Page 29 of The Work Wife

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Ben couldn’t wait to meet the woman who finally stole his brother’s heart.

* * * *

“What are you doing with your week off for the honeymoon?” Jamie asked when they were alone in their office on Thursday afternoon.

Wes shrugged as he reached for his laptop. “Probably work and maybe play video games online.”

“Very exciting.” She laughed at his expression.

“Make sure to tell your dad I said hi. How was his appointment?” Weston knew the situation with her father, and Jamie was happy he cared enough to ask.

“He’s still in remission. Almost ten months. I think he’s got it this time.” Colon cancer was a bitch, but her father was a retired cop and FBI agent. He was a fighter.

She went around to her desk to pack up her laptop. They both jumped when Rob Blain walked into their office.

“What’s this?” he said, gesturing to both of them with different hands. “No. No. The laptops stay here.” He pointed down, indicating their office. “No work while you’re on your honeymoon. You’re supposed to be celebrating the beginning of your lives together. No work,” he reiterated when Jamie opened her mouth to protest.

“Fine,” she and Weston said at the same time, making Rob smile.

“And don’t forget, the first week in March. You’re invited to the intimacy discovery retreat in Jamaica.”

She could feel the smile take over her face. Their plan had worked. Not only were they getting a week for their pretend honeymoon, but they were going to get their chance to woo the McCaffertys on a tropical island paradise.

She raised her brows at Weston in an I-told-you-this-would-work look.

“We can’t wait,” she said as Rob backed away to the door.

“Take plenty of pictures of the honeymoon. We want to see them when you get back.” With that last command, he was out the door.

“What are we going to do about pictures?” Wes asked, lifting his brow in an I-told-you-this-wouldn’t-work kind of look.

“I’ll come home a day early. We’ll change into different outfits and go to different locations. We’ll say we spent our honeymoon in Boston. It will be fine.”

He rubbed his temple and picked up his keys from the desk. She hoped the stress wasn’t getting to him.

“See you tomorrow. Eleven, right?” he verified.

“Right. Eleven.” He took a step toward the door and she stopped him. “Wes, if you’re going to change your mind, please let me know. I’d hate to show up and be all alone.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I’ll be there at eleven. I’ll even smile the whole time.” He winked at her and left.

Jamie didn’t sleep that night. It wasn’t a big surprise. She was about to enter into a holy union for the most devious of reasons. Of course she had doubts. Most of which circled around Wes and how this would affect him. Would he be so unhappy he resented her? Resentment oftentimes turned to hatred.

Or so she’d understood from her father. Jamie’s mother had resented her father’s hours at the job, and eventually hated him enough to leave and never look back. Originally Jamie had gone with her.

At the age of six she didn’t understand what was happening except she missed her dad and they now lived in Florida. She also didn’t understand why she was always hungry, why her mother slept so much, or why men came to their apartment late at night when she was sleeping.

When her mother got worse, her father came and packed up Jamie’s dirty clothes. They came home, but her mother never did.

She felt resentment for her mother later in life when her father came to a mother-daughter tea. That resentment eventually turned to hatred and then to pity.

She never wanted Wes to feel any of those things about her.

After talking herself out of their plan and back into it three times, she looked over at the clock to see it was three a.m.

Her phone buzzed with a text from her future husband.

You up?