Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (132 page)

“It’s okay, Alicia,” Patricia told me. “I
like you, you’re a real person, and not judgmental of me and what I did to land
myself in this position. I appreciate that.”

“I’m glad. As far as judging you, I can
see how you were put in a vulnerable position and made a choice that you
regretted later. We all do that from time to time. None of us are perfect, and
I believe that we can convince a judge of that. You shouldn’t have everything
you’ve ever worked for taken from you because of one mistake.”

Patricia told me how she had come to have
the affair in the first place. Her and Nick’s whirlwind love affair had soured
quickly. According to Patricia, Nick had become neglectful of her and was even
verbally and emotionally abusive at times. When she would ask why he rarely
touched her, he would tell her that she was fat or stupid. He would often feel
bad about it later and bring her flowers or candy to make up, but after a few
months of that, the damage was done.

Patricia found her self-esteem to be
slipping and she began looking at herself differently than she had before. She
felt lonely and unloved. It was a new and uncomfortable feeling for her. It
only got worse when Nick began going out of town weekly for trainings on a new
computer program that was going to go national soon. He would be gone for days,
sometime weeks at a time. He called a lot at first, but then the phone calls
dwindled to once a week, and he would act irritable with her if she complained
that she was lonely or she missed him.

While he was gone, Patricia had been
working for an older woman re-decorating her Fifth Avenue apartment. One
afternoon while she was there alone checking color swatches against drapes and
carpeting, a man walked through the front door. She said she was alarmed at
first, as she hadn’t realized that anyone else lived there. The man introduced
himself as Cameron, the woman’s companion.

Patricia had been a little shocked, seeing
as how the woman was at least sixty and this man couldn’t have yet been out of
his twenties, but she strived to be non-judgmental. Over the course of the next
few weeks, Cameron would be there almost every time that Patricia was. They
would talk and laugh as she worked.

She found him easy to be with, unlike her
relationship with Nick had been lately. He complimented her often. At first it
was subtle things like how nice her smile was or how he liked her hair. She
found herself thinking of him often, and finding excuses to go back to the
Fifth Avenue apartment for one thing or another just in hopes that he would be
there.

One afternoon while they were alone
Cameron simply said, “I think about you all the time. I really would like to
kiss you; would you mind?”

Patricia didn’t allow herself to think
about it, she just kissed him. That of course led to more and soon they were
making love several times a week, even after she had finished working for
Cameron’s “companion” and Nick had finished his training and was home for good.

Nick started noticing the changes in her,
her newfound confidence and how she exercised more and took better care of her
appearance. He didn’t ask her about it, though, and Patricia told Alicia if he
had, she probably would have just told him the truth straight out.

Instead, he had her followed by a private
investigator and weeks later at his attorney’s office, he presented her both
with divorce papers and pictures of her and Cameron in very compromising
positions. He and his attorney had told her she was going to lose everything,
and that was when she had come to see me.

On my advice, she had stopped seeing
Cameron. Patricia had known it wasn’t going anywhere except to the bedroom
anyways, but that had been what she needed at the time. I had already had
multiple meetings with Nick’s attorney and we deposed most of the witnesses
from both sides. The case was ready to be presented to a judge and all that was
left to do was prepare Patricia for her testimony. I spent several hours with her
talking her through everything and I actually enjoyed it. Her case was simple
and normal and compared to the rest of what was going on, refreshing.

Adam and I met up when we had both
finished for the day. I told him I was headed home to have dinner with Mother
and Father. “I guess I will see you after court in the morning.”

“Okay,” he said sadly. “I miss you.”

I put my hand on his face as we walked out
the lobby doors. “I miss you, too. This won’t be forever, you know?”

He nodded. “Can we have lunch after
court?”

“I’d like that.”

He pulled me in for a kiss and when he
broke it he said, “We need to set a date.”

“A date for…”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Our
wedding.”

 
I
laughed. “Really? You think planning a wedding less than a week before
Christmas while were in the middle of international and political intrigue is
the best idea?”

“It beats the hell out of anything else
I’ve got going on right now.”

I kissed him softly again and said, “We’ll
set a date right after we get through the holidays, okay?”

“Okay,” Adam said, sadly. “I just can’t
wait to be married to you.”

“Me, too,” I said with a smile. I also
knew my mother well and my wedding would be no small affair.

After another sweet kiss, Adam and I
parted ways. I went home to pick up my parents for dinner. I took them to a
small eclectic place in the Village. I had resolved on my drive home that
although I had agreed to help the FBI, and I meant to do just that, I was going
to spend the rest of the holidays enjoying my time with my parents. We talked
and laughed as we ate and I didn’t mention work at all. The service at the
restaurant was great and the atmosphere fun. I had a sirloin steak that melted
in my mouth and my mother and father raved about how good their meals were, as
well.

The full moon was out and the night was
still young afterwards so we all took a walk in the light snow to a cozy little
coffee shop not too far from the restaurant. While we were enjoying our coffee
and a dessert pastry, my cell phone rang. It was Adam. I answered with a smile,

“Hi, babe.”

“Hi,” Adam said. “How is your evening
going?”

“It’s been really good. My parents and I
had a great dinner and now we’re having dessert. How was yours?”

“It was fine, too. I grabbed a bite with
Mac and now I’m home relaxing and wishing you were here.”

“Me, too. Soon, baby.”

“Hey, I know we were going to wait until
after the holidays to set a date, but I ran into a buddy of mine who does
bookings at the Plaza. I mentioned us being engaged and he said it just so
happened that he had a cancellation today for Valentine’s Day weekend.
Interested?”

