Boss I Love To Hate Page 30

  I’d remembered our conversation after the wedding ceremony where she had seen Jeff for the first time and cried in my car.

  “I mean, why should you care? It’s over.”

  She’d responded with my question with such honesty that I truly understood only now because I was in love. “You wouldn’t know anything about this because you’ve never, ever been in love before or had an it person.”

  Sonia was my it person. Now and until forever. I knew this with everything that I was. And, as far as I was concerned, I was it for her, too. I’d prove it to her day in and out because nothing mattered more than being together.

  And the thought … the thought of losing her … having her walk away from us …

  I swallowed.

  “I’ve never done this before either. I’m scared shitless, but more than that … I’m more scared to live without you.” My voice was fragile, shaky, honest.

  She rested her forehead against mine and let out a deep breath. “Same. That’s the scariest part of being in love, one day living without the other person.”

  “Love? Not being together is never going to happen.” My insides soared. “Say it again. That you’re in love.”

  She laughed, and it eased every part of me. “You’re such a narcissist, you know that?”

  “Say it.” I pulled her in, staring down into eyes I’d grown to know so much.

  “I love you, jerk.” Her tone was teasing but tender, and I knew she meant it.

  “Say you’ll move in with me.”

  “It’s too soon!”

  “Who says? The rules in the dating handbook?” The look I gave her was skeptical.

  “Me. My dad. My mom. Probably your brothers. Ava …” She tilted her head, mulling something over. “Well, not Ava. She’d help me move in.”

  “And who the fuck cares what people think? The only thing that matters is, what you want and what I want. So … what do you want, Sonia?”

  I held my breath while the seconds ticked by. She held my happiness in her one-word answer.

  She swallowed hard as she thought of it. “I don’t have a job.”

  Boy, she was reaching far, thinking of every possible reason she shouldn’t move in with me.

  “I’ll employ you.” I grabbed her ass. “As my personal sex slave.”

  She laughed again, and it was the most glorious sound. “You’ll have to insure a certain body part then. Jennifer Lopez insured her butt. It’s possible.”

  I grabbed a handful of ass, and she yelped. “I can make that happen.”

  I lifted her in my arms, and her legs wrapped around my waist. I guessed I was going to be late to work. I might not show up to work at all. “I think I might insure every part of you—your lips, your ass, your beautiful hair.”

  “My hair?” She touched the top of her head, smiling.

  “I love your hair. Your arms, your hands, your toes.”

  She giggled as my lips went to the crook of her neck.

  “Your neck.”

  I stopped a few steps from entering her room. “Is that … is that my poster?”

  The life-sized poster that had previously been her dartboard was on the floor. My formerly darted face was now sliced into shreds. A knife lay on the carpet, right by the poster.

  “And here I thought, you weren’t upset.” I laughed. “A knife, Sonia?”

  She bit her bottom lip, looking sheepish. “I couldn’t find a pair of scissors.”

  “Remind me to never piss you off.”

  She wiggled in my arms and angled closer to lick the shell of my ear. “Are you going to kiss me, or are we going to continue talking about your poster?”

  Fuck. Game over.

  I leaned into her, met her lips with mine, carried her into her bedroom, and shut the door behind us.

  Epilogue

  Three Months Later

  Sonia

  “Brad, where are the tickets?” I was elbow deep in a plastic bag, which was supposed to contain all the Harry Potter items that we were supposed to put in the girls’ gift bags for their secret surprise.

  “Tickets?” He peered up at me from our leather couch.

  I tasked him with making it every morning, and he still needed reminding.

  As my former boss, he was disorganized. As my boyfriend, his discombobulation had doubled.

  “The tickets. You bought them. You opened the mail. Now, where did you put them?” I stood and placed my hands on my hips.

  “Look at you.” He smirked. “All trying to pretend you’re angry at me.”

  And, just like that, I laughed because that was how our relationship went. Endless laugher, lots of alone time, but enough big family time. And lots and lots of sex.

