Page 22 of Boss with Benefits (Boss of Seduction #6)

Brady glanced around, and Jessica followed his searching gaze.

Almost everyone in the restaurant had eyes on them.

A few had their phones out and were snapping pictures.

Or taking video. She wasn’t sure which would be worse.

The last thing her case needed was for something to show up online that put her in a bad light. Randy would love it if that happened.

Tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have come here tonight. This was a bad idea.”

Brady slid an arm around her waist. “It’s okay, babe. We can go home.”

“Home?” Greta gaped at them. “She was telling the truth? You are married?”

It was their turn to ignore Greta. Brady paid their bill on the way out, and he helped her to the car.

Without his strong arm around her, she probably would have face-planted in the parking lot.

Maybe it was what she deserved for causing a scene.

Now she’d ruined everything. If Randy found out, she’d lose her son forever.

What was wrong with her?

Having Brady in her bed was not worth losing her baby. She should have let Greta have him if Brady was on board. Knowing him, he would have at least been discreet.

∞∞∞

She went straight to their bedroom when she got home, leaving Brady to pay the nanny and check on their sleeping son.

Her new way of thinking stopped her cold midway across the floor.

She was getting way too comfortable with the idea of having Brady in her life.

Maybe it was the alcohol messing with her brain, but she was starting to think of Axl as their son, not just hers.

Brady would freak out if he could read her mind.

Sitting on the edge of their bed, she removed her heels. What was wrong with her tonight? She had tried to stake a claim to a man who didn’t truly belong to her and didn’t want to belong to her. If she lost Axl to Randy because she couldn’t hold her liquor, she’d never forgive herself.

In an angry flash, she threw her shoe across the room.

“Whoa,” Brady said from the doorway. “Hope that wasn’t meant for me.”

She glared at him. “No. Of course not. It was meant for me. If I could throw it like a boomerang and hit myself in the face, I would.”

One of his eyebrows went up. “Why?”

She scoffed. “What do you mean why? I blew it tonight. I acted like a drunk idiot in front of everyone, including the paparazzi, and tomorrow it will probably be all over social media. I acted like—”

“A wife. You acted like a wife.” Hands in pockets, he grinned at her. “It was perfect. I couldn’t have scripted it better myself if I tried.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“Babe, you were awesome. Think about it. What wife would put up with a gorgeous model hanging all over her husband? You did the right thing.”

She scoffed. “I wouldn’t call Greta gorgeous.”

“You would be in the minority then. Greta is one of the most sought-after models working today.”

Jessica scowled at him. “Do you think she’s beautiful?”

He chuckled deep in the back of his throat. “I am not falling into that trap.”

“Seriously, Brady. Are you attracted to Greta? Did you want to dance with her tonight? Did you want to go home with her?”

He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She wobbled. His hands went to her hips, steadying her. The breath caught in her throat, and she realized she was having trouble thinking clearly with him so close.

What were they talking about? Her thinking had turned fuzzy.

His gaze dropped to her mouth, and she absently nibbled on her lower lip.

His eyes locked with hers, and he slowly lowered his head, giving her a chance to stop him. She didn’t know why he was so hesitant. They’d made love several times. Maybe he thought she might be too drunk to understand what he wanted, and he was giving her a moment to figure it out.

She raised up on her tip-toes and kissed him. Their mouths met in a slow, lingering kiss that lit a fire in her. She wanted more. Her hands went to work pulling at his clothes. She tried to unbutton his shirt, but her fingers felt abnormally clumsy. They slipped several times.

He brushed her hands away and removed his own shirt along with his tie, shoes, and pants.

Standing there in his boxers, he looked hotter than a beach near the equator in July.

Instead of undressing herself, she sank down on the edge of the bed and watched him.

Brady had the most amazing body any man could have.

He kept himself in excellent shape. She realized in that moment Brady should be on the other side of the camera, a gorgeous model instead of a photographer.

Artists should be sculpting him in clay, capturing his male beauty in oils, and chiseling his likeness in marble.

She giggled at her own thoughts.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

She shrugged, not wanting to tell him.

He added, “If I wasn’t such a confident guy, I might worry you were laughing at me standing here in my underwear.”

She stood and turned her back to him. “Unzip me.”

He complied without hesitation. His lips sampled the skin he uncovered as he peeled the material from her shoulders. He allowed her dress to drop around her ankles. Kisses burned a trail down the side of her throat to the nape of her neck. “Mmm, you smell incredible.”

She giggled again as she turned in his arms. “Like champagne and embarrassment? I can’t believe I caused a public scene. I am so sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to take me to dinner after tonight.”

“I told you not to worry. You were perfect. Everyone will think we are a real married couple by tomorrow morning.”

She covered her face with both hands and groaned. “You must really hate being married to me.”

He blinked. “Why do you think that?”

“I’ve been nothing but trouble.” Before he could protest, she rushed ahead. “I know marriage is the last thing you ever wanted, and you only did it to protect my son.”

His Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Not the last thing.”

“Sorry, what?”

“I thought about marriage a few times over the years. Once in a while I see a truly happy couple, and I wonder if I’m missing something. Then I wake up and face reality.”

Her eyes narrowed on his face. “What reality? I don’t get what you’re talking about. Go slower.”

“Maybe happy marriages exist, but I’ll never be a part of one. I can’t have... that.”

“Why not?”

He threw his hands into the air. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not to me.”

Was she that drunk or was he not making sense?

Instead of explaining it to her, he walked out. Walking away was Brady’s way of handling things he didn’t want to discuss. He simply left. In a sober state, she would have let him go. She would have left him alone and let him pretend this conversation never happened.

Fortunately, she was far from sober at the moment.

She put on a robe before following him to the kitchen where he was preparing a snack.

For a moment, she’d forgotten they hadn’t stayed at the restaurant long enough to have dinner.

She stood in the background and watched him put together a sandwich.

It looked good. He lifted it up and raised an eyebrow, silently offering to make her one.

She shook her head, and he sat at the kitchen table. “Why do you think you can’t have a happy marriage?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes while chewing what was in his mouth. After he swallowed, he explained. “The only marriages I saw close up were awful. My parents hated each other. Their interactions were almost always violent, and everything I learned about being a husband came from watching my father.”

“But you don’t act like him,” Jessica said. “You have been understanding and supportive and—”

“That’s because this isn’t a real marriage. We’re play-acting. Someday your ex will be out of the picture, and someone will yell, Cut . Final scene. We’ll go our separate ways.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach. “What if I don’t want us to go our separate ways?”

He stopped eating and tossed the rest of his sandwich onto the plate. “What do you... what does that mean?”

Maybe this wasn’t the time for a serious conversation. She was drunk, and he was feeling cornered. That much was obvious. Instead of answering his question, she stood behind him and kneaded his shoulders. They both needed to relax.

“Let’s talk in the morning,” she said.

He slowly stood and took her into his arms for a kiss that sucked the breath from her body.

She melted against him. Then the world was turning upside-down.

It took her a dizzying moment to realize he had swept her off her feet.

He carried her back to their bedroom, and they made love with the lights on.

He stared into her eyes the whole time, never once breaking contact.

She knew he was looking directly into her soul.

It was such an intimate thing to do her emotions came to the surface, and tears filled her eyes.

She felt so incredibly close to him, closer than she’d ever felt to another human being.

“I love you.”

The words tumbled from her lips, unbidden.

She froze.

Her hands tightened on his shoulders as she prayed he wouldn’t abandon her. They had just shared the most beautiful moment of her life. She didn’t want it ruined by a slip of the tongue. Should she take it back? Apologize? Remind him she was drunk?