“Interested? Are you kidding? I’m
ecstatic! Oh, Adam, the Plaza. We could have the wedding in the garden if the
weather is good.”

“We can have it on the roof, if you like.
I’ll book it and order a sunshine day while I’m at it.”

“I love you,” I told him.

“I love you, too,” Adam said. “Goodnight,
sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, love.”

I hung up the phone and told my mother what
Adam said. She got a thoughtful look on her face and said, “Wow, Valentine’s
Day – that’s just over a month and a half away. It might not be easy to pull it
off.”

“I know it won’t be,” I told her. “But the
Plaza is booked years in advance. This is a golden opportunity. You’ll help me
won’t you?” I asked, looking at both of my parents.

Mom and Dad looked at each other and my
dad said, “Of course we will, right, dear?”

“Of course,” my mother said. I could tell
right away that the excitement set in right away for Lady Winston. She started
talking about what we should serve for dinner and who we would invite. She even
called her personal assistant back home to have her start making calls to
designers for my gown.

I couldn’t stop smiling. I was finally
going to marry the man of my dreams, and I knew that no matter what, we were
going to live happily ever after. My mother could plan it all as long as I
walked out of there as Mrs. Adam Hanson.

On Saturday morning at breakfast, Mother
was already conferencing on calls with caterers and decorators and bakers.
Although I’d known her my entire life I was still impressed with her skills
when it came to getting things done.

By the end of the day, her assistant had
already found and booked a catering outfit right out of Manhattan. They texted
over menu choices and we decided together on a sit-down salmon dinner. The
baker was flying in from New Jersey just after New Year’s with cake samples,
and the best and busiest wedding dress designer in France agreed, after some serious
cajoling from Lady Winston, to come out just after New Years to begin taking
measurements and to start the designs for me to choose from for my dress.

By Saturday afternoon, I felt like my head
was spinning. It was all happening so fast, but I was happier than I had ever
been. My mother was making sure that my wedding would make me feel like a
princess, but the ultimate goal was to be Adam’s wife. I couldn’t wait.

My parents were meeting with old friends
at noon for lunch, so Adam and I arranged to meet at Romaletti’s. I arrived
before him and was seated by the hostess at the table they kept reserved for
Adam and his guests. While I was waiting, I noticed a man in a business suit
sitting alone at a table not far from mine. Glancing out towards the duck pond,
I saw another lone man, that one dressed casually and feeding the ducks. I
hadn’t given the FBI much thought since yesterday, but couldn’t help wondering
if these were the men we had been told would be watching to make sure we were
safe. I hoped that they were watching Adam as closely if they were. After all,
they believed he had been the intended target of Marjorie’s murderer and I
couldn’t help but worry.

Adam walked in just as my cell rang. I
looked at it and saw that it was Miles. I wrinkled my nose and told Adam, “It’s
Brigham.”

“Go ahead,” he said as he took his seat.

I answered and he said, “Hello, little
lady. First off I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night. I had a
few drinks and sometimes tequila makes me act like an ass. I hope I didn’t
upset you too much.”

“Apology accepted, thank you. What can I
do for you, Mr. Brigham?”

“If you have the time on Monday, I would
like to sit and talk with you about my case and also what the press is leaking
regarding my son.”

“Absolutely,” I told him. “I have a court
date early in the morning, but perhaps we can meet in my office around eleven?”

“I’ll be there, and thank you.” I hung up
somewhat amazed at the change in his attitude from our last encounter. I told
Adam so and he winked.

“I’ll bet you scared him straight.”

“Oh, yes,” I said with a grin. “I’m sure
that was it.”

We both ordered a light lunch, and the
chef came out and teased us about not liking his pasta. We both told him we
liked it too much and didn’t want to have to roll down the aisle at our
upcoming wedding. After lunch, we headed out to the duck pond and sat on a
bench tossing them crumbs and talking about what Mother and I had arranged for
our wedding so far. Adam was impressed that we’d already gotten so much done.

“Wow, I’ve always heard how long it takes
to plan a big wedding. You and your mother are making it look easy.”

I laughed. “My mother makes everything
look easy. I’ve never even see her break out in a sweat.”

“Lucky for us England is an ally, then,”
he said with a grin. All I could think when I looked at his smile was,

“Lucky me.”

CHAPTER
TWO

ADAM

I smiled as I thought of my own mother who
was so unlike Alicia’s. I’d told them my parents were dead, but the truth was
that my father abandoned us when I was a baby. I have no idea if he’s still
alive or not. As if reading my mind Alicia said,

“I wish your parents could be here for our
wedding. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, babe. I wish my mother could
have met you, though. She would have loved you.” Alicia knew about my father. I
just hadn’t thought it was something I wanted to discuss with her parents.

“She must have been a really strong
woman.”

I nodded. “She was, I watched her work and
sweat my entire life. She never complained, and she was always there when I needed
her no matter what. I promised her when I grew up I would be rich and I’d take
care of her.”

Alicia looked sad. She knew that my mother
had died in her early sixties from lung cancer. “So sad,” she said. “She missed
so much of your life.”

I nodded again. “I’d just opened my
practice and it was a small and struggling firm at the time. Her death hit me
hard. I was angry and confused. She never smoked a day in her life, you know?
It didn’t make sense to me.”

Alicia smiled sadly and said, “In a way,
she was responsible for your firm’s success, though.”