The air was crisp as Jamie walked out of the house for a morning jog. Alex seemed to be out the door before she would even dream of getting up, which was fine by her. She figured six am mornings were okay now. It used to be easier, and earlier, but back then she didn’t have someone keeping her up late… in a good way. She giggled. Life certainly wasn’t rough, nor was she complaining one little bit.

Getting an hour to herself was a great start to the day. Plus, she really wasn’t all by herself.

"This works good, doesn't it, buddy?" She tugged on Jake's leash and pulled him from the warmth of the house as he whined in protest.

The cute little brown ball of fur Alex had given her for Christmas had grown quite a bit and was starting to look more like a dog than a puppy.

"Come on, Jake. I don't have time for this. I'm meeting with Uncle Mark this morning. Yes, I am. Come on, boy." Jamie reached down and scratched his ears as he pulled back toward the house.

With a groan, she turned around and let him back in before closing the door and jogging off the front porch. She would have to take her jog alone. Her four-legged partner had called in sick and was most likely looking for something to tear up while she was out. The cute little thing had torn up more of their shoes than she cared to think about.

"Damn good thing you're so cute," she mumbled and turned left out of the driveway. Avoiding the snow was impossible, but she was bundled up tight, and rather enjoyed the exhilaration that the cold brought with it. She could have gone down to the gym and run on a treadmill, but she was dressed for cold. It seemed silly to go back in and change. She was tough; she could handle a little freezing weather.

Alex didn't expect her in the office until nine today, so she could take an extra-long time on her run as long as her fingers and toes didn't protest too much.

Mark was moving into her old apartment over the next week, which would mean she was officially living with Alex. He had given her a key to the house, but this, somehow, made it feel more certified.

A smile touched her mouth at the thought of taking another step with him. The next, after moving in, had to be a ring. She chuckled at how stupid she had felt at Christmas when she’d expected to get a ring from him, and before that when he had given her a box with a key to the house. Why was she so desperate for the ring? She should be happy with where they were now.

He was a slow-moving man when it came to commitment.

"That's probably why his company is doing so well. He's got to be sure of the risk before he takes it." She waved to the guy across the road, who lifted his hand in the air.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, but didn't stop running. "Hey, baby. What's up?" She glanced behind her to check for cars before moving across the road.

"Are you headed this way yet?" His voice sounded pinched, which would mean only one thing. He was stressed.

Great.
"No. I’m just out running, but I can turn around if you need me to." She turned and jogged in place as a thick cloud formed in front of her mouth. It was below freezing.

"Did you take Jake with you?"

"No, but I tried. He wouldn't budge from the house. It’s too cold for him." She forced a laugh.

A sigh came through the phone. "Jamie. Half the reason I got you the dog was so that you would have someone to protect you while you're out."

She laughed and pressed her fingers to her lips. "He's a puppy. He's going to cuddle someone to death on my behalf. Whereas I appreciate that, and love him and you to the moon and back, he's not going to protect me."

Alex chuckled, softening the call a million times. "Alright. You win this one. Come in when you can. My brother texted and said that you wanted to meet with him, but you didn't say a time. He's headed up here now. You know I don't have time to deal—"

"I'm on my way. Send him to grab a coffee and throw him in my office. Paul’s in my office, getting a few things done. He and Mark will love each other. Stop stressing. You're a butt when you stress." She started back to the house, lamenting internally for not getting any exercise in the last week or so.

"I thought you liked my butt."

A smile tugged at her lips. The sexy man on the other end of the line had the ability to lift her mood with very little effort.

"I
do
like your butt, but not when you act like one." She crossed the road and jogged up to the house. "I'm going to go get naked in your shower and run your soap all over myself. See you soon."

"Tease," he groaned, and she hung up before walking into the house. Alex hated it when she left the door unlocked, but her runs weren't that far from the house, and it seemed a pain to have her keys jumping around her wrist, seeing as how her yoga pants didn't have pockets.

She walked to the bedroom, stopping only to pet Jake for a minute and berate him lovingly for not being the scary dog that his 'daddy' expected him to be.

He flopped over onto his back, expecting a long scratch. Jamie chuckled and walked into the bedroom, breathing deeply and taking in the delicious scent of her man.

"Mm mm... I love you." She got in the shower, washed up quickly, and dressed in her favorite grey skirt and light-blue top. Her heels were high, and her hair down and straightened. Alex knew that her saying that she was 'on her way' meant that she would be there in an hour or so. He was getting used to her ways, which was flattering, but almost a little scary. More disturbing was the fact that she was spending more and more time on her appearance and herself, something she used to never do or care about.

The TV buzzed in the background, the news story catching her attention as she stood poised to turn it off. Robberies in their area had spiked by twenty percent since Christmas. The police were looking into it, but all homeowners were advised to lock up and keep their security systems armed twenty-four hours a day.

"Scary." She walked out into the living room and looked around, never having really used the security system on the house. After texting Alex, and waiting for ten minutes for the password, she decided to lock up everything and just go to the office. If he wanted her to run back out to the house and set the alarm, then she would. He probably had access to it with his phone anyway.

The drive to the office went smoothly and she parked in her newly-assigned parking spot beside Alex’s in the garage. She headed up the elevator to the top floor, where her office was.

Gina greeted her with a warm smile as she stood from her desk and stretched. "Hey, girl. Must be nice to sleep in every morning, unless you're doing that running thing again. You're not, right?"

"I am." Jamie stopped in front of the desk and shifted her bag on her shoulder. "I hated it when I first started, but now it's almost like making sure I get a little bit of 'me' time in my day."

