Page 83 of The Boss and the Wedding Mess
Nessa: First, calm down. Take a deep breath.
Me: I’m trying. Crap. He’s coming. I’ll message you later.
Nessa: Just stay calm!
I start the engine and roll down the window.
“Give me your phone,” I demand angrily. It’s hard to keep my voice even and not yell, though I’d really like to.
Alexander comes over and digs out his phone. With an inquisitive look, he hands it to me.
“2510,” he says.
His birthday?
I type in the number, unlock the phone, and start searching while Alexander loads his bag into the car and leans against the driver’s side rear door. I can only see him in the side mirror.
His phone is very practical. No unnecessary apps—just banking, email, and messages.
“Where is it?” I ask.
“You’ll have to look for it,” he teases in an amused tone.
I sigh and open the gallery, and I’m immediately overwhelmed. Pictures of half-naked women everywhere! I roll my eyes and finally find my photo among all the blondes. I tap it, delete it, and empty the trash so he can’t restore it. Hopefully, he hasn’t saved it anywhere else.
Curious, I open one of the blondes’ photos and am stunned when Stephanie smiles back at me from the screen.
Wait a second…
I scroll through the others. It’s all Stephanie!
“You miserable jerk!” I curse, storming out of the car.
Alexander looks irritated and apparently has no idea what’s going on.
I shove the phone at him and snap: “She’s married, and you’re having an affair with her?”
“What?” Alex furrows his brow and looks at the photo of Stephanie still on display. “That’s just Stephanie. She’s always sending me pictures and videos of herself.”
“Half-naked? In a bikini? At the beach? In yoga pants?”
“Yes.” Alex’s tone is dry and perplexed, which takes the wind out of my sails. Either there really is nothing to it, or he’s so jaded that he doesn’t even care.
“Did you have those pictures just to make me jealous?” I ask, upset.
“What? No. That’s just my main photo gallery—it saves all the photos that are sent to me. Why would I want to make you jealous?” He says it so dryly and casually that it stabs at my heart. I swallow hard and take a deep breath.
“That’s not normal. Honestly.”
I hand his phone back and move to get in my car.
“She used to do it only occasionally, but shortly before the wedding she started bombarding me with them. I assume she was a bit insecure about whether she was good enough. But what can I say? She is pretty.”
Alex sounds a little lost, so I hesitate instead of storming off.
“No woman would send those kinds of pictures if she wasn’t interested,” I say firmly.
"She got married. Don't you remember? You happened to be there too." Alex doesn't seem interested at all. "We've known each other since forever and there was never anything between us. And now she's married."
