson and smiled and mouthed, “I’m sorry I’m late.”

He nodded, and I turned my attention back
to Kyla who was questioning juror number one. She was doing an excellent job,
and I allowed myself to take that time to try and pull myself together. I had
to keep slamming the lid shut on the box in my brain that was supposed to be
keeping the thoughts of Adam from consuming me all day. I consciously slowed my
breathing and glanced at Nelson again. I reminded myself once again that his
life, if not literally, was at least figuratively in our hands.

Kyla finished with the juror and took her
seat on the other side of me as Dawson approached the bench. I also mouthed a
“Thank you” in Kyla’s direction, and then added an “I’m sorry.” She gestured
with her palm to show me it was not a huge deal and things were under control.

The rest of the morning was spent picking
or contesting jurors. By lunchtime, both sides had agreed on only six jurors.
The judge excused us, instructing everyone to be back at one-thirty. I couldn’t
be positive, but thought that Judge Nolan may have looked in my direction as he
added, “sharp” to the instructions. It was probably just my guilty conscience.

After I formally apologized to Nelson for
being late and assured him it wouldn’t happen again, I told Nico and Kyla I was
meeting an old friend for lunch. At Kyla’s quizzical look, I told her that we
would talk later. I hurried across the street and found Jack waiting for me at
a table near the door. He stood up when he saw me. I greeted him properly this
time with a hug and a peck on the cheek.

He held me back with his arms and said,
“You still look amazing,”

 
 
“And, you’re still a sweet-talker, but thank
you. You look pretty amazing yourself.” Jack pulled out my chair and after I
was seated, he took a seat himself.

“So,” I asked after the waitress had taken
our order. “What in the world are you doing in New York?”

“Well, my father’s business dealings have
made it across the pond, so I was assigned to follow them here. We’re currently
in the midst of trying to get all of the legal aspects, such as patents and licenses.
I guess Dad decided to take full advantage of having a lawyer in the family.”

I smiled. I recalled that Jack and his
father’s relationship had always been tenuous at best. The Grants owned one of
the largest and most lucrative textile companies in Europe. All of the Grant
men before Jack had gone straight from college to the boardroom. Jack had
decided instead to go to law school, which had greatly disappointed his father.
It looked like maybe family guilt had won out, after all. Here sat Jack, thousands
of miles from home, working for his family at last.

“Well, I for one, am glad they sent you
here,” I told him. “It is wonderful to see you.”

“Yes,” he said with a grin. “There are
definite advantages to working in New York, I am beginning to see.”

I saw something in his eyes that made me
think maybe Jack was hoping for more than just a simple reunion between
friends. I caught myself just as I was about to tell him about Adam. What were
me and Adam, after all? If I wasn’t sure myself, I doubted that I could explain
it to someone else.

Instead, we launched into small talk about
old friends and acquaintances. Jack told me that he ran into my parents often
at social functions and that they always talked so proudly of all I had
accomplished for myself. That was really nice to hear. I knew they loved me and
were proud of me, but I also knew they both hoped I’d be married with a family
by now.

“Your mother does add, every chance she
gets, how disappointed she is that you and I didn’t work out.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know Mother. She
truly believes that I should be married and have two point four children by
now. Although at my age she only had one, and the nanny was doing most of the
raising.”

Jack gave a little laugh. “Yes, but if it
weren’t for our nannies, we may have never met.”

I had to laugh, as well. I thought back to
the day Jack and I had officially met. We were both in kindergarten, and I had
begged my nanny to take me to the park after my lessons one spring day. A
little dark-haired boy with the greenest eyes that I had ever seen was on the
swing next to me. My nanny sat on the bench next to another lady about the same
age, and they talked as if they knew each other. The boy looked at me and
smiled. Instead of smiling back I said,

“You have dirt on your nose,”

The little boy had looked sad or offended,
and he got off the swing as soon as he could stop it. He ran over to the ladies
on the bench, and the woman that had been speaking with my nanny picked up his
backpack and they walked away together. I also got off the swing and went over
to my nanny.

“Do you know that boy?” I asked her.

“Yes, his name is Jack. His family is very
well known around here. What did you say to him, Alicia?” my nanny asked. “He
seemed upset.”

“I just told him he had dirt on his nose,”
I said. “I didn’t know he’d be so sensitive.”

“Oh, Alicia, it’s not dirt. He was in a
car accident when he was very small. They’ve been doing surgery after surgery
on his face for years. His nose is one of the last places left where you can
see the burns still. I’m afraid you hurt his feelings.”

I can still remember how sick I had felt
in the pit of my stomach. I had never been one to be hateful to people for any
reason. I had actually always wanted to defend people that others treated
poorly. It was something I was born with and a big part of why I had become an
attorney. I had spent the next few days bugging my nanny Marie to take me to
the boy so I could apologize. Marie had finally set up a meeting with Jack’s
nanny back in the park. As soon as I saw him, I had gone straight up to him and
said,