Page 47 of Sexy Bad Boss

Garrett shakes his head. “So yeah, we’re thinking about taking the house off their hands.”

There is no reason I should feel anything but happiness for my brother as he takes the next step in the process of settling down and leaving bachelorhood behind. No reason at all. Why should I be annoyed that he and our other brother are going to be neighbors? Why does it matter that they’re probably going to have kids who will grow up as tightly knit as we all were? Still are. Well, they are, anyway. I’m the odd man out, even though my sister lives the farthest from all of us. If I’m honest, though, I know they’d all choose her over me, if they had to.

“Plus, as soon as Daddy and Erin get married, we’re gonna have a baby,” Abby adds.

“Well, it doesn’t happen quite that fast,” Garrett quickly says. “But yeah, we’ll probably start trying as soon as we’re married.”

Myra presses her fingers to her lips, but it doesn’t hide her wistful smile. Wait a minute. Didn’t she tell Abby she wasn’t ready for kids? Was she lying? Does she want babies? I narrow my eyes and my vision blurs for a moment. I blink rapidly and when it clears, Myra’s there and she’s cradling a tiny human in her arms. It’s a little girl wrapped in what is clearly a homemade blanket—probably from my mother, no doubt—a thatch of dark hair on her head and Myra’s big blue eyes staring back at me. My God, the woman will make gorgeous children, no matter who the daddy is.

No matter who.

I blink rapidly until the vision disappears, and I see Garrett shaking his head again.

“All right, we’re out. See you all later.” He grabs the purple rolling suitcase Myra retrieved from upstairs, and with his daughter still hanging over his shoulder waving at us, he heads for the door.

“What a relief,” Alex says after he’s gone. “All those people were so loud.”

I stare at the kid as he sips surprisingly dark coffee. For some reason, I pegged him as a cream and sugar guy. A lot of cream and sugar.

“Are you ever going to get around to pouring me a cup?” My voice is gruff, but I can’t muster the desire to care.

“Oh, right. Sorry, boss.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He pours coffee into a ceramic teacup. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Cream. Just a li—” I sigh as he dumps probably a quarter cup of the white stuff into my coffee. He doesn’t even realize the snafu, handing me the pale concoction with a pleased smile on his face. Truthfully, at this point, I just need the caffeine. Speaking of needs, where the hell is Myra?

“You are my boss,” Alex says. “And I haven’t yet figured out a good nickname for you. I give everyone nicknames.”

“I’m pretty sold on James, actually. Mr. Frost, if you really want to change it up.”

He laughs like I’m joking.

“Where did Myra go?” I look around at what is suddenly an empty space. No cat, no Myra, no Abby, who’s far cuter and more amusing than I ever thought three-year-olds could be. She is three, isn’t she?

Alex nods at the staircase. “She just ran upstairs. I assume she’s getting ready for work.”

“Getting ready for work? Like she’s going into the office?”

“Well, sure. What would you expect her to do?”

“Stay here with me.” That’s what she’s supposed to do this week, until my doctor gives the all clear. Even if I keep insisting I’m fine, I don’t want her to leave me. Not even for the day. Besides, my memory of the night I was injured hasn’t returned, so clearly I’m not fully recovered. You know, besides the sprained wrist and broken ankle that are the reasons I can’t get into the office myself.

Alex waggles his eyebrows. “I bet you would. Unfortunately, your empire won’t run itself. We need to go in. There’s a staff meeting today where Myra’s going to formally introduce me to everyone, and then she has to show me how to order supplies. Plus, there’s the contract for that warehouse on the riverfront. She and I have to go through it together, to make sure I didn’t miss anything yesterday when I reviewed it.”

“You’re reviewing my contracts? Already?”

He nods, an eager puppy trying to please his owner. Good God, I cannot possibly work with this kid as my admin. I scrub my hand over my face and slam the scalding, too-creamy coffee.

“Why don’t you go on ahead? Myra will meet you at the office when she’s finished getting dressed.” And that will afford me a few moments to speak with her. I don’t yet know what I’ll say, but at the very least, I need to let her know I agree with her decision to leave the company. It’s definitely the right choice, if we’re going to allow our personal relationship to progress.

Even if she is leaving me with the unfailingly annoying Alex.

He shoots a glance at the stairs.

“I’m your boss,” I remind him. “You don’t need her permission. Go. Get out of here.”