Page 15 of Boss with Benefits (Boss of Seduction #6)

Jessica twisted her fingers in her lap while waiting for her little boy to join them in the living room.

He’d insisted on putting the final touches on a small robot he was building with his Lego bricks first. She tried to construct what she was going to say in her mind, but Brady distracted her with his nervous pacing.

Neither of them knew how Axl would respond to their current situation.

He hadn’t had to share his mom with anyone before.

Would he be okay with her sudden marriage?

“Would you please sit down?” she snapped.

Brady scowled. “And wring my hands like you’re doing? How exactly is that helping?”

“What do we say to him?” she asked.

“The truth.”

“But how do we break it to him?”

Brady plopped down beside her. “We aren’t telling him his dog died. This is happy news. We’re giving him a big house with a backyard and—”

“A temporary father?”

His expression darkened. “I was going to say a swimming pool. What kid doesn’t want a pool?”

Axl zoomed into the room with his Lego robot caught between both hands. “Look what I made!”

Brady scooted over to make room for her son to sit between them. He checked the robot from every angle as if it was the greatest invention since the television. “This is spectacular work. I don’t know anyone who could do a better job creating a robot from nothing.”

“It’s not made from nothing,” Axl said. “It’s made from Legos.”

Jessica let out a deep breath before launching into what she hoped would be a logical and exciting explanation for their recent move. “Hey, sweetie, do the kids in your class all live with their mommies and daddies?”

He scrunched his face up as if deep in thought. “Tommy lives with his mommy and daddy. Joey lives with his mommy like me, and Doug lives with his grandma, and I think Sara lives with—”

“Okay, sweetie.” She chuckled. “We don’t need to go through every kid in your class. I just wanted to know if you realize most kids live with both of their parents.”

“Yeah,” Brady said. “Until they start hitting the divorce courts.”

She shot him a glare.

Axl offered, “Joey’s mommy and daddy are getting divorce right now.”

“Divorced,” she automatically corrected. “A lot of married people get divorced, and that means they stop living in the same house. Then there are people who get married and move in together.”

“Why don’t you and Daddy and me live in the same house? Are you divorce?”

Brady gave her a look that clearly said he was glad she had to answer the inspired question rather than him.

She smiled down at her son and forced her negative feelings towards Randy down as far as they could go. “I was never married to your daddy, honey. Sometimes people don’t get married. They don’t want—”

Brady sighed in obvious exasperation. “Your mom and I got married a few days ago.”

“Brady!” she shouted.

“You were dragging it out too long,” he muttered. “And we have to go to work in the morning.”

Axl’s curious gaze bounced back and forth between them. “Is this our new house? Is this your house, Brady?”

“That’s right, buddy.” Brady grinned at her. “This was my house, but now it’s our house.”

“Mine too?” Axl asked with barely contained excitement.

Jessica forced another smile. “You and I will be living here with Brady. Is that okay with you?”

Axl’s gaze dropped for a moment, and a sliver of fear entered her veins. If her little boy hated the idea and didn’t want to live with her partner, that could unsettle everything. What if the judge wanted to question him about their living arrangements?

“Do I have to go to Daddy’s house again?” Axl asked.

“Are you saying you don’t want to?” Jessica tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. If a judge asked him about living with his father and he didn’t want to, that might be helpful. “Didn’t you have a good time there?”

“They’re mean,” Axl said. “Mindy told me to call her mommy, but I already have a Mommy, and Daddy yelled at me. He said I have to call Mindy ‘Mommy’ now cuz she wants me to.”

Jessica felt the blood drain from her face and pool in her stomach. The nerve of those people! She kissed her son on the cheek and did her best to hide her anger. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll make sure you don’t have to spend any more time with them. Go play.”

Brady’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak his mind until Axl’s bedroom door closed. “You can’t promise him he won’t have to spend time with his father,” Brady said. “Randy is suing for custody. Even if he doesn’t win, he’ll still get some sort of visitation.”

“The hell he will!” She leaped to her feet, angry enough to punch a hole in one of Brady’s pristine walls.

A scream lodged in her throat, but she held it back, knowing it would frighten her little boy.