  He pushed himself off the couch and pulled me in by the waist, his one arm snaking around my lower back. He looped his pointer finger at my neckline, peeking in my shirt. “I think I left them here. Guess not.” His lips fell to my neck, licking a path to the shell of my ear. “I wonder where they could be.” Then, his fingers trailed down my arm to my ass. “Maybe they’re right here.” His hand skimmed my hip, moving to my stomach and trailing farther down. “Or here,” he said, his voice husky.

  He lifted me by the ass, and automatically, my legs wrapped around his waist.

  “We’re going to be late.” My voice was a breathless whisper against his skin.

  “So?”

  His lips made their way back to the crook of my neck, and I arched into him, feeling an ache of want and need and desire coursing through me. I had turned into an insatiable beast.

  “We have tickets to the play tonight. We can’t be late.” My fingers threaded through his hair, my breasts pushing hard against his chest. All of this was for nothing. My mouth said one thing, but my body screamed for another. “Brad …”

  “We have time.” His mouth descended on mine, slow and seductive, and I was already a goner as he led us to our bedroom.

  Yes, ours.

  Two hours later, we emerged, completely satisfied and showered and in the car, on our way to our other home to see the girls.

  The palatial mansion came into view, and after we parked in the front, I gripped the girls’ bags in my hands. From Hogwarts T-shirts to bobbleheads to socks and scarves and necklaces, I’d filled the bag with all sorts of Harry Potter goodies to match our super-secret surprise. Harry Potter, the Broadway play, was in town for a few days. Brad had scored rock-star center-row seats, which had cost a pretty penny. Not only did he spoil his nieces, but Brad’s whole purpose in life—so he’d said—was to spoil me as well because he loved me. And also because I gave him sexual favors daily, sometimes twice daily, three times on weekends.

  He held my free hand as we sauntered toward the garage, entered the code on the keypad, and walked right in. The scent of steak and potatoes and something sweet filtered through my senses.

  “Honey, I’m home,” Brad announced.

  We were bombarded with squeals of a little five-year-old. Mary rammed into me, arms around my center, and I laughed.

  “Wait a minute,” Brad said, stepping away. “Wait a minute here.” He pointed between the two of us as Mary still clung to my side. “What’s going on here?”

  Although Brad was joking, I could sense the jealousy in his eyes.

  “Do you have a new favorite? Sweet Mary, have I been replaced?”

  Her eyes went wide, guilt clouding her precious features, and she bum-rushed him next. Brad scooped her up in his arms, and he was awarded with tiny Woody Woodpecker kisses on his cheeks.

  I placed the gift bags on the floor, next to the door, and walked farther into the kitchen. In typical weekend fashion, Becky was making dinner, Mason was on the computer at the table, and Charles was setting the table.

  “How can I be of service?” I gave Becky a little side hug and then proceeded to hug the boys.

  “Oh, I just put the steak in the oven. It should be done pretty soon.”

  I made my rounds, taking in the scene, my we
ekend normal scene. It was crazy how my life could change in an instant, in a matter of months.

  This was now my extended family, one that had blended into my biological family. Everyone had already met in the short time Brad and I’d been together.

  Becky insisted that she hosted one of our monthly family dinners. I guessed she wasn’t prepared for my big and rambunctious Italian family, who brought over their homemade pasta for the event. There was an abundance of leftovers for the whole week after.

  “Sonia, that meeting on Monday morning with Tyson Papers is canceled.” Mason peered up from his computer, smiling, before dropping his head back to the screen.

  “No talking about work after work.” Brad slipped an arm around my waist and tucked me against him, my favorite spot in the whole world. “Or else I demand you give my girlfriend a raise for working after hours.”

  “I should give her a raise for dealing with your dumba—ankle,” Mason said, throwing Mary a smile.

  Right after I’d been fired, Mason had called me, apologized up and down for the Phala debacle, and offered me a secretary job since his secretary never came back from maternity leave. I wasn’t sure if I should take it, given that I was banging my former boss, who happened to be his brother, who happened to own the company.

