The Boss Too: Billionaire Romance (14 page)

The limo drew plenty of stares when it pulled up in front of the little church. Almost immediately, guests from inside started meandering out to see if it was the bride. Jamie spotted her dad in the crowd and took a deep breath. Instead of letting Alex open the door, the driver went around to let them out.

“If we’re going to put on a show, we might as well do it right,” Alex murmured in her ear.

She giggled nervously. “We’re not supposed to show up the bride.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Relax. You look incredible. Unbelievably, undeniably, hard core sexy.”

The door opened and he slid out first, smiling politely at the crowd with all the confidence of someone who had done this a million times already, or owned millions of dollars. He held out his hand and helped her out of the limo.

Jamie kept her eyes on the ground and focused on not doing something mortifying, like tripping or accidentally giving the crowd a peek of her undergarments.
Shit! I’m not wearing any.
Murmurs rippled through the small crowd as they stared at Jamie and her rich date.

That’s right. The prodigal daughter returns… without panties.
She smiled defiantly back at all of Christine’s and Stephen’s friends. They could judge her all they wanted. She wasn’t going to care what they thought.

Her eyes rested on her father, who had a grin on his face, but he wasn’t looking at her at the moment. He was looking at Alex. She looked at her escort, who was smiling back at her father, and she immediately became suspicious. What the hell did they know that she didn’t?

Alex kept a firm grip on her hand as they approached the church. The onlookers parted, whispering behind their hands like middle schoolers.

“She actually had the nerve to show up her sister.”

“I heard she tried to seduce Stephen. It looks like the poor, desperate thing couldn’t contain herself.”

“It’s so sad that she had to hire an escort just so she would have a plus one. Is that an escort? He’s awful hot.”

“Idiot, that’s her boss,” some guy said loudly to his wife. “Why don’t you wear a dress like that?”

“Ignore them,” Alex whispered in her ear. “They’re all idiots. Except the guy muttering about the red dress. He’s right on that one.”

Jamie laughed and relaxed slightly.

Her father joined them on Jamie’s other side, acting as a shield between her and the other guests. “You look beautiful, Jamie,” he said, grinning at her. “I’m glad Alex could make it as well.”

“What are you two up to?” Jamie whispered. “Are you guys planning a robbery? You’re thick as thieves.”

“Your father and I have reached an understanding,” Alex said, a smile obvious in his voice.

Jamie stared hard at him. One thing for sure: she was not going to stop until she figured out what they were up to. When had her father and Alex started talking? And when had her father started liking Alex?

If her father noticed Jamie’s inner conflict, he didn’t let on. “The wedding is just about all set up. The wedding planner was very efficient with everything.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jamie said. “They hired a wedding planner.”

“Yes,” the older man rolled his eyes, “apparently, Christine thought it would be less stressful on Scarlet, the new maid of honor, if a wedding planner took care of it all.”

It would be less stressful on Scarlet, who had been planning parties since she was twelve and didn’t have a job and all the time in the world with her workaholic husband constantly fleeing the country to avoid her, but heaven forbid Christine think about hiring a planner when her sister, with a full-time job, was the maid of honor.
She took a deep breath. “That was nice of Christine to help Scarlet.” She tried to sound sincere and hoped it didn’t come out sarcastic. She hadn’t come here to get angry. Jamie and Christine would never see eye to eye on most things, but this wasn’t the day to argue about it. For better or worse she would support her sister today and not ruin anything. This wasn’t about her. “Where is Christine?” Jamie asked. “Is she still getting ready?”

Her father smiled. “Your mother’s in there with her now. Personally, I’d join the Marine Corps before walking into that room.” He shuddered.

Jamie smiled. “I know,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “But I’m going to brave it. I want to wish her luck on her wedding day.” She left both men staring at her as she walked to the side room of the church meant for the bridal party.

“I will never fully understand her,” she heard her father say to Alex.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life trying.”

Alex’s words warmed her, but she pushed that aside and focused on the sound of sobbing coming from the other side of the door. “My wedding day’s ruined!” Christine wailed. “Completely ruined! How could this happen?”

“Shh, it’s okay sweetie,” her mother said soothingly. “Nothing’s ruined. It’s just a small rip.”

Jamie knocked on the door.

“Not now, Scarlet!” Christine hissed.

“It’s me, Jamie.”

Silence.

Jamie waited a couple of seconds and then sighed. “May I come in?”

“It’s a free country,” Christine growled.

“Come in, Jamie,” her mother called out.

Jamie cautiously opened the door, half expecting a bouquet of flowers to come flying in her direction. Christine sat on the floor in her gigantic wedding dress that looked like a cupcake at the moment. Her makeup was still perfect, even as tears coursed down her cheeks. On the side of her dress was a split seam that exposed part of Christine’s hip. It looks like her sister had succumbed to the thing she had always criticized Jamie for: stress eating. Jamie could see the roundness in her sister’s face from the weight gain.

Her sister and mother stared at her. She had no idea if it was because she was there or because of what she was wearing.

Her mother slowly came forward and threw her arms around her daughter. “It’s nice to see you,” she whispered.

Jamie smiled and savored the hug. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she looked at her misty-eyed mother. “It’s nice to see you too, Mom,” she said. “You look lovely.”

“Hello! I’m the one walking down the aisle in fifteen minutes and I’m about to cancel the freakin’ wedding,” Christine pouted at them, her arms crossed over her chest.

She looked like a spoiled brat. “I can fix it,” Jamie offered. “It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to stitch up and no one will even notice. But I’ll need a sewing kit.”

