ХеленКей Даймон – Reunion With Benefits (страница 8)
His eyebrow lifted. “Are we still talking about work?”
“He makes me...” She couldn’t even find the right word. Hot, angry, spun up, frustrated. They all fit.
“Want to punch him.” Jackson toasted her with his glass. “Yeah, I got it.”
“I love Ellie. She’s funny and smart and charming and doesn’t take their crap.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” When she frowned, he kept talking. “It does. You don’t get onto the managerial team at a family-owned company unless you’re good. You’re damn good.”
“Like you?” She knew the truth. Jackson was a star at work. Derrick depended on him. Everyone did. Even she did. If you needed an answer, he likely had it.
He acted as if he were thinking something over. “Maybe I do deserve a raise.”
“I’m tired of all of it.”
“Wait.” He put down his glass, took hers and did the same with it. “That sounds suspiciously like you’re thinking about finding a new job and leaving.”
She felt a little lost without the glass to grab on to and started talking with her hands. “Don’t you toy with the idea? Leave, open your own place. Do some consulting.”
“Sounds risky but potentially rewarding, except for the part where you’ll work round the clock, be panicked about finances and eat peanut butter for every meal so you can stockpile cash.” He shook his head. “I’ve already lived that life. I really don’t want to go back.”
They shared a similar background, having been raised by single moms who barely earned enough money to keep the lights on. But he hadn’t been alone. He had a sister, a twin. But it had just been Abby. She depended on her mom until the day she lost her, and she’d mourned her every day since. Missed the vanilla-scented shampoo she used. Her smile. The way she laughed at bad horror movies. That loss, so deep and raw, never disappeared. Moving forward became easier but was never easy.
But this was about her, and her work life and figuring out the best choice for her, separate from the Spence piece of the puzzle. “Me, either, but I’m not afraid of putting in the hours.”
“I don’t doubt you at all.” Jackson studied her for a second before picking up her wineglass and handing it to her again. “Not to bring up a rough subject, but you know Eldrick is coming to town, right?”
Spence’s dad. Abby despised the man.
“What?” The glass slipped in her hands and wine splashed over the side and dribbled down her hand. She caught it before it hit her light gray couch or her silk blouse.
“I had a feeling you didn’t know.”
“Are you sure it’s happening?” Because that was her nightmare. Dealing with Spence was rough. Not smashing a computer over Eldrick’s head might prove impossible.
He’d left shortly after he’d kissed her all those months ago, made it clear he did it to teach Spence a lesson. Since then, he’d married another wife and left the country. Abby seethed every day since. She’d hoped he’d stay on that beach in Tortola forever, but no such luck.
“Found out today.” Jackson kept watching her, as if he were assessing if he should shut up or provide more details. “It’s for Ellie and Derrick’s engagement party. They postponed it when Ellie fainted and figured out she was pregnant. Derrick told his dad to stay away, but now the shindig is back on and father Jameson is flying in with the newest wife.”
“Ever met her?”
“No, but Derrick had her investigated, so I learned too much.” Jackson made a you-don’t-want-to-know face.
Abby rolled her eyes. “Of course he did.”
“The Jameson men are somewhat predictable.”
“It’s scary.”
“Eldrick Jameson is...” Jackson made a humming sound. “I can’t actually think of a decent thing to say about that man.”
“Me, either. But go back a second. Ellie is still on bed rest.” Abby didn’t want her friend confined, but she didn’t want a reason to see Eldrick, either.
“I don’t think that means we tie her to the bed and keep her there. She’s allowed to move.”
“But a party? Isn’t that stressful?” It would be for Abby.
“They’re being extra careful.” Jackson shrugged. “Getting the doctor’s okay and all that. Trust me, Derrick isn’t happy about it, either. I think after all the rumors in the paper about them, Ellie wants the party to stop any whispers.”
That meant this was happening. It sounded like Derrick was throwing up roadblocks but none of them showed any promise in stopping the party. “Ugh.”
Jackson laughed. “I can hear the excitement in your voice.”
He might as well have said
“But he loves her.”
That made Abby smile. “They really are too cute. I mean it.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, they were a mess at first. Derrick nearly blew it about a hundred times.” Jackson shook his head. “It was kind of pathetic.”
“Maybe there’s some relationship malfunction in the Jameson gene pool.”
Jackson drained his glass and poured another. “I’ve often thought that.”
“I’m supposed to go over and see Ellie at lunch tomorrow.” Abby wanted to cancel, or at least get some sort of promise that Spence would not show up. He seemed to be doing that a lot these days.
“Business?”
“Girl talk.”
Jackson made a face. “Do I want to know what that means?”
“I don’t know.” It wasn’t exactly Abby’s strength, either. She’d grown up with few friends and kept that streak going most of her life. That’s why when Ellie took her in and insisted they get to know each other, and then introduced her to her best friend, Vanessa, Abby didn’t balk. She took the risk this one time and it had paid off. Spending time with Ellie made Abby smile. “She texted. I’m going.”
“The things we do to make the pregnant woman happy.”
Abby lifted her near-empty glass. “I’ll toast to that.”
* * *
The next afternoon, Abby arrived at Ellie’s house, weighed down with bags of food. Derrick had to go into work for a few meetings, so Abby used the code and slipped through the layers of security to get inside. Then up the stairs. A few minutes later, she unloaded the salads and caprese-on-focaccia sandwiches onto the tray set up on the edge of Ellie’s bed with drinks and what looked like a bowl of pretzels.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.