  But, after some persuasion on Charles and Mason and Brad’s part, I’d agreed, and I couldn’t be happier. Being a secretary was my calling. I was an organized freak, a match to Mason’s style, and I had enjoyed my job of playing Tetris with schedules and keeping everyone on task.

  Mason was the opposite of Brad. He was organized, focused, and strictly business. Yes, he was neurotic and a complainer, especially about my boyfriend, whom I adored. I didn’t take his jabs so easily when he talked about Brad, but that was tame, and the rest of his craziness I could handle. Mason and I were a perfect match in secretary-boss heaven.

  Dinner was set on the table, and once everyone was seated, Mary held Brad and my hands, leading the prayer of grace. She insisted on sitting in between us, her usual spot. And, when Mary slept over, she’d sleep in between us, too.

  “Sarah, phone down.” Charles threw her that fatherly look, the one that brooked no arguments.

  She huffed, teenager-style, sticking her fork in a potato wedge in front of her.

  “Sarah has a boyfriend,” Mary cooed.

  “Shut up.” Sarah glared.

  “Sarah …” Becky began.

  “You have a boyfriend?” Mason’s tone turned incredulous. “Is that even allowed?” His eyes made their way to Charles. “Didn’t you set rules for Sarah?”

  “Can we just eat?” Charles asked, avoiding the topic.

  This was the normal banter between the brothers. Mason overanalyzing, Charles serious and wanting to stick to the task, and then my boyfriend, who did everything to annoy Mason.

  “I don’t have a boyfriend,” Sarah argued.

  Mason’s shoulders relaxed. “Well then, there’s nothing to talk about.”

  “She’s going to date. She’s a teenager,” Brad added, baiting his brother the only way he knew how.

  “Not for a while. A long while.” Mason glared, his stare flickering between Brad and his teenage niece.

  “Sarah, are you interested in a boy?” Brad asked.

  “I’m not answering that question,” Sarah moaned, not looking up, but the blush on her cheeks answered for her.

  “You are. Aren’t you?” Brad placed down his fork and rested his elbows on the table. “Come on, now. We’re family. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  All eyes were on Sarah now.

  Her eyebrows squeezed together. “Uh …” Her voice trailed off as though she were debating on what to say. She peered down at her uneaten food, tightly squeezed her eyes shut, and then blurted, “Yes. I’m kind of talking to someone right now.”

  Brad leaned back on his chair, watching with too much amusement as Mason’s eyes went wide.

  Funny how everyone, even Becky and Charles, was perfectly calm, but Mason … he paled.

  “You’re too young.” His eyebrow twitched, and he stared at her as though she were a foreign object.

  “I’ll be thirteen in a few months.”

  “So?” Mason argued, dropping his fork, making it clatter against the china.

  “All right. All right.” Charles raised a hand, defusing the escalating situation. “How about we just calm down and eat dinner?” He stared at his firstborn, dropped his gaze, and then stared at her some more.

  “She’s talking to someone? What exactly does that mean?” Mason asked to no one in particular.

  Oh boy, he was going to have issues with Sarah growing up. I bit my lip to hide my smile.

  “Mason,” Charles said, exasperated. “Talking means talking. Not dating.”

  The rest of dinner was uneventful, silent even. Not the normal, boisterous laughter that was usually the norm at the Brisken dinner table. Even Mary was silent.

  “Can I be excused?” Sarah asked when her dinner plate was empty.

  “One second.” Brad stood. “We have something we’ve got to announce. A surprise of sorts.”

  Everyone automatically looked at my left finger, and for a moment, the tiniest of moments, my stomach dropped. Will he?

  But then he plucked the tickets to the show from his pocket, and the whole table, Charles and Becky included, exhaled.

  It wasn’t like I wasn’t ready. But it had only been a few months, and, yes, I’d thought of forever with Brad. I was a forever type of girl. I liked monogamy. Still, we were fairly new. Going from hating his guts to not being able to live without him was life-changing.