“I’ll get one,” her mother said. “There’s a craft store down the street. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Jamie could have sworn she saw her mother breathe a sigh of relief as she raced out of the room. She took a deep breath and turned to her sister. Jamie grabbed the make-up kit off the dressing room table. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” she murmured and carefully started to touch up the few spots on Christine’s face. “It’s amazing how they do the mascara these days. Your eyes are perfect.” She started dabbing at her sister’s face.

Christine said nothing, she just watched Jamie with accusing eyes.

“Your dress is very pretty, Christine. Stephen’s only going to have eyes for you.”

Her sister scoffed as tears filled her eyes but didn’t fall. “Stephen told me everything,” she said. “About how he got drunk and then how Alex threatened him to protect you.”

Jamie smiled a few moments later. “I accept your apology.”

“I didn’t say I was sorry.”

“No, but that’s the closest you’re ever going to get to apologizing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t tell anyone,” she said. “I mean, how embarrassing would that be? My fiancée went after my
sister.
”

“Oh gee, I can’t even imagine,” Jamie said dryly. “But I’m sure it would be very embarrassing.”

Christine winced. “I never meant to steal him, you know,” she said. “I just found him incredibly attractive from the first time you brought him home. And he was always so nice to me, you know? Like, he puts up with my bullshit. And when I found out that it was me he really liked… well, I just couldn’t resist, I guess. It was shitty of me, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I should have told you.”

“It’s okay. Sometimes stuff happens and we don’t realize what’s going on till it’s too late. Or, we try to deny it and then we are only fooling ourselves.”

Christine stared hard at her sister. “You talking about Alex?”

Jamie flushed. “Um…”

“He’s here with you right now, isn’t he? I was definitely wrong about him not ever liking you, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean? Because he threatened Stephen?”

“Not just that,” Christine said. Her eyes widened. “You have no idea, do you?”

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just… mom told me, okay? And I guess you should probably know.”

Jamie’s stomach slowly started to clench again. “Tell me what, Christine?”

“The day before Dad called you, Alex showed up at his office. Dad didn’t want to see him, of course, but he also knew Alex Reid isn’t someone you ignore. So, he made Alex wait in the waiting room for a couple hours while he handled ‘pressing work’. He, apparently, didn’t even go to the bathroom in that time. When Dad finally couldn’t avoid it, he let Alex into his office. He wasn’t planning on actually listening to whatever Alex wanted to talk to him about, but Alex made him. I guess they talked well into the evening about how Dad needed to reconnect with you, and he refused to leave until Dad agreed to call and ask you out for lunch.”

“That was nice of him.” She smiled, not completely sure what to make of the situation. “Mr. Reid went through some personal family things and probably didn’t want us to go through the same thing.”

“Whatever,” Christine scoffed. “There’s no doubt Alex likes you. No, I take that back. I bet he’s completely in love with you.”

Jamie blushed and bit her lip. “I’m sure Alex didn’t go to see Dad. He probably bumped into Dad on the street and told him to call me.”

Christine nodded. “That’s not how Mom told me. We talked about it for hours one night.”

“Seriously?” Jamie smirked. “You had a wedding to plan and you had nothing better to talk about than me?”

“Mom and I still like a piece of hot gossip, even if it’s about your love life.” She grinned at her sister. “He really, really likes you. Doesn’t he?”

Jamie pressed her cool hands against her burning cheeks. “Hey, this day is supposed to be about you, remember?” She handed her sister a lipstick tube. “Fix the last bit of your face. As soon as Mom gets back, I’ll fix your dress.”

“I’m glad you’re here, Jamie.”

“Me, too.”

“So, you made it through,” Alex said, pouring them both a glass of champagne. “How do you feel?”

“Relieved,” Jamie said honestly. “But it’s not over yet.” She looked around at everyone enjoying their meals and making polite chatter about the wedding ceremony. At the sweetheart table, Christine was leaning into a very uncomfortable Stephen, who kept looking fearfully at Alex and Jamie. Christine, however, looked more content than Jamie had seen her in a long time.

“Don’t worry,” Alex whispered to her. “Christine will whip him into husband material soon enough.”

“I think they look adorable together,” Jamie’s mom broke in. She and Jamie’s father were their only two dinner companions, much to Jamie’s relief. The last thing she wanted was to talk to any of Stephen’s or Christine’s shallow friends.

Jamie’s dad rolled his eyes. “I hope he knows that I can make it look like an accident if he hurts her.” He looked directly at Alex when he said it.

Alex gave such a slight nod that Jamie just caught.

“Okay,” she said. “Christine told me everything about what happened between the two of you.” She pointed at both men at the table who simultaneously groaned.

“I can’t believe you told Christine!” Alex pointed a fork at Jamie’s father and chuckled. “I told you I didn’t want Jamie to know and you told her sister!”

“I didn’t tell Christine, I told my wife!” The older man turned an accusing eye on his wife. “I didn’t know she’d blab it out.”

Jamie’s mom held up her hand in defense. “Look,” she said. “Nobody said anything about keeping it a secret from Christine. I’m so not to blame here.”

“Enough children!” Jamie laughed. “It’s water under the bridge. How about we all agree to let it go?” She elbowed Alex. “Cheeky bugger.”

“Jamie!” Her father cleared his throat. “I plan on continuing these lunch dates and please tell your mom, I’m not having an affair. That’s the whole reason I had to tell her.”

Jamie grinned and she felt the tension in her stomach go away. “Mom, I’m seeing your husband.” She beamed at her dad. “That’s all I wanted to hear, Dad.”

The band began playing as the meal finished up. The obligatory first dance, and then the father-daughter dance, followed by another slow song for couples to join the wedding couple.

“Dance with me, Jamie,” her father asked, and pulled her away from Alex before he could ask her.