Who's the Boss Now (Managing the Bosses Series, #3) Read Free

outdid themselves to try and get their foot in the door.
    "Kid?" she mumbled to herself. She wasn't but four or five years older than Paul, which left her with the realization that calling him a kid didn't fly.
    Her phone rang as she approached her office, and she picked up her walk to a jog, grateful that she'd chosen to wear flats with her sleeveless blue dress that day.
    "Alex Reid’s office. This is Jamie." She sat down and moved up, pressing her arms to the desk as she put the person on speaker.
    "Jamie. Do you have a minute?" Her mother's voice was pinched, as if bad news was coming.
    She reached up and picked up the receiver, pressing her ear to it as her thought moved from bad to worse. "Hey Mom. What's going on?"
    "Well, you know your dad and I both love you right?"
    Jamie rolled her eyes and stifled the need to groan. Why couldn't her mother just be authentic and get to the point? She wasn't a ten-year-old kid anymore.
    "Of course, Mom. What's going on?"
    A sniffle caught her attention, and her shoulders stiffened.
    "Your father has decided he wants a divorce." Another sniffle.
    "Oh, Mom. Why? What happened?" Jamie leaned back in her chair as ice cold realization ran down the center of her. If her parents, who seemed to love each other, could get divorced after forty years of marriage, what chances did she have?
    "He just came in last week and said that he was tired of feeling nothing. I have no clue what he means, seeing that I still love him very much. I'm simply the victim here." Her mom let out an ugly sob as she started to cry.
    Victim? Her mother was aggressive, mouthy and mean. Victim wasn't at all a name she would associate with the woman. She'd been the attacker many times in Jamie's life, but never ever had she been the victim.
    "I'm sure you guys are going to work it out." Jamie pressed her fingers to her mouth, catching a part of the conversation in retrospect. "Did you say last week?"
    "Yes. It was last Tuesday." Her mother cried a bit more. "I've asked him to think about things again before he files for the divorce, but he sounds so cold when we talk. I'm sure there's someone else involved."
    Her father had left her mother over a week ago and no one thought to call her then? Even in the midst of wanting to comfort a woman who would never have tried to comfort her, she was stunned into silence. The pain of realizing that nothing had changed between her and her mother filled her heart. She didn't matter to them. If she did, her mom would have called her immediately.
    Would you call her if Alex broke your heart?
    Hell no.
    "I doubt Dad has another woman in his life, Mom. He works himself silly." Jamie tried hard to push her own issues back and remain in the moment. "Have you spoken to Christine?"
    "Yes. I called her when it happened." More crying.
    Of course you did. Who wouldn't call their favorite first?
    "And what did she say, Mom?" Jamie spoke through clenched teeth, hating how badly the situation was upsetting her, and for all of the wrong reasons.
    "She said that I needed to give him a little bit of space, and then play hard to get."
    "Hard to get?" Jamie's voice rose. "That's ridiculous, Mom!"
    "Jamie. I'm not asking for your advice,” her mother snapped. “You've never been in a long-term relationship, nor have you ever been married!” She scoffed, as if believing that was never going to happen. “I'm simply telling you what the situation is. If you're too busy to talk about it, fine. I just didn't want your dad to call you and make it sound like I was the monster. He is." Her voice went from tearful to angry faster than a race car could go from zero to hundred.
    "Right. Well, I'll be thinking about you guys. Let me know if there is anything I can do that Christine already hasn't." Jamie hung up the call and leaned back, closing her eyes. It was amazing how quickly her mother could turn both her and her father into monsters.
    And what the hell, Christine? Play hard to get? What good would that