  “Because I’m the best uncle and Sonia is the best auntie, we have a just-because surprise for our favorite nieces.” He grinned, loving every second of this.

  “We’re your only nieces,” Mary said, making the table laugh.

  “Sweet Mary, did you want me to give your Harry Potter ticket to Sarah’s new boyfriend?”

  Both of the girls jumped to their feet. Sarah rushed to Brad’s side, and he lifted the tickets over his head.

  “Are those for the Harry Potter play?” Sarah squealed, jumping to reach for the tickets. “They were sold out. Daddy said so.”

  “Wait. Hold on a second.” Brad tipped his chin toward me, and I walked to the door, returning to the kitchen with the two gift bags full of goodies.

  “Yes. We got tickets.” I lifted the bags and shook them in front of me. “And presents!”

  The girls squealed and hugged me and then Brad. The gift bags were dumped on the floor, and they sorted through all their belongings like stray dogs in a garbage can.

  “You think they’re excited?” Brad whispered, bringing me closer.

  “No. What would give you that indication?” I teased, smiling as I drank up the girls’ joy.

  “I love just-because surprises.” He slipped his arms around my waist, nuzzling my ear. “Do you want yours?”

  I turned my head, staring up at mischievous brown eyes. “What?”

  “Girls, it’s time.” Brad nodded toward the girls, and they scurried out of the room.

  “Time for what?” My eyes widened as Becky came in with an oversize gift bag with a Harry Potter stuffed animal peeking through the top.

  Then, the girls came in, holding two separate signs on blank white poster board.

  I peered back at Brad, wondering what the heck was going on.

  Mary turned over her sign that said … Will you …

  I held my breath.

  No freaking way.

  It was too soon. Plus, his family was here, and it wasn’t fair that mine wasn’t.

  Then, Sarah took three sidesteps away from Mary and flipped over her sign, which read, Me?

  Will you … me?

  The world stood utterly still, and I stopped breathing altogether.

  “Brad?” My eyes went wide as I watched him walk toward the end and grab another sign from Mason.

  He st
ood directly in between Mary and Sarah.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. This is it.

  Mary stepped forward. Will you …

  Then, Brad flipped over his sign, which read, Go to Harry Potter world with …

  Then, Sarah stepped forward with her sign. Me?

  A sharp and unexpected disappointment flooded my veins. A disappointment that I hadn’t known existed before this moment. It took a moment to collect myself and force a smile on my face.

  Then, Charles pulled a sign from his back. And us?

  My hands flew to my mouth, and that instant disappointment was replaced with a giddiness.

  Everyone was going.

  “Of course! I’ve never been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”

  The girls rushed toward me, squeezing me in between them in a human sandwich, and I basked in the love of my nieces.

  I couldn’t hide my excitement as I jumped up and down with Sarah and Mary, staring at the love of my life with adoration and thankfulness. We’d been planning on how to surprise the girls with the tickets to the play when, all along, he had been making arrangements to surprise me.

  After opening my bag of goodies with my very own wand, I turned to Brad, who snuggled next to me.

  “The whole family?” I asked. I didn’t think Brad liked to share.

  “Yeah, I hope that’s okay.” His hands wrapped around my waist. “I did go to Medieval Times with yours.”

  He had, but this was different. This was a trip—shared hotel rooms and breakfasts, lunches, and dinners all together.

  “Is it too soon?” I asked before I could hold it back.

  “Too soon? No. It’s too slow if you ask me. We’ve integrated our big families nicely together. There’s just one last thing to do.”

  I lifted an eyebrow.

  “What?” He laughed. “Don’t look at me like that. I saw your face when the girls busted out the white boards. You thought I was going to ask you the question.”

  I covered his lips with my hand. “No, I didn’t,” I lied.

  He gripped my hand and tenderly kissed the inside of my palm. “Don’t worry. I’ve got plans for you and me, the forever-and-ever and death-till-we-part kind.”

  This was my life now.