“Didn’t you hear him? Randy yelled at my kid, and that bitch he married is trying to take my place in Axl’s life. ”

“I heard him. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about it.”

“That’s what you think.” She shoved her sleeves up her arms. “If a judge tries to give Randy any sort of visitation, I will take Axl to another country. I’ll change our names and hide until he’s eighteen. Whatever I have to do.”

Brady gaped at her. “Are you out of your mind? You are not going to go on the run with your son. You’re just upset right now.”

Damn right she was upset. Randy had no business demanding visitation after almost six years and then yelling at her son when she wasn’t there to protect him. She shook her head. “I should have made him sign away his parental rights the second Axl was born.”

“Why didn’t you?” Brady asked.

“He was so adamant about not having anything to do with Axl I didn’t think it was necessary. You should have seen his face, his expression when I told him I was pregnant. Randy hated the idea of having a child.”

Brady pulled her in for a snug embrace. He buried his face in her neck and gave her a squeeze.

Once again, butterflies filled her stomach.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled closer.

Somehow, he always knew exactly what to say and what to do to make her feel better.

Her problems melted into the background, at least for the moment.

She lifted her face at the same time he lowered his.

They moved as two separate entities sharing a brain, a heart, and a soul.

Passion exploded between them. A lingering kiss took her breath away.

They moved in the master bedroom’s direction without hesitation.

.. until she remembered Axl was down the hall.

“Stop,” she said, patting a hand against his chest.

Brady leaned back so air could pass between their heated bodies. “What? Why?”

“Axl.”

“He’ll be okay by himself for a little while.”

She shook her head. “You can’t leave a kid that young on his own for any length of time. He could choke on something or wander out to the pool. I need to be able to check on him.”

“I should have asked this before,” Brady said with a sigh. “Can he swim? Or do I need to cover the pool?

“He can swim like a fish, but we should still take precautions. I’ve heard too many horror stories to take a chance. We need to keep the terrace doors locked, and we should look into putting a fence around the pool with a gate he can’t open.”

Brady nodded. “I’ll make some calls tomorrow.”

She smiled at him and kissed his chin. “I’m sorry we can’t... you know, whenever we want, but you won’t have to wait long. Have patience.”

Brady groaned. “I’ll take a cold shower. This time. I want you later tonight in my bed. In our bed. Deal?”

A shiver of anticipation went up her spine. “Tonight.”

“Promise?”

She kissed him one more time. “I promise.”

∞∞∞

The next day, Jessica felt like she couldn’t catch her breath.

She spent her first three hours at the office running from task to task without taking a break.

Keeping busy was a good way to get her mind off their marriage farce, and she didn’t plan to slow down.

Last night was incredible. Brady had made love to her several times before dawn, leaving her exhausted and confused.

She was trying hard not to think about the future, but he was making it more difficult by the day.

She emerged from her office with a file for Brady.

A few of their employees glanced up at her; she focused on his door.

Taking care not to make eye contact with anyone, she crossed the crowded workspace between their offices.

Without knocking, she entered his private domain and shut the door behind her.

“We should make the announcement today,” he said.

“About what?” she asked.

“Duh.” Sitting behind his desk, he rolled his eyes at her. “Don’t you think we should tell our employees we’re married?”

Her stomach muscles clenched, and she groaned. “Do we have to? There will be questions, so many questions. I don’t want to deal with that today.”

She went to his couch and purposely collapsed.

With an arm over her face, she stretched out on the expensive leather that was softer than butter.

A hundred thoughts zipped through her head.

She couldn’t hold onto any of them. The fact was, she had technically married her boss. Her partner. Whatever.

She sighed into the crook of her arm. A heavy sigh.

“Why don’t you want people to know we’re married?” Brady asked, undeterred by her dramatic collapse.

“I told you. Questions. I don’t feel like answering questions.”

“Then don’t.”

She moved her arm and looked up at him. “How do I escape them when they are coming from our employees? There won’t be a corner here where I can hide to avoid them.”

He pushed her legs off the couch before sitting down. Then he reached over, grasped her arm, and pulled her up so they were sitting beside each other. His hand went to her thigh.