Page 15 of The Jealous Boss

Hearing Elijah’s custom text tone, I pick up my phone and grimace. Reading between the lines of his apologetic text, Sarah is getting impatient.

“Drew? Let me just take the book. You need to eat. My dinner can wait.”

Frowning, he shakes his head. “Absolutely not. I’ll eat on the drive over—see? All ready to go.” He gestures toward the containers, and I realize he’s overfilled one of them with exactly half the sushi.

“You shouldn’t have to do that,” I protest. “It’s my fault he forgot the book.”

Once more, he shakes his head. “You’re his nanny, not his slave. Elijah is old enough to keep track of his own schoolwork.”

“I guess so.” I stare down at the counter at yet another reminder that Elijah doesn’t need me anymore. “I still feel bad.”

“You have nothing to feel bad about. My ex-wife is a demanding cunt. It’s a fucking homework assignment, not life and death.” Strong fingers tilt my chin up as Drew forces me to meet his gaze. “You’ve had a long day, Anna. You’ll feel better once you eat.”

Not waiting for a reply, he picks up a piece of sushi and presses it against my lips. Unsure what else to do, I open my mouth and accept the morsel of rice and raw fish.

His fingers slide between my lips, lingering longer than is strictly necessary. After he withdraws them, I can still feel the ghost of his touch, and I stand frozen, too shocked to chew.

But then he continues, voice totally normal, as if him feeding me my dinner by hand is an everyday occurrence. “Finish your dinner—and for Christ’s sake, try to relax while I’m out. I wish you hadn’t taken that double lab instead of lunch on Fridays. You’re working too hard this semester.”

“You know my schedule?”

Drew hesitates, then sighs. “I know more about you than you realize, angel, but that’s a conversation for later,” he says, voice heavy with a layer of meaning I don’t understand. “Now eat.”

I manage a lame “goodbye” as the door to the garage closes, but my mind is reeling, and my knees feel weak. Slowly, I eat my sushi, not wanting to disappoint Drew. Not wanting to disappointDaddy.

He ordered all my favorite rolls, and the fish is super fresh, the execution flawless. Even so, I barely taste any of it because all I can think about is what Drew meant by those last words and what might happen when he returns.

ChapterSeven

Drew

I miss her already.When she sucked my fingers into her mouth, I nearly texted Elijah that the damn book could wait until morning. Except love means keeping your word. I can’t let Elijah down, and I couldn’t stand Anna’s disappointment if she caught me breaking a promise to him.

That said, it takes longer than I’d like to reach Sarah’s house in the Sunset. But I don’t linger over my errand. I get in and out, and then I’m on the road again, hurrying back to my gorgeous girl.

On the drive back to Sea Cliff, I make better use of my time, placing calls I’d rather Anna not hear. Jared doesn’t pick up. Typical. I leave a terse voicemail spelling out what I need. And then, in case he fights me on it, I call Heather and instruct her to find a copy of my mother’s will.

“Sure, boss. Anything else I can take care of tonight? I have Holly’s thing this weekend. Unless you need me to cancel…” From her tone, it’s clear that she’s hoping I’ll ask her to do just that.

But actually, thereissomething else, yet I hesitate. What if I’m moving too fast?

Fuck it. If anything, I’m not moving fast enough. I never should have left Anna. Knowing I’m wasting time, but needing to check, I pull over and hit the hazard lights.

“As a matter of fact, there is, but I’m afraid it won’t get you out of attending your sister’s show.” I pause to pull up the cameras. “Remember that contract we had legal draft? Fill in the personal details we discussed and send it over.”

“Oh my God. Are you sure? That seems like a big—”

“Oh, I’m sure.”

I stare down at my phone as Anna opens a drawer. With trembling hands, my angel unscrews the end of that cheap toy and inserts two batteries.

Oh no she fucking isn’t.

“Drew? Did you hear me?”

“What?” I throw the car into gear and reenter traffic.

“I said the lawyers will pitch a fit if I email something like that, and the signing service is undergoing maintenance. Do you still have that old fax machine in your home office, or do I need to drive a copy over?”

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