Page 26 of Nothing to This (Nothing to… #8)

Hanging up the phone, she did her best to remain composed. Others might not see it, sure, but she couldn’t hide her discomfort from herself.

Answering a querying call from an assistant assigned to pick up JD’s line wasn’t unusual. They handled most questions and demands. Just in case of any issues or uncertainty, she tried to be as available as possible.

Something she regretted, given what she’d just heard.

Certain types of appointments were made provisionally by the assistants. While they denied most requests, those in the gray area got emailed to her for approval or rejection.

Once in a while, something urgent or unusual might crop up. In those times, the assistants called through for an immediate answer. Hence the conversation she’d just had.

It didn’t matter. At all. She’d done the right thing this time. Made the right decision. They were at work. This was professional, not personal. In that building, it was her place to deal with calls as JD’s employee, not the mother of his children.

Still, her insides churned.

Picking up the memos and documents requiring his review, she put the half dozen phone messages on top, tucking the most recent one into the middle of the stack.

It was time for her to leave, time for her twins, time for fresh air and freedom. One last stop in his office, then she’d be out of there. Holding her breath, she knocked on the door and ventured inside.

JD and Greg were seated at opposite sides of the desk, relaxed, enjoying an informal chat by the looks of things.

Smirking, JD leaned back in his chair, holding a pen by each end in his fingertips. “Did you just knock?” he asked, swinging his chair side to side as she crossed the room. “Did I hear that right, Greg? Did Rylee Hampton just knock on my door?”

Bending over, she put the pile of papers in front of him. While she squared it, his hand slid up the back of her thigh. Oh, no, buddy, she swatted it away. She was not on the menu and wasn’t interested in a spot in his schedule.

Greg hissed. “Oh, man, what did you do? You were the Brady Bunch at lunchtime when the sprouts were here.”

“Yeah,” JD said, curious, probing. “We were. Babe…” He got more matter of fact. “What did I do?”

“Nothing, Overlord,” she said, pushing his hand away when he tried to touch her leg again. “The kids have their dental checkups, I have to get going.”

“Want me to come?”

She tidied up the other documents scattered around. “No, they’re on the dental plan I get through my job. We don’t need you.”

“Hmm,” he said. “You sure I did nothing wrong?”

Greg hid a smile. “This is like the perfect vision of marriage.”

“Right?” JD agreed. “I pay the bills. Get put in the doghouse for breathing the wrong way. And I don’t get laid.”

“Sounds like marriage to me.”

The men laughed. Weren’t they just hilarious? Ha, ha, ha. Didn’t matter they were the only two enjoying themselves.

She snickered out her exaggerated false effort. “You two have to be downstairs for the finance meeting.”

“After that I can come and join you,” he said. “We’ll take the kids to the burger bar they love… the one with the ice-cream machine… Greg, you want to come? We’ll call Nichelle. Last night went okay, from what I saw.”

Typical of men that they could get through an entire day without talking about last night’s double date. If it could be called that, doubtful. It would’ve been the first thing she and Brenna talked about if they’d been setting up a friend. JD hadn’t even thought to ask.

Sure, it had been a busy day; it hadn’t been that busy.

“The kids and I are going to stay at Brenna’s tonight. Lotta’s out of town.”

Greg made a sound like he’d witnessed a gut punch.

“When did this happen?” JD asked.

“Brenna called me earlier, I said I wasn’t sure, but it’s on now. We’re going to have a sleepover in her living room. The kids love to camp out there. We put two mattresses together and sleep under a canopy. It’s been too long since we did it last.”

“And I’m not invited?”

“No,” she said, setting the paperweight on a stack of papers. As of yet, he hadn’t looked at anything she’d put in front of him. “Kye’s the only male we need.”

“Or I can pick him up? We’ll have a guy’s night at home. Poker, beer, porn—”

“You have plans tonight. Read your messages,” she said, plucking them up to hold them to him, without meeting his eye. “You have a date.”

Pushing his chair up from its recline, he frowned. “I have a date?”

Greg pointed at him. “You thought it was cool to set me up. Guess Ry’s on a roll and it’s your turn.”

“Whatever it is, put it off. We didn’t eat as a family last night. I want to be with the kids tonight.”

“You can’t put it off,” she said. “You promised your mom you’d go to the dinner party her lawyer is having tomorrow night, and you have the Entrepreneur Association Ball on Thursday.”

