Page 10 of Somebody's Watching Me
He paused to hear her answer, hands shoved in his jean pockets. Today he was wearing a dark blue T-shirt instead of his usual black, the material matching the studded piercing in his eyebrow.
Jamison sat next to Mike, looking over his design. There was promise in the work and she shook her head. “No, I’m good, but have your people start planting the idea that we’re working with biological researchers on the Georgia project. Then sometime over the weekend, we’ll up the chatter to include the boardwalk as if it were a recommendation from the specialists.”
“Yes, boss.”
Rowan closed the door as he left, and Mike shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was clearly unnerved by them being alone together. It made her want to roll her eyes. People tended to think her position at Fairweather came from not only being the daughter of its owner, but also because of the way she looked. Pale blond hair that hung past her shoulders, its shiny glow accentuating her hollow cheekbones which were as sharp as her tongue. Large, expressive green eyes, full lips painted red on every occasion and the haughty manners Simone had instilled in her made everyone believe she was some sort of rich debutante.
It sucked.
She was no more a debutante than she was a giraffe. It irked her to no end how people automatically thought she was some sort of idiot wrapped in a pretty package and sent to work the front lines of Fairweather.
“These are good,” she murmured, flipping through Mike’s work. “And that’s a genius move to force the foot traffic one way. We need to show your ideas to Samuel ASAP.”
Mike’s mouth flapped open. If she recalled correctly, he was new to the company, but obviously already understood it wise to be a little nervous when dealing with her brother. Evie’s current pregnancy was more complicated than her others, and Samuel was on edge.
“Do you think so?”
Jamison nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind shooting them over to my email, I’ll see that both Samuel and my dad look at them this weekend when I go home.”
It’s not like they would have anything better to do. With herthingno longer happening, there would be time to get some work done.
“Are you sure?” Mike asked, taking his paperwork back. “If you’re going home, I bet you’ll have big plans.”
Jamison faltered in her rise to stand, but then continued smoothly, towering over him. Don’t trip, she reminded herself. Don’t let anyone see how much it hurts.
“Ah, no.”
Realizing what he’d said, Mike turned an even deeper shade of crimson. She was pleased to see that the queens of gossip around the office had let even the newest of employees in on her misfortune.
“I’m sorry,” he stumbled over his apology. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t,” Jamison cut him off. “It’s fine.”
Excusing herself, she made a quick exit, but remained steady. Even with a giant elephant chasing her from the room, Jamison Fairweather would never run.
On the way to her office, she passed Rowan as he talked—flirted—with a woman named Mandi from accounting. “If you want a ride to Florida, I’m heading out in about fifteen minutes.”
Rowan inclined his head to let her know he’d heard her, but never took his eyes off Mandi. The man was smooth, leaving a trail of broken hearts throughout Fairweather’s many locations.
In her office, she grabbed her things, and checked messages. There was one from her dad telling her to take the jet without him. “I can’t leave yet, but I’ll come home tomorrow.”
The next few days were to be spent filling her face with pizza and wine, while hopefully having movie marathons to keep her mind off thething. In fact, forcing her dad to watch all theTwilightmovies sounded like a brilliant idea since she had never forgiven him for being Team Jacob when clearly Edward was the better choice.
And while hours of vampires and werewolves were a far cry from her original plans for the weekend, it would be good to be home with her people. Outsiders thought they were a weird bunch of hodgepodge connections, and that was okay. It was the only family she knew, and they were perfect.
It was entirely her father’s fault for bringing them all together. Once upon a time, he and a woman named Simone, who was an employee at his parents’ main estate, had a one-night stand. They were already unlikely friends, and according to the stories told, all it had taken was an evening of heavy drinking for them to fall into bed together.
It never happened again, but it didn’t matter. The consequences of their actions showed up in the form of a positive pregnancy test. Knowing his parents would harm Simone, and the baby anyway they could, her father had sent them to live at one of the family’s secondary estates. A place hidden deep in the forest lands owned by Fairweather Holdings.
Haven House.
Simone had gone quietly with her own brother Ty, the two of them acting as caretakers to the home during the pregnancy. Jamison’s oldest half-brother Selah came along shortly after, but his existence remaineda secret until their father could claim him as his own and change Selah’s last name to Fairweather.
In the middle of that, her father married a woman named Miranda, and Jamison’s second half-brother Samuel was born. Her father also gave Haven House to Simone shortly after, gifting it to her as a combined wedding and baby present when she married Devon and had the twins.
Annabeth and Abe remained at Haven to this day, living with their mother in the old Greek revival. Jamison loved them, and as far as she was concerned, they were her family, even if there was no blood relation between them.
The twins had been texting non-stop, eager for her to come home. Evie would also be waiting at the house, as would Samuel.