"I get that, but I'd rather have 'me' drinking time than 'me' running time. One takes so much less energy, and you still usually end up sweaty and getting some exercise." Gina wagged her eyebrows playfully.

Jamie laughed and snorted before clamping her hand over her mouth. "That does sound like a better deal."

"Right?" Gina brushed her hand over her dark hair and let out a short sigh. "Speaking of drinking... we still on for happy hour later this week?"

"You know it. I wouldn't miss it for anything." Jamie turned as Alex's voice stole her attention.

"There you are. I swear I'm going to get you the next time you set up a meeting with someone and forget to tell them the time. Stop scheduling things in the morning if you know you’re going to be late." He stopped just behind her, his eyes moving across her face as a smile tugged at his mouth. "You look nice. Really nice."

"I'm right here, guys." Gina tapped her desk, causing all of them to share a quick chuckle.

"Where is he?" Jamie turned toward her office and nodded. "Did you send him in to talk to Paul like I said?"

"Yes, boss. I did." Alex wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked down the hall, stealing a quick kiss before they got to her open door. "You don't look nice. You look edible."

"We should test out the theory later." Jamie lifted to her toes and gave him one more kiss before walking into her office and dropping her stuff by her desk. Paul and Mark were in a deep conversation over something to do with football, which wasn't surprising, but had nothing to do with business. By the look on Alex's handsome face, he was calculating just how many dollars he'd wasted on Paul's salary that morning thanks to him having to entertain Mark.

"Hey guys." Jamie moved to stand beside them as their conversation stopped.

"Jamie! My girl!" Mark stood up and moved to give her a quick hug. "My flight got in early this morning, but I figured it would be best just to come down here instead of heading out to Alex's place."

Jamie turned to ask Alex about the security system, but found him gone already. She made a mental note to email him about it later. "It's all good."

Paul stood up and rolled his shoulders. "I have a meeting I'm already running late for. I'll catch up with you later, Jamie."

"Sounds good. Oh... Alex told me last night that they'll be moving you into your own office over the weekend. Finally, right?" She offered a warm smile.

"I was just getting used to working in here together. Might get lonely." Paul walked to the door and paused. "You guys need anything?"

"Nope. I'm as right as rain." Mark smiled and moved to sit down at the small round table in the middle of the room.

"I'm good. Just close the door on your way out." Jamie brushed something from her skirt and moved to sit down in front of Alex's brother, who didn't actually look anything like him at all. He was built like a football player, his features similar, but more chiseled. "Flight go okay?"

"Oh yeah. Divorce is final and the house is on the market. I'll have to go back and forth a little on the weekends, but I'm here for good now as far as I'm concerned." He clasped his large hands and relaxed a little. "I'm going to start moving into the apartment this week, right? You sure you're good with that?"

"That's right. We’re both excited you’re coming to live here." She glanced back at the clock. "I have an eleven o'clock meeting, so let's talk about what skills you have and get you started on new employee paperwork before then. We can shoot the shit tonight at the house."

"That sounds great." He got up and walked back across the room to grab his briefcase as Jamie stood.

"I'm going to grab a quick cup of coffee from the breakroom. I just realized that I hadn't had a cup. That's not going to be good for anyone." She smiled and walked to the door. "You want anything?"

"Naw. I'm good." He pulled out a few papers as she nodded and slipped out into the hall.

The breakroom had a few more people than normal, but they were gathered around one of the interns, who was talking rapidly.

Jamie started her coffee and moved toward them, not sure that they were aware that Alex would shit bricks if he saw everyone hanging out and talking during work hours. The boss was a party and a half in the bedroom, or on vacation, but at work? He was a complete stickler. He had to be. He was in charge.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Jamie paused just outside of the tight circle as they turned to greet her.

"Lisa was just telling us that her parents got robbed last night. Crazy shit is going on over in Delphia Hills." One of the younger interns turned and shrugged his shoulders. "You would think that neighborhood would be crawling with cops. It's one of the wealthiest in the city."

"Oh, wow. That's horrible." Jamie made another mental note to talk with Alex before going back to work with Mark. His house was in Delphia Hills, and between the news broadcast and now the interns all standing around talking about the robberies, she was uneasy. It seemed unlikely that anything would happen, but she didn't want them to be caught off-guard. It was more about the thought of anyone hurting or stealing Jake than it was about all of Alex's electronics and stuff. He could buy a zillion more things, and none of them would matter, but the dog mattered to them both. A lot.

"Well, I hate to ruin the party, but it’s time to break it up. You guys can talk at lunch. You know the boss- man will have a fit if he sees us hanging out during work hours." She offered a friendly smile as they nodded and broke up the crowd.

"I'm going to go home, if that's okay." Lisa moved toward Jamie as she tugged her stringy red hair into a bun. "My mom just called about twenty minutes ago and is frantic."

"Of course. Just tell Gina, and she can let Alex know." Jamie moved back to get her coffee and make it more like a dessert than a beverage.

"Why don't you just tell him? You guys are sleeping together, right?"

Ice water couldn't have been colder than the feeling that raced through her. She turned and looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes just a little. "That's none of your business, but if you want to keep your job, then make sure you tell Gina why you're not here today."

"Of course. Just saying." The girl shrugged, as if she had done nothing wrong.

"Well, don't, and watch yourself." Jamie turned and pinned her with a hard stare as she nodded and walked out nonchalantly.

Really? Shit. Does no one have a sense of modesty anymore?

BOOK: Love the Boss: Billionaire Romance (Managing the Bosses Book 4)

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