“Is Mom watching the kids at hers or ours?”

“Neither,” she said. “You promised Sky you’d take her to the ball, so you’re taking Kye with you tomorrow. Something your mom’s lawyer will probably hate, but he wants to impress you, so he’ll let it slide.”

He bobbed his head. “My daughter will go to the ball. I remember now.”

“Good. You don’t have time to go home and change. I’ll call Anya and ask her to pick something up from the apartment and drop it here. The royal blue shirt brings out your eyes, but the gray shirt will get you laid… do you have a preference?”

“The blue,” he said. “If you’re sharing a bed with my sister and the kids, I don’t think sex is a good idea, do you, Siren?

Unless you want to wait until they’re asleep and sneak out somewhere with me…

” Propping an elbow on the desk, he stage-whispered to Greg.

“From memory, she has a thing for high-class hotels.”

“Good thing you can afford it,” Greg said, wearing a smirk.

“Bastian owes me.”

Shaking the messages at him, she forced him to take them. “You could reserve Buckingham Palace, your cock would still spend the night lonely if it was waiting for me.”

Another inhale from Greg.

Slapping his hands on the desk, Greg rose to his feet and pushed away. “You’re on your own, man. I’m out.”

Moving one memo aside to put another on top, she tapped it as Greg left and closed the door.

“This one’s about daycare changes. Read it, it applies to your children,” she said and started for the door.

“Babe, don’t walk out without—Gabby.” She stopped. “What the hell is this?”

About-facing, she saw he was reading the message she’d written.

“She has reserved a table in the restaurant of her hotel, though says the room service is excellent if that’s what you’d prefer.” A blatant invitation, but whatever, that wasn’t her prerogative. “Do you want me to ask Anya to bring condoms too?”

“Babe!” he barked, surging to his feet almost like he was offended.

“You said she wasn’t wild about the idea of kids. If you feel like playing roulette on that—”

“Ry, I’m not going to sleep with her. I don’t even want to see her. Why would you arrange a date for me with my ex—”

“Because she wants to discuss the details of your meeting in California next week.” That stole some of the outrage from his expression.

“Yeah, I loved getting blindsided with that one. Thanks. You’re leaving Sunday?

You know the kids’ birthday party is on Saturday?

That’s a great birthday present for the kids, JD.

Just great. Were you going to tell them or was that going to be left to me?

Were we just going to wake up without you on Monday? ”

“I… it was going to be a surprise. Greg and I were literally just talking about it. I was going to take you with me, all of you… We can rent a place out there on the beach, take a break from the—”

“That’s convenient. You get caught in a lie, and suddenly it’s a surprise.”

“Ry—”

“Go to dinner with her. Make your plans for next week. Your family won’t be home tonight, and there’s a gorgeous woman in a private suite with room service just waiting for you.”

She began to turn, but he spoke fast. “Wait, Ry, Siren! Babe—”

“You know what I don’t get?” Whipping around, she was talking before he got to her. “If you wanted to leave us, you could’ve just told me. I’ve dealt with disappointed children before. You think they’ve never come back from your mom’s upset that Daddy never showed?”

“That’s not fair! You know it’s different now. I would never disappoint—”

“They’re used to you at home! They’re used to you at bedtime! I told you, I warned you, as long as I didn’t doubt your ability—”

“The first day you came into this office we talked about traveling for work,” he argued, matching her vehemence. “You know I have to go away sometimes. I told you we could travel together, that’s what I intended to—”

“Children need routine, Jamison. You can’t just drag them around the world because it suits you!”

“It’s their birthday, Rylee! I’m allowed to treat them!”

“You should’ve talked to me if you wanted to take them with you. Was that it? You wanted to sneak them out the apartment when I was asleep?”

He grabbed her arm. “What the hell are you accusing me of?”

Throwing his hand from her, she retreated to the door. “Take your hands off me!” He backed off a step, holding up his hands in surrender. “Go have fun, JD. We were fine without you for long enough. We don’t need you, we never did.”

Slamming out of the office, she grabbed her purse and rushed down the stairs.

Catching him in a lie cut her deep. He’d only been in their lives full-time for around a month, but she had expectations.

That was her mistake. She’d built up a reliance on him, and he’d let her down; something she should never have given him the power to do.

She was hurt and her eyes heated. JD had never made her cry before. She didn’t like it and swore right then that it wouldn’t happen again.